Sweet Water by Cara Reinard was released on New Year's Day in 2021, and I found it via NetGalley. Reinard is a new author to me, but I was in need of a solid suspense novel, so I took a chance. I am thrilled to say this was fantastic, and I highly recommend it. The book is told in dual timelines: what happened during Sarah and Martin's courtship roughly 25 years ago and where they are today. But the book opening, where they are dealing with the death of their son's girlfriend, is one of the best I've read in years.

Sarah's father is the head maintenance technician at a college in Pennsylvania. Her mother passed away from cancer, and they are not at all rich. Martin is a fraternity guy from a wealthy family with a genuine and a slightly dark side. They fall in love, marry, have two children, and live happily ever after. Except they don't. Little things along the way cause Sarah to doubt Martin's ethics but it's never enough to do something irreversible. Years ago, she fell in love with a boy named Josh whose family owned a beautiful mansion near her house. She secretly met with Josh until he disappeared one day. Everything is connected in Sarah's new life as Martin's wife, but she doesn't realize every thread's purpose on her spool of life.

Ah! I loved it. It immediately gripped me and pushed me to read the entire book basically in one day. I didn't want to put it down because of how everything slowly unwound. Sure, Sarah makes a few mistakes, but she is generally a good wife and mother, and I feel a lot of empathy for her. Reinard built a beautiful set of characters who are flawed but have potential. Everything is gray for the most part, so it's hard to say (until the end) whether Martin is as bad as his family, if both children have inherited the good and the bad from their parents, whether Josh knows more than he's saying, and who really killed Yaz, the girlfriend.

I had a few small niggles (personality quirks that didn't quite add up, a couple of times where the author sorta hinted / crossed a line about something happening but then pulled back, and timing on a pregnancy and age) -- not enough to really cause any issues. I still put this one up there between 4.5 and 4.75 stars. Easily one of my top reads in the last year. Between the descriptions, the character growth, the balance of detail versus vague concepts... it all lets a reader choose their own interpretation while backing up scenarios with facts that point in multiple directions.

What would you do if your in-laws forced you into breaking the law? How would you protect your child but also do the right thing for a girl who's obviously been hurt? Where do you draw the line between natural behavior and drug-induced responses? It all added up to a complex yet straightforward mystery with tons of emotional suspense and solid, page-turning action. Not once was I bored. Never did I think it was implausible. It all could happen, even if it is probably a rarity... people generally aren't all bad, but I was glad to see no one tried to kill someone to be quiet about the truth. It was mostly a game of suspense and doubt... and who would end up winning was a story I fully got behind. I'll definitely read more by this author. Time to check her book list to find another!

About the Book: Rich people problems..When Martin and Sarah go to the woods, they find their teenage son, Finn at an almost overdose drugged up level and Finn's girlfriend, Yazmin, dead. Instead of what you would expect a normal person would do which is call the police, Martin takes Sarah and Finn home to clean up and then go to his parent's house for a pow-wow with a group of individuals that will help cover up what happened in the woods.
Told in multiple timelines between the investigation/cover up into Yazmin's death and the background of Sarah and Martin's relationship since they met in college, we learn that Sarah grew up with a father who was a maintenance man and a mother who passed away from cancer while Martin and his family and circle of friends are the "who's who" of their hometown Sewickley.
Instead of presiding over her charities, Sarah must step up, face facts, and figure out what really happened that night in the woods.

My thoughts: This is such a multifaceted thriller that I don't want to say too much without giving anything away. The secrets going on in this one by just about every character is off the charts. I really enjoyed the plot and the way that the story is built on layers of time and crimes. I didn't have strong feelings with any of the characters but did think that they all played a vital part in the story.

An excellent complex mystery that will keep you turning the page! Author did a good job of weaving several plots together and highlighting just how corrupting money and power can be when it's left unchecked. I actually didn't like the main character who seemed to live in a bubble and not see much of the reality around her, but reacted blindly anyway - she made one bad decision after another and kept changing her direction - plus seemed to want to have her whole family in jail before knowing what happened.. This all made for an engaging story, although I wasn't really rooting for anyone!

This was a family thriller I couldn’t put down! After a desperate call from their son, Sarah and her husband found his girlfriend dead in the woods. After her husband convinces her to leave the girl their and not report it to the authorities, Sarah realizes things are about to get a whole lot worse. Questioning her husband and the rich family she married into, Sarah takes it upon herself to uncover what really happened-which, in turn, unravels a lifetime of lies about her husband and his family. This is a book about entitlement and rich vs poor. Sarah was a fantastic character - even as she struggled between the line of right and wrong.

