Angie is a cop who works in sex crimes and is assigned a case where a young woman is assaulted in a similar manner to several previous cases she works. When the girl dies and a dead body turns up with signs that it was all done by the same person, Angie is temporarily transferred to homicide and partnered with a new detective - whom, it turns out, she had had a one-night stand with the previous night. This was kind of a mystery/suspense mixed with a romance novel, and there were a lot more sex scenes than I am used to reading in this type of book. Not really my thing, but I still enjoyed the book. It seems like this is going to be part of a series, and I would be interested in a second book (which apparently will focus on a personal sort of "mystery" from Angie's past. I'd like to read more about that.) Overall a pretty good book. I'd probably say 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4.

3.5 Stars

I don't really know how to rate this book. I didn't start really liking it until about 60% in, but from then on, I really, really liked it.
What I liked:
The mystery of who the killer was. We only know him by his serial killer name and have no clue who he is and why he picked these girls until almost the end.
The action at the end when everything came to a head. I was on the edge of my seat, anxious over how things would play out.
The sex (this will be on the like and dislike list) between Angie and Maddox was usually pretty hot together.
What I disliked:
There.Were.Too.Many.Povs. Sometimes I didn't even know who the heck I was reading about until a few paragraphs into a chapter, and often I had to think really hard to remember who the person was anyway.
Angie's issues would have been great... In another story. I was waiting and waiting for her issues to correlate with the story, and to me, they just never did. (Maddox had issues as well, but they were a big part of the story.)
The sex (I told you it would be down here) was sometimes oddly timed. I'm reading about mutilated girls, then all the sudden I'm reading about sex and it's like, I like it dirty but geesh this is awkward.
There wasn't much going on in the beginning. Yes, the detectives were connecting the dots but I was so bored at times.
But... Around 60%, things really picked up. That bumped up my rating a lot. Overall, I'd say the beginning was shaky, but the ending made it a decent read.

his was SO good! I have been wanting this type of read for so long, and by that I mean a book that is suspenseful, has an element of romance, is an interesting crime procedural but hits that balance between detail and not being boring. I am so happy this will be a series! Angie is the perfect MC of these books - smart, complex, fierce and far from perfect but so real. I just devoured this book - it had seriously creepy elements almost like Silence of the Lambs but it was also straightforward in just trying to catch a serial killer. The setting is on the island of Victoria, BC and was perfect. Loreth Anne White is a master at atmosphere! Sometimes it's hardest to review books that shine and this is one such instance but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book and you should definitely pick up this series.

The Drowned Girls comes soon on June 20, 2017, and you can purchase HERE. This book was so good and I can't wait for book two, The Lullaby Girl, which is scheduled to be released later this year on November 14, 2017, and you can pre-order HERE.

We all lie.

We all guard secrets--sometimes terrible ones--a side to us so dark, so shameful, that we quickly avert our eyes from the shadow we might glimpse in the mirror.

Instead we lock our dark halves deep in the basement of our souls. And on the surface of our lives, we work industriously to shape the public story of our selves. We say, "Look, world, this is me." We craft posts on social media . . See this wonderful lunch I'm eating at the trendy restaurant with my besties, see my sexy shoes, my cute puppy, boyfriend, tight as sin a bikini. See my gloriously perfect life . . . see what a fucking fabulous time I'm having drunk and at this party with my boobs swelling out of my sparkly tank top. Just look at those hot guys draped all over me. Aren't you jealous . . .

And then you wait to see how many people LIKE this fabricated version of yourself, your mood hinging on the number of clicks. Comments. Who commented.

But darkness has a way of seeping through the cracks. It seeks the light . . .

I didn't even need to read the blurb to know that I want to read a Loreth Anne White's book.
As soon as I saw this cover and saw her name, my finger was requesting the book.

The Drowned Girls is everything I have come to expect from Loreth Anne White. Her characters are always well developed and interesting. Usually, they are damaged and trying to find their way.

Our main characters are Detective Angie Pallorino and James Maddocks.

