The Tapes by Kerry Wilkinson is a highly recommended domestic mystery/psychological thriller.

Eve's father has recently died and she is tasked with cleaning out his house. Her dad was a bit of a hoarder, which makes the task difficult. While digging out things in his garage, she discovers a cassette player, which she sets aside to show her daughter Faith. Then she discovers a box of tapes all labeled in her mother's handwriting. Eve's mother Angela disappeared without a trace thirteen years ago. As Eve plays a tape, she remembers her mother recording a diary of sorts on them.

Then she notices a tape labeled 'Eve.' On it her mother says, "If you're listening to this, I've been murdered and I need you to know that I love you ." Apparently, her mother who was a kleptomaniac stole a jewelry box from someone and discovered in it the earrings collected by a serial killer named "the Earring Killer." Her mother is sure the person will know it was her who took the jewelry box and will come for her next. Eve needs to discover who owned the box so she can identify the killer.

The well-written fast paced narrative follows Eve in the present day as she tries to find out who owned the jewelry box in order to identify the killer. Also included are excerpts from a book about the Earring Killer that was written years earlier which identifies all the victims and includes interviews with their family members. The novel held my complete attention throughout. Alternating between Eve's present day search while dealing with her father's death with the books true story of the victims of the serial killer worked very well. There are several twists along the way.

Eve is a complicated, fully realized character who is very flawed, but you will like and support her in her search. She knows her flaws and struggles. She also knows Angela's weaknesses and realizes that the tapes would mean nothing to the police because of her mother's history. There are several suspects along the way and no one who is really trustworthy.

The Tapes is a great choice for anyone who enjoys reading domestic mysteries that have some aspects of a psychological thriller. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Barnes & Noble and Amazon

The Tapes
Kerry Wilkinson
Pub Date: 08.11.25
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)

Eve is going through her father’s belongings after his passing, sorting through the dreaded keep/donate/toss piles in the garage, when she stumbles across a box of old cassette tapes. At the very bottom sits one labeled Eve. When she plays it, her mother’s voice, who disappeared years earlier, comes through the crackling speakers. On the tape, her mother warns that if she ever goes missing, it means she’s been killed. She also mentions a jewelry box that sparks Eve’s memory of the infamous “Earring Killer.” Determined to uncover the truth about what really happened to her mother, Eve begins digging for answers without realizing that doing so puts her own life in danger.

This one was…okay. The premise hooked me right away, but I found it too slow in parts. Some sections dragged on longer than necessary, and I got bored about halfway through. That said, the ending pulled me back in and ultimately saved the book for me. I enjoyed the concept and thought the storyline itself was really interesting, just a little too drawn out in places.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for the opportunity to read and share my honest thoughts.

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The Tapes challenged me in ways I didn’t expect while reading. This was a story where I was engaged while reading and chapters fly by, but also I could set it down easily to do something else. I would go from reading mindlessly and then two chapters later I am on the edge of my seat tense and wanting to know more.

I did not find the FMC, Eve, to be likable but honestly that helped plot-wise. While I did not predict any of the twists, I thought the ending was a little cliche. <spoiler>I hate to say it but I was kind of hoping she would’ve gotten killed but of course Vivian magically saved her at the end. </spoiler>

For the ending being wrapped up very quick, I was wondering how they’d explain everything. <spoiler> I was surprised at how little was revealed (motive, any victims we don’t know, was the mother involved, etc) but I genuinely liked the ambiguous ending. </spoiler>

I struggled with the pacing at points. Chapters would read very fast paced and then bam, a slow chapter out of nowhere that felt hard to get through.

This storyline felt a little rushed for being only a week long from discovering the tapes to the ending, but the book itself did not feel rushed.

I enjoyed this quick read and would recommend it to others who enjoy crime and mysteries, but personally the pacing issues knocked off a couple stars for me.

Thank you to Bookouture, Kerry Wilkinson, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the eARC of The Tapes. All opinions and statements are genuinely mine.

Intriguing story and a fun light read, fast paced and keeps you on your toes throughout with lots of twists and turns.

The tapes- Kerry Wilkinson

This is a thriller with an interesting concept. While main character Eve is sorting through her late father’s belongings, she comes across a box of old cassette tapes with her missing mother’s voice on them. This leads Eve to investigate her mother’s disappearance whilst coming to terms that everything is not as it seems.

I enjoyed the premise of the story however the pacing fell a bit flat for me. I will give Kerry Wilkinson’s other books a go though!

Thanks NetGalley and Bookoture for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

2.5/5 stars

This one didn’t really land for me. The pacing was slow and weighed down by a lot of filler that didn’t feel necessary, which made it harder to stay invested in the story. I kept waiting for things to pick up, but by the time the ending came around, it felt underwhelming and disappointing rather than rewarding. There were moments of potential, but overall it just wasn’t the gripping read I hoped for.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Tapes was a decent thriller but I felt it was a little choppy and the ending didnt give me a wow factor at all. It just seemed to end....

The premise of the book is great but it just falls a bit flat. Nothing super remarkable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

So i realy enjoyed this book. I was captivated from the beginning. So many twists and turns. A definite recommend.

Thanks bookouture and netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Eve is clearing out her father's house and finds a tape labelled Eve written in her mother's handwriting.

‘If they say I’m missing, I’m not. If you’re listening to this, I’ve been murdered.’

