Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Thriller / suspense fiction

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

Elisabeth de Mariaffi

Set in Toronto, 1993 during the infamous Paul Bernardo serial killer murder case this debut thriller features cub-reporter who is haunted by the unsolved 1982 murder of her best friend and who begins to obsess that she is being stalked as she attempts to solve the cold case.

A murderer’s arrest strikes too close to home for rookie reporter Evie Jones, bringing haunting memories of her childhood best friend’s unsolved murder – and a stalker – right to her doorstep. Evie is haunted by the unsolved murder of her best friend Lianne Gagnon in 1982, back when both girls were eleven. The suspected killer, a repeat offender named Robert Cameron, was never apprehended.

Now twenty-two and living alone for the first time, Evie is obsessively drawn to researching the real story of who killed Lianne. She leans on childhood friend David Patton for help – but why does every trail seem to lead back to David’s own father, Graham? As she gets closer and closer to the truth, Evie becomes convinced that the killer is still at large – and that he’s coming back for her.

Elisabeth de Mariaffi is a celebrated author of short stories, was longlisted for the prestigious Giller Prize in Canada, and her poetry and short fiction have been widely published in magazines across Canada. She's also one of the creators of the highly original Toronto Poetry Vendors, a small press that sells single poems by established Canadian poets through vending machines.

De Mariaffi works as a publicist at a small press in Canada.

Available products
Book Published 2015-01-13 by Touchstone
Book Published 2015-01-13 by Touchstone

Comments

Take wit of Gone Girl, the horror of Helter Skelter, the twists of In Cold Blood, and the wisdom of Joan Didion's The White Album, and you feel the thrill of reading THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. Elisabeth de Mariaffi has written a brilliant and thoughtful thriller that is tense, funny, scary, smart, and true. Her clear-eyed insight into the kind of fear that women carry through life resonated deeply with me.

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is a gripping literary thriller that will get under your skin and burrow into your every waking thought. You'll see a little bit of yourself in Evie Jones, and you'll find yourself looking over your shoulder even more after reading this creepy, chilling, and hauntingly beautiful book.

Evie is a tough, wisecracking narrator worthy of the greatest private-eye pulp novels. With so many thrillers cheaply exploiting violence against girls and women, de Mariaffi's treatment of the topic, through Evie's vulnerable yet empowered voice, is refreshingly reverent.

I read The Devil You Know all at once, in gulps, on the weekend. I was home alone -- mistake. Every little creak and bump - even a leaf that blew against the window - made me jump. I found myself turning off all the lights in the house, so nobody could see me. This story is creepy, dark, and addictive. It's a really smart thriller -- and it feels true, which makes it all the more frightening.

A first novel rich with menace and psychological depth, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW transports in the dangerous way of a nightmare but remains grounded—even more dangerously—in the way of a documentary. Elisabeth de Mariaffi delivers a thriller that thrills in so many ways.

Elisabeth de Mariaffi conjures an atmosphere that is both light and dark, familiar and off-kilter, nostalgic and hard-edged, and, ultimately, all the more chilling for being anchored in reality. . . . You won't sleep till you get to the end.

UK: Titan Books

[De Mariaffi] expertly builds suspense throughout this character-driven debut novel. As it nears its climax, readers will dread turning the pages for fear of what comes next . . . . Give this one to patrons who can't get enough of creepy, psychological thrillers.

Hooked readers will silently implore Evie to refrain from entering a basement or a cabin in the woods in pursuit of a story—and a killer. Read more...

De Mariaffi delivers the requisite heart-in-mouth moments of pure paranoia, but she balances these thrills with shrewd character studies and the odd nugget of wisdom.