This is the fourth and I presume final book of a series. I definitely recommend reading the books in order or you will be lost at different times in the book. The author did not do a good job of "reminding" us what happened previously, so it was hard to put all the pieces together especially considering how they were tied together in the end. I know this was a uncorrected ARC, but there were wrong days/timeline issues, contradicting statements just a few paragraphs apart, and flat out wrong conclusions based on previous information, not to mention lists and lists of things in a room or people or things they're doing. There were these odd mini info dumps about things in the past that did not help us with the story and/or was completely irrelevant information that had nothing to do with the story. Although, there was a good basis to the story, this book needed a developmental edit. There were times when I thought about not finishing it, but something about it kept me going, so there are good things about this book. Maybe if you read the books in order it would seem better, because you would only be dealing with too much information and some errors and wouldn't be confused on the storyline. After finishing it, I looked back and discovered I'd read the second book in the series and I I had the same issues with it that I have with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press/Minotaur for providing this book to me. All opinions are my own.

This is book 4 in the series, and it feels like it's a conclusion to the story of Burning Lake and Natalie Lockhart, Surrounded by notoriety for capturing two serial killers, Natalie is hoping to get her life on track. When she's called to the murder scene at the local Halloween costume emporium (in Burning Lake, this is a year-round enterprise), she's faced with the gruesome death of an old man who everyone tolerated as an odd fellow. As she begins to pull threads, she finds that everything seems to connect to everything else in Burning Lake. This will keep you guessing as Natalie confronts the darkness around her town. If this is the end of the Natalie Lockhart series, it is a satisfying one.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

The Shadow Girls by Alice Blanchard is a thrilling police procedural with an equally compelling personal story. Detective Natalie Lockheart is trying to solve multiple cases while dealing with her feelings over multiple men - sound messy? It is but in only the best ways.

I loved how much was going on in this story. It was never dull, though sometimes a bit confusing because multiple cases meant even more characters than usual, and trying to keep straight who was connected to who and how could be a daunting task. But I wouldn’t change how compelling all the different cases kept the story because it also kept the pace fast.

I also loved how compelling Natalie’s personal story is and how it ended up intertwined with the cases she investigated. Her personal life is very messy, but that just made it fascinating. Almost as fascinating as the town this takes place in. Burning Lake in upstate New York has quite the history, which plays so well in the story. The history of witches, occult activity, and a popular Halloween destination worked well with the story and the mysteries.

The Shadow Girls is the fourth, and I believe, last book in a series, or at least at a pivot point. You can easily read it as a stand-alone, but I feel you will enjoy it so much more if you read the series in order, especially since it’s only four books.

The Shadow Girls is a captivating tale brimming with intriguing characters just as the police-driven storyline seems to reach its conclusion, an unexpected bonus mystery unfolds, adding an extra layer of suspense and intrigue.

The Shadow Girls is the fourth book in the Natalie Lockhart series by Courtney Kae. I really liked this book but wish I had read the first three book in the series. Things would have made more sense.

This was a really good mystery that I really enjoyed. The scenes were very detailed and authentic.

I am going to go back and read the previous three books to learn more about Natalie.

This is the fourth book in The Natalie Lockhart series! While I haven't read any of the other books, I felt I was missing a little but not enough to not enjoy this book. I really liked Natalie, the strong determinations and they go about solving the crime. The plot is so twisty, I really enjoyed trying to figure out how everything was connected, and who is really up to what. The mix of mystery, romance, and her past is so fun together!
3.5 stars

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy.

Fast paced with lots of drama and action.
The mystery plot was well thought out and followed a linear outline.
The author Infused enough creep factor to keep it interesting.
Any reader who likes crime fiction will want to add this book to their list.

Thanks to St Martens Press, Netgalley and Alice Blanchard for this ARC. This is my first Natalie Lockhart story and the fourth in the series. While I don’t mind reading out of order, I feel like I could take away more going back reading 1-3 and then re-reading this book. This novel had twisted, dark subject matter and an unraveling mystery that had me devouring this book in two sittings. While the story has many plot lines, murder, abduction, corruption, the occult etc. the author did a good job tying all the storylines together to make one fairly cohesive story. I definitely recommend this for those who love a mystery and a complicated female lead.

The Shadow Girls is the fourth book in the Natalie Lockhart series. This is the first book I have ready by the author. In my opinion I missed a lot of back history. I think this could be a stand-alone read, but I believe that I could have enjoyed this book more if I had read the others.

Lieutenant Luke Pittman lies in the hospital in a coma after being attacked by one of their own. As Natalie visits Luke she is torn about her feeling for him in spite of being in a relationship with Hunter Rose.