Detective Angie Pallorino is trying her best to get a promotion into Homicide. However, her personal and professional life are both in turmoil. Her mother suffers from early dementia and schizophrenia. She was recently placed in a long term facility. When Angie starts seeing a little girl with red hair, she wonders if she's getting sick like her mother did. In regards to her job, months ago, she lost her partner and a small child and she blames herself for it. Some of her co-workers also seem to think she's to blame and she is confronted with multiple cold shoulders. Furthermore, Angie has some control issues and she constantly has to fight her anger issues. Starting a relationship is the last thing she wants especially when her new sex crime case involves a teenager who has been raped and almost drowned. She also has been marked with a cross on her face. This reminds Angie of a couple of cold cases from years past.

James Maddocks has relocated to Victoria to be closer to his daughter. His job destroyed his marriage and he's trying to salvage his relationship with Ginny. He believes he has time to repair the damage until he's called to the scene of a homicide. A girl has been found floating in the water. His job is to find the killer. The more they learn about Jane Doe, the more similarities they find with a recent sex crime victim.

When Angie and James's path cross for the second time, they know they are in trouble. They are thrown together as temporary partners as part of the same task force to capture this serial killer. Yet, no one must know they met the night before and had a hot interlude.

The Drowned Girls is a fantastic thriller with amazing characters. I couldn't put this book down. The narrative demands your attention. It's impossible not to become involved with the characters. I liked the twists in the story as well as the addition of the killer's POV.

As I realized this was turning into a series, I couldn't wait to find out what happens next. I need the second book now. I do hope we learn more about Angie's past and also everything about Kjel, the celibate cop.

Cliffhanger: No

4.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Montlake Romance via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review goes live on Butterfly-o-Meter Books on June 30 at 00.00 am gmt+2 and will show up on Goodreads sometime later.

In a Flutter: Twisty and exciting
Fluttering Thoughts:
Worldbuilding: The Victoria setting, pre-Christmas, with its moody weather was a great boost to the story, giving events and scenes a stark sort of background.
Characters: Angie was pretty easy to like, a layered character determined to make it in a man’s world. She was a bit broken, a bit blue, and a mystery even to herself. I liked how much of a rebel she was and how guarded. And yet she was loyal, and sweet in her own way.
I really liked her and Maddocks together, aside his alpha hotness, they had great chemistry and I loved their back and forward.
Plot: The mystery of the serial rapist plus a murder was creepy, exciting, and tense. The coworkers romance trope was also fun and increased tension nicely. The story had a nice pace and it was engaging.
Writing: Third person past tense narrative, multiple POV which I don’t enjoy generally, but it was more of Angie’s POV which I did enjoy.
Curb Appeal: Kickass cover, hooking blurb – impulsive buy material for my thirllery/mystery moods.

The Drowned Girls was a really good start to a series that I have every intention to follow. I recommend it to fans of serial offenders and procedurals.

3.25 – 3.5 STARS

Struggling with the demons that control her personal life, Detective Angie Pallorino engages in risky sexual behavior as a type of coping mechanism. But when her latest conquest turns out to be her new temporary partner on a joint investigative task force, Angie must navigate the choppy waters that separate her personal and professional life.

When James Maddocks is called to the crime scene of a drowned woman who appears to be the latest victim of a serial rapist, the last thing he expects is to be teamed up with the woman who had him handcuffed to a bed just hours earlier. But despite the possibility of crossing lines that shouldn’t be crossed, Maddocks finds himself undeniably drawn to this irascible woman he now calls partner.

Determined to prove herself worthy of a position in the homicide division by taking down the rapist who eluded her grasp two years prior, Angie begrudgingly works alongside the man who holds her professional fate in his hands--a man she tries to keep at a safe distance, despite her inability to forget their brief but satisfying sexual encounter.

Angie has never been a good team player, always preferring to work alone, and often disobeying orders. But when Angie has hallucinations that cause her to act out violently, it leads her to the discovery of an unsettling truth about her childhood while putting her job in dire jeopardy. At the same time, it forces Maddocks into choosing between his own job and the woman he’s fallen hard for.

While this is exactly the type of story that usually grabs ahold of me and refuses to let go, the pace of this particular story was much too slow and drawn out for my personal liking. Angie, herself, was a bit of a conundrum. I wanted to like her, to feel sorry for her, and yes, even root for her, but I just had a hard time getting past her impenetrable shell. And while I liked Maddocks and his unwavering faith in Angie, it just wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of intrigue and suspense. But despite its many flaws, this first book in author Loreth Anne White’s Angie Pallorino series, does have its merits--not the least of which, is its segway into a possibly more interesting second story.

