I enjoyed this book. The setting is perfect. It is well paced and compelling. The characters are well developed and likeable. I did guess the main twist but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment

Kept me guessing (mostly)

I got a copy of *The Loch* by Fran Dorricott through Netgalley and I very much enjoyed it. Three friends book a hotel in remote Scotland on the banks of the beautiful but mysterious Loch Aven. They are baffled by the cagey and suspicious denizens of the small town community who think they are true crime tourists come to revel in the still unsolved tragedy of missing girls from 23 years ago. Eleanor, Clio, and Michaela have never even heard of this mystery. However, when Michaela disappears too, Eleanor and Clio must dig up the past to save her.

I read this book while commuting to work and found myself wishing for train delays so I could get further into the juicy story. There is a dual timeline – mostly in the present day with the more recent disappearance of Michaela with some flashbacks to the original mystery Eleanor and Clio must use to find Michaela. At 400 pages, *The Loch* is on the long side for a thriller, but I did not feel the story drag at any point.

All that said, I don’t think I would reread this book. I did guess some of the twists, though this book did keep me guessing *most* of the time. The true test of a thriller book is answering “if I knew what was coming, would I still read this book,” and yes, I would. I did not find it engaging enough to read it for a second time, though. Dorricott created some great characters and has engaging writing, but the characters could use a little more depth to make them more compelling. I was mostly drawn into the drama of the story itself, rather than the motivations of the characters. *The Loch* is still a solid four stars in my records.

Just a good one.
Read it in one sitting. Four stars read.
I deeply enjoyed it.
Thanks to netgalley for this book

Exactly my kind of book,

Love it when an inanimate object becomes part of the plot and this book does it well.

Intriguing and well paced, enjoyable read.

Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for ARC.

Apologies to both of them for late review - I was sure I'd submitted one earlier.

Three young women book an atmospheric lochside house for their Scottish girls' weekend. When they pop in to the local village for supplies and a quiet drink, they find the locals abuzz with the search for missing walkers, and curiously unhappy to see these new tourists.

One of the three disappears without warning, and the other two have to try and trace her steps and work out the mysteries and secrets of the loch, the house, and the village's inhabitants.

This is a terrific premise, and there are some good, very atmospheric depictions of place and of anxiety/foreboding. However, some of the contortions the writer has taken to keep up the suspense were pretty tricky to believe (no spoilers, but I've never been in a small town where the whole town had forgotten who owned a house, or who had a crush on whom), and the whole thing dragged a bit for me. I will be interested to see where this writer's imagination takes her next

Three women go on a getaway at an eerie house on a loch outside a small Scottish village. The women, mimicking an incident from the past, start to go missing one by one. The scene is set for mystery and suspense.

Unfortunately, this story is slow to start and drags through the middle. The last about twenty percent has more action, but nothing you can’t see coming.

While the author is adept at describing the setting, the characters are irritating and dumb. They’re always cold, but leave the doors open to let the wind blow in. They’re afraid of the loch, but keep going to the shore and the dock. They’re nervous to be alone, but separate to look for clues and go for hours to places with no cell service. When the police are of no help, they don’t ask family or friends come and assist them, just call and whine, without any request for help.

This novel has an interesting premise, but the dual timeline and the irritating characters did the story no favours. The characters make decisions children wouldn’t make, let alone grown women. And the ending was pretty predictable.

When I saw the beautiful cover for this book I was so excited to read it! I loved the Eerie Scottish Loch cabin setting. However, the story was a little dull despite the promising dual timeline. I did not feel very engaged in the story and had a hard time connecting with the characters who were a bit frustrating and annoying. It was a bit slow in the beginning, too.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC that was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

If you have some time to kill on a rainy afternoon, like mysteries and dual timelines, this book is for you.
The Loch has a really interesting premise, but I feel it failed to deliver. The plot itself was very predictable and two of the characters were downward annoying, with the prize going to Eleanor. I simply couldn’t connect with any of them.
Bonus points for being set in Scotland with its lochs and eerie atmosphere.

