It honestly took me like 4 times starting this audiobook to really get into it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it!

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC. What a unique and intriguing read. I like how this book deals with very recent and very real immigrant struggles. It broadens the reader’s understanding of Black Lives Matter to encompass the Somali refugees which people sometimes don’t connect with.
The color and religion of the immigrant and the impact on how they are viewed by community and law enforcement is addressed. If you are a strict Blue Lives Matter with no desire to understand the pain of those who feel victimized then I encourage you to skip this book. If you want a broader understanding of the different nuances of Muslims and people from Middle East origins along with how within these communities there are differences in perception and segregation I encourage you to read the book.
There is a budding romance with challenges and constraints as well.
I feel this is a 4.5 and would read the next book to follow this community if there was a series.

This murder mystery features Inaya Rahman. A police officer with a history of being mistreated on the job due to her integrity and her religious faith as a Muslim women, she is currently assigned to the Community Response Unit, tasked to to step in on cases where additional oversight is needed in dealing with crimes against vulnerable groups. This particular case is centered around the murder of a young Muslim refugee in a small community, but almost as soon as we get started, additional concerns and crimes come to light.

I absolutely loved so many things about this thriller. Character development was spectacular. Each of the main characters was thoroughly fleshed out and their background information and glimpses into their thought processes provided us with a deeper understanding of their motivations and perspectives on the world. Khan's writing is very lyrical and understated - providing atmosphere and depth without using unnecessary vocabulary or making the writing cumbersome. I consumed the book as an audiobook and the narrators voice matched the writing style perfectly. One of my favorite things was the relationship that was developed amongst the key players in this novel. The relationships were complicated and intertwined and left me anxious to read the next in the series and to see how these relationships will change and grow, as well as to learn more about the path of each of the individual character self-development.

Running to pick up some books from Khan's backlist and anxiously awaiting my next case with Detective Rahman and the rest of the Community Response Unit!

So here is what I wrote about the Last Invitation (by Darby Kane) where I mentioned BF. It all applies (except for being a crime/police drama more than psychological thriller)

The only other addition I would make is that as the start of a new series, it is one I very excited to continue. I read Last Invitation and listened to BF. The narrator is FANTASTIC.
----‐------------
A power house book, both as a thriller and with its message.

The best part of this book is that, like Blackwater Falls, it manages to convey its theme without losing the story.

Too often, authors beat the dead horse with themes they convey (even when I agree with these themes). It becomes over repetitive, drags the story out, and deflates the thriller aspect of the book.

However, this and Blackwater Falls manage to strike that perfect balance. Although BF is more crime/detective than thriller. But the point remains.

The alternating viewpoints are executed so that you are left hanging at the end of each chapter.

Also, it accomplishes one of my favorite thriller aspects. While there are easier to guess twists? There are much bigger reveals that you won't see coming until maybe a page before they hit. But then, if you go back and think about the story, you see the clues were there all along..

I went into reading Blackwater Falls thinking that it was going to be more of a thriller/suspense/mystery with a police procedural kind of vibe, and, while it is, there's also a lot of details about religion and societal issues. It's also a slow burn. Ultimately, while the character development is well done, the packing was just a little too slow for my liking, causing it to fall little flat for me.

Our patrons here in the Denver area will be excited to have another title set in this part of the country. We have recommende Khan's books before, but this one will get an added push!

I loved the representation of this lead female detective. Inaya Rahman is a detective that is hired to solve the murder of a Syrain Refugee, and she and Detective Waqas Seif make connections to other unsolved teenage murders. There are obstacles in the way for these two detectives and I liked the underlying mystery as well. The narrator was fantastic! Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book! It is out Nov 1st 2022.

This book is about Inaya. She is a muslim detective investigating a case. Politics and race are main topics of the book. I really liked Inaya. Her background story is interesting. The romance felt rushed, which was a shame. The investigation was interesting. It's a good plot. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a very good job.

