Book Review: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin @megangoldin @TheMirrorBooks #TheNightSwim

Massive thank you to Mirror Books for the opportunity to be on the blog tour today and for the copy of the book via NetGalley.

About the book

Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name – and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognised for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.


The new season of Rachel’s podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation – but the mysterious letters keep coming. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered – and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases – and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

The Night Swim is available to purchase now – Amazon

My thoughts

Wow, wow, wow. What a devilishly blooming good read this book is. I’m stuck for words if I’m honest, I have so much I want to say but can’t because I don’t want to spoil anything for you but I’ll have a try.

Rachel hosts a podcast that investigates True crime, it’s popular and everyone knows Rachel’s voice but Rachel has tried her hardest to keep her face anonymous. When she heads to the small town of Neapolis to report on the trial of a rape case it seems that maybe Rachel hasn’t been as careful as she thought when notes mysteriously appear asking her for help.

The rape trial has thrown the town upside down, everyone has an opinion and Rachel throws herself into investigating but the letters she’s receiving are playing on her mind. Jenny Stills died 25 years ago in Neapolis, accidental drowning was the verdict but her sister Hannah doesn’t believe that’s the case and needs Rachel’s help to prove it.

I really wasn’t prepared for how invested I would become in this book, it was almost as if the author had cast a spell over me and no matter how many times I tried to put the book down I couldn’t. With two mysteries in this story I loved how the author managed to blend them together bringing the past and the present to life.

Rape is a difficult subject but it’s a blooming important one and as I was reading my heart was aching. The trauma that is endured during and after for the victims broke me, the repercussions that it has not only on the victims lives but their families too is so heart breaking.

The small town setting showed how reputations can be formed and how they stick and how money really does divide people. When everyone knows everyone, they all have an opinion on each other and Chinese whispers become a reality in some folks minds and they’re rarely forgotten.

The Night Swim is suspenseful and tense and along with the rape trial the investigation into Jenny Stills had me holding my breath. The reader is drip fed information throughout the book about both cases and I have to say I was just totally hooked. With its intricate layers and wonderful writing, The Night Swim has made it into my top books for this year.