Matchmaking for psychopaths

In this jaunty mashup of rom-com and serial killer thriller from Coryell (Love Letters to a Serial Killer), professional matchmaker Lexie learns that her fiancé, Noah, is leaving her for her best friend. To make matters worse, Noah announces his intentions during a dinner that Lexie expected to turn into a surprise birthday party. Raised by her mother, a convicted felon, on a steady diet of romantic comedies, Lexie embarks on a ruthless crusade to win Noah back in time for their scheduled wedding. Eventually, she ropes in her matchmaking clients--each of whom have been classified as psychopaths by Lexie's matchmaking company, unbeknownst to them--including one who's madly in love with her. When Noah goes missing amid Lexie's scheming, she starts to worry that her lovesick quest is becoming dangerous. Though the book's title gives ample notice of Coryell's intentions, casual mystery readers might find the combination of screwball comedy and slasher novel jarring, and Lexie, while memorable, isn't an easy character to like. Still, adventurous readers and fans of Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan series will enjoy this twisted romp. Agent: Katie Greenstreet, Paper Literary. (July)

This taut, tongue-in-cheek novel begins with Lexie, the daughter of two serial killers, working as a matchmaker for a very specific demographic: psychopaths. She's happily engaged to a doctor, but he dumps her for her best friend. To ease the pain of this break-up, Lexie blurs some professional boundaries and texts a client directly (without first checking to see how much of a psychopath she is). Now she has a new best friend, Rebecca. Lexie also falls in love with Aidan, who sought her out as his match through the service. But when her ex-fiancé disappears and gory gifts start arriving, Lexie begins to wonder who the psychopaths are, and if she's up to the match. With the same wry, satiric eye fans of the author's Love Letters to a Serial Killer have come to expect, Coryell creates a story that feels both campy and complex. Scenes ripped from sweet romance movies are disrupted by serial confessions or dismembered body parts, alongside deeper excavations of family relationships and how they determine what--or who--drives a person's behaviors. VERDICT For readers who find Hallmark movies a little too saccharine--and aren't squeamish when love letters include a finger or two.--Emily Bowles