Although this is the second in the series, this is my first time reading this author, and I truly enjoyed myself! I can't wait to go back and read the first book in this series, as well as anything else she has written. Hooked from the very first page. Perfect for anyone who loves a tense parent/adult child relationship in a domestic thriller.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

DNF; I wasn't able to connect to Clare. I will go back and read the first in the series to see if that makes a difference. It didn't work for me as a standalone, I feel like I needed that prior commitment,

I really enjoyed this fast paced psychological thriller! My favourite part of this book were the characters. They were imperfect and broken but you couldn’t help but be drawn to the honesty of that.

Still Water is the second book in Amy Stuart’s “Still” series. This book can be read as a stand alone, however, the story is so good that you’ll be reaching for the rest in the series! I for one, cannot wait to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read and review this book!

The sequel to Amy Stuart's Still Mine, this book involves another missing person in another small town. Everyone has secrets, but main character Claire is able to insinuate herself into their lives to find out the truth. Very similar in tone and twistiness to the first book, I found this to be a thoughtful and satisfying thriller. Looking forward to the next one!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks for requesting that book...I will read it someday, I have so many books to read this year...

Have a great summer and take care!

3.5 stars

The story of Clare and Malcolm continue and get quite interesting. I am hopeful there is a third book that gives some answers and closure .
Overall I did enjoy this book more than the first in the series .

Best book I've read by Amy Stuart, even better than the first one! Amy really knows how to write a thriller story.

Gripping read. I didn't read the first book but the second was definitely worth reading and now i'm wanting more. With each turn is something new and unexpected. Would I recommend? Yes!

Very enjoyable book. Gripping. You never know what's around the next corner, or who's responsible.

Two years ago I read and enjoyed a novel called "Still Mine" so I was pleased to be able to read the sequel, "Still Water". If anything, I enjoyed it even more than the first novel - it's always great when that happens! Don't worry though if you haven't read the first novel, as this could read very well as a stand-alone. The author recaps the history of the characters just enough that you wouldn't feel you had missed out on something. That being said, I'm glad I read "Still Mine" so as to better understand Clare's history and her life.

Now Clare works for the man called Malcolm Boon. She is to work undercover to find a missing woman and her child. The woman came from an abusive situation, so Clare is the perfect person to infiltrate the house where the woman last lived. It is a refuge for women escaping untenable domestic situations. Clare is perfect for the job because she too is on the run from an abusive husband. Not only can she relate to the women she meets, she is recovering from a gunshot wound she suffered at the end of the first book. Also, she is trying valiantly to stop taking the pain meds that she has become quite attached to.

"her hands shaking with pain or withdrawal or panic, she can never tell which anymore."

Thirty-year-old Clare moves into "High River", the house of Helen Haines which is located in a rural area that is accessed by a one-lane wooden bridge. Helen has harboured many women over the years. Helen's past too is a traumatic one. Her mother was murdered by her father right in front of her eyes when she was a teenager. Now she holds on to the house and the acreage it sits on - despite property developers who covet it.

"If not for its tragedies both recent and old, Clare thinks, High River would be a beautiful place."

As Clare becomes enmeshed in the life at Helen's, she comes to know Helen's family. Her teenage daughter Ginny, her brothers Markus and Jordan. She also comes to know another runaway wife like herself, Raylene. Since Sally, the missing woman, was a friend of Raylene's, Clare tries to befriend her to learn more about her.

"There are three sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth."

The police detectives looking into the case are an interesting pair. You never really know who is the good cop, and who is the bad cop...

"People will go to extreme lengths to absolve their loved ones of wrongdoing."

MY THOUGHTS

Like the first book, Still Water is an engrossing, character-driven psychological thriller. In my review of the first book, I wrote "Clare's character is mysterious throughout. The reader keeps turning pages to discover little clues to her very damaged past." Now, with "Still Water", we learn more about Clare, though she remains mysterious. We learn more about her past, yet there are enough gaps in her memory that there is surely fodder for more books in this excellent series.

With the first novel, I loved how the title fit the novel perfectly with the double meanings of the words 'still mine'. Now, with Still Water, the same can be said. Still Water is very much predominated by the river running through the property. Also, you can relate it to the old saying "Still waters run deep" when describing a person. Very clever!

Amy Stuart writes skillfully about women with horrendous stories of domestic and emotional abuse that could make you gasp. It was nice to read that her protagonist, Clare, is coming to consider this new job of hers more of a 'calling'. She becomes absorbed by the work of searching for the missing and those on the run.

I liked that the entire novel took place in the span of one week.

This is a novel that describes how trust is very difficult for people who have been abused by the very people who are supposed to love them most. A novel of secrets kept, and secrets discovered. A novel of guilty people, whether or not they should feel guilty. A book of survival. Highly recommended!

The second book in the Still series, this one continues the story of Clare and Malcolm almost on the heels of the first book, Still Mine. Although some backstory is given and is meant to continue the storyline set out in the first book, I found that it worked well as both a standalone and as a book #2, acting as a very effective bridge to the third instalment, coming out presumably at a future date.

