Flowers for the Dead by Barbara Copperthwaite

Flowers for the Dead
By Barbara Copperthwaite
Published by CreateSpace (2 September 2015)
ISBN: 978-1514263976

Publisher's description
ADAM WILL DO ANYTHING TO MAKE YOU HAPPY. EVEN IF IT KILLS YOU.

Adam Bourne is a serial killer who thinks he is a saviour. When he murders his victims and cuts off the women’s lips, he believes he has done it to make them happy. How did he become warped from the sensitive four-year-old who adored his gran and the fairy tales she read to him? What turned him into a monster who stalks his victims? And what is he trying to say with the bouquets he sends? When he meets Laura Weir, Adam weaves a fairy tale romance around them. A tale she has no idea she is part of. As he hatches his twisted plan for their fairy story ending, can anyone stop him before he creates the ultimate sacrifice to love?

My verdict
Flowers for the Dead is a very dark and twisted psychological thriller - just as I like them - with a real rogue as the main character.

Adam is evil, manipulative and very creepy, yet is yearning to love and be loved (although in a warped way). Thanks to the book's switching between past and present, you learn how Adam has become the man he is today. This book tackles the whole issue of what creates a serial killer - is it nature or nurture?

Barbara Copperthwaite writes in a very vivid and descriptive way. Flowers for the Dead is very well written and easy to read, but is a long book so certainly isn't a quick read. Every little detail of the characters' actions and thoughts are there on the page. This enables readers to get right inside the characters' heads and picture each scene very clearly, which adds to the chilling nature of the book.

You know Adam is a serial killer from the outset, and you know the ending won't be good. The momentum builds up, as does the body count, but you just have to keep reading anyway. I found myself racing to the end. Would Adam find true love and mend his ways? Or would he get his comeuppence? And more importantly, does he deserve his destiny or fate?

I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.