Natalie is called out to a murder scene to investigate the crime. When she enters the murder victims house, she is put off by the eerie vibes she feels. Something is not right in the house as she discovers a hidden chamber with secrets that have been buried since 2009.

Natalie reports what she has found and orders a team to do a more thorough search. Natalie gets word that Luke has come out of his coma. Once he is released, they will work together to put the puzzle pieces together to solve the mystery.

Natalie is strong when she is working but she is still struggling with her issues of the past. She has a keen eye for details and seeing things that are often overlooked by others. Luke trusts Natalie and gives her the space to work on those leads and often is a sounding board for ideas.

Hunter, the very well to do man she has moved in with, loves her deeply, but is extremely overprotective and is hiding things from her. Being very independent Natlie resents that he needs to protect her and even has her followed.

The writing is very descriptive and easy to follow with a riveting storyline. The characters are well developed and very likeable. I would suggest reading the prior books because it is clear that this one was built off of the prior books and I have missed some good books.

Wow! This book took me on a wild ride from start to finish!
This book reads like the final book in the series, and if it is, it wrapped everything up really well, all the questions that we were left with the last three books are all answered and were left with the feeling that everything is going to be as ok as possible in the town of Burning Lake. There are some great twists and turns and so many secrets are revealed that I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book.

I really hope we get more of Natalie and the strange town of Burning Lake, but if not I look forward to whatever Alice Blanchard will write next!

I’m rating this book higher than I want to because I really liked the writing and the stories/mysteries (yes, plural) were excellent, but this is the final book in a series I did NOT read (a fact I did not know when I accepted this arc to review) and I genuinely felt pretty lost for most of The Shadow Girls. I chugged along and tried very hard to piece it all together, but there was a lot going on and I was definitely confused. I’m sure if you read this entire series, you’ll find this final novel satisfying, but I wouldn’t recommend picking up this last one first.

Wow, what an exciting page turner. I had read one of the other books in this series but I felt that this could be a read alone. They did refer back to different cases that Natalie Lockhart had been involved with. Natalie is a kick ass police detective in Burning Lake, a fictional place in NY. She is very good at her job which means she is sort of "married" to her job. She is secretly in love with her long time friend and co-worker Luke but she is living with Hunter Rose. He is a very wealthy entrepreneur. A mysterious murder of Randy Holmes an employee of Halloween costume store. Natalie is the detective on the case. She gets more than she bargains for when she investigates Randy Holmes. The twists and turns and great writing with great characters makes this page turner a must read.
Thanks to #netgalley, #minotaurbooks and @aliceblanchard.author for an ARC of this great book.

I've enjoyed this series quite a bit over the last few years, but this one blows the rest out of the water. Read them in order, because this one builds on everything that has happened and been introduced in the previous books in the series and readers need the context for this one to work. But, if you've been following this series, this one really takes every loose end- even things readers might not have known weren't tied up- and breathlessly rolls them together to expose what has been happening in Burning Lake. I will be honest that this one feels like an ending- the last book ended on quite a cliffhanger- but if Alice Blanchard has more in store for Natalie I won't complain.

I needed this book after reading The Witching Tree, and The Shadow Girls delivered. Alice Blanchard has a way of creating a character that does not leave your mind. Natalie Lockhart is one of those for me. She is determined, fixated, needs to find out what happened and why. She is a detective on the Burning Lake Police Force and over the past years there has been an uptick in cases being solved, thanks to Natalie. These cases will make your hair stand on end, your blood turn to ice, and your mind will race. The evil is thick in this small upstate New York town.

The book opens with a bang. Luke is in a coma, they are still trying to track down fellow policeman Peter Murphy, Veronica's murder is still being investigated, and there is another body found in the Halloween shop in town. When Natalie goes to investigate this man's home, she stumbles into so much more than she bargained for. From there it is a high-octane race against the clock. Old cases come up, past friendships are uncovered, and Natalie is left trying to make light of how it is all connected and who is involved. There is also Natalie's boyfriend, who she has moved in with. Making the tension between her a Luke thick.

I devoured this book. I would suggest starting on book one and enjoying the adventure. This series is fantastically written and will quickly draw you in. You will be fighting with anyone who makes you put your book down. Thank you to Alice Blanchard and Minotaur Books for this thrill a minute read.

One of my problems with the last book in the series was that it ended right in the middle of the story. I hadn’t read the first books, so I went back and did so. This series tends to run the books together. So this book picked right up where the last left off. So this is not a series you can jump into very easily. Going back made the entire series more enjoyable. This is one of those small towns that seems to have a murder rate higher than it’s birthrate. They should really be a ghost town by now. So, this book continues on and leads to the next book. I only recommend it if you are up to date. Otherwise their are too many balls in the air that date back a book or more.

