Amy Among the Serial Killers

July 4, 2022
Willett’s clever latest (after Amy Falls Down) follows a retired writing workshop teacher and her protegee as they become entangled with a series of murders in San Diego. After 35-year-old Carla Karolac’s unloving mother dies, Carla turns the house they shared into a successful writing retreat. It’s been three years since her mom’s death, and though she’s imagined asking former mentor Amy Gallup to help her scatter the ashes, she can’t bring herself to do it. Carla adores Amy and once saved her life from a killer in Amy’s workshop. Now, after a writer is found dead at Carla’s house, Amy’s old workshop gang gathers around Carla, as does the obnoxious self-proclaimed “Writing Guru” John X. Cousins. Amy notes that everyone’s writing about serial killers because the stories sell, but after more real bodies appear, Cousins grows bolder about using people to construct a serial murderer narrative that he can exploit. Willett successfully turns the true crime motif into something more than a gimmick by fleshing out Carla’s melancholy past as a child actor and leaning heavily on the bond between Carla and Amy. A few zany side plots feel a bit tangential, but it all pays off in the end. This is a treat.

July 1, 2022
Willett continues the story of now retired writing teacher Amy Gallup (The Writing Class, 2008; Amy Falls Down, 2013). Prompted by her experiences in Amy's classes, former child star Carla Karolak has launched a writing school of her own in upscale La Jolla, California. Fragile Carla has more than single issues; she has the whole subscription, which is why she barters a studio for sessions with therapist Toonie Garabedian. She still hasn't dealt with her mother's death, for instance, nor a childhood of psychological abuse. And then there's the whole molestation-by-a-co-star situation which has put her off sex, perhaps for life. When Toonie is murdered at the school, it seems to ignite a string of gruesome killings that, both tangentially and directly, lead back to Carla. As Carla's unacknowledged mentor and, surprisingly, best friend, Amy provides a voice of reason to help Carla cope with the surrounding mayhem. Willett is a witty and wise writer, and her eclectic characters shimmer with a lively charm despite the devastation in their midst.

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Starred review from July 1, 2022
In her third book about novelist and erstwhile workshop teacher Amy Gallup, a (possibly serial!) murder falls into Amy's lap, and violence, hijinks, and romance ensue. It's been several years since Amy fought off a killer writer, and she's enjoying the peace and quiet--living with her dog and "working" every day (even when that just means staring at a blank screen). Her former pupil Carla Karolak is finding success with Inspiration Point, a writing colony of sorts. Then one day Carla finds something unexpected in one of the writing cells: a body. Soon Carla, her co-worker Tiffany, the workshop crew from Amy's previous class, and Amy herself are awash in bodies, some of which are dismembered, some not. Enter a ridiculously smarmy "Writing Guru" and a gifted children's author who may or may not be a mystic. The local police will only be so much help, so Carla and Amy, plus Tiffany and former workshop member Chuck, must team up to flush out the murderer and solve the case. The energetic tongue-in-cheek tone creates an interesting complement to--and veil for--the fact that this story is both gory and psychologically intense. When Amy confronts the killer at last, Willett chooses to ascribe the pronoun it to the killer, calling it "a creature" and effectively erasing any sense of humanity while dialing up the creepiness. This decision neatly symbolizes the moral that serial killers do not deserve the fame and notoriety that often help drive their actions; Amy muses that killing for sport renders one "an error of evolution." The novel effectively refuses to excuse our own voyeuristic tendencies when it comes to serial killers, though--recognizing that it has just provided an elaborate fictional story for entertainment that centers around a brutal serial killer. What a delightfully mind-bending and complicit place to land. A riotous, breathless, winking, strangely feel-good romp.

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