I tend to like dark mysteries with complicated, damaged heroes/heroines, and The Drowned Girls fits the bill.

Angie Pallorino is a detective with the sex crimes unit in a small coastal city in western Canada. Both her professional and private lives are a mess. In a recent case, she lost both her partner and an abused toddler she was trying to save and she faces hostility from the old boys club in the department. Personally, her mother was just institutionalized for schizophrenia and Angie herself has been hallucinating a small girl speaking urgently in a language not quite familiar, so she eases her tensions by seeking anonymous sex with men at a strip club.

One of those anonymous men turns out to be James Maddocks, the new detective in the homicide unit, a position for which Angie had been vying for years. When a serial killer case intersects with an old series of brutal rapes that Angie had worked on but never solved, she and Maddocks must work together to solve it. Professional considerations collide with personal, and the mutual attraction only grows.

The mystery turns out to be a bit convoluted, and like the investigation, the story is a bit slow to start. As Angie works the case, some inconsistencies in her own history demand attention, and we start to learn why she is as broken as she is. While there were some details of the story that were not quite believable, the narrative became more gripping as it galloped toward the finish.

The main characters, Angie and James, are interesting and likable, but the story has some side characters that are equally appealing. I'm especially looking forward to learning more about Kjel [but was very disappointed that Merry was killed (hide spoiler)].

All in all, a strong start to the series. I'll look for the next one.

There’s no doubt that Loreth Anne White writes excellent police procedurals in their gritty, brutal glory. Her angst-ridden characters, worn down by the nature of their work, are jaded and cynical with nary an ounce of optimism in them and as we tend to learn at the start of the book, wrestle with their own broken lives as they keep disappointing their families before they find some kind of equilibrium by the end of it. Their behaviours tend to mirror the nature of the crimes they’re investigating, stopping short of going past the grey areas into the forbidden and while the psychology behind it all is intriguing, I always find myself coming out of every White suspense read unsure, uncertain and strangely in need of a thorough cleaning.

Irascible, combative and abrasive, Angie Pallorino is straight out, a character difficult to like or side with, unlike a typical romance heroine for whom an author tries to get the readers to have an affinity. Everything about her, like White’s protagonists, can and does rub me the wrong way especially in the manner she uses people and men. But her tenacity is also what makes her a good detective and her career is probably all she has. Like Angie, James Maddocks is running on his own fumes, rebuilding his life in a place where he can hopefully also rebuild his relationship with his daughter. They don’t get off to the best start: a one night stand that ends in coitus interruptus followed by a hostile meeting at the work place. But Maddocks is the upstanding, strong one who’s got his head on relatively straight in contrast and I liked that steadying presence he seems to provide throughout.

There’s very little on the romance in White’s latest suspense books and this is no different. The multiple POVs and the doubts cast on each and every character does a good job of distancing you from them, bringing into focus instead, the complicated but excellent set up of the crime scenes. The search for justice and laborious police work are White’s focal points—along with the superb Hitchcockian suspense kind of writing—and her characters merely players as they try to untangle this web of brutal deaths. It’s packed with tons of details that makes it a difficult read in that sense, and heavy-going in a way gritty crime fiction can be, which naturally brings me to the question that I’ve always struggled with when it comes to romantic suspense that’s heavy on the suspense: is it possible to ‘love’ a read when it’s simply about the case (that’s fantastically set up, no doubt), even if there are characters you don’t exactly connect with or feel for?

Angie’s story however, is pretty much unfinished. ‘The Drowned Girls’ seems to end on tenterhooks, on a tipsy toast that hopes for a better tomorrow, but with the sequel in store, you just know it’s going to unravel once more, until you’re back down through the looking glass, as dislocated as the characters who themselves don’t know any better but to screw things up.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Montlake Romance for an advance copy of The Drowned Girls, the first novel in the Victoria, Canada based police procedural series featuring detective Angie Pallurino.

