I really enjoyed this mystery. Kay is former FBI profiler who goes back to the small town where she grew up after her brother goes to jail for an assault. The book unravels their back story along with the story of a serial killer. Kay works with the local PD to solve the case. 
Engaging ride.

Drama, actions, twist and turns made this book a great read. It's the firs book I've read by this author, but it definitely won't be the last. Can't wait for the next one to see what's next.

I have never read a book by Leslie Wolfe and once I started this book I became a fan for life! SO much suspense and mystery ! I was hooked from the first couple chapters and look forward to more books by this author. Time to go back to her back list of books and see what I have been missing out reading ! Great book! Love that this is a series and I will be anxiously awaiting the next book in this series! LOVED!!!!

Reading Between the Wines book review #23/115 for 2021:
Rating: 4 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: The Girl from Silent Lake
Author: Leslie Wolfe
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASED ON February 19, 2021!!! 

Sipping Synopsis: Kay Sharp is an FBI profiler called home when her brother is arrested but charged overly harsh for his crimes. When she gets there, she gets involved in a murder case with a missing child. As she starts investigating, she starts getting closer to the killer she realizes that she wants to catch the killer but not at the cost of revealing her secrets. 

Final sipping thoughts: I felt like this story was 3 mini stories woven all into one and it was done seamlessly. I don’t think it is a hard jump to figure out who the killer is because the clues are dropped early on. But it was very interesting watching Kay try to solve the case knowing who the killer was going to turn out to be. I really enjoyed Kay as a protagonist and can’t wait to read the next book in this series.  

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @Bookouture for an advanced copy of @TheGirlFromSilentLake

#TheGirlFromSilentLake #Bookouture #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers

When Kay Sharp’s brother is tossed in jail for a minor offence which should have merited only a slap on the wrist, she can’t make sense of it. But she does what she has to do, taking a leave of absence from her job as an FBI profiler based in San Francisco, moving back to Mount Chester, the tiny ski-resort town where she grew up. She expects it to be a quiet six months, just living in her parents’ old house, keeping the home fires burning until her brother gets home. But almost immediately, Mount Chester is rocked by the discovery of a young woman’s body, buried in a strange, ritualistic way that sets Kay’s threat alarms tingling immediately. Kay’s sure it’s a serial killer. Offering her assistance to the local police, she teams up with Detective Elliot to try and catch the killer before the body count rises further.

As the story goes on, we learn more about Kay’s own traumatic past, and then it’s revealed she has a much closer link to the killer than she suspected. That she, herself, is a target for a twisted killer, who has been pulling strings to get her back under his sphere of influence for quite some time. 

This is really, really good. Kay is a fascinating character with some major trauma in her background, and the detective she is partnered up with is intriguing in his own right, though we don’t get a lot more than snippets of his background (and hints of the intense crush he is developing on her). There were some big twists in the reveal of the killer’s background and identity, though we’d been getting snippets from his point of view all along. I’d be really intrigued to see where the series goes from here, particularly with Kay’s brother presumably coming home and the two of them settling in together. Five stars for a fascinating start to a great new series of psychological thrillers.

This is my first book by Leslie Wolfe but it won't be my last! I can't wait to see what's next for these characters.  A few twists and turns, some red herrings, drama, action.  this book really has it all and the pace was great, the characters are perfectly flawed.

Riveting read! I would have finished this one a lot faster if it hadn't been for so much going on in my life at the time of reading. I found myself thinking about getting back to it when I wasn't reading. 

Kay Sharp is a great character with a complex past. I found it interesting and intriguing how she profiled the killer. As a former FBI agent, life pulled her back to her hometown, to a past she wanted to forget, and a house she would probably prefer to see burned to ground. But family is obviously important to Kay--namely her brother and her deceased mother. Her father? Well, there's a story there you'll need to discover for yourself by reading the book. 

With nothing much to do in a small, northern town of California, Kay finds herself writing the local sherrif's office with her thoughts about murders in the area. She never expected that a detective would show up at her door suspicious of her involvement. After all, he doesn't understand how she'd have all this understanding of a killer if she wasn't the one behind the deaths. But what is a rocky start, becomes a quick partnership between a cowboy detective who hails from Texas and a former FBI agent from San Francisco. 

There's intrigue, suspense, and danger. Maybe the unnecessary of putting oneself in harm's way toward the end...but that just had me screaming at the book and flipping the pages faster to get to the resolution. 

And speaking of "resolution," this book wrapped up quite nicely!  I hate it when you get to the end of a book and are like "ah, wait a minute, what about x?!" That wasn't the case with this one. Any loose ends were tied up making it a very satisifying read and Leslie Wolfe an author to look for. In fact, this book even delivered a bit of a warm and fuzzy ending, which one doesn't always get from a crime novel. But it actually left me curious about what Kay's future might become. I also wonder if there's going to be a romance developed in the future between Kay and the local detective Elliott. 