Desperate for answers and noone to ask just a box of tapes. As Eve listens she realises she can't go to the police and could she be the next victim.

This was a fast paced easy read with some great twists I flew through this one.

Would definitely recommend the audio !

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Kerry Wilkinson for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well done! I have been a fan of Kerry Wilkinson's thrillers for many years now.

I love his often flawed female characters who somehow manage to survive the odds of an encounter with a ruthless killer. No spoilers here, but Eve was playing with fire when she let it be known that she had found an incriminating tape referring to the Earring Killer.

The Earring Killer's body count starts rising again as Eve unwittingly stirs the sleeping menace.

I agree with another Goodreads reviewer that there is an element of surprise in the ending, although I did suspect the culprit - but I will say no more for rear of spoilers.

Okay, just a teaser, then: That was a diabolically twisted ending!!!

My thanks to the author, his publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I'm rating this one 5 well-deserved stars!

A quick thriller. The protagonist tries to solve the mystery of her long missing mother while unearthing clues regarding local serial killer - and of course the two are connected. Kept me interested while reading, but very predictable.

First of all, thank you for NetGalley and Kerry Wilkinson for providing us the ARC! This was the first book from the author that I read, I mainly chose this because of its title and the story description. As someone who was born on 90s, I feel so relate with tapes, cassettes, and voice recording. I was on my reading slump these last few weeks, and this book brings me back into reading again.

I love author's idea of using tapes to reveal a crime in a small town community where the people know each other, and I kept suspecting everyone! I thought the pace was a little bit slow at the beginning, but it's not a problem for me because that's when we know the relationship between Eve and everyone else. But when the story reached almost the end, the pace became fast and I couldn't put my Kindle! It was so shocking and full of twist.

I will read other books from this author for sure, and if you probably on a reading slump I think you must read this book!

(I gave it 4 stars because there is part that the author didn't explain; which is about the Eve's brother)

This was the first book I have read by this author and it won’t be my last. Grabbed me from the first chapter and didn’t let go. Fast-paced and great character development. Will be reading more by her.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for this arc! I was do excited to read this book. It gave off home is where the bodies are vibes reading the description. I had a hard time finishing this though. Was a lot of filler material and a slow read. When i found out the killer i was not impressed at all. I feel her boss would have been a better killer than the cop. I felt for him being the killer he wasnt mentioned enough or involved enough to be.

The Tapes was just okay for me and while I enjoyed parts of it I just wasn't as hooked as I wanted to be. I think it was a reader (me) problem vs the book. I would still recommend this for anyone looking for a easy fast thriller.

The idea behind The Tapes really pulled me in. I’m a sucker for a thriller so this had me. A random cassette with a murder confession is such a clever and creepy setup. I loved how the small-town setting added to the atmosphere, with all the gossip and suspicions making it hard to know who to believe.

This one is definitely more of a slow-burn mystery than a fast-paced thriller. There were a couple of points in the middle where I thought it slowed down a bit, but I still found myself curious to see where it was going. The characters felt real, sometimes frustrating, but that actually made the story more believable.

The ending worked well for me — not an over-the-top twist, but enough surprises to keep me guessing and leave me satisfied.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. If you like mysteries that take their time and focus on the people involved as much as the crime itself, The Tapes is worth a read.

Eve is sorting through her father’s house when she stumbles across a box of tapes, one of which is labeled with her name in her missing mother’s handwriting. When she plays it, she hears her mother’s voice claiming that if she’s ever said to be missing, it means she’s been murdered. From there, Eve is pulled into a chilling search for answers with only the tapes to guide her. This book was okay! I really liked the premise and thought the writing flowed well and kept me interested. I did find myself wanting a little bit more from the story, but overall it was a solid and engaging read.

Kerry Wilkinson has brought us another twisty tale! Can you imagine finding a cassette tape with your long-lost mother's voice telling you she was murdered? Oh my!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

This book had a lot going for it: an intriguing premise, a narrator who has a normal job to deal with in the midst of the mystery-solving, the author's R.L. Stine-like ability to end every chapter on a cliffhanger. But it also had a lot going against it: weirdly little attention paid to the content of the Tapes the title refers to, a late-breaking revelation about a tape that stretched credibility to the actual breaking point, too many not fully fleshed out characters such that part of the big reveal just felt BAFFLING because it wasn't even breadcrumbed at all, the author's R.L. Stine-like ability to end every chapter on a cliffhanger that has an often unsatisfying payoff once the next chapter begins.

I enjoyed the experience of reading this book for the most part, but it all definitely crumbles a bit when look at as a whole. Still, reading this was not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

The Tapes by Kerry Wilkinson sounds like a terrific read, right? I mean, that summary makes you want to grab a copy and dive right in. And so, I did just that. However, the story itself wound up disappointing me rather quickly. I loved the idea of old cassette tapes revealing secrets to Eve about her mother. What I didn't enjoy were all the other little mysteries that seemed to crop up - they were too distracting and way too obviously connected to the secret on the tapes. Overall, this story was not my cup of tea. I just found the twists and turns too predictable. And, the characters were annoying - I didn't like any of them. As for the murder mystery, well, that was interesting, but not enough to stop me from skim reading. Oh well.

I would still recommend The Tapes to fans of Wilkinson - after all, you may enjoy the story in a way that I just didn't. To each his own, right?