The Doll Maker was recommended to me by a friend who enjoys serial-killer mysteries/thrillers and because we both enjoyed Liv Constantine’s The Wife Stalker, I ended up really enjoying this!

The Doll Maker starts with two murders: one of a young boy caught up in a possible drug-dealing case, the other of a woman who has been tattooed to look like a doll. On the case are Agent Dakota Sharp, who never really got over the death of his sister, and Dr Tessa McGowan, a forensic pathologist who is back to try and save her marriage to Sharp. As Sharp (determined not to be distracted by Tessa) investigates, he not only uncovers links between the two murders, but also a possible connection between the murderer and Tessa.

I thought the pacing of The Doll Maker was very well done! We get a glimpse from the killer’s POV very early on in the book, which helped to keep the tension high because we knew that he was planning something that he wasn’t sharing, and the connections between the cases were slowly revealed. I was very engaged in the story throughout the entire book and found it hard to put down.

But for some reason, I didn’t fully understand a few lines of questioning in the case. I think this is why this is a mystery-thriller hybrid to me – the cat-and-mouse game on the killer’s end is more thriller-ish and the solution to who the murderer is didn’t feel as important. I actually had to reread the reveal chapter to make sure I understood why the killer’s identity was this particular person because he seemed to come out of nowhere.

While I wasn’t super happy with the reveal (I have to stop thinking of this like a fair-play mystery novel), I really liked the characters. Tessa is a really sweet and determined character and while I’m not a fan of romance storylines in general, I was rooting for her to be able to mend her relationship with Dakota. Dakota was almost stereotypical in the “determined to the point of destroying relationships” type of character, but his affection for Tessa was undeniable and that helped to humanise him.

Overall, I really enjoyed this! The Doll Maker is a fast-paced book with likeable protagonists and a very creepy killer. I’m definitely going to be reading more from Mary Burton after this!