Mesmerizing, dark and spine-chilling!

The Shadow Girls is an unpredictable, sinuous thrill ride that takes us back to Burning Lake, NY, where Detective Natalie Lockhart and her team now find themselves not only keeping their fingers crossed that Lt. Pittman will quickly awake from his coma but also investigating the death of a local employee of Murray’s Halloween Costumes, Randolph Holmes, who unbeknownst to most, seems to have had a penchant in the past for kidnapping, confining, and murdering young girls.

The writing is seamless and fluid. The characters are tough, determined, and flawed. And the engrossing plot is a tightly-paced, ominous tale full of twists, turns, surprises, violence, manipulation, depravity, and murder.

Overall, The Shadow Girls is a highly entertaining, gripping, eerie thriller by Blanchard that highlights her exceptional ability to write police procedurals that have well-drawn characters and disturbingly realistic storylines. It is the fourth novel in the Natalie Lockhart series, and if you’re not already reading this series, you really should be!

Stevie had come into the party store for her morning shift but something is very wrong. Her coworker Randy was supposed to close up last night. She starts walking around and that’s when she finds him dead in the store with a clown nose on.
Detective Natalie is the first one on the scene and something about this case is feeling funny. After a while she is remembering another case involving a missing woman and someone saw a man dressed up as a clown. There are several women missing from this small town in the Adirondacks. While investigating Randy’s death the detectives discover a secret room in the basement where the unimaginable seems to have taken place.
Could all of this also lead to answers of what happened years ago after a Graduation Party where Natalie’s best friend Bella turned up missing and no leads.
The twists and turns in this mystery are so engaging. The ending will leave you totally drained.

Detective Natalie Lockhart cannot catch a break.  Just as soon as she thinks she's making some headway, something else goes wrong.  Every time she breaks a big case, another is thrown at her.  This time, however, it's personal because her longtime friend, Luke, is attacked and left for dead.   

Natalie is a fierce woman.  She fights for the things she wants, even when she knows the odds are against her.  The way she throws herself into a case, even when she's strung out and ready to quit, really drives the story.  In addition, she has a lot of character growth over the course of the series and finally finds her feet in this final novel.  

I discovered this series several years ago when the second book - The Wicked Hour - arrived in a book box.  The story immediately drew me in and I became hooked.  Between the characters, the setting, and the seemingly paranormal, witchy elements, this series has everything I could want.  I was alarmed when I discovered that this is going to be the last in the series, however it wraps up nicely without leaving any loose ends or unanswered questions.   While I'll miss Natalie and Burning Lake, I do like how it all ended and can be content with that.

Loved it!!! It's been almost two years since I read the The Witching Tree, so I couldn't remember everything that happened in the previous books. As soon as I started reading this, everything came back and the book did a great job of recapping earlier events. Detective Lockhart managed to wrap up all her previous cases and finally figured out who was behind everything. Hopefully this isn't the end of the Natalie Lockhart series. There's got to be more murders for Natalie to solve. I hated Hunter and Natalie together. It was all lust and no love. She never seemed happy and he was simply creepy. I always thought he wouldn't be happy unless he had Natalie locked in a house far, far away and all to himself. I knew he had to be hiding something and was happy when he finally spilled all his secrets. It was huge. I thought he might be the mastermind behind all the murders. The people behind everything went to great lengths to keep everyone quiet. When the truth was finally revealed about everything, I was shocked. I loved how everything was tied together and related. It was crazy. From the start, I always wanted to know the mystery behind Bella's disappearance. Was she alive, locked in someone's basement or dead? There were so many questions and everything was finally answered. Everything about Bella's whereabouts were surprising. I thought something different happened to her, I'm pretty sure Natalie did too. Burning Lake is a huge crime/murder magnet. How can so much bad stuff happen in one little place? Hopefully a lot more happens so there's more books in the series!!! Loved the ending! I no longer hate Luke and I'm glad he finally came to his senses.

Definitely recommend the book and the entire series. It was a great mystery/thriller with so many twists and turns. Loved the characters, story and writing style. Hopefully there will be more murders in Burning Lake that she will need to to investigate. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a detective mystery that is best read in order, as there are major plotpoints from previous books that you need to understand to really feel comfortable with this storyline. The whole story is very intense, and there is a lot packed into one book. It was fun to read but I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had read the previous books. If you're into quite intense mysteries with lots of interpersonal drama mixed in, you may really enjoy this. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.