I’ve met a lot of older siblings but I don’t think any of them would go as far as Cyra Griffin did in Serial Killer Support Group by Saratoga Schaefer. When Cyra’s younger sister Mira is killed she is rather desperate to find out who killed her. Mira’s friend Eli who works as a clerk for the police department reveals that the detective on the case thinks it might be a serial killer. Cyra presses him for more information and learns that there have been rumors of an online dark web forum that functions as a support group for serial killers. With her growing desperation Cyra decides, rather foolishly perhaps, to investigate and infiltrate the support group in hopes of finding the killer. As she starts navigating the world of serial killers Cyra must come to terms with her shaky relationship with her sister and her own potentially deadly overprotectiveness of that sister. She also has to come face-to-face with her own killer instinct as she meets this group of killers in person in her attempt to discover the truth of what really happened and who she really is.
Honestly, I am not entirely sure what prompted me to read this beyond the fact it sounded mildly interesting. This book ended up being incredibly interesting but also not necessarily what I was expecting. I thought I would be reading about a sister doing whatever it takes to make sure the person behind her sister’s death was punished and in a way it was about that. However, the book feels like it is more about Cyra having to come to terms with her own emotional state, or perhaps her lack of an emotional state, and the consequences of being like that. Because of this the book is in some ways the stereotypical mystery novel as Cyra works on figuring out which of her suspects is the killer and yet at the same time it is about Cyra’s own descent. I don’t want to say too much due to spoilers but it is very much an exploration of Cyra’s mental and emotional state and how that affects her investigation. In many ways that exploration is the pivotal theme of the novel as it drives just about all of the conflict. There is the outer conflict as Cyra faces each of her suspects but also the inner conflict as Cyra wonders just how different they actually are. It has so many nuanced layers present that I was surprised by. Cyra was an incredibly detailed and well fleshed out character that served as a very interesting protagonist. There were a few other things about the story that were also rather interesting. One of the big ones that drew my attention were the side chapters. I refer to them as that because they seem separate from the main storyline. Dotted throughout the story there are chapters that provide a brief backstory for several of the other members of the serial killer support group. Including these allows us as readers to get an inner glimpse of what drives each of these killers and how they evolved to become what they are at the time of the story. This adds a few extra layers but it also allows us to see how they operate mentally and emotionally which really helps to showcase the comparison between them and Cyra over the course of the novel. In many different ways this was a great novel and one that I am happy to give four out of five stars.
As you have probably guessed this is a pretty good example of a thriller. If you happen to enjoy that type of novel than I would recommend you try this one. I would also recommend you try this book if you happen to be the type of reader that enjoys getting glimpses into the minds of the bad guys as this does a pretty good job of doing that. If you don’t enjoy those types of work than I am not sure how well you would like this book so I would suggest you think about it before trying it. Another thing to keep in mind is that, due to the obvious topics, there is a lot of violence and other potentially disturbing content in this novel. If that is something that you may have trouble with think carefully before reading this. For the same reason I would suggest that only adults read this as it would probably be considered unsuitable for younger readers. Honestly, I would be careful about suggesting it even to older teens due to the disturbing content so I will state that it is reader discretion but to think carefully before reading this. It was still a good book, even if it is not for everybody, so if you decide to try it feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.