Cover Image: The Girl at My Door

The Girl at My Door

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Member Reviews

There are multiple POVs for this story. I had a hard time with the Audio keeping up with who was who. But the longer I listened to the story the more I was able to keep up. It took me awhile to get into this book. I picked it p a few times and keep putting it down. I started listening in between other books so took me a bit longer to get through. The characters were all so different with making the cast themselves more interesting. To me because they are all so different that is what made the story. I've read other reviews and I'm in agreement that Queenie was the worst. She did some shady stuff just because she was jealous. With friends like that who needs enemies. I was rooting for Joy but, she got a dealt the short end of the stick. She tried her best to stay positive throughout the story but ultimately it just became to much for her. I really was rooting for her. Terry was the MVP just wanted the best for everyone even though he was going through it. Charles I think were supposed to like him but I honestly didn't care for him. And the bad guy? You know me I don't give out many details on Thrill type books. That's a big part of the story is the villain. At least for me.

Overall I enjoyed this story. I didn't love it and the 1st half drug on for me. I love Thrillers I can sit down and read in one day and not want to put down. But it took awhile to picked up for me. and throughout it had some slow moments. I think this is a good read and it just came out. So go grad your audio copy. I always enjoy a Audio with multiple narrations and this one had 2. But the main thing to take away is The Villain I wanted to know what was going to happen next. WHAT was he going to do or pretend to be.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this Arc Audio in exchange for my honest review.

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This is base on a true crime story of The Rellington Place Killer John Reginald Christie. If you are familiar with this story or not if you like a historical dark creepy thrillers you will find this a interesting read

Thank you netgalley for letting me listen to this interesting thriller

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Interesting but somewhat not really my cup of tea. A mystery thriller crime. Well written. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for gifting me the audio ARC of this book by Rebecca Griffiths and wonderfully narrated by Jonathan Keeble and Daphne Kouma. 4 stars!

Based on the true story of the crimes committed by serial killer John Reginald Christie in London, 1949, it is also contains the fictionalized story of three friends - Queenie, Joy, and Terry - all who have scary interactions with Christie in various ways. Queenie is the singing star of a band with a contract to join a show on Broadway in New York. Her best friend, Joy, has happily lived in the shadows of her outgoing friend but catches the eye of one of the city's most eligible bachelors, Charles. Queenie finds herself jealous and insecure and entices Charles into a one-night stand they both will live to regret. Terry is another close friend and bandmate of Queenie, trying to hide his illegal gay relationship.

I enjoyed listening to this book, especially since it was based on a real serial killer - added to the creepiness. The characters were expertly voiced by the narrators, adding depth to Griffiths' story. You could see and feel the seedy locations and be terrified by the actions of Christie. The homophobic society in a relatively recent past was frightening. I thought it interesting how Christie's case changed the death penalty laws in the UK.

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Thank you Netgalley for this book, although I was very interested to know more about this book, it just left me wanting more. I was not super impressed by it, unfortunately.

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Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook. I was very much looking forward to listening to it.

However, the story was much different than I expected it to be. The characters stories did not seem to be well connected and I didn't enjoy any of the characters themselves, at all.

I unfortunately am going to stop this audiobook and not finish it as the storylines seem to be all over the place and I just can't keep my interest focused on it.

Again, I do appreciate the opportunity. Thank you

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I've been desperately trying to push through this book, but I just can't right now. The description had me from the go, but I'm now on chapter 14 and I honestly feel like I have no idea what is going on. So for now unfortunately I will be putting this as a dnf, but will attempt again in the future. It sounds so promising, but again, I just can't get into it. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this book. I will attempt this again in the future and edit my post.

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Wow I really enjoyed this audio. I loved the fact that the true story of 10 Rillington Place was wound around a story of two friends who’s lives are blown apart by a betrayal. I really enjoyed the story although the ending broke my heart.

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I knew nothing about the Rillington Place Murders before reading The Girl at My Door // Rebecca Griffiths - a fictional retelling of one of Britain's most infamous serial killers. The story is told in the alternating perspectives of two girlhood best friends, Queenie and Joy, who have created very different paths, their friend Terry, a gay man struggling to conceal his true self in 1950s England and the killer himself, John Reginald Christie. The chapters from Christie’s point of view were chilling and made me think of those parts of the novel as a sort of mid-century version of You.

There were some wonderfully tense scenes and Griffiths makes good use of the alternating narrators to conceal and reveal information as needed. But, if you’re only interested in this for the true crime aspect, you may be disappointed. The book definitely touches on the darkness of the real-life killer, but it is much more about the straining friendship between Queenie and Joy with a murderous stalker thrown in for garnish.

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Thank you Net Galley for a copy of The Girl At My Door by Rebecca Griffiths. This book is good but in my opinion centered around Christie more.

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I went into this blind and it was wild. There was a lot of scenes that had me genuinely creeped out. Joy did not deserve Queenies and Charles betrayal. Q let her jealously and need for attention get the best of her and near the end I did start to feel a little bad for her but only a little. Joy was a cinnamon roll who only saw the best in people to her own detriment. Then we have Terry who had to hide his sexuality while trying to live his best life. There was a lot of threads going on and they intertwined smoothly.

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The Girl at My Door by Rebecca Griffiths

A historical fiction thriller based loosely on true crime.

A decent story.