I give this book 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This is an honest review, and all opinions are entirely mine.

My Rating 3.75/5

My Thoughts:

Three friends find themselves in a home near Loch Aven in Scotland when their initial vacation plans fall through. There’s something unsettling about the house as if it hasn’t been lived in for years. But how is that possible?

Without giving too much away, this is the story of three friends, each with their problems, a little Scottish community, and people going missing. Can the disappearances be linked to similar events that occurred two decades ago? With numerous points of view and a parallel timeline, you’d think it’d be difficult to understand, yet it’s not. It’s simple to follow once you recognise that Eleanor and Rebecca are discussing different events. However, the book is a slow burner, and I enjoyed the second half more than the first.

Despite the slow start, I liked the book and thought the two stories worked well together. I guessed some of the endings, but there were a few surprises that I didn’t see coming.

Eleanor, Kayleigh, and Clio book a room in a house overlooking a loch in Scotland. Kayleigh chose the place after hearing about it on a podcast about the village. Going to the village bar raises concerns about the absence of tourists in the region, and this was the first time anyone had come by their vacation property in years. They discover that three girls, Rebecca, Janie, and Sarah, vanished from the village 20 years before without leaving a trace. It is thought that he perished in the loch or left for some reason. While Eleanor and Clio sleep, Kayleigh goes out but does not return by evening. At first, the police do not take this seriously, believing that Kayleigh’s difficulties, a relationship split, and career problems, caused her to go. Clio then goes missing, and it appears that the disappearances are resuming. A local teacher named Matthew volunteers to assist Eleanor, but after discovering a photo of Matthew and Rebecca, things go from bad to worse for Eleanor. What is the connection between Eleanor and Rebecca, and why is Matthew so involved? As the narrative nears its conclusion, everything becomes evident.

When three friends decide to rent a lakefront house in the Scottish countryside for a long weekend, the townsfolk in the small village nearby seem slightly standoff, but not rude at first. And the girls begin to think they can make the most out of what is shaping up to be a rainy weekend in an isolated area. But then one of the girls, Michaela, goes missing. And the villagers clam up. But not before Clio and Eleanor hear whispers of the disappearance of three girls near the same lake 20 years earlier. Is history repeating itself? And can the girls find out before they become victims too?

This was a great atmospheric mystery, which switched timelines between the present day and the past, when the first three girl disappeared. The action was slow-going, but that really served to build up the tension as more questions began to pile up. At one point, some of the mystery becomes obvious, but there are still some twists that keep things interesting until the end. That’s the key: don’t stop reading until the end!

Like I said, the atmosphere and setting are also big parts of the story, with the gloomy Scottish countryside almost becoming its own character. The author does a great job keeping the house, the lake and the surrounding forest at the center of the story, giving you this eerie sense of foreboding and having it always in the background.

This book is like a great long weekend in Scotland, just like the girls’. Except you’ll be nice and safe at home, and they’ll…well, you’ll have to read to see!

I love a good mystery and this story was definitely a good one.

The story jumps from one perspective to another, and it’s only as you go through the book that you start to get an idea of where these two parts start to come together.

So well written, drew me in instantly, read this in one sitting.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

When their original holiday plans go awry, three friends find themselves in the house by Loch Aven in Scotland. There’s something disturbing about the house, a feeling like maybe it hasn’t been lived in for years. But how can that be?
Without wanting to give away any spoilers, this is the story of three friends who each have their own issues, a close-knit Scottish village, and people disappearing. Can the disappearances be related to similar events two decades earlier?
Told from several points of view and with a dual timeline you’d think that it might be tricky to follow but really, it’s not. Once you realise that Eleanor and Rebecca are not speaking about the same point in time, it’s easy enough to follow. I would say though that the book is a slow burner and I enjoyed the second half more than the first.
Despite the slow start, I did enjoy the book and thought that the two stories came together. I guessed part of the end, but there was still a surprise or two that I didn’t.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When three friends book a stay in a mysterious house on the edge of a loch, they have no idea of its dark past, the women who disappeared there twenty years ago, and no idea that history might be about to repeat itself.

