The Girl at My Door. Rebecca Griffiths

Before I say anything else I’m going to say I loved this book.

Why say that, because I don’t think I’m going to be able to do the book justice.

It’s a slow burner to start with, almost to the point of a “cozy-crime” story, but it’s far from that.

It’s gripping and chilling.

Set in London just after the war, amongst the clubs of Soho the book is filled with great characters, and not all of them are fictional.

Queen is Osbourne is a Jazz singer with a dream. Unfortunately her dream is shattered and she ends up on the door step of a man she has been told will help her.

What she doesn’t know is that she is walking into the hands of a serial killer, John Reginald Christie.

I was surprised I had never heard of this real life killer. A Google search soon put that right, and sent me down a rabbit hole of research for hours.

Christie has been watching Queenie for a long time, today we’d call it stalking, and now she’s at his door.

What follows is a brilliant story that weaves fact with fiction in such a way as it’s almost like reading a true-account story as it happens.

There are some great characters in the book, the settings are atmospheric in a way that suits the story and adds that pinch off suspense.

I really did enjoy this.

If you like books by people like Simon Michael and Ray Celestin you will love this. Fact woven with fiction is a brilliant sub-genre within the crime fiction section of the book shelves.

And now there is a new writer in their ranks Rebecca Griffiths has written an absolute cracker

Pages: 379. Publisher: Bookouture. Available now. Audio and ebook