Thank you for my copy in exchange for an honest review

Sweet Water is a tale about what money and privilege can bring you, if you are on the right side of it.

Martin and Sarah, college sweethearts, are forced to do something they never thought possible, after a late night call from their son asking for help. When they find him, they also find his girlfriend dead, and their son incoherent and injured. Trying to do what is best for their family, Martin and Sarah embark on a journey filled with deceit and lies. But one of them questions what is happening and is determined to find the truth. The question is whether they will be able to before the tables turn.

I wasn't a fan of this book, and had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. I initially wanted to read it because it was based in Pittsburgh, where I am from, but other than that the story just didn't work for me.

I wouldn't recommend this book, and was glad when it was over.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cara Reinard and Thomas & Mercer for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel and how it dives right into the crime. We start wondering about the guilty parties right away and how we start to wonder what the heck is wrong with this family. I was really rooting for the mother and hated her husbands rich, powerful family. This novel really spoke to me because money talks and money can buy your way out of just about anything. I loved the side stories that let us see the mothers history, falling in love with the father and how we can see in hindsight how bad this relationship was for her. I definitely recommend!

College sweethearts Sarah and Martin have it all - 2 kids, dream house, money. But the decision they make to protect their son Finn when finding him unconscious in the woods nearby his dead girlfriend unravel their lives and bring up memories from the past. This is a story of a man who thinks he is above the law and that money can solve everything and his wife who is finally realizing it.

My thoughts: A good plot that started off strong but dragged on the last portion of the book. I enjoyed the present and past timeline and was happy with the ending. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3

Beautiful cover, but blasé book.

Ways this book bored and annoyed me:
There is constant mention of "sweet water" on nearly every other page, like hey, we get it!

Sarah is not a full character, but a mere outline who has no distinguishable personality. Her backstory just took up space and repeated the same two things over and over: she slept with another dude once and he ran away from her and omg she would love to be rich.

Sarah's husband and his family are also cardboard cutouts of villains: they have money and no souls, and are boring rich people. That's all there is to them.

I spent the whole book waiting for Sarah to grow a spine and she never does. She's a weak meek wife who finally steps up by taking a book from her son's room and *gasp* wearing a boring dress to a ball. Also, her son who was in trouble is hardly in the story. Sarah spends the whole book willowing around thinking of the one other dude she's banged and feeling bad for herself and her son's dead girlfriend because she was poor. Dead girl's brother is named Cash and that's also all he cares about because duh, poor dark-skinned people do drugs and steal money.

I just realized as I type this that this book annoyed me more than I thought.

This is a very intriguing book. I wasn't sure who the killer was. Every character did something to protect themselves or someone else.

I received an ARC from Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours and NetGalley for an honest review.

It’s what Sarah Ellsworth dreamed of. Marriage to her college sweetheart, Martin. Living in a historic mansion in Pennsylvania’s most exclusive borough. And Finn, a teenage son with so much promise. Until…A call for help in the middle of the night leads Sarah and Martin to the woods, where they find Finn, injured, dazed, and weeping near his girlfriend’s dead body. Martin and Sarah will protect their son.
But Sarah isn't comfortable with everything being covered up and all the lies. But that is what Martin's family does. That is what wealth does. Nothing can touch them and money can cover up anything. Sarah finally realizing she doesn't really know her husband and she doesn't really love him anymore.
This kept you going back to her college years nd when she met Martin and something that happened while they are in college.
I enjoyed this ARC that I got from NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer.

How far would you go to protect your child? That is what Sarah is asking herself after her and her husband Martin get a phone call from her son that he needs their help. What they find is their son’s girlfriend dead in the woods and their son barely conscious no memory of what happened. In the days that follow Sarah comes to realize that her life and marriage were based on lies. I really enjoyed this book it kept me guessing to the end and had lots of twists and turns. Thanks Netgalley for this book.

I really enjoyed this book! It jumps right in to the action from the first sentence and holds your attention the entire way through!

I'll admit I downloaded it solely because I loved the cover-- just beautiful! I started the text version of this book from NG but with a busy work week and an infant son I was struggling to find time to sit and finish it. I noticed that the book had been 'Read Now' because it was after the publication date, and I was dying to finish it so I actually paid for an audio copy from Audible to hear the end, even though I was most of the way through. 100% worth it!

