So glad I was able to read this. What a wild ride. I recommended this to my sister who is just getting into reading and she is going to add it to her TBR!

First book by this author which turned out to be a hefty read. I see Amazon @ 468 pages while Goodreads @ 515 which seemed to be the case. I enjoyed the grind that featured chapter shifts from two different perspectives with one having a bit too much psychology for me but the dynamic was a good one for the plot and suspense. Good characters with one really standing out with her interrogation personality. Some books use weather as a character but this book used water which took some time for me to acclimate.

I didn't have the plot/perp figured out so kudos to the author for keeping me in the dark until the end. My ending was quite different but this one was definitely good. The book left me thinking about relationships.

Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

A great book that kept me hooked and quickened my pulse, what a thriller!
A wonderful psychological thriller touching on what makes a good person and how we all make mistakes.

This was definitely a different twist that I haven't read before! I enjoyed this book, but it took awhile to get into it.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Body Below by Daniel Hector in exchange for an honest review. This was an interesting spin on a murder mystery. I'm not sure if I liked it or not as I had a hard time getting into it, but maybe that was just me.

*Thank you NetGalley for my eARC of this novel*

This story has its high points but it also has its not as stellar ones. Thought the mystery is there, the story was quite long winded and draggy for the every day reader. There is a sweet spot there that could have been more concise while conveying more without the drag.


Liekswise none of the characters and any I feel connected to, thus I do not care what happens to them. There is an art to making sure the audience is rooting for (or against) those we are reading about. If they don’t have that aspect that connects them to those reading, no matter how fun or interesting the plot line is, there is just not that buy in. Don’t overestimate the power of humanism that connect all characters in stories to its receiver.

Overall, the story had a good ending with the twists and turns it takes us. So on that note I would say there is a good core to the storyline just those places that could make this okay story into a great one.

A weird and gripping crime thriller that kept me reading and turning pages. I found the characters fascinating and was surprised by the twists
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

4.5 ⭐️’s
The Body Below is a twisty, slow burn of a book that will have you hooked from the beginning, as you journey along with Conn, and his fiancé, Celine, as they join in the investigation of Conn’s missing sister. This book was a first rate mystery and will definitely ensnare readers as they, too, try to figure out what happened to Trudy. Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

THE BODY BELOW is a very deep psychological novel. It deals with the question of whether and how one might move on from having done despicable things, and how forgiveness of others and of oneself can play a role in that growth. Moral nuance and ambiguity are explored as the characters and the reader attempt to tease apart the ways in which love and hate can be intertwined both in feeling and in action. Masterfully, Hecht incorporates this intense psychological investigation into an equally intense plot, keeping the reader on tenterhooks throughout.

The story is told from two perspectives, with chapters identified by their first-person narrators. Conn (Connor Whitman) is a disgraced journalist, living in a somewhat remote cabin and swimming miles at a time in Vermont's lakes to clear his head. His fiancée, Celine Gabrielli, is a PhD psychologist with extensive knowledge of the human psyche and an uncanny ability to use that knowledge to help the emotionally struggling. When Conn's estranged sister turns up missing and presumed dead, Conn and Celine combine their investigative skills to help the police uncover her killer. Conn's guilt over losing touch with his sister many years previously plays a huge role in his understanding of potential candidates for murderer, and Celine's understanding of Conn's state of mind is very helpful to the reader as both Conn's and Celine's characters are developed. Chapters switch between Conn's and Celine's perspective, often looking at the same event from different angles. However, each of the characters also searches for clues and answers in different contexts, some of which they share and some of which they do not.

The book opens with an encounter with something disturbing during a long-distance lake swim in a less than ideal lake location, and it provides Conn with the opportunity to share with the reader both the physical experience of swimming and the psychic relief it provides. The Vermont location, with its small towns, beautiful countryside, and yes, the lakes, is beautifully and atmospherically described throughout. The moral dilemmas faced by the characters have their roots in the individualistic social environment that developed, and still exists, in the remote woods of Vermont, and Hecht shines a light on that environment as the investigation moves forward.