But honestly I had a hard time getting into it. At 25% I was going to give up. But I hate giving up so I did manage to finish it. But really didn’t do much for me unfortunately.

Thank you Rebecca Griffiths, Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the audio to listen to this book in return for my honest review!

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I apologize for the delay in my review. I read the book the day I got it. I spent days thinking about it before I put the following review on GoodReads & then forgot to share it here. I love books that stick with you, .

This is a fictionalized version of Britain’s real life serial killer John Reginald Christie.

This was a completely engaging story! I haven’t read a serial killer book since The Five so I read it straight through!!

It’s post WWII in Britain & Queenie is a jazz singer who’s star has launched & she could be heading for New York. Terry is her friend/band mate who has a very serious secret of his own.

JRC is an unassuming wallflower that spends his nights watching Queenie & her band silently searching for prey, one night he comes across a waitress named Joy.

Joy’s a sweet honest innocent soul preparing to marry the town’s most eligible bachelor, Charles & Queenie’s her best friend.

Queenie has always fancied Charles & the happier Joy is, the more miserable Queenie is & her jealousy is soon out of control. What will she do? How will her choices impact the 4 players & killer? Read it & find out!

Thank you #NetGalley and #Bookouture Audio, this book was captivating.

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For someone who doesn't like War Time Historical Fiction, I didn't dislike this. I would say it's less of a dark crime thriller and more of a historical fiction with thriller elements. I found the two main girls weren't too well fleshed out, despite being the main focus of this book. I didn't really enjoy the descriptions of their actions & the world because I don't really like War Time stories (personal preference). I do think that if you do, you would really enjoy this though.

I wish there had been more focus on Christie and less on the romance / relationships and turmoil between the girls.

It also felt like it dragged a lot.

In saying all that, it was written very well and I didn't feel like putting it down as it captured my interest enough.

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I received an early copy of this audiobook from Netgalley.

The Girl At My Door is a fictionalized account of the real-life crimes committed by the Rillington Place killer in post-World War II London. I am not a huge reader of historical fiction, and this book was a reminder of why.

At the outset, I'll say that I had no knowledge of these murders, but the book's premise intrigued me. Unfortunately, the story itself was aggravating. I was left wondering what was the point of this book because the whole thing was about the persecution of the three central characters - two young women and one gay man. The power imbalance of a disgusting, secret murderer and three people who had absolutely no recourse or agency was infuriating to read. The protagonists' lives were turned upside down by Christie, while he lived it up.

The issue was that we were given Christie's point of view, which was remorseless and perverted. But there was no commentary surrounding his character. He was written as the vile creature that he was. Meanwhile, the three protagonists struggled with the bigoted and backwards attitudes of the past, but weren't able to break free of it.

The book also suffers from a few cliches - a female character recounts being sexually assaulted when she was much younger, a plot point that played no part in her story, other than being a lascivious addition to the book. If the author was trying to suggest that the character's assault had made her extra cautious, then that's another falsity. Most women are always on guard about people around them.

There's a love triangle that results in a clandestine affair, which leaves one woman heartbroken, another pregnant, while the man lives his life completely unscathed. You can see why this book is infuriating to read. The affair is blamed completely on the pregnant woman, while no one - not even the woman's friends - call out the man for cheating with her.

This book was repetitive, often describing and denigrating the places the protagonists had to visit given society's bigotry, which added to this gloomy sense of persecution for the characters.

Daphne Kouma did an excellent job narrating her parts of the book - she was able to differentiate between the characters with pitch, timbre and accent. Unfortunately, Jonathan Keeble, who did a great job as Christie, was terrible with the other voices. His version of Terrence, Queenie and Joy all sounded like squeaky, nasally rats. It was annoying to listen to.

I think this book would have worked better as either a historical investigation of the murders or the fictionalized accounts of actual victims. It made little sense with these fictional characters, who are drawn into Christie's orbit, but didn't impact his eventual outcome. In the end, it felt like we were given the story of three people who were doomed from the start.

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This historical fiction was also a suspense-thriller. Well written, this was loosely based on a true crime. It was dark. It was uncomfortable. But I was determined to see its end.
Serial killers have always held a fascination with me and this didn’t disappoint. My emotions were like a roller coaster, besides the creepy guy I enjoyed the other parts of the story and thought it was a good. I couldn’t put it down and held my breath several times. It’s very sad but we’ll done.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrators Jonathan Keeble and Daphne Kouma were great. This was 10 hours and 36 minutes of suspenseful listening.
Thanks Bookouture via Netgalley.

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This was an interesting and heartbreaking fictional story based on a real serial killer. When you best friend betrays you in an unforgivable way, what do you do? How do you go on? And how does that friend live with the consequences of her actions?

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I could not get into this book at all. I went it not knowing anything about it, and I really struggled to get past the first few chapters. This is a historic crime novel with a bit of romance thrown in.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advance listen. Oh my gosh! What a chilling read! I had never heard of John Christie so you will learn a little history. Dark, sinister and sad. The narrators did a fabulous job telling this story. I did not want to stop listening. It was captivating! Edge of your seat story!

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This is a creepy, disturbing piece of fiction based on a real serial killer that will give you chills. I enjoyed the suspense and the various relationships between characters. While the plot was fast paced there wasn't as much of a culmination as I expected with it being fiction even though based on true events. If you like true crime told in story form, this will be one you enjoy right in time for the spooky season.

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