The main character is simultaneously flawed and endearing. At first I thought it was insane that someone would go along with covering up a death (accidental or otherwise) but as the story goes on you see how she ended up in that position and why she did what she did and you sympathize. You really end up liking this character and rooting for her to stand on her own two, morals (mostly) intact.

There were a few things that seemed a little bit strange; for example that a girl who was in a major accident would notice a family crest on the cuff link of a random person at the scene and then recognize it years later in a stained glass window, or that your first love (and father of your child!) could have moved back to the same small town you live in and you don't notice until two years later....but they're pretty easy to over look given the quality of the rest of the story.

Overall, enthralling! Can't wait for more from this author!

Great book! Grabbed me from the first and never let go!!
Great murder mystery. Started a little slow but pulled me in as I read on. A story about truth, lies and deception.
Liked the characters and storyline. I found that it moved rapidly with little wasted words. It held my attention throughout.

A mystery thriller about a family that seems to get a way with crimes they have committed. It was a tad slow in certain spots but for the most part I enjoyed this book.

How far would you go to protect your child? That's become a familiar refrain in books of late, and in this one, a mother and father cover up what appears to be the murder of their son's girlfriend. But when her son and husband are able to lie so easily, so convincingly, mother has to wonder what kind of man she married and what kind of human they have raised

Not mad at this book and not impressed by it. I was hoping that something more dramatic would happen to Martin because wow what an awful person and I thought Sarah would her final girl moment of just sticking it to the man but the ending was blasé at best.

The amount of times ‘sweet water’ is mentioned in this book is absurd! I get it, it’s the title but enough. And Sarah... her story when she was younger was just way to slow of a pace. It ruined the flow for me. I couldn’t get into this one.

We just binge watched Your Honor when I discovered Sweet Water.... so if you enjoyed this book I highly recommend that! Similar premise!

Sarah has the life she dreamed of with her husband Martin and son Finn. Until she doesn’t. They get a panicked call from Finn and go to discover near the water his girlfriend dead. They decide to help cover this up because Finn is a good kid with a lot of potential.

Truly dark and uncomfortable for sure! But I like that! The story will alternate to some flashbacks. Ultimately the pace is strong you may not love the characters of what they do but you will finish because the ending is truly amazing! Spectacular and mind blowing! Bravo!

I did not find this novel to be a page turning one. It is a book for readers who like lots of back story, lots about each of the characters (whether primary or not), and much more about the current situation than is necessary for an engaging plot. All the main characters are deeply flawed and it was hard for me to find any of them attractive.

The redeeming aspect of this novel is the primary issue about which the plot revolves. One may think that a crime has been successfully covered up but there are always ramifications that will surface at some time. There is a current crime/murder in the plot and, through flashbacks, the hint of a previous one or two. I found the flashback chapters often served to interrupt the flow of the narrative. There are some twists to the plot but Reinard was clear enough on the hints that the twists were not really surprising.

This novel is a study of how the wealthy and influential may think they can successfully hide family moral failures no matter who they hurt in the process. In that sense, the novel is a study in deceptive character more than a murder mystery.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Cara Reinard's latest novel, Sweet Water, is a disturbing and thrilling tale, one that weaves in family horror with mystery and thriller elements.

Sarah Ellsworth had a dream. The perfect husband, the perfect family. A huge home. The works. She even got that dream, only to learn the hard way that dreams never capture the full detail. Or the darker sides that can come with it.

Her son, Finn, seemed like a boy with all the potential in the world. So you can imagine how much her world is rocked when it appears that he may have murdered his girlfriend. And that her husband's entire family is willing to work together to cover it up...

“Please,” I beg to the starlit sky peeking through the trees. “Let her be breathing.”

Much like Finn, the teenage son, Sweet Water is a novel full of potential. Thankfully, it didn't let us down in the same way that boy did! This was a dark and thrilling tale, one that was unafraid to raise uncomfortable questions about family and loyalty.

A few things worth addressing early on in my review: this is not going to be a book for everyone. It's tense and uncomfortable at times, and the description alone should make it clear what sort of subject matter we're dealing with.

Likewise, the tone seemed to change suddenly over the course of Sweet Water. It went from this tense build-up to something else. Personally, it felt to me like the change was to try and redirect the attention to a different element of the story. But I can see how it would be off-putting to some.

All things considered, Sweet Water is a novel that held my attention right through to the end, with plenty of dark twists, and even darker implications. If you're a fan of family drama/horror infused with thriller elements, odds are good that you might just enjoy the hell that Sarah Ellsworth is about to go through in Sweet Water.