The Kirkus Review: Deadly Animals
A teenage girl with a taste for the macabre makes a series of horrific discoveries that turn her life and the lives of everyone in her British neighborhood upside down.
Fourteen-year-old Ava Bonney loves nothing better than to study the decomposing bodies of animals she finds littered along the motorway that runs through Birmingham. But when she accidentally comes across the bodies of two young people—one a teenager like herself, and the other a small boy—who have had their throats ripped out by a set of human teeth, she realizes a predator is stalking the town’s children.
In this chilling novel, Tierney pairs the precocious Ava with an open-minded police detective named Seth Delahaye to create an unlikely—and memorable—crime fighting duo. An “eternal student” gifted with the willingness to learn from everyone he meets, Delahaye appreciates Ava’s intelligence and preternatural ability to read between the lines of physical evidence, which he witnesses firsthand when she begins anonymously calling the police station with information about the murders. Her observation that the murderer is a deeply disturbed young person who suffers from clinical lycanthropy goes against what Delahaye expects to find. But the closer the two get to uncovering the killer, the more it becomes clear that Ava’s shocking conclusions hold more truth than anyone could want or imagine.
By turns terrifying and heartbreaking in its depictions of the bloodthirsty killer—and, by extension, the brutality that lies at the heart of every human being—this eloquent, darkly suspenseful debut novel will haunt the reader’s imagination.
An edge-of-your-seat thriller with a savage twist.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/marie-tierney/deadly-animals/
The Book Page Looks at Deadly Animals
Ava Bonney of Birmingham, England, is not your typical sleuth, and she’s one readers of Marie Tierney’s debut mystery, Deadly Animals, will long remember. Living in a sparse apartment with her younger sister and selfish mother, 14-year-old Ava makes her own entertainment. Bones fascinate her—“We are our bones,” she says. To further her scientific studies, she has created a secret “body farm” to study the anatomy of decomposing roadkill that she finds. A former biology teacher who grew up in Birmingham herself, Tierney sets the book in the early 1980s of her youth, writing with the analytic precision of a scientist and the literary aplomb of a gifted storyteller.
During a morning outing to her farm, Ava discovers the body of 14-year-old local bully Mickey Grant and, soon after, the missing, now murdered 6-year-old Bryan Shelton. Ava quickly acts to preserve valuable evidence in danger of disappearing. Fearing the police won’t take her seriously, she pretends to be an adult while calling in Mickey’s murder, and enlists her best friend, John, to call about Bryan. “Their secret was gargantuan,” Ava and John realize. “It was scary and exciting, an adventure—but also a horror story.”
A serial killer is on the loose, and Ava begins a surreptitious partnership with Detective Seth Delahaye—who recognizes her genius—to track down the murderer. Ava and Delahaye’s initial cat-and-mouse communications burgeon into mutual trust and respect, forming the empowering heart of the novel.
This noteworthy debut is a fast-paced, brilliantly plotted mystery, filled with short chapters and crisp prose. Gory—but never gratuitous—details of dead animals and humans abound, but all are in service of the plot, as well as Ava’s scientific interests and investigation. As the book progresses, the stakes become higher and danger creeps closer to Ava and John, leading to a dramatic conclusion. With Deadly Animals, Tierney has created an exceptional heroine who demands a sequel.
https://www.bookpage.com/reviews/deadly-animals-marie-tierney-book-review/
The Daily Nerd Chats about Deadly Animals
We chat with author Marie Tierney about Deadly Animals which is a chillingly beautiful mystery, only the obsessive spirit of youth can save a desperate town from the savagery within.
Hi, Marie! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I am originally from Birmingham in the West Midlands – Peaky Blinders territory! I have worked in many jobs and met many incredible people in all of them, which is excellent source material for stories! I now live in East Anglia, in the UK, and I am married with a nineteen-year-old son. I write, paint and sculpt as well as look after my two lovely cats.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
When I was three-years-old, my father grew tired of me trying to write cursive in all his text books so taught me to write and draw at the kitchen table instead. I hold my pen in an unusual way as a result, but I don’t get writer’s cramp! As a result of my father’s patience, and when he realized I had an aptitude for learning, we then went on to non-fiction and fiction books.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
Your debut novel, Deadly Animals, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Dark, sparkling, macabre, fascinating, honest
What can readers expect?
A modern twist on an old fairytale merged with a historical criminal case that has been brought into the 1980s with a quirky and interesting protagonist and a detective who defies the usual stereotypes. If you like Thomas Harris, Minette Walters, Belinda Bauer and Mo Hayder then readers might like Deadly Animals.
Where did the inspiration for Deadly Animals come from?
My own childhood, my own interests then as now, and the cases in criminal history that inspired the crimes in my novel.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Describing the first scene, recalling what it was like to venture out into the dark and the excitement of being outside, alone at night. I enjoyed writing all of the novel because I love to create worlds and populate it with people who behave and make mistakes and learn from them as people do in the real world but make them extraordinary. I write everything in longhand first, with scene and character sketches as well as research notes in notebooks, almost as a personal letter to the reader.
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
This is a book fifty years in the making. I am one of the rare authors who had an agent approach them first rather than vice versa, and who loved the 1000 words of a competition entry and asked me to write the rest of the book. It was sold quite quickly afterwards. I have never had a rejection as a result of this experience. I have learned so much from my editor, and to hold my first hardback published novel was akin to holding my baby son for the first time. It was an incredibly moving experience.
What’s next for you?
I am currently writing the sequel to Deadly Animals which will be set in 1985.
https://thenerddaily.com/marie-tierney-deadly-animals-author-interview/
Marie Tierney was a finalist in The Daily Mail First Novel competition, and he debut novel, Deadly Animals, was selected by best-selling crime author Peter James as his winner.
She cites Richard Adams, Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter and Stephen King among her literary influences. When she isn’t researching criminal history, she writes plays poetry, and creates art in different mediums.
Born and raised in South Birmingham, Marie held various jobs in four counties and dedicated almost twenty years to working in education before becoming a full-time writer. She now lives in The Fens with her husband and son.