The character development in this book is some of the strongest I have ever read, with Celine's psychological wisdom shining a light on the complexity and humanity of each character. We occupy Conn's mind as it goes into some very dark places. Good and evil are seen as a part of a spectrum, not as opposites, and as we meet the various characters this becomes more and more clear. For me, the depth of the questioning that Conn and Celine engage in was the true strength of the book, but it managed to reach that ascendancy without overshadowing the plot. And that plot was twisty, with a number of complex characters playing the role of "person of interest." In the end, the book builds to a powerfully emotional and physically intense resolution, with a final curve that I did not see coming.

I had read and loved Hecht's three-volume Cree Black series in the early 2000s, but THE BODY BELOW is a much more mature book, and I am sure it is one that I will not forget for a very long time.

The Body Below by Daniel Hecht was outstanding,! It is a slow burn mystery that leaves you with a feeling of dread. The Vermont setting was described so beautifully that I feel like I have actually been there. I really liked both characters, Conn and Celine and how the chapters go between the two and their point of view. This was definitely not a fast paced book but the payoff was worth it to me. I would say this is more of a literary mystery than a thriller. Do yourself a favor and read this book and the author’s previous works. You will not be disappointed! Thank you to NerGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

This review is based on an eARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley.

REVIEW
The Body Below is, primarily, not interested in the mechanics of murder, but rather the effects of loss and violence on families and communities. It explores a complex web of questions: How do we fail each other? What is justice and what is right? Who and how do we decide that? Why can’t–or don’t–we just help each other? How do we mourn? What do we do with guilt?

As a result, the narrative is a slow-paced burn that focuses on building character and relationships. The two main characters, Conn and Celine, each have to grapple with their own past trauma as well as navigate the new, raw wound of loss torn into their lives and community.

That said, the book takes until the second half to really kick off. This isn’t a problem for me–I love a slow burn plot–but it means that if you’re looking for a snappy, breakneck mystery, The Body Below isn’t that.

There were, however, moments that struck me as strange or out of place. The first was the way that Celine talks about disability; she describes herself as “disfigured” after a car accident that caused her to lose two of her fingers. I am no expert, but it felt out of place for a psychologist, especially one that works with children, to use a word like “disfigured” to talk about her own body difference.

The second was that Selanski, a detective whose off-kilter, strange, somewhat acerbic personality made her my favorite character (what can I say, I love a mean woman <3) is, for some reason, referred to of the blue as “the Nazi lady detective” by several different characters. I’m really not sure if this was supposed to be a joke or what, but it didn’t make much sense in context. There’s nothing about her behavior that could be described as Nazi-like. It felt out of place and misogynistic.

Finally, the ending. Oof.

I am of two minds. On one hand, I loved the note that the book leaves off on. There’s a focus on healing and moving on and forgiveness that I found to be the perfect place to leave the characters I’d grown attached to. The way the narrative explores loss (both in mourning and betrayal) is intensely real, managing to capture the complexity of losing someone you thought you could trust. How do you heal from betrayal?

For example, my favorite quote comes from the final chapter: "He wasn't just dead--he had retroactively excised himself from me, had redacted himself from my life, leaving a furrow going back decades.

On the other hand, these final chapters pull a last minute twist that just doesn’t work for me. It doesn’t fit as well thematically, it’s not narratively satisfying, and it feels cheap. This is the main reason why this book sits at three stars, not four; that final twist makes the book stumble on what would otherwise be a flawless landing.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed The Body Below as a piece of character work, but likely won’t be re-reading it. If you liked Tana French’s In the Woods and are looking for something to scratch a similar slow-burn character driven mystery itch, The Body Below might do it for you.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley. If you are interested in The Body Below, you can find more information from the publishers. If possible, support indie bookshops by purchasing the novel from your local brick and mortar or from Bookshop.org!

