Closer Than She Knows by Kelly Irvin

Closer Than She Knows by Kelly Irvin ISBN-13: 9780785231868 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Thomas Nelson Released: June 9th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In Teagan O’Rourke's job as a court reporter, she has written official records for dozens of real-life murders. She’s listened to hours of chilling testimony. But she’s never known the smell of death, and she never thought she might be a victim.

A young police officer is murdered just inches away from her, and then a man calling himself a serial killer starts leaving Teagan notes, signing each with the name of a different murderer from her favorite mystery novels. Teagan's friend Max Kennedy is determined to protect her. Max longs for more than friendship with Teagan, but he fears she’ll never trust someone with a past like his. He wonders if he’ll be able to keep Teagan alive long enough to find out.

As Teagan, Max, and Teagan’s police officer father race to track down the elusive killer, they each know they could be the next victim. Desperate to save those she loves, Teagan battles fears that once haunted her in childhood. No matter what she does, he seems to be getting closer . . .


My Review:
Closer Than She Knows is a Christian romantic suspense novel. Police detectives (which included family members) were officially investigating the murders, but we got little detail about their progress. Teagan and her retired police officer father decided to investigate a serial killer that was in prison whom the current serial killer seemed to be mimicking. Instead of following up clues like "who is close enough to Teagan to know the details that are ending up in the letters?", they investigated the background of a serial killer who could not be doing the current killings. Not surprisingly, they made no progress on identifying the current killer until Teagan's kidnapped. Still, it seemed very obvious to me who the bad guy was from the moment we met him, so Teagan didn't come across as smart. There were also some loose ends that were never explained.

I also had problems with Teagan as a character. I think she was meant to be complex, but it seemed like she two distinctly different people. Sometimes Teagan was completely disillusioned with all humans due to her job and the knowledge of what horrible things people can do. This is why she refused to have children or a relationship with Max, who wanted children. On the other hand, we have a completely naïve Teagan who is certain that none of her neighbors or friends can be the murderer because they're just so nice and normal – even though she knows that the serial killer that's in prison was considered a nice, normal man to everyone who knew him (except his victims). The other characters seemed more realistic, and I did care about what happened to them.

Max was a youth pastor, and several people talked with Teagan about trusting God with the future and the people that she loves. This issue wasn't really resolved, just kind of skipped over to get the happy ending. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.