The Water Tower is the debut novel from Amy Young. Josie Ashbury was at one time a successful actress, then she had a breakdown on a set. She comes home to Ohio and now teaches high schoolers in her hometown. Josie has issues and is an insomniac. One night while out because she can't sleep, she finds a body under the water tower. The body turns out to be Amber Oldham, one of her students and the daughter of a Congressman. Did she commit suicide or was this a murder? Why isn't her father demanding more from the police?

The police "solve" the case quickly, but Josie feels that something is not right and begins her own investigation. Secrets and lies are uncovered that put Josie in danger. The author gives a few twists to keep us engaged with this predictable plot. This is a solid debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Swell Media for an ARC. The review is my own.

When Hollywood actress Josie returns to her small Ohio town for a break from the spotlight, she finds herself teaching acting to high school students at her old stomping grounds. And when one of those students is found dead from a possible jump off of the town water tower, Josie finds herself mixed in with the investigation. She doesn’t believe it was an accident, and she won’t rest until she gets to the truth. Fast paced and relatively predictable, a quick and easy read!

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

ohh this was an interesting read, josie ashbury is a successful actress returning home to re-charge her batteries after a very public melt down

josie has trouble sleeping most nights so normally ends up getting up early to jog, and on one of these morning jogs she comes across a body of young girl

an apparent suicide

but josie is haunted by this event and has less sleep, its all spiralling out of control and things start to go bad very quickly....

and maybe the trouble is closer at hand than she realises...

The Water Tower by Amy Young #fortiethbookof2023 #arc

CW: death, murder, suicide, drug abuse and overdoses, teen pregnancy, statutory rape

Okay, so this book has an interesting premise: former actress moves home to her small town and becomes a teacher, and decides to investigate the murder of a student after she finds the body. It was a good story, but lots of little details annoyed me. First of all, extremely unreliable narrator alert!

Josie is hella naive for someone her age, and with her age and experience, she should be smarter and more considerate than she is. She has no issues with questioning people related to the murder before the police can do so. And the police don’t really seem to mind, and in fact, share details with her that she spreads all over town. She’s a careless person who isn’t very thoughtful, she doesn’t pay attention to literally anything but her own thoughts, and I didn’t really like her as a person.

I cannot tell you how extremely unlikely it is that not a single person in this book has brown eyes. We learn the eye color of literally every character, no matter how minor, and they’re all green, green, or blue. No brown? Sure. And they’re all sparking, luminous, dazzling, etc. No lifeless dead eyes in this town?

I didn’t love the outdated terminology for sex work used by a character. This was a very fast paced, easy read, and I did enjoy it, even with all the little quibbles. There is an interesting revelation at about 80% which explained a lot of continuity problems. This isn’t for your hardcore thriller fans, but it’s a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

Thank you to @netgalley and @levelbestbooks for the advance copy. (Pub date 6/20/23)

I inhaled this book! Josie is a famous actress, who after a rather public breakdown, returns to small-town Ohio to teach drama at the high school. When one of her students dies under suspicious circumstances, Josie investigates, even after the police have closed the case. Then another student dies from a fentanyl overdose. Josie knows the deaths are linked, but can’t seem to find the connection, until a blurry photo snaps everything into place.
I like the way mental illness is covered in the story—as something treatable.

I really enjoyed this book! The unreliable narrator was a twist I had not expected and made this story more interesting. It felt a bit straightforward before that point, so that was much needed. I loved the switching narrators and hint of a sequel at the end. There’s definitely a lot more to this story to be told. Thank you NetGalley and Level Best Books for the ARC!

The Water Tower is the first book that I read by Ms. Young and I was positively impressed. The story has mystery, murder, deception, and mental health issues, and stresses the importance of family and friendship. The story is well-written and easy to read, and I'll be looking forward to reading other titles by this author.
I thank Ms. Young, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

A fun read and great debut novel. The story focuses on Josie, who is dealing with a lot in her personal and professional life and must move back to her hometown to heal. But little does she know what she will help solve the murder of 2 young students. I found the book to be a quick fun read and very thrilling.

This book was so unbelievable. I didn't like the writing - it was very simple and seemed more like a YA book. Josie's character was annoying and you didn't even learn her backstory until the end of the book. I kept waiting for someone to just say to her you're not a detective you just played a cop on TV! I figured out fairly early on who Amber's killer was and really didn't think there were any good twists in the book. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Did Amber fall or murdered off the water tower. Josie, an actress has returned to her hometown after a mental break in Hollywood. She begins teaching rating in the local school and falls for a fellow teacher. One of her students feel or was pushed off an old water tower and Josie tries to find answers.
A debut novel that reads well. Characters not fully developed. Good try.

I received an ARC thru NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Josie has moved back to her hometown of Lakeview, Ohio from L.A. where she was a movie/tv actress. While filming her tv series, she suffered a breakdown and decided then that she needed a break. Josie is having problems sleeping at night and in this instance, she looked out and thought that she saw someone on the water tower. The next morning when returning from her normal run, she came across a body. She then called 911 to report it. She discovered that she knew the victim who was a student in her high school class. The victim was also the daughter of a political family.