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

The Body Below by Daniel Hecht took me on a rollercoaster of twists and turns. With a well-developed cast of characters and a story that delves into the depths of human nature, it captivated my attention throughout. While the ending may have been somewhat predictable, the psychological exploration kept me engaged and eager to uncover the truth.

However, my one gripe was the book's length. At times, it felt like the story was dragging due to excessive filler material. I appreciate long books, but when the pacing falters, it can make even a thrilling mystery lose its grip. Despite this, the psychological depth and the journey it took my mind on made the read worthwhile. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read this eARC.

I really enjoyed this read. It had a good timeline, authentic feeling timeline of events and broached some hard questions - what is truth? What is doing the right thing when everything seems terrible? How much guilt should we feel? Can you be too forgiving?

Some things I think could have been done differently:
- The nicknames felt like a forced way to show familiarity. And they were all the same formula (first syllable of their name). Never in my life have I heard Conner or Mason shortened.
- It could have been shorter. Some bits and pieces that weren't at all relevant could have been cut. For example: the detailed full page on a driveway basketball game. It wasn't relevant and also I don't get or care about basketball.
- I am still unsure how I feel about the swapping of narrators. Like I get it but it often felt unnecessary (I didn't need Celine's inner monologue on how much she loved Conn) and clunky. It also often felt like a weird way to tout psych 101 knowledge.

I really wanted to like this and went it with high expectations. To be honest, the story itself was fine. But this book is way too long. Like double the length it needs to be. I’m not opposed to long books but there was so much filler that I struggled throughout to both care and want to keep going. It removed all the tension and ended up making me disengaged from the mystery. I felt like the author was mimicking Stephen King, who also writes too much too often. Get to the point.

The Body Below by Daniel Hecht
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Conn Whitman love long distance swimming, it’s his release from everything around him. When he kicks an object while swimming in a local lake, he goes under to see what it might have been, he sees something that he believes could be a body. He’s suddenly drawn into a murder investigation that may be very personal for him.
What an amazing murder mystery/thriller! Definitely in the running for one of my favorites of the year and just what I needed! Conn is such a great character. He’s gone home to Vermont to escape a checkered past as a reporter. His fiancée, Celine, has a PhD in psychology. The ever so irritating Detective Selanski. They all come together to solve a string of murders in the small county. A must read!

This was a wonderful book. A great Thor ill er that kept me guessing the whole time. I would recommend this to all thriller lovers!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I have thought about it more than I initially expected to after finishing, which is a sign of a strong book. I did feel that the build was slow, especially in the first fourth of the book. The reader is definitely hooked with the first swim that Conn goes on, but the pace seems to drift placidly for a large amount of background information. I was surprised to see a narrator switch a decent length into the novel and I felt that the pacing was inconsistent when switching from Celine to Conn and back again. The ending of the book was a surprise, although I had guessed the twist about two-thirds of the way in. The pacing of the ending and the almost resolution was perfectly in tune with the rest of the novel. I did notice that some of the secondary characters seemed to fall flat, while other secondary characters really shined. I would recommend this for anyone visiting Vermont, anyone who loves a slow burn mystery, or a general lover of a soft thriller.

3.5/5

I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this story and because of the length of the book, the characters were well-developed. I did feel like the end was mostly predictable and that this story was much too long to keep the pace going, but I actually loved that the way this book was written was thought-provoking and really explored human nature. It was more psychological-based than thriller but I liked the journey it took my mind on.

A standalone crime mystery, The Body Below by Daniel Hecht (2023) is enjoyable, if a long 515-page novel. Its protagonist is a former, investigative reporter for a major newspaper, who returns to his hometown in disgrace. As part of his recovery, Conn Whitman has discovered a joy in distance swimming. One morning, he kicks a submerged body in the local Lake, but fails to say anything. When a missing single mother is believed dead and possibly murdered, Conn not only follows the case but gets caught up in it. The investigation unfolds with surprising revelations and more bodies, as the local police struggle without Conn’s assistance. A fine murder mystery with a folksy small-town vibe and secrets, that make for a three and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Blackstone Publishing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.