I received an advance reader’s copy of Still Here from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t put down Amy Stuart’s "Still Mine" and "Still Water," so I was so excited to read her new book "Still Here!"

"Still Here" is a unique mystery/thriller involving an on-the-run private investigator Clare. Although the book is a stand-alone novel, it is the third that follows Clare’s journey.

Clare was on the run from a dangerous ex when she was found by a private investigator, Malcom. Instead of turning her in, Malcom decided to hire Clare as a PI. Now, Malcom has gone missing. As Clare searches for answers, she sees that Malcom’s past is mysterious and he may be linked to his father-in-law’s death and wife's disappearance.

While "Still Here" is considered a stand-alone novel, I found it useful that I had already read the other two books in the series. I feel it gave me a deeper understanding of the dynamics between Malcom and Clare. I also had an appreciation of Clare’s backstory because of what I had learned in the other books. Either way, the story was compelling with great twists and turns. Plus, Stuart’s writing style made it hard to put the book down!

I think it’s a great novel (and set of novels!) for someone looking for a unique mystery or thriller.

Clare's husband Jason hired Malcolm to find her when she ran from his abuse but rather than turning her over to him, he became her mentor. Now Malcolm and his wife Zoe have gone missing and Clare's determined to find them. This opens with a dramatic scene- Clare in a bathtub with a head wound. What happened? Well, the novel then goes back four days and tells a twisty tale of secrets in a small town. Zoe's father was murdered and now the question is whether Malcolm was somehow involved in that as well as whatever has happened to Zoe. Clare's facing a tough one. She's an addict, btw, who struggles mightily. No spoilers from me but know that this has some good twists. It's part of a trilogy - I read the first one but this felt fine as a standalone to me because Stuart gives enough back story to either catch you up or fill you in. SHe's got a good storytelling style. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A page turner.

This book is being touted as a stand alone and being from the author's hometown of Toronto, Canada I really wanted to read it. The book was okay as a stand alone BUT I think I would have gotten MUCH more out if had I read the first two books. So if anyone is reading my review and planning on checking this book out....please read the other two books first, I wish someone had told me to.

While reading this book I sometimes felt lost and that is no fault of the author or her writing style. I did feel there was too much going on and I wasn't sure who knew who from the other books. I spent a lot of time going "huh?".

Ultimately, the book was fine but not something that I'd be likely to revisit in the future. If Amy Stuart puts out a proper stand alone I wouldn't hesitate to read it.

I started this novel thinking it was a standalone but soon found out it was number 3 in a series. This greatly impacted my ability to enjoy the novel. The background information was vague, therefore not allowing me to develop a reason to care about the characters. The pace began quick enough but slowed down, this could have been my perception due to struggling to connect with the story and characters. None of this is the author’s fault and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more had I known it was part of a series and had read the others. This should have been mentioned in the description

Summary: Clare is on the run from her abusive ex-husband, while investigating the disappearance of her boss, Malcolm. Malcolm had been working on several cases of women who vanished, including his own wife, when he stopped contacting Clare. Clare is also working with a policewoman who has an interest in one of the women whose whereabouts is unknown.

The book’s action takes place in a small, seaside town. Claire’s first action is to illegally enter her boss’s house and then have a tousle over a gun with the female occupant, who turns out to be Malcolm’s sister in law. The women hug and make up, after realizing they both want to find Malcolm and his missing wife, Zoe.

As Clare continues to seek information on Malcolm, Zoe and two other missing women, she stumbles about from one dangerous situation to another, all the while congratulating herself on how good she is at being a P.I. She doesn’t even have a license. Lots more gun waving ensues.

Comments: I signed up to read and review Still Here through NetGalley. I finished it only due to this obligation. I didn’t realize it was the third and final book in a series and I have a personal quirk about reading series books in order. But I didn’t enjoy this book enough to want to go read the first two.

Maybe I’m just too old for this one. I thought the characters were completely unlikable, inconsistent and flat. There was plenty of action, but it was repetitive with way too much gun waving. The level of writing skill was decent — and indeed showed some promise — but the plot needed tightening in several places.

This is one book I just can’t recommend to my readers. Genre: Mystery, Private Investigator, Thriller

This is the third in the “Still” series; I did not read the first two. Although reading the first two might have given me more of a background story, I had no difficulty picking up and following along with the characters and plot.

Clare, on the run from an abusive husband, has become a private investigator of sorts. In the past, she has worked with Malcolm, who has now disappeared. Asked by a police detective to travel to Malcolm’s home town to do some investigation, Clare exposes the ugly secrets of this small town.

This is a fast, easy, engaging read although there are no real surprises. I do hate it when supposedly smart women make stupid mistakes, but I will just chalk that up to Clare’s youth and inexperience as a PI.