Angie is a bit of a mess with her life out of control. She is indulging in her usual decompression habit, mindless sex with a stranger, when she gets the call to go out to a scene. A young girl has been seriously attacked and posed, barely alive, at the foot of a gravestone. In the meantime newly appointed sergeant, James Maddocks, has been asked to head up the enquiry into the murder of a young girl found in the bay. When Angie's victim dies it soon becomes clear that the two cases are linked and possibly linked to two unsolved rapes Angie investigated two years previously. She is asked to join the new task force only to discover that Maddocks was the stranger she left the night before.

I thoroughly enjoyed the investigation in this novel. It is smart, well thought out and totally absorbing. Stranger killings are the most difficult to solve so it is initially wide open but the focus gradually narrows as more information comes to light. I like the fact that the investigation uncovers other crimes and misdemeanours along the way as it adds another dimension to the novel by throwing in some red herrings. Local politics and the effect of a new mayor are also added to the mix in a natural and intriguing way. The downside to the novel is the graphic sex scenes and simmering emotions between Angie and Maddocks. The novel would stand very well alone without them.

As mentioned above Angie's life is a mess. As the reasons for this are gradually teased out over the novel she becomes a very interesting character rather than the prickly control freak with a chip on her shoulder she initially appears. I am interested enough in her story to want to read the next novel in the series, although I'll skip the sex scenes.

The Drowned Girls is a very good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Think of something disturbing.
This story is more.
Think of something dark.
This story is darker.
Think of something really unpleasant and unsettling, so disturbing that you really want this to come out only of an author's imagination and not happen in real life. Well, that's exactly what you're going to find here.

This story has been a lot like the Scandinavian suspense that I love. But something has been missing. Or rather, something has been in excess. I have been so overwhelmed while reading it that I have had to take breaks. And that had never happened to me before. And I'm not saying it as a bad thing, on the contrary, it has been something disturbingly positive. But, as the saying goes, “Less is more”. And a time has come when the story has become so dark, dense and overwhelming that it has lost (thank goodness) credibility.

Angie Palomino is a sex crimes detective. She has been trying to fit for a long time in a men´s world. Trying to get a promotion, although up until today she has only got a lot of hinder and a case of those that could drown your average human being. But not her.
She is not an easy character, I wasn´t expecting it either, but it has been overwhelming to read about her life. It really is not romance stuff.
Add to all of this a huge (and unlikely) family drama and a destructive and dangerous copying mechanism, and you already have the poster child of who should never be a law enforcement officer. It has been too much. No one can live like this. Or survive. I have not been able to swallow it.

On the opposite side of the ring we have James Maddocks, the only source of light and sanity in the story. This has been a wonderful and realistic character and has behaved as expected. Or almost. Because in the end he had a TSTL moment that serves the bad guy to get going at his heart content and to the author to write another twist, which was already one too many.

See spoiler below.

And then there is the real protagonist who is the suspense. Brutal. Dark. Alarming. And sadistic. It has been really disturbing to read. The author repeats too much the gory details so you can never compartmentalize to “move on “. There was a time when I did not know if I could finish it, but as I said before, it has been too much and it has lost credibility.

There have been a lot of things going on. There was the suspense, also Angie´s family drama, her personal problems and her unhealthy (to put it some way) way of life. And the political plot. And then all the coincidences to arrive to the full-circle. How they met and who was friends with who for the story to finish how it did. And the final twist has not been credible. The bad guy had no reason to do that. It was not his MO. I did not believe it.

And a personal note: I would not call this a romantic suspense. There is some romance (to put it somehow) but for me it was not enough. With such a dark background it would have been better if there had been none. In my humble opinion.

Although it has not convinced me fully I have to say that the story is good. And I know people who will like it. But I expect more precision and realism in my suspense.

**SPOILER**
No one, absolutely no one in their right mind, would advise a parent to give their daughter a little “bit of room” when she is friends with (Big spoiler alert!)
*** a girl which is being investigated as a result of the murders of another of her friends. Even less when it is discovered that they are prostitutes and that they are being murdered.***
And no one, absolutely no one who is a parent is going to take that advice seriously. So ... if the characters would have behaved like real people, the end would not have been possible. And that, for me is a blunder.

