ARC Review: I Did It for You by Amy Engel

I Did It for You
Author: Amy Engel
Publication: Dutton (July 25, 2023)

Description: A twisty thriller from the beloved author of The Familiar Dark, in which a woman returns to the town where her sister was murdered and finds a presumed copycat on the loose

It’s been fourteen years since Greer Dunning’s older sister, Eliza, was murdered, and Greer’s family has never been the same. And now there’s been a similar killing in Greer’s small Kansas hometown. A copycat, according to the authorities, but Greer is convinced there is more to the story. That Eliza’s murderer had help all those years ago.

So Greer returns home after more than a decade away, desperate to answer the questions that have haunted her for years. And in her drive to uncover the truth, she forms a bond with the unlikeliest of allies. One that puts her in grave danger, as almost everyone in her small town becomes a suspect.

At once a riveting mystery and a deep exploration of guilt, loss, and the ways in which a violent murder transforms both the family of the victim and the family of the killer, I Did It For You will keep readers captivated through the very last page.

My Thoughts: Greer Dunning's older sister Eliza and her boyfriend were murdered when Greer as fourteen. Even though the killer was quickly caught, the nightmare hasn't ended even fourteen years later. Her family fell apart with her dad taking to drinking and her mother to cleaning and neither seemed to have time for Greer. 

Greer had some support from her best friends Cassie and Ryan but she still left her small Kansas hometown as soon as she graduated high school. She has made a sort of shallow life for herself in Chicago where she works as a middle school guidance counselor.

When she hears that another teenage couple has been killed in the same way Eliza and her boyfriend were, Greer decides that she has to go home and face up to all that she lost. She can't believe that these new killings aren't related to the previous ones despite the killer having been executed in prison. Greer always felt there was more to the story and that the killer didn't work alone. 

Her friends are there to support her. In fact, Cassie never left and Ryan is back home after a divorce. But Greer ends up teaming up with Dean who was the older brother of the young man who was convicted of murdering her sister and her sister's boyfriend. Dean has questions and his own share of guilt about the way things turned out during the first trial. As the two investigate, they gradually unearth secrets in the town and buried in Greer's memory. 

This was an excellent thriller with a twisty plot. It was also an in-depth depiction of the grief and guilt that surrounds this sort of tragedy. I found it very moving. 

Favorite Quote:

"Here's what I do," she said. "Every day I look around and tell myself to find three things, just three, to be thankful for. They can't be anything too far off, no being thankful for Christmas in June. They've gotta be something near, something you can touch. But it doesn't matter how small they are or how stupid the might sound to someone else. Even on my worst days, I can always find three."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.