Very possibly the best crime fiction book since Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, Real Easy is turn-your-phone-off-and-cancel-all-your-meetings gripping. But it is also so much more than that: every character is instantly alive and recognisable the moment they appear on the page; the writing is sustainedly beautiful and intelligent, at times lyrical, at others, sassy and crackling; and the psychological underpinnings are unerring, resonant, utterly convincing. This book is a winner, whichever way you turn it

This book blew me away. Real Easy is an electric thrill ride that takes a hard look at the high price women pay for men’s desire. Rutkoski renders her characters with exquisite compassion and detail, even as the book accelerates toward an unforgettable conclusion. Gritty, glittery, and pulsing with life

With a fully-realized world, a compelling mystery, fascinating characters, and beautiful prose, Marie Rutkoski’s Real Easy will capture readers and stay in their minds forever. It is absolutely unputdownable.

Bold, compelling, brutal and brilliant. On the surface Real Easy is the kind of gritty, gripping mystery I just adore, yet it’s also full of heart and hope and the most endearing characters.

Rutkoski is that rare gem: a writer whose prose is as splendid as her plotting. The result is a taut thriller with the potency of a poem, a propulsive story at once brutal, elegant, and impossible to put down.

This is what crime fiction should be. Authentic in tone, fearless in execution. Masterfully crafted, irresistibly readable. An instant classic.

With gorgeous prose, well-drawn characters, and crackling suspense, Real Easy is an unforgettable thriller that stuck with me long after the last page. Beneath the drum-tight plot is a brilliant examination of femininity, safety, and the roles women play. I couldn’t put it down

Authentic, gritty and moving with taut, controlled prose – a very impressive debut

A stunner. A feminist crime novel about a strip club and the women who work there. I couldn’t put it down

Multiple narrators including dancers, their relatives, detectives, club patrons and the killer himself offer a kaleidoscopic view of a morally precarious world where male desire is a whisker away from male violence. With a cast of fully realised characters – the cops have troubles of their own, and life at the club, with its overlay of sleazy glamour, is balanced by domestic vignettes and quotidian concerns – this is a familiar story told in a way that packs a real emotional punch.

More interested in psychology than in thrills, but always holds your gaze

A serial killer novel with a difference, avoiding sensationalism and focusing on the vulnerability of the victims

A bold, female-centric thriller

A literary crime novel in the Gillian Flynn mould, with real heart and soul