After a bit of a slow start, I did thoroughly enjoy this. I'm a big fan of books that make good use of its setting to build atmosphere. The atmosphere of the loch and the small insular town really suited the story and was well utilised in keeping the characters off-balance throughout. They're cut off from the world with limited phone service making all of their communication stilted and delayed which was an added stress to the reading experience and keeps you off balance as well.
The narrative leads you along nicely with a suspect while still keeping tension high with the potential of danger for the girls, and then a few reveals that were nicely woven in and surprised me.
The characters were engaging and the pacing after the the initial slow start was well done and held my interest throughout.

Overall, a really enjoyable and tense atmospheric thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.

This was a little bit of a slow burner but stick with it, the story heats up and gets interesting as the book progresses. Whilst I did guess some of the plot half way through the book the story was intriguing enough to make me want to finish it. A good twist at the end and overall a good read

I found this to be a reasonably engaging story, but it had a very loose plot line, that at tines was downright ridiculous. Who goes on a winter break and arrives at a freezing cold house and then leaves the double doors to the lake open. Each character seems to be guilty of the same thing. I did find it a bit far fetched to say the least, a rather fanciful story of adoption and lost family history. All a bit strange and predictable. It was an Ok read but that is all

I will post this review on Waterstones.

This story sucks you in from the first page. You feel like you’re there too, in that small hostile village, in the freezing cold. Dorricott creates such real feeling characters, through just a few lines at times, that you can’t help but be fully engaged by them. Even the background characters all leap off the page. . The Loch is my first Fran Dorricott novel, and it has made me eager to check out what else she has written

The Loch by Fran Dorricott was dark and wild! A delightful spring thriller that's incredibly atmospheric and claustrophobic. You're gonna wanna read this one!

An excellent setting that adds a mysterious life to the story all on its own. The mystery of the get together was intriguing and suspenseful This was a fantastic book with so many twists and sharp turns. Overall 4 stars.

Three girls, Eleanor, Kayleigh and Clio book in to a house overlooking a loch in Scotland. Kayleigh picked the house after hearing a podcast about the village. Going to the village pub raises suspicions about thee lack of tourists in the area and nobody had stopped in their holiday home in years.They find out that 20 years earlier 3 girls,Rebecca, Janie and Sarah had disappeared from the village.without trace..Believed to have drowned in the loch or just left for some reason. Whilst Eleanor and Clio are asleep Kayleigh goes out but fails to return by nightfall , the Police don't take this seriously at first , thinking that Kayleigh's problems, a relationship breakdown and job problems have led to her leaving.Then Clio goes missing and it looks like the disappearances are happening again. A local teacher Matthew offers to help Eleanor but after finding a photo of Matthew and Rebecca things take a turn for the worse for Eleanor. Just what is the link between Eleanor and Rebecca and why is Matthew so involved. All becomes clear as this story hits an exciting ending.

The premise of this novel was so intriguing that I immediately requested an advanced reader copy. Only to wonder if I had accidentally gotten something else when I eventually started to read it.

To begin with, the characters are all very one-dimensional. Even when you start to get deeper into the novel and start to understand their possible motivations behind why they act the way they do, I still never felt a connection to them. I also never felt the sense of suspense that I think the author hoped to convey (and I grew up in a tight-knit small town, so I know how new people tend to be treated).

Secondly, the plot is slow going. To the point where I feel like the most exciting parts were literally crammed into the last few chapters, by which point it was too little, too late. By that point, I had already stopped caring altogether about either of the two storylines (one past, the other present day), and just wanted to get it over with so I could move on.

However, I appreciate that a lot of other people did enjoy this novel, so I encourage my readers to give this one a chance if they are as intrigued by the synopsis as I was. What didn't work for me will likely work for someone else.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.