Kill Devil Falls by Brian Klingborg

Kill Devil Falls is a crime mystery which turned out to be way different from what I initially though it would be. It took me totally by surprise.

Now, I’ve read the blurb and some reviews, so I knew that the main protagonist  U.S. Marshall Helen Morrissey would be trapped in a dead-end condemned ghost town called Kill Devil Falls trying to find her way out.

What I didn’t realized was just how claustrophobic that small town would end up being. I’d definitely not put it on my to-visit places for my upcoming holidays.

Helen is tasked with driving to Kill Devil Falls jail, pick up white-trash Rita and transport her to the county court so she can testify against her boyfriend in several cases of major robberies.

An easy enough task, which leaves Helen bitter about being given the job of a driver. However soon things turn out to be anything but an easy pick-up and delivery mission.

Before Helen could take Rita away, her car stops working, and while she is trying to find someone who can fix it in that godforsaken mining hole, Rita is murdered, leaving behind somewhere hidden away a big stash of money from her last robbery.

Helen offers her services to the local sheriff in helping find Rita’s killer, but before long people are killed off one by one. It seems someone wants that swag badly and will do anything to get it, even if it means killing off the entire town.

Now Helen is stuck in Kill Devil Falls trying to catch an elusive and clever killer, while Rita’s ex-boyfriend is also around, trying to get to the money as well.

Shortly the book turns into a hunt, kill and hide action-packed story, which I truly appreciated, because that town really started to get to me. At least I no longer had to focus on its depressive qualities, but on the action taking place within it.

Once it picked up, the action and suspense kept going at a very fast pace. And much to my surprise, when the killer was revealed, it was one that I would never in a million years expect. All along I put my money on another person altogether (and I bet most readers did too).

I did enjoy Kill Devil Falls, but I have to admit, I am not overly fond of reading about such depressing places all too often. But as the story moved at a nice, fast pace, without realizing I really got hooked on finding out what would happen next, and in the end I was not disappointed.