I like how the writing is growing, improving, adapting and acquiring more depth in the descriptions as well as character development. Everything had an edgier, more sinister feel which really enhanced the overall enjoyment of the story. It was a fairly fast read, almost done in one sitting, with a fast paced, psychologically dark and disturbing plot. I look forward to the next book in this series.

I didn’t realize there was a book preceding this title- the author did a good
job of catching up on what happens in the first book, so I wasn’t totally confused. I like that there were multiple stories happening all at once, and all the smaller stories all connect together to make sense of Sally going missing. I think I will read the next book in this series.

I read Still Mine by Amy Stuart and while I enjoyed the book overall, I did have some issues that I was hoping Still Water would address and work through. Stuart surprised me with the ending of Still Mine, which doesn’t happen too often, but I can’t remember aching for the story to continue.

To say I had lukewarm feelings going into this second book about missing women and makeshift PI Clare was fair, but I was thrilled to find that I quite enjoyed this book, even more so than Still Mine. I always did like Clare as a character, though I was never fully sure if I could completely trust her. She seemed to have better footing this time around and having some familiarity with her as a character made her seem a lot stronger and more together. Parts of her past still caught up with her, but I thought she was a stronger lead in this story.

The overall concept of Still Water was very similar; someone is missing, Clare goes to a small town to investigate, immerses herself with the townsfolk and starts uncovering all their deep, dark secrets. I enjoyed this journey. All the secrets and attitudes and tensions within the family was the good kind of drama that I can’t get enough of. The characters were all so vibrant and different, but also had those really close familial bonds that made those difference seem like nothing. I really enjoyed the complexity of them all and how there were so many other secrets that didn’t really have much to do with the over all story, but build up the atmosphere and the other characters. And I really liked how Clare fit into it all, the strange friendships and alliances she formed.

As things started to come together at the end, I was still very much in the dark about what was happening and still very much intrigued by the story. It felt like there was a bit too much happening, but it also really worked well with the situation and I couldn’t wait to see what came out of it.

I think I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve enjoyed a second book more than the first, I’m really glad I picked this up and let Stuart drag me into the tangled web of this tiny town and missing persons case. I hope Clare continues her hand at solving these mysteries, I’m anxious to read more.

I love Amy Stuart ! I am now an avid fan.
I read Still Mine before this one and I'm so glad I did. I enjoyed having some background about Clare, the main character. Still Mine, gave some details of Clare's past and Still Water you get some more glimps of her past. You can really relate to Clare, and I feel like you are right there with her trying to solve the mystery.

Also, we can't forget the mystery surrounding Malcom, Clare's "Boss" or "Partner". I already can't wait for the next novel to come out. This is a great series and I highly recommend reading it in order.

This as a good read. Enjoyed the plot and the characters. A little predictable but very interesting.

Amy Stuart's "Still Water" is an expertly written psychological thriller written about and abused woman and her little boy who have both disappeared. This is the second book in a series, however it is an excellent stand alone novel as I did not have the pleasure of reading "Still Mine" first and still immensely enjoyed this one. I love that the heroine, Clare, is fallible and not some perfect person who waltzes in to fix things. She comes from a similar background as our missing woman and it gives her a realness, second guessing herself, taking risks, and ultimately facing her own fears all while trying to solve the case. I highly recommend this twisted, thrilling, can't put me down novel. It'll keep you guessing until the very end!

I really liked Amy Stuart’s first book, and I think I liked Still Water even more. It features Clare again, who is helping mysterious Malcolm find missing women. This time, she goes to a safe house, from which a woman and her young son have recently disappeared, pretending to be a friend of the woman. Clare and Malcolm has their own histories that feature prominently in this one. I’m not sure how realistic these books are, but Stuart does a good job of telling a dark complex story with lots of atmosphere and interesting characters. Also, while the backdrop theme is domestic violence, Stuart manages to deal with this topic without explicit violence and without trivializing the issue. The end clearly signals that there will be another book featuring Clare in the future and I’ll gladly jump on a copy. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

I really enjoyed this follow up to Still Mine. Although I did find it somewhat slow to start, it really picked up after the third chapter and kept me interested and guessing.
Definitely a good read for someone looking for a good solid mystery with a female lead and a healthy dose of Canada.

Still Water is the follow up novel to Stuart's debut, Still Mine, and for maximum enjoyment I would highly recommend reading it prior to beginning this one. While I found the pacing a bit slow in the first half, the second half was quicker, more intense, and intriguing.

We follow Clare as Malcolm brings her to a different town to investigate a new missing persons case. Not only do we get to witness the web of lies being spun throughout the residents of this town, but we also learn a bit more about the secrets of Clare's past, as well as the mysterious Malcolm Boon. Each character had something to hide, and it was difficult to figure out who could be trusted, if anyone! It was a thrill trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

There are some great twists and turns in this novel, and as one mystery is closed, there are still some questions left unanswered. Stuart has created an opening for a possible third book, and I would not hesitate to read it.

Another great read from Amy Stuart if you love detective based crime this is the one title to read this year