Hydra (Six Stories #2) by Matt Wesolowski

From Goodreads

A family massacre. A deluded murderess. Five witnesses. Six stories. Which one is true?

One cold November night in 2014, in a small town in the north west of England, 21-year-old Arla Macleod bludgeoned her mother, father and younger sister to death with a hammer, in an unprovoked attack known as the Macleod Massacre. Now incarcerated at a medium-security mental-health institution, Arla will speak to no one but Scott King, an investigative journalist, whose Six Stories podcasts have become an internet sensation.

King finds himself immersed in an increasingly complex case, interviewing five witnesses and Arla herself, as he questions whether Arla’s responsibility for the massacre was as diminished as her legal team made out.

As he unpicks the stories, he finds himself thrust into a world of deadly forbidden ‘games’, online trolls, and the mysterious black-eyed kids, whose presence seems to extend far beyond the delusions of a murderess…

Dark, chilling and gripping, Hydra is both a classic murder mystery and an up-to-the-minute, startling thriller, that shines light in places you may never, ever want to see again.

My thoughts

I gave this a 4 stars or 8/10.

Hydra is the second story in the Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowski.  The Author has an unusual and refreshing way of relating his stories to us as a series of podcasts.

Scott King is an investigative journalist who started the Six Stories podcasts, which have become very popular on the internet. He speaks to people involved with certain cases and his unique way of interviewing these people form the basis of his podcasts.

In this story a family have been killed and Scott King tries to determine what it was that drove Arla Macleod, the main suspect and perpetrator of this seemingly unprovoked attack to carry out this crime. As he interviews five witnesses and Arla herself, he aims to give all the evidence necessary to prove Arla's guilt.

This is a well written story, that aims to set out everything that the reader needs to know about the crime in the podcasts. It gives the back story to the characters and helps you form your own opinions along the way.

I also enjoyed this story that little bit more, as it was set for the main part in the part of the UK that I live, so it was even more engaging when the Author was writing about the area.

I have the next one in the series Changeling ready to read.