This is less a murder mystery than it is a family drama. The murder mystery is rather like a soundtrack to the secrets, memories, and aches that slowly reveal themselves throughout the story.

I really did not enjoy listening to this book. The narrator made me want to fall asleep. The story was too all over the place, with too many characters. It honestly felt like multiple stories thrown together. The ending, in my opinion, was terrible and also did not seem to fit with the rest of the book

Loved the narrator and the pace of the book. Bitterroot Lake has a great plot! I love it when I can’t figure out who done it! I can’t wait have more from author Alicia Beckman. Thanks to NetGalley and the author and her publisher for letting me listen to the audio book of Bitterroot Lake.

I wanted to love this mystery and it did evolve into a good read but it took a while. There were twists and turns and lots of secrets that had to come out. In the end, it was a true catharsis for the characters' lives.

Good narration but the story drag along for me. No real violence or sex scenes, but no real excitement either. It's a nice story that tries to be paranormal but just missed the mark for me.

Bitterroot Lake caught my attention from the start because I grew up in Montana. It is a slow-moving mystery with an interesting premise. At times I had a hard time keeping track of all of the characters and the storyline gets a little confusing. I listened to the audio version and liked it but feel that it may have been better with more than one narrator.

A few weeks after her husband’s death, Sarah McCaskill Carter returns to Montana for a family visit. Her mom has requested her assistance in opening up the family’s historic summer lodge. Upon arrival, Sarah discovers her old friend is staying in one of the cabins on the lodge's property. When Janine finally admits why she is in hiding, Sarah insists on calling her cousin, the sheriff to report the murder of lawyer Lucas Erickson. In between trying to figure out who killed Lucas, the women attempt to repair their fractured relationships.
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Okay, first I will tell you it has been a few weeks since I listened to this one and several books in between but I will tell you I loved this one and the mystery of it. It was something like one of those movies where "I know what you did" but really do you? Sarah is recently widowed and comes back to the lodge to clean it out and either get it ready to sell or open, that is the big question, and find her friend, squatting in one of the cabins. This is after a lawyer in murdered in town and she is suddenly a suspect. There are lots of twists and turns and secrets and dreams and flashbacks and more secrets and oh, I really recommend this one! This is the first foray with this author but if this is what she writes it will not be the last!

**Received this ARC for review in audio form from the publisher via NetGalley**

The novel is not a psychological thriller so do not expect an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Even though a murder occurs, it is not the focus of the story. Instead the story focuses on Sarah's grief and how she overcomes it. The ending was predictable yet satisfying. I enjoyed the audiobook and found the voice of the narrator pleasant to listen to.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah is trying to find a place to be alone and cope with the loss of her husband, so she goes back home to her family's lodge. However, what she finds is news of the murder of a person from her past, an old friend, and a lot of memories that her friends don't want to bring up from a tragedy years earlier.

I enjoyed this book, especially the character development and the way the story of the past is unraveled to meet the present day of the novel. It wasn't too predictable and I thought it had a good bit of depth, which not all thriller and mystery novels have.

I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the narration as well.

I'd suggest this book to anyone who loves thrillers that are more character focused and deal with family and friend relationships.


While I enjoyed the general premise of the book and liked the unique perspective of the differing sisters, I did find the book somewhat predictable for me, and some of the relationships a bit frustrating and unrealistic. However, I'm pretty picky when it comes to the mystery and thriller genre, so I think avid readers who enjoy a good twist and spooky location would really enjoy this one.

Perhaps my hopes were to high, but I just didn't connect with this book. The plot is great, the characters seemed interesting...but the story moved to slow for me. The book was never able to grab my attention.

This was a slow burner but a great mystery. I loved the emotion that could be felt through the characters. I also thought I knew who the killer was but nope. The author did a great job of throwing enough suspicion on others that I didn’t see the end coming.

Four friends find themselves back together after death and murder has struck in their lives. While together the four friends work through secrets that have been buried for years. Some have to do with the present and some the past. While working through the secrets a killer is caught, friendships are mended, and a new sense of purpose is found.

I loved how the past melted into the future in this book. I always love a place with so much history behind it and that is what Whitetail lodge held for these women.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio Arc of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This should have been a slam dunk for me but somehow it just wasn't. Typically I love books with ghosts, a murder and a lake house but this book just fell a little short for me. When her husband dies, Sarah returns to her childhood lake house. Coming to her home town brings up memories of a tragic car accident that happened 25 years ago when Sarah, her sister and friends were having a celebratory weekend at the lake house. There were parts of the story that I felt should have been elaborated on that would have made the story more interesting. More about the murder investigation and who didn't like Lucas or more about the letters or more about why the friends hadn't kept in touch. It just felt like the murder was a side note that I almost forgot about and the focus was on the family history and the history of the lodge. Sarah is walking around town finding out things from all sorts of people "oh, we didn't want to bother you." With how many of those instances there were, she should have been fuming! Also the "ghosts" and "dreams" or "visions" were underwhelming. This book had such potential but I just couldn't connect to the story for some reason.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC audiobook!

