Mystery/Thriller -- 4 stars
Elle Castillo hosts a podcast dedicated to solving cold cases, focusing on those involving children. Twenty years ago, young women and then girls were abducted and killed--each one a year younger than the previous victim. When the 11 year-old victim escaped, the killings stopped, and it was assumed the killer died in a fire at the house from where his young victim had escaped. His identity was never certain, but now that Elle is dedicating her podcast to The Countdown Killer, she may be playing with a flame that is alarmingly close to home. ----- This is a story whose time and style has come. Told largely in transcripts of Elle's podcast, her interviews and host comments slowly peel the layers off this twenty year old mystery. The transcripts read "true," making me feel that, rather than reading, I was listening in real time, which added an urgency that feeds the story well. An ending twist surprises and ties the story in a neat bow.
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