Wow! this was great! Suspension from the ceiling, more murders, eyeballs in toilet tanks....Chelsea Cain is a sick, twisted author. That's all I"m going to write, as I have to read "The Night Season" now...heh heh ( )

The third book in the series seemed to deliver another powerful punch to the gut as Gretchen Lowell is still running loose and Archie Sheridan is so messed up that he remains in the hospital by his choice.

The cast of characters are about the same as the previous book as Susan, the reporter, is more involved in the story along with Henry, Archie's friend and boss. More bodies are piling up in this book and everyone including Archie thinks that Gretchen is back on track with her killing spree.

Susan finds out that there is a Gretchen Lowell fan club and with the help of Henry and Archie they delve deep into the club finding more than they bargained for as the fan club is lead by a psycho who wants to be just like Gretchen.

With Gretchen still on the run plus the new psycho in the mix, Archie and company are knee deep in bloody bodies. Will Archie and Henry be able to re-capture Gretchen? Does the Beauty Killer team stop the new psycho?

There was plenty of twists and turns, along with fast paced action as the book quickly moves along and yet again I find this serial killer series to be very captivating!

Looking forward to reading book four to see what happens next. Four stars for this one. ( )

Excellent audio (although the occasional music bugged me and didn't do much to heighten the suspense). Not for the faint of heart, but a definite recommendation to those who have a taste for psychological horrors. ( )

Evil at Heart is Chelsea Cain’s third novel featuring the beautiful serial killer Gretchen Lowell, and the detective she kidnapped and tortured, Archie Sheridan.

In a review of Heartsick, the first novel in this series, I commented: “HeartSick introduces one of the most diabolical, psychopathic, frightening serial killers in fiction – the beautiful Gretchen Lowell. Gretchen Lowell makes Hannibal Lecter look like a boy scout. Not only has she killed hundreds of victims, she likes to torture them for days before finally putting them out of their misery. She is one nasty piece of work.”

Archie Sheridan was the detective tasked to hunt her down, but Gretchen lured him in and kidnapped and tortured him. In Sweetheart, the second novel in this series, we see just how twisted Archie Sheridan really is, with his love, hate, love relationship with Gretchen that has erotic, violent overtones.

Evil at Heart finds Archie Sheridan voluntarily convalescing in a mental home getting over his addiction to painkillers. Meanwhile a “womanhunt” for Gretchen goes on, as she escaped in the last novel. But don’t think Archie is far from her mind or her heart.

As Gretchen is on the loose, a series of murders take place that appear to be copycat killers or Gretchen playing games. Archie is lured out of the hospital and onto the path of either finding Gretchen or the killer mimicking her. What he discovers is a weird cult following of the Beauty Killer and to stop the murders he has to figure out if it really is Gretchen or one of her fans.

Archie’s partner Henry and the reporter Susan Ward once again play a large role in the novel, both trying to help and protect Archie, but in their own ways.

This novel, like the previous two, is fast paced and the characters are well drawn. It was a fun and entertaining read but it does have a few minor flaws. First, even though a mystery exists to be solved, in many respects this novel is more about the cat and mouse game between Archie and Gretchen than anything else. And while I really like the characters, the novelty of Gretchen and Archie and their twisted relationship has worn off a bit. By the end of the novel I had a “been there, done that” feeling. While I still greatly enjoyed this novel, it does have a slight staleness to it as it feels a bit repetitive of the previous two. I am not sure how long these characters can be sustained placed in the same settings with the same general interactions between them.

Thus, while I definitely recommend this novel, I hope to see the author take the characters in a new, fresh direction, or move on to something new.


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I think this horribly addictive series has finally found a balance - Archie has pulled his head out of Gretchen's backside, the bitch is back (in jail), and Susan goes from strength to strength. The copycat storyline was also well played and fast paced. Onto book four! ( )