Books On Tour (Review): The Girls in the Lake

The idyllic setting of Lake Windemere in the Lake District is disturbed when a young lady is found floating face down near a boat. From that opening sequence, this is a gripping crime thriller that had me turning pages to find out “whodunit.” The author does a fantastic job of building the suspense while following the forensic clues that lead to the killer.

I liked that the heroine of this book (Beth) was a Forensic Pathologist, rather than a detective. The author went into great detail several times (I learned more about autopsies than I ever thought I would). Having the lead character not be a detective allowed for a unique perspective on the investigation.

I liked the characters, although I felt some of them could have been more developed. I would have liked to have learned a little more about the squad of detectives, but I suppose that would have taken the focus away from Beth. However, considering that one of them had a family member that figured heavily in the plot, I think we could have had a little bit more.

I did enjoy the plot. I thought it was unique, and the author did a fantastic job of keeping the reader guessing. Some clues pointed to multiple people, just like in a real-life investigation, and only someone who reads a lot of crime novels will put the pieces together faster than Beth.

Not having read the first book in the series, I missed the importance of Beth’s past and that figured heavily in the first part of the book. It didn’t wreck the narrative, but I think I would have appreciated it more had I read the first one. I intend to do so in my downtime – whenever that might be. But in spite of that, this book can be read as a stand-alone.

I recommend this book and look forward to further investigations with Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams.

Author Bio

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.