This fast paced and intriguing book is fantastic! It will keep you on your toes and guessing the answers to many secrets hidden in this lake town. Be ready to drop everything else to finish this engaging thriller!

An edge of your seat, whodunnit mystery! I couldn’t put this down. Ms Belle is amazing! Great character development. I couldn’t figure this one out! 5 stars. Thank you NetGalley.

Stranger in the Lake is a very suspenseful story and one that has lots of secrets going on. The story has many characters but the two main characters are a married couple, Charlotte and Paul.
What would you do to keep a 20 year old secret?
If you like to read intense psychological books with a intriguing twist at the end, this is a book you will want to read.
Kimberly Belle’s writing draws you in and you just have to keep reading to the very end.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is my honest true and honest opinion.

I’ve read Kimberly Belle previously but this book didn’t quite measure up to her past titles. It had a great twist @ the end & I didn’t figure out the “who” until it was pretty much revealed but ........after her earlier The Marriage Lie & Three Days Missing, I just expected or wanted more. Still a pretty good read.

3.5 stars

When the novel begins, readers learn that the m.c., Charlie, has been married to her husband, Paul for just over a year. Here are some other points we learn: (1) Paul is SO MUCH OLDER than Charlie (10ish years - the emphasis is hers) and (2) everything Paul owns is VERY expensive. There are so many references to both of these points that I found myself exhausted by this, "Okay! I get it! New money! sentiment in this character. For me, this was totally overcooked.

Also near the start, readers learn that Paul's first wife died in a drowning accident in the lake that their home borders. What a coincidence! ANOTHER woman ends up dead there, too (hence the title). But his current wife? No. According to her, he couldn't have anything to do with this. These aren't spoilers. Really, these are just the bizarre disconnects the characters initially experience.

This is not a terrible book, and I'll add that I liked the twist and growth at the ending (which is how I got to 3.5). I am getting a bit burned out by these marriages/romantic relationships of any kind in which there are incredible red flags, but the other partner just thinks, "Hmmm. Weird!" and goes on about their life with this person. Am I somehow missing this in reality because it is constantly present in modern fiction, and I worry for both these characters and the models they sometimes set.

Overall, this is okay on the thriller front, but for a more gripping thriller with slightly stronger characters and a far better inclusion of the podcast side plot (though it's still not perfect), check out Goldin's _The Night Swim_.

Another hit for Kimberly Belle. While my favorite is still DEAR WIFE, this one was very good too. It had a fun and original premise, full of lots of secrets, and lots of people that are guilty in some way of something. Belle knows how to weave a tangled twisted web, and allow the readers to untangle it. This book, as well as her others show just how well she is at this! Thrills, chills, twists & turns, shocks, and lessons learned are bound to accompany you while reading this book! I don’t think the writing was worse than DEAR WIFE, but I do think I had a harder time connecting with Charlotte and agreeing with her decisions. I think this impacted my choice on my favorite by Belle, because most of her characters you can completely understand their actions, but I don’t know if I feel this way about Charlie. I can’t explain without giving any spoilers; but can say I think it was very intense enjoyable, realistic, and unputdownable! Highly, highly recommend!
Will make sure to buzz it up on all the different platforms.

Hmm, okay, images of Lind Chocolate boxes, fondues, Swiss Army knives, Rolexes, Alps start to appear on my mind which means a Switzerland kind of I’m in the middle, I don’t like it and I also don’t hate it, I’m just dumb cow, three solid starred book review is coming up!

Oh, it is already here. My fingers are moving faster than my mind, what do you think my friends?

I lately read so many dark, intriguing, stressful stories so I think I already exceeded my pain tolerance level. And I also read previous works of Kimberly Belle including “Marriage Lie” and “Dear Wife” which I highly recommend you to read but when it comes to this book’s story, something was missing.

I think Ms. Belle a little failed to build the mystery between the characters. The chapters mostly ended abruptly and haphazardly. The story has two timelines and told by two narrators: Young pregnant wife who thinks her husband might be killer and husband’s old friend Jax who turns himself into caveman meets wolfman hiding in the woods, losing the last traces of his humanity. Maybe because of the word choices, slow pacing or uninteresting characterization or all of them made me lose my interest and I continue to read it like an obligation or task because something could change at some part and maybe I can get some surprising ending.

So let’s talk more about the plot:

We’re introduced to Charlotte, new, young, called “trophy wife” by her old acquaintances, pregnant, finds a dead woman at the lake, the very exact spot her husband’s ex had been drowned and her husband Paul lies to the officers that he’s never seen her before. But actually Charlotte saw them talking animatedly one day ago and Paul disappears to find Jax, leaving his wife alone with suspicious officers and talkative, irritating mother.

Then we’re going back 21 years ago, young Paul, Jax and police officer Micah’s storyline: Three young kids get bored, jumping into their car, hitting the road but their night ends with an unexpected event.

And yes, ending was predictable which kills my last hopes so I finished the last page and wiped the disappointment from my face. So this is not so thrilling, shaking, solid, mediocre thriller for me. I actually enjoyed author’s previous works more. Of course it was not bad, boring or pointless reading. Especially I enjoyed the flashback parts about Jax more than Charlotte supports her brother’s culinary skills storyline. So
I’m giving 3, not bored me to death but also not excited me stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN/Park Row for sharing this ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

Jumps up and down up and down. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC of one of my newest favorite suspense writers since last year. I read the Marriage Lie last year and since then I have read every book of hers, and have yet to be disappointed. She keeps the pages turning and the thrills coming.

Charlotte comes from the wrong side of the mountains and was raised in poverty. She pulls herself up and meets a wealthy widower named Paul who comes from money but also a past that is worth whispering about. His wife drowned and was found beneath his dock. You can't ever get away from small town gossip and whispers but Charlotte is determined to do just that until she finds the body of another woman beneath her dock. One she saw her husband speaking with the day before. How is this connected to Paul and why does it seem like the past is about to rear it's ugly head. Is lying or ignoring things worth her stable marriage? Charlotte must put her life at risk and put together some tough clues to figure out if it is.

I couldn't put this book down and read it within a day. If you know this author already you know that there is usually a shocking twist at the end, and this book is no different. Indulge yourself and grab this book when it comes out.

Kimberly Belle does it again!! Beautifully woven tale from a small town where everyone knows everything... or do they? So many dark and disturbing relationships passed down generations.
Loved the complex characters and the mystery that surrounds them.
Highly recommend!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!!

Stranger in The Lake by author Kimberly Belle is yet another great thriller by Belle! She has a way with thrillers and this mystery/thriller did not disappoint! I would definitely recommend this book! Told at an amazing fast pace, it’s an easy but awesome read!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

She grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, a trailer park kid, but Charlotte has married up. Now the wife of a very wealthy widower, Paul, Charlotte is thrilled to finally have a safe and secure life. The fact that she is pregnant is just icing on the cake. But her new life is threatened when Charlotte finds a woman’s body underneath the dock in front of the home she shares with Paul. The woman is found in the exact same place as Paul’s late wife, who supposedly drowned. With the police and community questioning whether Paul had something to do with this death, and his first wife’s. Can Charlotte trust her husband or has she married a murderer? This is a pleasant read, with a lovely setting, if few surprises

Fans of the emotional page turners (think Lisa Scottoline, Kate Moretti and Gillian Flynn) and of page turning thrillers with a dark twist (Michael Connolly, James Patterson) should not miss this novel.

Kimberly Belle has become a master at her craft and this novel should not be missed. Perfect beach read

Thank you to @kimberlysbelle @parkrowbooks @netgalley for the early read. Kimberly is a must read author for me and this novel has surpassed all my expectations