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Jade Knew All The Suspects
A Killer Among Friends follows a journalist as she investigates a friend’s murder, only to uncover dark secrets and a connection to a past tragedy—forcing her to question everyone she trusts. What inspired you to explore the theme of hidden dangers within close friendships?
I didn’t begin with this theme in mind; it developed as I wrote. The story was always going to be personal for Jade because the victim was one of her close friends who moved in the same circles. Murder is usually committed by someone known to the victim, so by default, Jade knew all the suspects.
To further interweave the main players’ personal and professional lives, I had them work together in a startup IT company—all except Jade, which made her feel excluded. As she uncovered dark secrets about her friends, her sense of isolation and disorientation escalated and through her experience, I started asking: What if someone you knew was a criminal? How would it make you feel about your judgement of human nature? How would it impact your ability to trust others?
How did you approach balancing multiple perspectives while maintaining suspense?
My first draft only had Jade’s perspective in the present day. I set it aside for some time to work on other projects, then came back to it and did a major rewrite. I wanted to show Jade’s best friend Elena when she was alive, so readers could witness what happened in scene rather than hearing a character relay it to Jade in dialogue, and considered several possible points of view.
Eventually, I chose Danny because he was privy to information Jade didn’t have, and he adored Elena and would present her in a biased and glowing light. Jade and Danny each have past and present sections.
Once I had Danny’s chapters on the page, I made color-coded index cards of every scene in the novel and placed them on a table in order. I highlighted each key reveal, and moved the cards around to figure out when these pivotal moments would have the greatest impact. It was a huge mind puzzle.
Did any real-life events or cases influence the mystery in A Killer Among Friends?
In book one, The Godfather of Dance, I wrote about a family involved in money laundering, but I really didn’t know a lot about financial crimes, so I did more research.
Among other things, I found The Sure Thing, a fabulous podcast series by Angus Griggs of the Australian Financial Review, about Australia’s biggest insider trading scam by Christopher Hill and Lukas Kamay. The simplicity of it, the audacity is mind-blowing. These cases are extremely difficult to prove, and if they hadn’t got greedy, they would have got away with it.
I wanted my characters to have a similar fearlessness, a youthful assumption that they’d get away with their crimes.
Without spoilers, can you hint at what’s next for Jade Riley in future installments?
Book three, The Man in the Dam, is out in December.
Murder. Theater. Community secrets.
Journalist Jade Riley hosts a dinner party at her parents’ idyllic property in Mansfield, an area alive with the rustles and chirps of the Australian bush. She invites members of the local amateur theater society: a photographer, a lawyer, a fire investigator, a teacher, a bookshop owner, and a farmer. It may sound like the opening to a joke, but when Jade wakes the next morning to find one of her guests dead in a dam, the punchline falls flat.
As Jade investigates, she soon discovers each guest is playing a role—some parts with lethal consequences.
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Soon after journalist Jade returns from abroad to her hometown, Melbourne, her friend Nick is found dead in a dumpster. She turns to their tight-knit circle for answers, only to uncover a web of lies.
Mounting evidence suggests her best friend Elena’s suicide three years earlier is connected. Was she, too, murdered?
As Jade closes in on the killer, she realizes the suspects are all people she loves. Her life depends on knowing which of them to trust.
“A compelling whodunnit. Jade is a complex, feisty character, battling her own demons and insecurities.” Lisa Darcy, author The Pact
A Killer Among Friends
A Killer Among Friends by Andrea Barton, the second installment in The Jade Riley Mysteries series, delivers an immersive and suspenseful thriller that keeps readers guessing until the final revelation. Jade Riley, the protagonist, appears surrounded by a close-knit circle of friends. But when one of them turns up dead under mysterious circumstances, her world unravels. Driven by her burgeoning career in journalism and an insatiable thirst for answers, Jade puts her life on hold to unravel the truth. Her investigation, painstaking and solitary, begins to expose unsettling cracks in her friendships. Trust erodes as suspicions arise, leaving Jade to navigate the dangerous terrain of deceit and hidden motives. As the case deepens, an alarming question emerges: could this murder be tied to the alleged suicide of another friend years earlier? The chilling possibility of a killer lurking among those closest to her sets the stakes sky-high.
This novel is a quintessential thriller, replete with mystery, suspense, and a meticulously woven plot that invites readers to piece together clues and form their own theories. Barton’s dynamic narration shifts between characters’ perspectives and timelines, enriching the story’s complexity. Much of the unfolding drama is revealed through Jade’s determined pursuit of answers, which leads her to interview her friends and uncover their secrets. Each revelation expands the plot, intensifying the suspense as suspicions and theories pile up. Barton blurs the lines between innocence and guilt, ensuring that every character feels both suspicious and trustworthy in equal measure—a balancing act that keeps readers engrossed.
The multiple perspectives are a standout feature, offering layered insights into the mystery. Each character’s viewpoint forces readers to question their reliability, adding a psychological depth that heightens the tension. Barton’s ability to delve into her characters’ inner worlds makes even the smallest details feel consequential, compelling readers to scrutinize every interaction for signs of duplicity. The distinct and seemingly charming personalities of Jade’s friends make the truth harder to pin down, with the specter of a hidden predator lurking behind a facade of normalcy.
Though part of a series, A Killer Among Friends works as a standalone novel. Its intricate narrative, filled with twists and well-placed clues, provides a riveting reading experience from start to finish. Barton’s skillful storytelling and the novel’s gripping mystery will captivate any fan of the genre, making this book a must-read for lovers of high-stakes suspense.
Pages: 325 | ASIN: B0DN6TYDGV
LITERARY TITAN 