Emily Shiner

Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner is a recommended crime thriller and the first book in a series featuring Detective Freya Sinclair

After five years in Texas, Detective Freya Sinclair has returned to her hometown, Fawn Lake, North Carolina. The community knows her history and some will hold her background against her while others are happy to have her back working for their police department again. On her first day back the body of a young girl is pulled from the river. With no report of a missing girl, Freya and Detective Candy Ettinger along with help from Officer Brad Williams, immediately start trying to find the child's identity but before they do another young girl is reported missing.

Although Freya's background is referred to and hinted at throughout the novel, the total story isn't told until the end. This plot device didn't work well at all in the novel. Disclosing Freya's back story right away would have made Freya a more compelling and sympathetic character. Readers will still be supporting her investigative abilities, hoping she finds evidence and pieces clues together quickly before something else happens to some other little girl, but they aren't going to understand some of the interactions she has with others.

The writing is good and the investigation takes a logical direction. On the other hand, the plot moves a little slowly and the final denouement required too much suspension of disbelief. Additionally, there was a part of the investigation that really annoyed me for numerous reasons but to say anything would be a huge spoiler. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2024/04/three-drowned-girls.html… (más)

Second in series, mystery thriller set in Fawn Lake.

Detective Freya Sinclair is investigating the murders of two women found up in the Clear Creek Forest and wonders if the similarities found on autopsy indicate that an old nemesis has resumed his work. The Fawn Lake Killer was never caught, and the area was once his hunting ground. Then another victim is found in Freya's own backyard. Someone is taunting her. And it's freaky that the women are missing their tongues -- what signal is the villain sending? The dead women must be connected. Freya and her team try to put the few clues together.

This was another fast paced read that was easy to finish in a single sitting. Freya is a good detective, but honestly, the woman is wearing me out just reading about her. Give her some food, much more sleep, a bit of physical therapy, and seriously strong pain meds. And tell the Chief to back off, he's definitely on my last nerve always trying to suspend her or get her off the case. It makes no sense since she always solves it. I did not find the plot of this to be all that deep and no twists as most of what happened was predictable. Several loose ends remained. I wish we could rate with half stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.… (más)

Something bad was happening in Fawn Lake.

Freya Sinclair, a Captain in the local police department, has just returned to the town where she grew up. She'd had to leave for a time after discovering that her parents were serial killers and getting them put in prison. On her first day of work, she is called to the scene where the body of a young girl has been discovered alongside the river. As the investigation heats up to determine that this was foul play, more young girls go missing.

This was a fast and entertaining crime thriller and the first in a new series featuring Captain Freya Sinclair and her team in this small North Carolina town. I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook at the same time enjoying the excellent narration -- especially the accents. I liked the characters and the backstory that revealed some of Freya's history. The plot was interesting and though there were a lot of characters to keep straight, the police investigation and their discoveries were really dark and wild. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing this series and will be looking for the audiobook before I dive in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copies.… (más)

OMG! This book is fantastic! The Waitress is one of the best, if not the best, psychological thriller I have ever read. With a twisty ending, I was totally surprised when the reveal was made on the last page.

As I was reading, I wondered why the book title was about Anne Marie. After all, most of the story was about her son's bad choices. However, Anne Marie was spending all her time trying to fix the problems that Dave brought to her. There were so many and, one by one, she addressed them wholeheartedly. She was trying to prevent her son from becoming like his evil father.

While there were several hit and run car accidents that Dave was involved with, what forced Dave into good behavior was the blackmailed threats left in their doorstep. These threats are what Anne Marie feels she must address in order to protect him. In this sense, the blackmail was more important to the plot than the accidents. As the story advanced it was apparent that Anne Marie was just as messed up as Dave. She believed that his behavior was inherited from his father. Anne Marie had issues of her own that Dave most likely picked up from being raised by her.

The writing was suspenseful and I was blown away by the ending. It was a shocker that I did not see coming. In fact, I reread the last 3 pages three times in order to confirm what I thought that I had read because it was so unexpected.

This is a must read.… (más)