You Killed Me First by John Marrs review

About The Book

Book: You Killed Me First
Author: John Marrs
Standalone or Series: Standalone
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date (UK): 4th March 2025

🔍Standout Read. Awarded to books I highly recommend.

My Review

For the second Tandem Collective Thrills & Chills book club, our case file was You Killed Me First by John Marrs.

This psychological thriller revolves around three neighbouring couples and kicks off with a dark, tantalising mystery: someone is trapped inside a bonfire on Bonfire Night. But who? And why? From there, the book rewinds, taking us through the events leading up to that fateful night – and beyond.

One of the best parts of this readalong was comparing theories as we went. I’m feeling pretty smug because I guessed both who was in the bonfire and who put them there 🔍

Each day, we tackled discussion questions, diving deep into the characters – Anna, Liv and Margot. Early on, I admitted that I loved Margot, even though she has some questionable traits. I was slightly worried the group would think I was a knobhead for this, but turns out I wasn’t alone – others secretly adored her too. John even told me (and mentions in the acknowledgements!) that she’s his second favourite character he’s ever written.

The three women are incredibly well-crafted, each with complex inner workings and hidden secrets. But Margot stole the show for me. My phone is now full of screenshots of her hilarious one liner thoughts, including gems like: “I swallow a couple of painkillers for a headache that’s been stalking me like a charity worker rattling a can in the high street” and “Who goes for a walk at midnight in March aside from badgers and sex offenders?”

I love when characters sit in that morally grey space and John Marrs does this brilliantly here – none of these women are wholly good or bad, which makes the story even more gripping and more human.

I won’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil it, but You Killed Me First was a thrilling, highly enjoyable read. If you love psychological thrillers packed with secrets, suspense, and sharp wit, this one’s for you.

Thank you to Tandem Collective and Amazon Publishing for inviting me to their Thrills & Chills Book Club and for the free copy of this book in order to discuss and review.