***

Piensa en algo perturbador.
Esta historia lo es más.
Piensa en algo oscuro.
Esta historia lo es más.
Piensa en algo realmente desagradable e inquietante, tan inquietante que realmente deseas que esto sólo pueda salir de la imaginación de un autor y no pasar en la vida real. Pues eso es exactamente lo que vas a encontrar aquí.

Esta historia se ha parecido mucho a los suspenses escandinavos que tanto me gustan. Pero le ha faltado algo. O mejor dicho, le ha sobrado algo. He estado tan agobiada durante la lectura que he tenido que hacer pausas. Y eso nunca me había pasado. Y no lo estoy diciendo como algo malo, al contrario, ha sido algo inquietantemente positivo. Pero, como dice el dicho, “Menos es más”. Y ha llegado un momento en que la historia se ha vuelto tan oscura, densa y agobiante que ha perdido (gracias a dios) credibilidad.

Angie Palomino es una detective de crímenes sexuales. Lleva tiempo luchando en un mundo de hombres para hacerse un hueco y conseguir un ascenso, aunque a día de hoy sólo ha conseguido muchas zancadillas y un caso de los que hunden a cualquier ser humano. Pero no a ella.
No es un personaje fácil, tampoco lo esperaba, pero ha sido algo abrumador leer sobre su vida. Realmente no es material de romance.
Añade a todo esto un drama familiar impresionante (e inverosímil) y un mecanismo de “desfogue” destructivo y peligroso y ya tienes la foto de quién no debería ser jamás un agente del orden público. Ha sido demasiado. Nadie puede vivir así. O sobrevivir. No he conseguido tragármelo.

En el lado opuesto del “ring” tenemos a James Maddocks, la única fuente de luz y cordura de la historia. Este sí ha sido un personaje maravilloso, realista y que se ha comportado tal y como cabía de esperar. O casi. Porque al final también hemos tenido un momento TSTL que le sirve al malo para seguir a lo suyo y a la autora para escribir otro giro más, que era ya demasiado.

Ver spoiler abajo.

Y después está el verdadero protagonista que es el suspense. Brutal. Oscuro. Alarmante. Y sádico. Ha sido realmente inquietante leerlo. La autora repite demasiado los detalles escabrosos así que nunca puedes compartimentar para “seguir adelante”. Hubo un momento en que no sabía si lo podría terminar, pero como ya dije anteriormente, ha sido demasiado y ha perdido credibilidad.

Ha habido demasiados frentes abiertos. Estaba el suspense de por sí, también el drama familiar de Angie, sus problemas personales y su poco sano (por decirlo de alguna manera) estilo de vida. Después estaba la trama política. Y después todas las coincidencias para cerrar el círculo. Cómo se conocen y quién era amigo de quién para acabar cómo acabó. Demasiado. Y el giro final no ha sido creíble. El malo no tenía ningún motivo para hacer eso. No era su MO. No me lo he creído.

Y una nota aclaratoria: yo no llamaría a esto un suspense romántico. Hay algo de romance (por decirlo de alguna manera) pero para mí ha sobrado. Con un trasfondo tan oscuro hubiese sido mejor que no hubiese ninguno. En mi opinión.

A pesar de que no me ha convencido tengo que decir que la historia no está mal. Y que sé de gente a la que le va a gustar. Pero yo espero más precisión y realismo en mis suspenses.


**SPOILER**
Nadie, absolutamente nadie en su sano juicio, aconsejaría a un padre dar un poco de “vidilla” a su hija y que siga (¡Ojo! ¡Gran spoiler!)
*** siendo amiga de una chica que está siendo investigada a consecuencia de los asesinatos de otra de sus amigas. Menos aún cuando se descubre que son prostitutas y que están siendo asesinadas.***
Y nadie, absolutamente nadie que sea padre va a tomarse ese consejo en serio. Así que… si los personajes hubiesen actuado como personas reales, el final no hubiese sido posible. Y eso, para mí es un fallo garrafal.

Loreth has done it again! This book is simply fantastic!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, where's the movie deals Loreth? This is that nail-biting, edge of your seat, can't wait to finish it kind of novel. As Pallorino and Maddocks close in on The Baptist I felt my heart racing, my breathing became rapid. I couldn't keep it together, the suspense had me. There were moments in this book where I gasped out loud, chuckled to myself, cried... you will feel all the emotions of a good read.

