Loved the whole book- the plot, the twists, and especially the characters. It’s a great mix of mystery and family drama, intelligently written, and hard to put down.

Two girls take a trip to Thailand after they graduate from high school. They anticipate seeing the sights and having fun. But nothing matches what they've seen on tourism websites. It's more run down and crowded...

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published January 22nd.

Alex's girlfriend cancels at the last minute and she ends up traveling with a girl she doesn't know that well. It doesn't take long for her to decide Rosie was not a good choice. All she wants to do is party and sleep with the boys in the hostel. Then she finds out she's been stealing from her. She makes up her mind to go home even if she's afraid to travel alone. But she waited too long.

Traveling in strange countries is not always safe. The hostel they are staying in is known for selling drugs but they didn't know that. The boys traveling through don't stay long. And the boy that Alex has a crush on is being pursued by Rosie. Alex gets drugged. Rosie gets dead. Then Alex is also killed.

The Thai policemen say they died in a fire but the post mortem done in the states tells another story.

The journalist covering the story has a lost son in the same area. She goes to look into the girl's deaths and finds that her son Jake was there, too. He was working in the hostel. Was he the killer?

This is a sad read and the two young women died for no real reason. The ending bothered me a bit because it wasn't as clean as I like them to be. The journalist gave up some of her integrity and that bothered me. It's a complex mystery, though, and will keep you reading.

My son recently traveled to Thailand so as I read this book, I completely related to Kate, a reporter whose son has been in Thailand and is not checking in. Thailand is supposed to be a wonderful place for expats, but reading this novel you get a glimpse at the seamier side of Bangkok, a corrupt police force, a laissez faire attitude on the part of her hometown police (until they have reason to take the disappearance of two teenage girls as more than vacation behavior). While the book seems to stall a bit in the middle, Barton is really just setting up the backstory, and the tension between the mothers of the girls and Kate. The fact that Kate is a reporter and investigating the disappearance of the girls, while winding up more involved than she thought she would be, adds a dynamic to the book that is revealed with one of the biggest twists of the book. I am definitely interested in reading other books by Fiona Barton.

I had read one of the author's previous books, "The Child," enjoyed it. and based on that, chose to read this latest installment in her series featuring news reporter, Kate Waters.

This psychological thriller is told in three voices, one of them being Kate's. The twist in this story about two missing teens in Thailand is that Kate has some personal connection to the story. There are quite a few twists and turns, with at least one jaw-dropping moment.

There is lots of detail in this book to keep track of, but otherwise a solid story of suspense. Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishers for an advanced copy of this book.

In Fiona Barton's book The Child, journalist Kate waters was involved in a case that evolved from the discovery of the remains of a child at a construction site. TBH, I don't remember a THING about it except that it was entertaining -- kind of my genre, the twisty psychological thriller featuring a plucky heroine. So I was happy to read Ms. Barton's new book featuring Kate once again, thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley.

Kate has a son (did we meet him in her earlier book(s)? I have no idea. He has been in Thailand and they are not in contact. Then, two young women who are traveling in the Far East go missing in Thailand and Kate gets drawn in to the mystery surrounding their disappearance. It has lots of twisty plot turns and frankly scared the hell out of me as the drama got closer and closer to home.

Well done. I like Fiona Barton's style and her ability to ramp up the tension and scare the reader without resorting to "tricks" or deus ex machina endings. Five stars.

This is the third in a series and my favorite so far. Barton writes in a straight forward but suspenseful manner. I definitely look forward to her next entry in this series.

I could not wait to see if Jake was guilty or not.
Torn between her job and a mother's love, Kate is a well defined, smart, reporter who knows how to get to the heart of the crime.. I thought the plot and setting were unique. The characters were so real, especially Mama.
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful book. I know your readers will enjoy it and will be wanting more.

Hard hitting reporter Kate Waters is back again in a case that will strike fear into the heart of any parent. Two teens who are traveling alone in Bangkok suddenly stop communicating with their families. Convinced something is wrong, the parents go on alert, but police aren't convinced there's anything wrong. Kate, on the other hand, believes the families and launches her own investigation- but she soon finds herself intimately entangled in what might wind up being her last case.
Pitch perfect details about the life and instincts of a reporter- and a mother- are woven skillfully in a mystery that will leaving you breathless!

I enjoyed this book. Did not realize it was #3 in a series but it was easy enough to pick up on all the characters.

I really like Kate Waters and her approach to her work and family. Hard to wrap my head around her traveling to another country for a story and then become a part of it, but so goes works of fiction.
I liked how the author progressed with the story with the slow reveal of the events of the day of the fire.
Looking forward to another Kate Waters title.

Wow! couldn't put this one down. The events are told from four prospectives: teenage daughter in Bangkok, the detective in England, the mother, the reporter. The anguish, the scariness, what happened, who did it will keep you up.

Fiona Barton still has the touch in this latest Kate Waters mystery. We become a little more acquainted in Kate’s personal life while she is investigating a story of how two girls go missing during a trip to Thailand. During a series of plot twists, Kate becomes part of the journalist’s fodder and experiences what it is like from the other side – knocks on your door day and night, having to hide from the press, and looking over your shoulder all the time.

One of Barton’s hallmarks is that some of her characters are unreliable narrators. Sometimes you don’t find out who is unreliable until you have finished half the story, other times it is painfully obvious. THE SUSPECT is a tale that shifts your perspective on the reliability of a character multiple times. Are the good guys really good? Are you supposed to read between the lines of one girl’s email to her best friend, or is she just sharing her innermost thoughts?

