The Roses of May
Series: The Collector Trilogy / Book: 2
It took me awhile, but I finally got around to picking up the second book in The Collector Trilogy. This novel was different than I expected. I didn’t really have an anticipation for what this book should have been, but I at least thought it would pick up with the Gardener’s storyline again. Instead, the book uses the butterfly girls as a side story, and focuses primarily on a completely new serial killer and his victims. This man focuses on young girls who are still pure and who haven’t been jaded by the cruel world of adulthood. Every spring he leave a new body in a church covered in flowers. Who has he set his sights on now? And is she willing to go as easily as the others?
For the fact that I didn’t expect a new storyline to emerge in this book, I really loved it. In fact, looking back on it, I’m not sure a whole lot more could have been milked out of the Gardener angle. There is a loose thread that connects the two cases (the FBI detectives), and the characters from each case end up interacting, but this storyline is just as engrossing. I also liked the fact that there is a large difference in the two books; in this novel, we don’t know who the killer is until the end where as the first novel introduced the killer from almost the beginning. This second installation is also far less brutal in its description of the torture endured by the victims. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a pretty dark plot, but nothing like the first book.
I say read this one if you love the Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French.
Malia's Pizza Rating
Oreos dessert pizza.