There's something to be said for Loreth Anne White's writing style. It just pulls you in. Her ability to set the scene takes you there, and you're truly along for the ride. "As he ran, his beam bounced off trees. Shadows loomed and ducked and darted. Mist sifted through the trunks like tattered wraiths, alive, grasping for him, then retreating. A sense of the vastness of this place--the sheer size and scope of this old-growth forest--pressed down on him. No humanity for miles and miles. The trail started to rise, the incline becoming severe as he reached a rock knoll. The sound of surf grew louder." In this moment I imagined myself there... as if I were Maddocks, all alone, fear and adrenaline pumping through me.

The Baptist made Alfred Hitcock's, Norman Bates look relatively normal comparatively. The ever growing twist, not knowing who the serial killer, The Baptist, could be keeps the reader interested. Just when you think you have it figured out... guess again. Early into the novel we get a small glimpse into the mind of The Baptist, only understanding his affinity for young women, who seemingly lead secret lives. As the novel progresses The Baptist devolves and we start to learn more and understand his desires and the inner workings of the twisted mind behind this serial killer. As the police close in on him, The Baptist realizes that he can no longer go through with his plans and panic sets in. "Panic is like a wild horse without the jockey of logic to rein it in." It's only then that the true horror begins for detectives Maddocks and Pallorino.

There's more to this novel than just the classic cat and mouse game of that of police and serial killer. There's a story within a story. Loreth does a great job with character development and dialogue. You connect to these characters, you associate yourself with them. The dialogue is real and you can imagine these people in your life one way or another. We begin to learn the story behind Angie and why she's never felt connected to the people in her life, her parents, her colleagues, she's never had many friends to amount to anything. She's closed herself off, suppressed emotions and hasn't allowed herself to feel love, to grieve, only feeling pain. The only thing numbing the pain is her insatiable lust. Lust that soon leads to a world of trouble for Angie.

This is just the first novel in the trilogy and I'm hooked. I can't wait to learn more about Angie's life and that of the other characters and see what new mysteries await them. Loreth has brought life to these characters and I find myself rooting for them all the way.

I just couldn't put this down, it had me hooked right from the start and never faltered. This was a dark and intriguing murder mystery with a hint of romance on the side. I enjoyed the writing and the characters along with the side story of Angies own personal life and who she is. This kept me guessing and waiting to see what was going to happen next. Absolutely recommend this book and I'm looking forward to the following books in this series.

This is my first book by Loreth Anne White. What a dark, twisty, good read! The first line had me glued. Then when you meet, Angie Pallorino, the gritty heroine, you quickly realize this is not your Disney heroine. She is raw and flawed and passionate. She is ambitious and driven. You feel her guilt and her pain as she struggles with demons of the past.
Then we meet the rugged James Maddocks, another complex character. He is trying to build a relationship with his daughter and ends up finding more. The villain also has depth and a story that makes us understand his pain even though we can't forgive his evil.
I enjoyed this suspenseful tale. It had everything AND the kitchen sink. At times, I felt there were too many characters. I felt a couple scenes or story strands could've been shaved off in editing but then I realized that this was the foundation for a series. I am eager to know more about Angie.
Kudos to Loreth Anne White. She is creepy good.

My biggest complaint about this book is that it was too much. Too much story, too many characters, too many details. I felt like I was a high school English teacher who'd assigned a 10 page story and instead the student had written twenty pages and throw in everything they could because surely a 20 page story is better than 10 pages. It's a shame because the mystery at the heart of the story is a good one and without all the extra background on the characters and side stories and plots, it could have been an interesting story. It suffers from a lack of editing. I love thrillers and I'm usually a very fast reader but this one took days and I resented it. I wasn't wrapped up in the story and not wanting it to end... I just kept looking at my Kindle and thinking "really? I'm not even half way through?" Even at the end, I would think it was a good scene to end the book and it must be over now... and then there would be another chapter. And another. I think this writer has potential, but she needs someone to help her be concise and tell the story. In the end, I didn't care about the characters back stories, or even care to read the included preview of the next book because I just thought, "I'm not giving up hours of my life to another story with too many sideplots and details." It's a shame because the plot had so much potential.