This was a really good mystery but I felt like if it moved a bit quicker instead of a slow burner it would have been a 5 star read. I loved Caro’s journals and hearing what was discovered during the renovations. I felt like that made the perfect setting for this story.

I found this book to be really interesting. On the surface it appears to be a run-of-the-mill thriller, but it hides a lot of complex and intricate topics within it. Topics such as loss, grief, regret, jealousy, and others. So even if the thriller plot is not the most interesting plot you've ever come across, the journey is still very much worth it. Excellent narration also adds to the enjoyment.

Bitterroot Lake by Alicia Beckman was a book I was really looking forward too. This book was just an ok book. The audiobook was narrated by Linda Jones and she was very good. Had I read the book instead of listened to the book, I would not have finished it. I was confused with the plot and the details and descriptions were way too much. The characters were alright but not well developed. Some people will love this book so three stars it is, it just was not or me.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

I am now going to be reading or listening to anything that Ms. Beckman offers. I absolutely loved everything about this story. Set in Montana, layers of mysteries unwrap in a beautiful and lush setting with endearing and complex characters. Sarah McKaskill comes home to heal and finds her past catching up with her thought letters, old friends and family. I actually healed with Sarah as she became wrapped in a mystery and I became wrapped up in this lovely novel. Linda Jones perfectly tells this story of loss, surprises and even shiny pennies. If you have lost anyone or just love a good mystery or a beautiful setting, I highly recommend this book.

REVIEW: BITTERROOT LAKE (audiobook) by Alicia Beckman; narrated by Linda Jones
6 May 2021

I wanted to love Bitterroot Lake, as I love lakes and old lodges as a setting. Alicia Beckman knows and loves Montana and that shows. Her beautiful writing kept me listening along with Linda Jones’ excellent narration. I will read Beckman’s next book as I think this one was wrongly placed by genre, and I was interested in a thriller.

The story was sold as a thriller, but I never felt excited or anxious about what may happen. Maybe this audiobook should have been classified as women’s fiction or a mystery, then I would have known what to expect.

Since I read this as a thriller, I will review it as a thriller. My two main problems had to do with the old lodge and the main character. The strength of a thriller derives from a setting being used to reflect the character's turmoil. At the beginning, the description of White Tail Lodge went on too long and wasn’t intricately woven into the story so that the lodge itself becomes a character. I kept hearing the author’s love of this place instead of me feeling the lodge create a sense of unease, mystery, or creepiness. That’s due to the place not reflecting Sarah’s inner turmoil. I couldn’t feel Sarah’s pain or grief. It was like I was told how to feel instead of being in her shoes. I'm not sure why, but the story felt disjointed. This novel had all the elements I love and I think it could have been five stars with some paring down, better pacing, and more tightly woven story elements.

However, if you love mystery or women’s fiction, you might love this audiobook. If you’re looking for a thriller or even suspense, it’s not here. #BitterrootLake #NetGalley Thanks to NetGalley for this listen in exchange for an honest review.

I kept hoping this story would pull me in like many others of a similar nature. It seemed to drag on and on and on. By the time it got to the supposedly exciting part, it was anti-climatic. Most books that are in Montana with a person going back to their home and something exciting happening are really very interesting. The main character Sara just kept talking about how upset she was with her husband for dying, her sister for being nasty to her, and is she losing her children. The premise that the person killed lost his life because of something that happened in the past that was not so interesting, just did not feel like a good foundation for the story. The final reason for the persons death had little to do with what the book kept talking about. I just did not get a good flow and plot construction from this book. I am being generous giving it a 3 star rating.

This book has many of the things I enjoy: a lake, a resort, murder, and suspense. I really enjoyed the character of Sarah. I do wish there had been a little more development of the other characters. I enjoyed the descriptions of the resort, and the history the characters dug up going through boxes. With the mystery of Lucas's murder and the strange dreams that Sarah keeps having, there was enough suspense to keep me interested.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator.

This was one of those books I really expect to love because it contained so many of the things I love: mystery, murder, a creepy setting, and ghosts! However, I could not connect with this story at all. I thought the characters were pretty well developed and it still couldn't hold my interest. It started off as a good slow burn but it really dragged for me in the middle parts of the book. Everything did come together at the end which was nice and did help me enjoy the story more but I really struggled to finish this one. I can't quite put my finger on why it was such a let down for me though.