I have another review to share today for another cracker of a book, The Girls in the Lake by Helen Phifer. Huge thanks to Noelle Holten of Bookouture for the invite and a copy of the book via NetGalley.
About the book
Peering over the side of the boat, the glare of early morning sun catches on something pale in the inky water. The boy’s curious fingertips break the surface, pulling up a tangle of long blonde hair from the reeds below…
The discovery of a young student floating face down in Lake Windermere, her naked skin almost translucent in the freezing water, looks like yet another tragic teen suicide. But the victim’s lack of clothes make Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams want to investigate further. Anything to distract her from the arrival of her abusive ex-boyfriend’s body on the mortuary table that morning.
With witnesses keeping tight-lipped and any clues washed away by the tides, it’s up to Beth to find the evidence her team needs. But then another girl is found in the lake, this time still clinging to life. She tells them she was at a party on a boat, and that she was pushed…
As more bodies surface, Beth finds tiny traces of boat paint present on each victim. It’s a critical lead that links these attacks back to a tragic accident involving a group of school children years ago.
Faced with a killer hungry for revenge, and with her own life spiralling out of control, it’s going to take every ounce of skill and determination for Beth to catch this monster before he takes another innocent life. But will Beth realise he’s been right beside her all along?
An absolutely unputdownable serial killer thriller that will have you sleeping with the lights on. Fans of Patricia Gibney, LJ Ross and Angela Marsons will have to hold on tight for this nail-biting rollercoaster ride!
The Girls in the Lake is available to purchase now – Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo | Google play
My thoughts
The Girls in the Lake is the second instalment in the Beth Adams series and although it could easily be read as a stand-alone I do highly recommend reading The Girl in the Grave first, not only because it’s a cracker but because it really gives you feel for Beth and what she’s been through.
Beth, a forensic pathologist and her boyfriend Josh, who works in the police get an early morning call, a body has been found in Lake Windermere. What looks like a tragic teen suicide ends up being a bit more complicated and Beth is determined to find out what is going on.
I really like Beth, it’s nice to see her in a relationship with Josh and she finally seems happy although they do have a few ups and downs and I could have screamed at the pair of them to sort it out but she’s a great character and I’m really enjoying seeing her develop in these stories.
I will admit that I did have a good idea of who was responsible from quite early on, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book though. I still raced through it totally gripped and if it had been a physical book I think the pages would have been on fire with the speed. I just got so engrossed and with quite short chapters it’s easy to get totally lost in the story.
And like I said, I really like Beth but I was quite frustrated at how she put herself in danger, I won’t say what she was doing so I don’t spoil it for you though. I was sitting thinking would a forensic pathologist really do that, no I don’t think they would, but Beth would because she really cares about the victims, the people that come into her mortuary and it makes her a little bit more special.
The Girls in the Lake is a cracker of a story. The characters really come to life and it’s easy to get swept up in the story and with twists and turns I kept second guessing myself but I gave myself a pat on the back when I found out I was right.
I’m really looking forward to reading book three now, hopefully we don’t have too long to wait.
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About the author
Helen Phifer lives in a small town called Barrow-in-Furness with her husband and five children.
Helen has always loved writing and reading. Her love of horror films and novels is legendary. Helen adores reading books which make the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Unable to find enough scary stories to read she decided to write her own.
You can connect with Helen at the following – Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Website
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