Once the police received the autopsy report they classified the death as an accident/suicide. Also while the police were investigating, they found drugs in the boyfriend's school locker and arrested him. The police also suspected the boyfriend of being the killer. Pressure was put on the police, so they closed the case.

Josie upon learning of them closing the case decided that she would look into it herself. Knowing both the victim and boyfriend, she believed the victim was murdered and the boyfriend was being framed. As time went by, the boyfriend was released on bond, but also was suspended from going to school. Not long after, the boyfriend died and the cause of death was considered a suicide.

Josie along with her friend Nicki continued their investigation and eventually were able to put all the pieces together. Josie was warned to be careful by Sean, her high school boyfriend and a member of the police dept. Things finally came to head during a festival.

To learn what Josie discovered, how her brother came into play, What Josie discovered as a common factor and who the real killer was, then you need to read this book. You won't be disappointed.

This would be a perfect example of what a cozy mystery is. It’s not really a fast pass but it’s not a slow burn either. It’s somewhere in the middle and it was perfect for me. I fell in love with her main character. Josie and I became obsessed with needing to know what happened such a good book and I’m excited to read it again.

Plucky heroine, close female friends, drama and secrets, hot law enforcement guys.
A good debut.
Some details seem unnecessary, especially in descriptions of secondary characters. I could not quite reconcile the image of the town with its inhabitants.
Overall, interesting and engaging. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

My reading has to pick up, so this was a good start as a mystery thriller in a small town in Ohio. With an iconic water tower serving as no other purpose except a historical landmark, serving as a climbing pursuit for the youth, it all goes wrong. When Josie, a teacher at the local HS, was jogging one day, she comes upon one of her female students Amber dead at the bottom of the tower. Amber is the daughter of Congressman Oldham.

Josie is dealing with her own demons and insomnia causing a mental breakdown in her acting career, so she is home teaching until she can heal. Not sure that is the job she needs! 😳
The plot is simple, but this edge of your seat mystery will find love, clues to solve and a content storyline! Great job to the author for this debut!
Thank you NetGalley, level Best Books and Swell Media for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

From the beginning parts of this book, I predicted a good portion of what was going to happen. I didn’t connect with the characters but for some reason still wanted to read about them. There was one twist I didn’t predict, but I knew something was off about the situation. The ending allows for this to be a series, but not sure if there will be. I would not read any further if it was. This was an okay read, but not something I would recommend to seasoned mystery readers.

I sought out this mystery/thriller because it’s about an actor who returns to the area where they grew up — which is also the area where I grew up — and I’ve been fixated on the sort of dissonance between the world I exist in and the world I came from. Although it didn’t exactly delve into these themes, it was a light, fun reading experience that allowed me to pretend that life is simple and darkness can be forgotten.

When Josie finds Amber dead at the foot of the water tower, she opens a can of worms in their small town. She's only recently come home from Hollywood, has mental health issues, and a wicked case of insomnia but she's been happy teaching at the high school. Amber's father doesn't want the death investigated but Josie doesn't understand why. And then the autopsy comes in and there are more questions. This is an interesting small town mystery where the reader might figure out the answers before Josie. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I really enjoyed the majority of this book and found that it was easy to read. Although the main character Josie is a little confusing, moving back to her small hometown from being a successful Hollywood actress and then becoming a teacher, if I overlooked this the writing was enjoyable. I was intrigued by the storyline and was keen to find out how and why a young student of Josie's died in horrific circumstances. Despite my intrigue, I was left a little disappointed and frustrated by the sudden ending and although it appeared to be left on a cliff hanger, I was left feeling a little cheated with many questions unanswered.

A bright young student is found dead at the bottom of the town’s defunct water tower. Josie, one of the town’s high school teachers, found her during one of her sleepless nights’ sojourns. Was she a victim of foul play or a suicide? Josie seems to recall someone on the tower at the time of her death, but one of the town’s most influential citizens, the girl’s father, has the investigation curtailed!

Josie had left her small hometown to become a celebrated thespian in the Hollywood Hills environs. She returned to her hometown to teach high school and became reacquainted with her former classmates. She is well-liked by all of her students but is devastated by the apparent suicide.

How could the girl’s father not want the truth about his daughter’s death?

This story has many intriguing plot twists which kept me on my toes and flipping pages. I felt I needed a scorecard to keep track of the male interests in Josie’s life. Her entanglement in the death of the student pushes her beyond the normal pressures of everyday life. Can her life be in danger because of her desire to know the truth about the student’s death and the possible subsequent coverup? Read and enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

As a debut novel this was a good and moving piece with just enough suspense to keep your mind seeking the next level of awareness.
It started off with a main character with insomnia and a young student who fell tragically to her death with from a water tower.
As a teenager there's always t hat possibility that perhaps something more is at play. Social circles begin to come into sight, possible motives with past relationships, could there be involvement in extracurricular activities and fun times ie. drugs, partying, or the like.
What if mental health was to be at the front and center of this growing dilemma in trying to uncovert the hidden truths.
Is someone being framed for a crime here or is there so much more we have yet to learn?
One thing is for sure, the real action comes closer to the end when the truths will be exposed and the reality sets in for more than one individual because someone must pay for killing the politician's daughter.
Thank you to Amy Young, Level Best Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.