I received an advanced reading copy of this book for honest review. Thank you to the author, Bookouture, and NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this. This is my first book for this author and I was HOOKED from the beginning! I definitely didn't see the ending coming like it did. 

Leslie Wolfe has a great way of keeping you guessing while reading this thriller! 

I kept thinking they were going to find out Kathy's secret and somehow that was connected to everything or at least the killer. Definitely looking forward to this series!

This is book the will grab you from the first page and you won’t be able to but it down until the last page. Kay an FBI profiler is coming home after many years. With her mom gone all she has left is her brother Jacob. When he calls to tell her a simple bar fight has landed him in jail for 6 months. Kay returns and is haunted by the secrets of her past. 
Kay can’t help but be intrigued when she hears about a murder by Silent Lake. She can’t help but get consumed with the details of the case. Being on leave from FBI she really misses the details not found in the paper. After receiving more than one letter from a concerned citizen Detective Elliott goes to pay Kay a visit. 

Will Elliott and Kay team up? When more bodies start being found, could there be a serial killer in this small town? 

Highly recommended!
Thanks Netgalley for complimentary copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

This novel, The Girl from Silent Lake by Leslie Wolfe is the first instalment in the Detective Kay Sharp series, set in her hometown of Mount Chester. Dr Kay Sharp is a former FBI agent who was based in San Fransisco where she was a forensic psychologist involved in criminal profiling. Her younger brother Jacob has been imprisoned for six months following a brawl in a bar, and she has temporarily returned to Mount Chester, in the Northern Californian mountains to housesit for him. When a dead woman is found by Silent Lake, partially buried by leaves, her hair braided and her body wrapped in a blanket, the experienced Kay believes there is a serial killer at large and they will strike again. Then another woman, Alison Nolan, vanishes along with her daughter, Hazel, and the local detective, Elliot Young, asks for Kay's assistance.

This is a rapid-paced, compelling story with masterful execution. The constant action means there is never a dull moment and the threads detailing Kay's personal life are equally as exciting as the main plot concerning the murders and abductions. Told through the eyes of Kay in the present day as well as the past, the reader is also treated to the killer's thoughts and motives. I really warmed to Kay; she displays independence, fierceness, and strength and gets on with her life whilst trying to look out for those she loves. The timeline shifts are seamless and expertly done as Kay addresses her awful and deeply traumatic childhood years.

An author with an impressive back catalogue, Leslie Wolfe is a new author for me and one whose work I am so glad to have come across. I liked her writing style and found it hard to tear myself away from this book. I am really excited to read more from Leslie Wolfe and this series going forward. It was a pleasure to read The Girl From Silent Lake, complete with it's terrific, jaggy finale and I highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Girl from Silent Lake is the first in a new series by Leslie Wolfe and the first book of hers I have read.  While there is nothing in the book that is new to the crime novel genre, the author writes a thriller worth the read.  Told in alternating views of the killer, victim and investigator, you get more angles of the events as they unfold.

Kay Sharp was an FBI profiler that quits her job to head back to her hometown when her brother is arrested for a barroom brawl.  While getting acclimated at her old home, she offers some advice on a local murder and ends up helping in the investigation of a serial killer.

I like that her profiling skills offer insight into the actions and motives of the killer.  This intrigued me and kept me interested.  And the small details about the native tribes were interesting and new to me.  

There is a huge trigger warning in this book.  The victims are kidnapped with their children and there are descriptions where the victims were tortured that were a little hard for me.

I kept guessing who the killer was for the entire book.  Fast paced.  Great book for the crime lover who wants a little extra detail about the killer.

FBI profiler Kay Sharp gets a call from her brother about how he is in trouble and will be going to jail and she knows what that means. She is going to have to leave the FBI and go back home to a place she doesn't want to be as it holds to many bad memories.

While she is there she learns about a body found at Silent Lake and she gets involved in trying to solve the crime because she knows that it's the work of a serial killer. It took a little persuasion to get the locals on board with her theory especially since she is currently not with the FBI, but then they find more bodies.

Kay has a secret from when she was a child and while investigating these crimes it comes back to haunt her making her question how the killer knows.

I enjoy Kay as a character as she is pretty determined, strong and very good at her job, but I have never been a fan of law enforcement having a tainted past even if it is something that happened when she was child. It's a secret she has to keep that could affect her future and anyone around her if it got out. My favorite character would have to be Elliot the local detective, him and Kay made a good team.

It took some getting use to how the story was set up as it had chapters with the victims, the killer, Kay's memories and then Kay's POV in present time. I would say my largest complaint is knowing who the killer was so early on in the book. It wasn't meant to be a secret at least I don't think it was as it was to easy to figure out but it was like once I knew all I wanted was for Kay to figure it out because it was easy to do if should would have done some things sooner than later, when that happens I get a bit bored and in a hurry to get finished with the book and I don't like that feeling! 

It was still a really good detective novel and I will be on the lookout for the next one in the series.