I just finished reading this book several hours ago. I am still trying to wrap my head around it all. You might have a love / hate relationship the first chapter or two. If you love it, great, it gets even better.
If you hate it - DONT STOP - it gets even better. There are so many twists and turns, gut wrenching feelings, bad and good. There is sex, explicit for those who require it, if you don't require it, DON'T LET IT STOP YOU. I wish I was gifted enough to leave the kind of review this deserves. Its book 1, in a new series. I need to go soak this all in, and then Loreth Anne White, I am ready, book 2 please. I was fortunate enough to receive a complimentary copy of this book and I volunteered to leave a review. I highly recommend this to adults, not for the faint of heart.

This is my second foray into Loreth Anne White's writing, and let's just say the first book of hers I read was so good I scrambled to read this one the second I spotted her name.

White's writing is nothing short of fantastic: her characters are deliciously multi-faceted and flawed, particularly her female characters. The setting and plot are always gritty and realistic, and the surprises - and heart-thumping suspense - never fail to get to me. And her villains are horrifying enough to satisfy even the most jaded of Criminal Minds fans.

Angie and James are compelling characters that lead us through this bloody, confusing, superbly plotted mystery. There's nothing Nora Roberts-esque about their romance; it begins with a pretty dark, desperate encounter, but I love the way White slowly develops their feelings for each other - and the ensuing complications it brings.

4 solid stars.

*I received a review copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

Detective Angie Pallorino has a lot on her plate. Her mother has been hospitalized with schizophrenia, and her job working sex crimes is brutal. And never more so when a sadistic rapist who has been inactive for two years comes roaring back, his violence against women escalated even further. Then another woman, bearing all the hallmarks of her serial rapist, is found in the river. Now she’s looking for a killer and teams up with James Maddocks, a man she had a one night stand with, to hunt down the sadistic monster before he can strike again. Angie’s character makes this book come alive, with her fear of developing a serious mental illness herself, her rather unconventional way of dealing with stress and her uncompromising promise to take a killer off the street. Realistic and gritty

I loved loved this book !!! First in the series about Detective Angie Pallorino. I loved her character, brave and fiesty and she has some personal issues she is trying to deal with. There were a lot of great characters in the book .A serial killer mutilating young women . He makes sure that these girls suffer. Superb thriller! You will keep guessing till the end about who the killer is. I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed. I won this in a giveaway on Netgalley by author Loreth Ann White . I have read all of her books and this is my favorite. This book releases June 20,2017.
Thank you Loreth Ann White !

Review to be published online in late June.

THE DROWNED GIRLS is the first book in Loreth Anne White's new "Angie Pallorino" series. This is a good police procedural. The book wasn’t perfect, mind you. It was too long and had too many plot threads, but it was still an enjoyable read. Angie and the police gang reminded me superficially of Eve Dallas and her crew; but much darker, grittier, and with police in-department backbiting and backstabbing. There were numerous pov’s, and each pov had a story to tell. The subplots circled around at first in a confusing manner, but eventually closed into the intense main plotline. I wish the big break in the case had come from all the solid police investigation instead of a single character and a plot device; but even with that, the length and minor imperfections, I couldn’t put it down.

I liked Angie and James, they were flawed and had interesting histories. They were adults. Several of her police coworkers look to have fascinating stories to tell on down the line of the series (especially Kjel). There was one character who met an untimely demise that I thought would be an interesting addition to the series. Oh, well. Yes, it was colorfully over-the-top near the end and overly sensational; but if I wanted to read nonfiction, I’d grab some dry real police investigations to read. I did dislike the trope of the killer making a member of the investigation a target, it always feels sensationalized and unrealistic to include this in the storyline, as it was here. I also can't say that I loved the last portion of the book. The author seemed to struggle with a feasible ending, and settled for yet another unrealistic plot device.

I don’t know that I would call this RS, but there was the bones of a romance. If it could be considered RS, the story leaned far to the suspense side, which is just the way I like it. This is the first book of a new series; and I recommend it for anyone who is interested in it, based on the summary and my review. I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of other stories by Loreth Anne White; and am excited about getting in on the first book of what looks to be a good, suspenseful, slightly dark police procedural series. Hopefully, the author can keep the intensity going in further stories.