This is my first read in this series, and I think this is the third installment. I know I have to do better before requesting, but though this is already the third book, I have to say that it feels like I didn’t miss much about anything. The lead character is Clare, who irritates me in the beginning because she endured so much from her abusive husband. I am not trying to be mean or instigate anything, but I am against abuse, and I believe that women shouldn’t endure that kind of pain, especially from someone she thought will be her partner. But I am aware it is happening. From that painful relationship, Clare evolved to this confident, strong, and intelligent woman who is trying to save a case and that I love. This story is exciting and intriguing. I devoured it in one day and truly enjoyed it. I like the writing style, and there’s no unnecessary backstory.

This book showed such promise at the beginning. I was reading two books simultaneously with lead characters named Claire/Clare and both had gripping opening chapters, but unfortunately the other book took off and this one kind of faltered.

This Clare is supposed to be a new PI with little or no experience. We are to believe that a police detective sends her out of town on a missing persons case all on her own. The premise is just silly and doesn't match the better written parts of the novel, which describe the town, the case and the other characters involved.

Clare is inept, but not in a *wink *wink we're all in on the joke kind of a way. Instead the things she does and the way she "investigates" are just plain ludicrous.

I'd skip this one.

Four solid stars.

I'm a fan of the Still books, so when I saw Amy Stuart's latest, I was thrilled to receive a digital copy and quickly dove in.

Clare is a survivor. Starting over after escaping an abusive relationship, Malcolm offers her an opportunity to work as a PI locating missing girls. But when Malcolm goes missing, Clare has to go to Lune Bay, the source of his own torrid past, to try and unravel the mystery surrounding his disappearance. The further she digs into his past, however, she more she realizes his history might be more nefarious than she previously thought, and Clare is thrown into the middle of an elaborate web of intrigue, not knowing who to trust or when danger might come looking for her.

I really liked this book. It's difficult not to root for Clare, a woman who's lost so much and fights for everything she has. She's tough and gritty and doesn't back down from a challenge. She finds comraderie in the "broken people," other hurt or lost souls who have also been discarded or overlooked or cast out from their old lives. I found this to be one of her more endearing traits, as she's not this clean-cut, soap box hero. She's not afraid to bend the rules but doesn't bend them for the sake of it, and Stuart did a wonderful job balancing these two things.

The mystery plot felt a little familiar, but as Clare untangles the pieces surrounding Malcolm's past, Stuart takes the opportunity to highlight some serious social issues: drug abuse, human trafficking, police corruption. Without giving too much away, I will say that I enjoyed the complex network Stuart creates, and while some might find predictability to the initial premise, the payout is worth it, and I look forward to more adventures with Clare.

I will say that sometimes the voices got a bit muddled; certain characters shared the same mannerisms or turns of phrase at times, but overall, the character arcs were solid, the pacing was good, and the plot structure worked really well in the seaside town of Lune Bay.

Still Here is a gripping, gritty thriller with teeth and heart. Out in August, you'll want to add this to your TBR if you're a fan of crime, female-led police thrillers, or vacation-centric narratives.

Big thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

I couldn't get into this though I tried and gave up about halfway. Clare is a PI investigating her missing boss and his missing wife and the town that seems to have a lot of secrets. Apparently this is part of a series, maybe it would have been more engaging for me if I had read the others - but I have come into the middle of other mystery series before and that wasn't a problem. I just didn't particularly feel a connection with the main character. Not for me I guess.

Still Here tells the story of a private investigator who is fleeing her own demons while she investigates cases. She finds herself in a small North Carolina beach town searching for her erstwhile boss. Was he the murdering criminal that some have suggested or was he the man she thought he was?

Still Here was an engaging read. I found myself surprised by each twist in the mystery narrative.

Being that this is marketed as a stand-alone but is actually part of a series, I felt at a distance from the main character, Clare, until about half way through. She felt a bit flat at the beginning, a woman-on-the-rum from an abusive husband turned PI. She really developed as a character for me after meeting Douglas Bentley, the father of a missing girl associated with the case central to the story—the Westman murder and disappearance. Clare continued to develop in her conversations with her female detective co-star, Somers. It was at this point that I really began turning the pages to see how the end would unfold.

I’d be really curious to go back and read Stuart’s other work with these characters. I was debating on a rating, between 3 and 4, and ended up going with 4 because I felt, had I read the others, I’d have been more invested in Clare from the outset.

A book that keeps you on your toes. You will be so enthralled with this novel because of the storyline and the surprises this book hands you. The characters and the story itself were well-paced and nothing felt rushed. This is a great read if you're looking for something that will keep you reading till the very end.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

I read this book as a stand-alone with no problems. The characters are well described and their backgrounds are explained.

The mystery involves folks in a small town where everybody knows everybody. Over the years, too many young women have disappeared without explanation or adequate investigation. It takes an outsider to break the cycle and figure out who is to blame.

This is a fast-paced and enjoyable book. The reader really cannot separate the good guys from the evil until the end.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Still Here by Amy Stuart.

