Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Christina McDonald for this ARC.

I love this author and the way she writes and loved her earlier book, The Night Olivia Fell so I was super excited to read this. I was immediately drawn in from the first page. The chapters are short which makes reading “just one more chapter” so easy. A woman and her 15-year old daughter return to the place the mom spent every summer as a child after a horrifying home invasion at their house. The next day a body is found in the lake next to her property.

What ensues is a game of cat and mouse told in several voices: the mother, the detective and the killer. What secrets happened all those years ago? What are these flashbacks? What are these visions she keeps seeing? Who are the notes and photos from that keep arriving?

One underlying theme that I liked throughout this book is mothers protecting their children.

The book takes a turn at a certain point and then the book starts to make sense. Kept me reading late into the dark to finish it.

This is the first of what appears to be a series in which the detective is the main character.

I'm so jealous of anyone who gets to read this for the first time! ☺️ This book was fast-paced, had unexpected twists, and was suspenseful just like all of Christina McDonald’s thrillers always are. Her writing style and character analysis in her books draw the reader in, keeping you engaged and connected to her characters and storyline. The first time I ever sat and cried with the ending of a book was honestly with her first debt thriller The Night Olivia Fell. This one was no different. Looking forward to continuing Detective Lambert’s next case in book #2.

Thank you to Netgalley, publishers, and the author for allowing me to read an early readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not even sure what to say about this book. It's was amazing, I picked it up and did not stop reading until the end. Then I just sat there for awhile thinking about all the clues I had missed...I caught a few, but not a lot. When thinking it over they were there, very cleverly disguised. Another awesome job Christina McDonald!! I can not wait for for more.
Thanks to the publisher, netgalley and mostly the author for this ARC.

Neve Maguire has gone from the frying pan to the fire. She and her daughter left their home after a violent home invasion to return to Neve’s childhood summer home on Black Lake, only to discover that a woman has been found dead in the lake behind her house. Detective Jess Lambert is in charge of the case and she has a strong suspicion that Neve knows a lot more than she’s letting on. It’s only after a second woman is killed that Neve and Jess realize they will have to work together to stop a violent predator