Set in the UK with flashbacks of the girls’ trip to Bangkok, the story unfolds as Kate ingratiates herself with the girls’ parents and tries to uncover what happened to them. Once certain details come to light, Kate is removed from the case and becomes a pariah. The author leads you down a path that makes you certain you know the truth…then swiftly changes the course of your journey.

More sensual tension simmers between Kate and Detective Bob Sparkes, despite the fact that his wife is expected to die from cancer within a few months. His character is wonderfully written, full of conflict, regret and fatigue.

The parents of the missing girls are all rage and accusation, blaming each other even as they cling to the small hope that their daughters are still alive. They turn on each other like vipers, then close ranks against the journalists who seek to create a story out of their pain.

The seedy atmosphere of Bangkok’s underworld is a perfect setting. If I were a parent, I would never want my daughter taking a trip there, regardless of how many friends she had with her. Some other reviews note that there is really nothing good mentioned about Thailand; I feel that is to make the story a bit darker and have the actions of the characters appear insidious.

I’d be interested to see if Barton includes some of the characters from this book in a future one. This was definitely an enjoyable read.

This is a slow moving suspense novel. I liked it. While I figured out the mystery early on, I was still interested in the story and the characters.
Fiona Barton is a very good writer, I always enjoy her work.

I’ve really enjoyed Fiona Barton’s narrative style and her third book does not disappoint. I love following the story through the various thoughts and words of the main characters. It really puts you in the moment. In this era of “fake news”, I feel that Barton’s portrayal of the media in her main character, Kate Waters, is a breath of fresh air, I look forward to the next story!

When Alex and Rosie go missing in Thailand, their families are immediately concerned and worried. Journalist Kate Waters picks up the story and quickly makes a connection with the family. Over a week after the girls are missing, their bodies are found in the remains of a hostel that has burned down. When Kate's son is connected to the girls and the fire, she is taken off the case and is determined to track down her son and prove his innocence.

I'm not entirely sure what to think of this book. Alex and Rosie had an interesting story, but they came across as caricatures rather than real people. Neither Kate nor the main detective felt real either. At times the story seemed excessively drawn out. I would have liked more from the girls, rather than the story being hyper focused on the aftermath. Despite these criticisms, the story held by interest. Overall 3 out of 5 stars

The Suspect officially is released on Tuesday, January 22nd, so go ahead and place your pre-order for this thriller now! Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a story about Kate Waters, a newspaper journalist, who comes across the story of 2 local girls missing on a trip in Thailand. The parents are worried wrecks and are trying everything they can to reach the girls. They agree to talk to Kate and she starts to write about them in the paper and then the day no one was looking forward to comes. The girls are found. They’re dead.

This suddenly becomes the hot story and Kate is on her way to Thailand to investigate. She has created a bond with the parents and she is the only one they like talking to. Kate has been a journalist for years and has all kinds of connections and is doing all she can to help these parents find closure, while writing the best story she can. They find out the girls died in a fire that the Thai officials deemed an accident. Things seem off and Kate starts to investigate more only to be hit with a shock herself.

Kate has a few skeletons of her own in her closet. One of those skeletons is that her son has been living in Thailand himself for the past 2 years after he dropped out of college. The police say there was a witness to the fire and he is being treated at the hospital. Kate rushes over to try and talk to the witness but arrives too late, he has already left. The nurse eventually breaks down and tells Kate the name of the patient. It’s her son.

Kate now has a rocky relationship with the families when they discover her own son was at the scene of the crime and has vanished. Kate is dismissed from the story and goes on her own investigation to see what her son, if anything, had to do with the fire and possible murder of these 2 girls.

Kate is an absolute detective when it comes to her investigating. The newspaper wants her to rest and take time off to wrap her head around what is happening, however, she needs to find her son. While she is no longer writing stories about the girls, she is in investigation mode full force, using her journalist ties to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This was a solid 4-star read for me. I found the book to go a little slow in the middle, but I was interested enough to keep reading. The story line is well planned out and keeps your interest. I had to know where her son was and why he was hiding. I enjoyed the story being told from the girls, as well as the journalist. It paints a picture at how they ended up dead. I did not expect the ending to turn out the way it did, I was absolutely blind sighted.

***THIS WILL BE FEATURED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 17TH AT BOOKINTHEBAG.WORDPRESS.COM AT 5:00AM PACIFIC TIME***
***THIS WILL ALSO BE FEATURED AT WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/MRSDMVH ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 17TH***

This is the third Fiona Barton novel I’ve read and they have all been outstanding psychological thrillers. Kate Waters is a reporter working on a story about two girls missing in Thailand. We see how she manipulates her way into the families to get her story. When her own son is implicated in their disappearance, she becomes the mother on the other side of the situation dealing with aggressive reporters. Highly recommended

Every parent's worst nightmare. Every time my children travel abroad, I think of situations like this, so reading this book was a bit of a struggle. The need to keep in mind that it is a book of fiction.
Two girls overseas, one wants to travel, one wants to live a life her mother will not allow. One boy lost, alone and afraid to tell his parents to avoid the proverbial, "I told you so". How their lives collide and how it all ends and how far a mother will go to protect her son.

I was intrigued by the concept of two young women traveling to a different country. Liked how I kept getting surprised by how the plot would twist. Will recommend to people.

The author or takes us into dark gritty Thailand, where two teenage girls are found dead in a fire . The story is told through multiple viewpoints and is well written.