Deadly Animals

A Novel

By: Marie Tierney

Narrated by: Olivia Dowd

Long-listed, BookPage Best Books of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, 2024

This audio program includes an exclusive Q&A between the author and narrator.

Finding a dead body is not normal. But Ava is not a normal teenager. In this chillingly beautiful mystery, only the obsessive spirit of youth can save a desperate town from the savagery within.

Ava Bonney is a compassionate and studious fourteen-year-old girl with a dark secret: she has an obsessive interest in the macabre. She is fascinated by the rate at which dead animals decompose. The highway she lives by regularly offers up gifts of roadkill, and in the dead of night Ava loves nothing more than to pull her latest discovery into her roadside den and record her findings.

One night, she stumbles across the body of her classmate and, fearing that her secret ritual could be revealed, she makes an anonymous call to the police. But when Detective Seth Delahaye is given the case, Ava won’t step back—not while teenagers continue to go missing.

Racing alongside the police or against them, Ava is determined to figure out who is hunting her classmates before she becomes the next prey. How hard can it be to track a killer?

A Macmillan Audio program from Henry Holt and Company

©2024 Marie Tierney (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

Winner of the 2024 McDermid Debut Award for crime fiction

Named one of the most anticipated books of fall 2024 by Paste and CrimeReads

"Exceptional in every way, Deadly Animals is a shockingly beautiful, rare and heartbreaking gem. A story both harrowing and exquisitely told. I really can’t recommend it highly enough."–Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End

"Deadly Animals is a remarkable debut. It is funny, creepy, gory, and moving. Ava is a wonderful creation, precocious and ferociously intelligent yet vulnerable to kindness and a winning smile. As she gets closer to identifying the murderer, and the plot explodes into full-blown gothic horror, it's impossible not to root for this big-hearted child."–The Times, Best New Crime Fiction

"Ava earns readers’ investment in this macabre procedural—she’s a clever, compassionate, and resourceful protagonist with series-carrying potential. Mo Hayder fans will find much to admire."–Publishers Weekly

“𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.”

For the ones that are infatuated with bone articulation- this was fabulous.

𝘈𝘷𝘢- 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱, 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.

𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐟 𝐈𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬.

𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. This author put together a crisp, raspy story that kept me eager for more after every chapter. I figured out the protagonist early on- but that didn’t spoil the story for me.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝- there was so much poured into this, so much supporting information that was nailed on the head. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺

Different and fabulous

Great heroine. So different from other murder mysteries. Loved it. Hope there is another on the way

I love dogs and crime stories!

This was entertaining and exciting in its own little way. I knew who the killer was right away but I still love the story and it characters. Pacing was well done.