The Beautiful Dead by Belinda Bauer

The Beautiful Dead
by Belinda Bauer
Published by Bantam Press (17 November 2016)
ISBN: 978-0593075517

Publisher's description

There’s no safety in numbers . . .

Eve Singer needs death. With her career as a TV crime reporter flagging, she’ll do anything to satisfy her ghoulish audience.

The killer needs death too. He even advertises his macabre public performances, where he hopes to show the whole world the beauty of dying.

When he contacts Eve, she welcomes the chance to be first with the news from every gory scene. Until she realizes that the killer has two obsessions.

One is public murder.

And the other one is her . . .

My verdict
The Beautiful Dead is a powerful, gripping & rather disturbing read. It's fast paced and tense, with plenty of twists, turns and surprise, and I read most of it in one sitting.

This is a serial killer story, but with a quirkiness that makes it stand out from the crowd. Each death scene is beautifully crafted - the gruesome murders are deliberately put on public display by a killer who is desperate for an audience. He sees 'death as art'.  Eve is a TV reporter, desperate to keep on top of her career, and becomes his perfect 'partner' as he leads her to the scenes of his crimes.

The book is filled with highly descriptive prose and plenty of dark humour - every word counts. It's also gritty and unpredictable with sharp dialogue and an intriguing plot. All of the characters felt very real, from the killer himself to Eve and her father, who suffers from dementia, and even her next door neighbour Mr Elias.

I love the cover too - it's also a work of art and as stunning as the story inside.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher.