This is one of the best books I have read in awhile I will be talking it up and posting about it on the library sites. It is a bit of a mystery mash up of Sixth Sense, Big Chill with a touch of Hercule Poriot.

I found the The French Girl to be dark, mysterious and intriguing. This author puts me in mind of Ruth Ware and Paula Hawkins, which in my opinion is an excellent comparison. A compliment for sure. I will follow Lexie Elliott and see what else she has up her sleeve. I'm hooked.

The French Girl by Lexie Elliot is an easy-going British mystery with a bit of a ghost story attached. Ten years ago a group of University friends from Oxford enjoyed a French country holiday that ended in disaster when the femme fatale living next door disappears under mysterious circumstances. Flash forward to present-day London, when our protagonist Kate and her friends are informed that a body has been discovered. Suddenly the case has been reopened and it becomes clear to all involved that someone in their small, tight-knit group is a killer. Kate, meanwhile, begins to be followed by the presence of the dead French girl. Most of this novel felt slowwww (it does pick up by the end!) but my main gripe was the characters. They never felt like fully fleshed out, believable human beings to me – a reading deal breaker in my opinion. That said, if you enjoy slower paced, borderline cozy mysteries and a focus on shifting friendship dynamics, then you might enjoy this. (From The Napanee Beaver, December 13, 2017)

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott is a debut novel, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the excellent writing, consistent pace, realistic dialogue and well-developed characters. Kate and a group of friends from an English college take a vacation in France and encounter the mysterious Severine, i.e. "The French Girl," during their trip. 10 years later, the group are living their lives when they find out that Severine's body has been discovered in a well on the property where they were staying. So begins a mystery that grabs your attention and is hard to put down. The narrative is told from the perspective of the main character, Kate, and through her we are given access to the other characters' lives; and with her we try to figure out what actually happened all those years ago among the friends. There are secrets to uncover, betrayals to overcome and ghosts to lay to rest. One of the best things I liked about this novel was the author's fantastic use of personification in describing the appearances of Severine at various times in Kate's life. So intriguing and well done!

The French Girl
I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Lexie Elliott, the Penguin Random House, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.
The French Girl by Lexie Elliott is a slow unraveling of a mystery involving a stunning French girl-Severine. Though the pace is slower, it does allow you to "get to know" the 6 friends who will ultimately all become suspects in Severine's murder. Thus begins the cat and mouse game between the old friends, who knows what, each person carefully searching to see what the others know. This is not a sit on the edge of your seat thriller but a nuanced study of how friends react to news that most likely one of them is a murderer.

The French Girl at its core is a novel about friendship, secrets, manipulation, jealousy, obsession, and murder with a little paranormal twist. The plot uses a past/present, back-and-forth style to create suspense and tension as it subtly unravels all the actions, motivations, personalities, and relationships within it. Gossip and rumor threaten to hurt careers, businesses and friendships as the friends begin to suspect each other and emotions run high.
Even with the slow start and I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a good mystery.

“The French Girl” was an engrossing read that ratcheted up the tension as the story unfolded. Old college friends are drawn back into an old mystery that occurred when they were together in France. The body of a girl who had disappeared was discovered in a well and all of the former students are questioned again.
This book reminded me of “A Secret History” by Donna Tartt. The personal dynamics of a group of students are revealed and their subsequent acts are eye-opening. “The French Girl” also exposed the links between the students and secrets are revealed. We are never wholly who we think we are.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I thought it moved rather slow and the murderer was rather obvious. Also, the ending left a lot to desire. Hopefully the author's next book will be more appealing.

Years ago six friends spend a holiday together, until something goes wrong. 10 years later a body is found and everything is brought up again. A thriller you can't, and won't put down.

Excellent suspense...well written characters...could not put it down.

This suspenseful, atmospheric story had me hooked from the first page to the last. It was filled with a strong sense of place, a plot full of twists and turns and strong women characters who you will remember long after you have finished the book. I highly recommend it,

The French Girl is about six college friends who rent a French farmhouse for a week next door to a mysterious French girl named Severine. A decade later, her body is found in a well behind the farmhouse, and the friends question everything they remember about that fateful week.

This engrossing thriller succeeds at keeping readers pleasantly off-balance as they try to figure out the whodunit. Even though the killer is somewhat obvious, other suspects have plausible enough opportunities/motives to make readers question their hunch right up until the reveal. This book is fast-paced and entertaining, with enough romance and friend drama to make it appealing to YA audiences as well.