What a great start to a new detective/mystery series! The setting is the Denver, Colorado area, specifically a town named Blackwater Falls. There is a large immigrant/refugee population there, specifically a lot of Muslim newcomers, from Somalia and elsewhere, and that has exacerbated racial and religious tensions in the area, which is dominated by an evangelical Christian megachurch. Enter a squad from the Denver Police Department called the Community Response Unit. They have been instructed to take over an investigation from the local Blackwater Falls sheriff, who has had a lot of community complaints. To add to the tension, we have a female Muslim police officer with this CRU. So on top of all the other issues creating tension, we add misogyny.

I loved the characters of Inaya Rahman, the Muslim police detective, and her boss, Seif, who has downplayed/hidden his Middle Eastern heritage. They make quite an interesting pair. I really enjoyed several of the side characters as well, such as Cat (Caterina) Hernandez, Inaya’s partner, and Areesha Adams, a black community activist lawyer.

The story is heartbreaking is so many ways. A young Muslim Syrian refugee has been murdered and has been found “posed” in a very unusual way. There were a lot of twists and turns that kept both me and my husband guessing, as we listened to the audiobook on a long car ride. (I also had a copy of the ebook and consulted it in the evenings to make sure I hadn’t missed anything while we were listening - due to traffic, distractions, etc. - which also helped me with the spelling of a lot of the names involved. Grant and Brandt, for instance, sounds a lot alike!) The author included a lot of information on the cultural and religious practices of Muslims, as practiced by families from Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan or Pakistan, and we enjoyed the occasional use of an Arabic word or phrase, feeling that it added to the authenticity of the story. And the food descriptions made our mouths water!

Something that never got resolved in our minds involved Inaya’s family: we were confused as to why they lived in the area and were seemingly immersed in the community, as the story kept emphasizing that Inaya was new to the area. Did they follow her from Chicago to Denver? Maybe we missed something! The other thing that bothered us was the feeling that a recent immigrant like Razan would never have been granted a fellowship at such a company dealing with such security-sensitive programs. One of our sons had a similar internship while in college and he had to jump through a lot of security hoops just to be able to set foot in the place, so that whole setup seemed very unlikely to us.

While we still had these questions at the end of the book, overall it was a really good story and I am looking forward to more books in this series.

Warnings: The book espouses a particular point of view (politically speaking), so this may annoy some readers, as well as parts that can be construed as anti-evangelicalism. In addition, there is racism, misogyny, anti-immigrant sentiment/xenophobia, police brutality, etc.

The audiobook was narrated beautifully by Fareeda Pasha.

Thank you to Recorded Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook and to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first installment in Ausma Zehanet Khan's new series featuring Detective Inaya Rahman. The audiobook narrator, Fareeda Pasha, was excellent: easy to understand, with good pacing and expression. The novel was well-plotted, and the murderer of Syrian teenager Razan Elkader was neither predictable nor completely out of the blue. The issues surrounding the murder were up-to-the-minute relevant to today's society in the US and elsewhere, and were handled well, integrated into the story without ever getting preachy or pedantic. For me, the only aspect of the novel that prevented it from getting a five-star rating was the ambivalent attraction between Inaya and her boss, Lieutenant Waqas "Cass" Seif, which just didn't ring true, especially on his part. But that was a minor flaw, and certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book as a whole. I look forward to reading future novels in this series.

This was a very different story and I found it fascinating. It came from such a different perspective and explored different themes and bodies that were either new to me or I had little exposure to.

There are a lot of triggers however Inc events at the meat packing factory.

I did however struggle with the narration which is it is not a 4.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

Rating: 3.5/5⭐️
Pub Day: 11-1-2022

At the center of this story is the murder of a teenage Syrian girl whose death shines a bright light on racial tensions in the small town of Blackwater Falls, CO.

This book has a powerful message of the incredible difficulties that refugees and immigrants deal with on a daily basis and how the current political landscape comes into play in their lives.

The main POV is from Detective Inaya Raham and I really appreciated how her story gave a deeper understanding of what being a Muslim woman can be like here in the states. We get to see into her mind as she does her job and as she interacts with her family, colleagues, and those who attend the same mosque.

