'The Roses of May'

Author:  Dot Hutchison
Date Read:  08/26/17
Published:  05/23/17
Thomas & Mercer

Since I featured The Butterfly Garden on this blog, I feel it is only right that I include the second book in The Collectors series, Roses of May. I told a close friend of mine that I preferred Roses of May slightly more than The Butterfly Garden; however, as I clicked on my four star rating while writing my review on Goodreads, I had this strong feeling that I gave The Butterfly Garden five stars when I finished it (I was right). This means one of two things: A) I liked it a lot more than I remember or B) I was more in the mood back then for a story about a disturbed and deranged serial killer than I was when I read the last 50 pages of Roses of May.

Besides centering around a totally different serial killer, the biggest difference between the two books for me was the fact that the first book was about survival, whereas the sequel was more about living and possibly a healthy serving of vengeance/justice... Whatever you prefer to call it.

The FBI agents from the first book were still key characters in this storyline/case and there were some appearances made by two of the "butterflies" from "the garden", that helped tie the two novels together. Otherwise, I feel that they are two pretty separate entities and each could potentially be read as a stand-alone, if you so desired.

As disturbing as they were, I loved the little snippets told in the murderer's point-of-view, as he stalked and studied his victims and arranged their bodies with specific flowers after he killed them. I also loved that the "victim" was so strong, resilient, and colorful. As seventeen year-old Priya (our main character who is still haunted by her sister's murder that occurred five years ago), told her story in a voice that was so much older than her years, I became quite attached to her.

These characters and the plot were very on point (and this is not my typical genre). I hope Hutchison decides to write a third book featuring the Quantico Three. I'd totally read it in a heartbeat.