This is a unique mystery with some very interesting plot and character elements. I read a lot of mysteries and it's always nice to be surprised by a new approach to the genre. I enjoyed seeing the who, how, and why develop, as well as the relationships between the various characters. There are a few first novel flaws, but overall, this is amazingly good for a first book. I'm looking forward to reading more by Elliott.

This will be the hit psychological thriller of spring 2018! The plot is filled with atmosphere, complex friendship, a great deal of suspense and an intriguing mystery. Told only from Kate's POV, six friends spent an unforgettable getaway together. Ten years later, a body is discovered connected to their time in the past. With several flashbacks to that fateful weekend and a present day where the past is catching up to them, it is nearly impossible to put this book down. Highly recommended to readers of psychological thrillers or mysteries.

Good, fast plane/beach read. Loved that this book did NOT have a meek narrator (I'm getting a little sick of that in my thrillers), and though I expected a past-and-present storyline based on the plot, it was a little refreshing to not have the mystery revealed that way.

I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

First and foremost, a HUGE thank you to Berkley Pub #prhpartner for sending me a free copy of this book. 

I saw this book pop up on Berkleys Instagram feed a few months ago, the red sunglasses and red scarf press kit was so intriguing, I knew at once I needed this book. So of course after a little bit of "stalking" Berkley agreed to send me the book. HaHa!

Now on to the actual book. I found it to be phenomenal. I loved the pace, it fed you little tidbits of the past, and the present, just enough to keep you wanting to turn the pages just to see what happens next, and I swear guys, this is a "Just One More Chapter" book. I do want to state, that this book does not build to a huge plot twist, and then just ends. This book is more of a slow build, to the whodunit, and than a few more chapters of the aftermath. It is a very.

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't fast paced, it wasn't over detailed, or over the top dramatic. It was written well, and it was consistent. There was not a time while reading this book that I became bored, or disinterested in it. It was an easy read, with characters you love to love, and characters you love to hate, and it's pretty clear early on, who those characters will be. I did bounce around on what I thought happened to Severine, but in the end, it was who I thought it was. It really made the most sense.

Very boring. This French girl seemed to be the epitome of beauty. How can one simple girl cause so much internal havoc? Was she a goddess or something? And who killed her? One of them six out of utter jealousy? I really didn't care.

This story is mainly told from the viewpoint of Kate, the main character. Several years ago, Kate and her friends spend a week at a farmhouse together. She is with her boyfriend Seb and her other group of friends from Oxford. Fast forward ten years and an inspector is knocking on Kate’s door telling her that the girl who lived next door to the farmhouse all those years ago has been found at the bottom of a well after excavating the land. As the police dig at Kate and her friends, Kate starts to question her relationships and realizes who her true friends are. I enjoyed reading this book but felt that it was a little too long for the storyline. I enjoyed reading about the relationships between each of the characters, however, some of the characters in the book were a little unnecessary. For example, Caro’s father who is the head of a law firm. That whole part of the story is so irrelevant to the main storyline that it really could have been removed because it wasn’t very interesting in my opinion. This book was a fairly quick read with a decent plot.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lexie Elliot, and Berkley Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elliott deftly handles the well-tread premise of friends with a dark secret from a vacation in their past. A pleasant read for fans of friendship mysteries.

Ten years ago Kate Channing and five of her friends had spent the week together in a French farmhouse. The trip was supposed to be the perfect getaway for the group and that was when they met Severine, the girl next door. For Kate Severine was an unwelcome presence among the group and after that week she went missing.

Now ten years later Severine’s case has been reopened when her body was discovered in a well nearby the farmhouse that the group had visited. With a detective investigating the case old memories shift and suspicions mount. Kate is sure she had nothing to do with Severine’s murder but the detective seems to be suspicious of her all the while she questions whether what she thinks happened with the rest of the group is true or not.

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott is a very slow build mystery/thriller read. The story within was an interesting one as it unfolded but for me the pacing is what set my overall rating for the book. I’m not a huge fan of a slow pace and this one took quite a bit of time leading the readers into what had gone on all those years before leaving me to rate this story at 3.5 stars.

I would say though that for those that enjoy a more slow build or for those with a tad more patience than myself that this one just may be more of a favorite. There were plenty of different possibilities for an outcome with this one that kept my interest until the second half when it picked up the pace and suspicions a bit more than the start.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.