Kay is back in a small town where she has to find a killer. Everything points out to a similar murder that happened years ago but the culprit is in prison for life and that definitely makes everyone wonder if there’s a copy cat and how fast they can impide the new murderer to take more lives.

Suspenseful, gripping, old secrets deep burred that eventually needs to see the light and a strong great heroine that is in the middle of everything.

It’s my first book by the author but it got me intrigued to read more stories by her and that’s what I’m planning to do in the near future.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy.

Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley and for letting me take part in this tour. 

Kay Sharp is moving back home and has A LOT of ghosts in her home town. She left for university and never looked back. While her family understood now, she has to return home. There was a lot of mystery around why Kay had to return and what happened to her when she was younger. Leslie did an excellent job of hooking me into the story with this mystery. 

I really liked Elliot, Kay's "partner". He’s funny, hardworking and an all-round good cop. He's a little self-deprecating. He does need to believe in himself a bit more. I think he has some good character development ahead of him. 

The case was disturbing. The Unsub is very mentally disturbed and the way he can act so normal in public is terrifying. There were enough hints to guess who the killer was for me. While I do like to be surprised there is also some satisfaction in being right. There were some real complex elements for Kay and Elliot to uncover. There was a lot that just didn't make sense. I liked the flashbacks and the different POVs. It really helped to get an all-round insight into the characters. 

The story was very fast-paced and never really let up. I sped through the story in less than 24 hours! Leslie had me hooked from the beginning and I needed to find those women and children just as much as Kay and the team. 

I loved the chapter headings, little things like that are always a bit different which I like. I hope this continues for the rest of the series. I'm excited to read the next book which comes out in April!

The Girl from Silent Lake is the first book in a new series featuring Kay Sharp, a trained FBI Profiler. When Kay’s brother is jailed for 6 months, Kay leaves her lucrative job with the FBI and heads home to Mount Chester. While at home, she discovers that her small childhood town is being stalked by a serial killer who is targeting women. Kay offers to help the local detectives find the killer before he strikes again.

The story begins with Kay’s trip back home and this part had me scratching my head. I wondered why she needed to leave her job to basically go house sit although she also planned to visit her brother in jail. Why not hire someone to take care of the home? Well, this part of the mystery was solved with a jaw –dropping twist that I never could have guessed.

With multiple narrators including the Unsub, I was kept at the edge of my seat waiting for detectives to solve the mystery. The Unsub was cold, calculating, extremely smart and just as equally disturbed. At some point, I started thinking that the detectives will never catch the person. This killer knew all about concealing evidence and his MO was so complex that the detectives had more than one puzzle to solve.

There is a lot to love about this book. Unfortunately, I struggled a bit with some of the sections that I felt dragged on a little. I also feel like I am getting tired of the ‘lone female lead detective who rebels and solves the case on her own’ trope. I mean Kay is smart and I love that she was a profiler. However, she seemed to run the show almost single handedly with the other detectives looking a bit incompetent in the end.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the second book. Suspenseful, action-packed, unpredictable with a dark, twisted Unsub, fans of serial –killer cop procedurals will enjoy this one.

This is my first book from Leslie Wolfe and I am now an avid fan! I can say with 100% certainty that I will keep reading the Kay Sharp Series! 

I loved everything about this book! I really fell in love with FBI Profiler Kay and the Mount Chester Detective and I really want to know where this story will go. 

There’re two stories in one in this book, we have Kay Sharp’s story, and then we have the unsub’s story as well. We do get both POV’s in the novel and I really loved this since I could get a glimpse of the unsub’s childhood. It made me more invested in the development of the story! 

The book contained everything that I personally love (murder, mystery, different POVs, possible romance) and this book left me at the edge of my seat the whole time! 

As for the ending, all I have to say is that was a BOMB ending and I highly recommend his book!

ADDICTIVE police procedural crime thriller with great characterization, well written & an abundance of suspense throughout until the first-rate conclusion. First time reading this author but eagerly anticipating #2 in this series. Enjoyed totally & RECOMMEND fully.  Thanks to NetGalley & Bookouture for this ARC in return for my honest review.

My first book from this author but it won't be my last.

This book is intense and thrilling and will keep you reading to the end.

I was on the edge of my seat during some scenes.

Loved it and can't wait for book 2.

A great plot with believable characters and gripping suspense that held my interest from beginning to end. I highly recommend this read to anyone who likes crime and police procedurals.

Wow what a page turning whodunnit! FBI profiler Kay goes back to her hometown to take care of her brother's place, their childhood home, when he goes to jail for a bar fight and also to find a way to get him freed. She offers her insight when a woman is found murdered in what appears to be a ritualistic manner. When another woman disappears, this time with a child, the hunt is on. 

Although this is the tried and true formula of woman runs away from her hometown hiding an awful secret,  becomes law enforcement and has to return many years later, it was a great read.  It was well written, full of interesting characters and a really good story. I am definitely looking forward to more books in this series.