When PI Clare discovers that her friend and partner Malcolm has gone missing, she springs into action to find him. But Malcolm himself is cloaked in suspicion and mystery, his wife had also gone missing, and Malcolm is the prime suspect. But Clare will not be deterred, she will find the truth no matter what.

In fairness, my quarantine brain fog was probably not a help when I read this, but it fell flat for me. For lack of a better term, it just felt muddled, luke warm, I really struggled to care about the characters or their plight. It wasn't near as readable as I would like a crime drama to be.

Malcolm the private investigator who gave Clare her start in missing persons, is missing. On furtherinvestigation so is his wife. She is now trying to find out what has happened. She is in Lune Bay looking for any information that may help her discover what has happened to the couple.
What she finds is sinister and dark. She knows going forward she will be in danger. Not only herself but Malcolm and his wife.
It's a terrifying situation but she has to move forward.
Her life may depend on it.
Scary good! Strong characters, some you love some you love to hate!!

The set-up is perfect. Clare is barely conscious. Her attacker is near. The mood is ominous.

Clare is an investigator, a new career for her after fleeing her abusive spouse, Jason. Jason hired an investigator, Malcolm, to find her. It is Malcolm who brings her into this new field, and then he disappears. Clare is now trying to find him which leads her to his ocean-side town where she learns she did not know him well at all. Who can she trust?

This is a tale of corruption, people on the take, and one highly manipulative and messed up wealthy family. Clare has some baggage including addictions that she barely has a grip on, pervasive fear and anxiety, and an anger management problem. But she is plucky and steadily uncovers the layers of deceit.

All of this works well, but one problem is the resolution. There is a great pattern of steadily unfolding clues leading up to the big reveal and then that is rather simplified, brushed over. Can envision several other scenarios that would have ramped up suspense and drawn out the inevitable resolve. Wasn't bad, but it caused the story to end a bit flat.

This is the first book I have ready by Amy Stuart. Look forward to reading more.

This was my first Amy Stuart book and I really enjoyed this one. I'm eager to read Stuart's other books and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Many thanks to the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Clare has had quite a year, especially the past few months -- she fled her abusive husband and hid out for months before being found by Malcolm Boon (Hayes), the guy her husband hired to find her. However, instead of returning her to her husband or revealing her location to him, Malcolm hired her to assist him as a private investigator. They worked two missing person cases together and then he disappeared. Her third missing person case is to find Malcolm, at the behest of Detective Somers, whom they worked with on the last case. Malcolm is a suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Zoe Westman. The search leads to Lune Bay, the oceanside town that rose to prominence at the hands of Jack Westman, local crime boss until his very public murder five years ago in a local restaurant while celebrating his wife's birthday with her and their two daughters. Zoe took over the family business, expanded it, ran it into the ground essentially, and then disappeared three years ago.

As Clare starts talking to some of the locals, including Charlotte, Zoe's sister, Austin Lanz, freelance reporter, and others, she quickly discovers that there is more to Lune Bay, the Westman family, and Malcolm than she realized. Although the third book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone novel (which is what I did), as there is enough of the backstory referenced to allow the reader sufficient familiarity with the major characters. Clare was an intriguing character -- mistrustful due to her past, cold at times, a tendency to be reckless and impulsive, but also an inner strength that she does not fully recognize. This was an enjoyable book.

I received a copy of the e-book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Although this is billed as a ‘stand-alone’ psychological thriller, I think that it works best to read it after the first two in the series featuring Clare, escaped domestic abused woman turned P.I. Without knowing the details of her previous experiences and connection to Malcolm, the employer that she is now searching for, some of the nuances of the story are not as significant and might even seem a bit puzzling.

I really enjoyed the first two novels, Still Mine and Still Water. The author knows how to build suspense and move a story along at breakneck speed. In this third installment, I enjoyed seeing Clare again. It was like getting caught up with an old friend.

I wasn’t as crazy about the story line in this book, revolving around family members of a powerful, wealthy man who had been murdered five years before and whose daughter (Malcom’s wife) had disappeared the year before. He was suspected of foul play and so he took off.

Meanwhile, he showed up in Clare’s life, hiring her to work on two subsequent missing women cases while she was on the run from her abusive husband. Clare learns a lot more about him in this story than she had previously known.

Although I did enjoy this book quite a lot, a couple of things held me back from rating it as a 4-star read. If I could, I would give it a solid 3 ½ stars. The characters, aside from Clare and the detective friend she works with, felt very bare bones for the most part. A few could be empathized with, such as the father of another young woman who had disappeared, but mostly they seemed to me like caricatures of people.

The ending happens very quickly, and while I don’t want to give away any spoilers, I can say that there were a couple of surprises that I didn’t expect. It kind of felt like everything was wrapped up a bit too neatly, though of course I was happy for Clare and continue to be interested in what happens next in her life. The author indicated in an afterword that the series is concluded, and I hope not! I found myself wondering what case Clare will take on next and how some other aspects in her life work out.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books and the author for providing me with an eArc of this book before it’s publication in early August.