I started with the audio, which was fine, but the monotone voice of the narrator actually didn’t work well for me so I switched to the print copy and enjoyed it a lot more. Overall, I thought it was a poignant story and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Thank you Minotaur Books for the #gifted arc and Netgalley and RB Media for the alc!
All opinions are my own.

Blackwater Falls is a new book from Ausma Zehanat Khan.

"A teenage girl is found killed and displayed in a mosque. in the town of Blackwater Falls, CO. The victim, Razan Elkader was a star student and refugee. Detectective Inaya Rahman is recruited to help solve her murder. She must fight local police indifference and prejudice to find her killer."

I expected this book to be crime fiction but the narrative seems to be more about social issues than solving a crime. There are many stereotypes - the corrupt, prejudiced law enforcement - the criminal Christian evangelicals - the school jocks who are bullies. It was a bit much and detracted from the story. Crime fiction should include following the steps to solve the crime instead of a surprise reveal.

Decent performance on the audiobook by Fareeda Pasha.

Phew. This book was tough, but good. There are so many content warnings for this one, racism, islamphobia, police brutality, white supremacy, assault, hate crimes, you name it, it's in here. But wow, did the author handle them all so well and she kept you wanting to keep reading. I also liked the little bit of romantic tension between the two leads, the small almost imperceptible "you touch her, you die" undertones were perfect. Overall, I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the books in the series as they release.

**3.5 stars**

We find ourselves in Blackwater Falls with Inaya Rahman im who is a detective in the Community Response Unit. The town is full of prejudice on people who are different than them.

The beginning was very engaging with the discovery of a young Syrian refugee is discovered. Seeing how Inaya discovers it and seeing her POV and how she is being viewed from the locals and her own people.
We follow Inaya and other detectives trying to make a case and catch the killer. While all of that is happening we also see how Inaya struggles with how her own people and her mom view her.
While I enjoyed seeing a well rounded character, I felt it got a bit too heavy in the politics. While it was sad to see how Inaya was targeted-it may be eye opening to those that aren’t discriminated because of their color because it does happen more often than we like to think.
The audiobook is narrated by Fareeda Pasha and she did a wonderful job portraying all of the characters with a wide arrange of tones and inflections.
I would recommend this book to those that enjoy reading POC, hate crimes, politics, and police procedure.

Special thanks to St. Martin Press, RB Media, and Netgalley for the ALC.

Book releases Oct. 31.

I never quite connected with the main character and likely won't continue on with this series. This mystery has corruption, murder and plenty of lies to uncover and I'm sure there's an audience for it, but as much as I wanted to like her, I just never quite bought into this one.

Thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Book Title: Blackwater Falls
Author: Ausma Zehanat Rahman
Series: Detective Inaya Rahman
Audiobook Narrator: Faree Pasha
Publisher: RB Media
Genre: Mystery Thriller/Multicultural
Pub Date: November 1, 2022
My Rating: 3 Stars

I was attracted to this story by the title as my hubby and went to Blackwater Falls West Virginia for our Honeymoon.
Although I knew this was not going to be a sweet romance. Story takes place in Colorado not West Virginia and deals with serious issues.

Inaya Rahman, a female Muslim detective and a member of the Community Response Team. She is investigating the murder of a young Muslim girl who was found crucified on the doors of a Muslim mosque.
Inaya has two female colleagues that she can turn to for help Muslin attorney Areesha Adams and Detective Catalina Hernandez her Hispanic partner.
When deciding if I wanted to read this, I read reviews on Goodreads. I read many who thought it was wonderful but also a few negative comments stating it didn’t work for them.
I actually understand both reviews. There is no doubt it was interesting.

I was disappointed with so many of the men with their nasty language and lack of respect or empathy. They definitely confused being a male with being superior.
The police corruption, racial tensions with hate crimes against minorities were all difficult to read.

Story held my interest but it was so sad and not an enjoyable read. 😥

Want to thank NetGalley and RB Media for the opportunity to listen to this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 1, 2022.

This was super-enjoyable -- a good mystery on top of social commentary on top of fascinating glimpses into another culture.


Review copy provided by publisher.