The Lake of Lost Girls is the perfect thriller! The authors carefully planted seeds, but it was not until the very end that the entire picture fit together. The story follows Lindsey as she attempts to both distance herself and get entrenched in the mystery of her sister’s disappearance. A podcaster and a journalist both reach out to shed new light on Jessica’s disappearance and the multiple murders of coeds from a local college. The book combines podcast script, flashbacks, police interviews, and the investigations in a perfect manner. A handful of suspects are fleshed out and motivations are exposed in this fantastic thriller.

A crime mystery tale, The Lake of Lost Girls (2024) by Katherine Greene features two cold case podcasters investigating a case of missing students. Several female college students disappeared from Southern State University in North Carolina in 1998. Lindsey Fadley’s sister went missing twenty-four years ago and the podcast gives her cause to investigate what really happened to her sister. Told via flashbacks to 1998 and the podcast scripts, three men are identified as possible suspects. An interesting thriller with average suspense and obvious culprit, makes for a three stars rating. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement.

"Told in alternating timelines, The Lake of Lost Girls is a haunting novel that will thrill fans of All Good People Here and We Are All the Same in the Dark.

Using suspenseful podcast clips to weave a twisty tale of a missing student and her sister who is desperate for answers, The Lake of Lost Girls is perfect for fans of I Have Some Questions for You.

It's 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina, but freshman Jessica Fadley, once a bright and responsible student, is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears.

Twenty-four years later, Jessica's sister Lindsey is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast that focuses on cold cases to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery.

In the present, one sister searches to untangle a complicated web of lies.

In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate.

This propulsive and chilling suspense is a sharp examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime."

I really love this trend of books set now but investigating crimes that were at seminal years in my life. Here it's my freshman and sophomore year of college.

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene (pen name for A. Meredith Walters and Claire C. Riley) has one of the most chilling covers I've ever seen... and it was this cover that initially drew me in.

This book starts off with a podcast episode, and from that initial instant, I was absolutely hooked! As the book progressed, these podcast vignettes helped balance the grittiness of what was happening and added a bit of lightness to the book.

This was one wild ride as I was pointing my finger at each and every suspect presented! Although the outcome wasn't surprising, that end twist certainly was! My jaw dropped open, I paused, and took a second to soak it all in. It was a doozy, managing to be incomprehensible while making complete sense for the characters and this book! I was happy that one of my suspicions didn't ring true, but I enjoyed the possibility of it hanging in the air.

This audiobook is expertly narrated by Helen Laser, Frankie Corzo, Sara Young, Haley Taylor, and David Bendena. This is a multi-perspective thriller, and the full cast of narrators added to the suspense and my connection to the characters. While listening, I often relied on the narrator, rather than chapter heading, to tell me which characters perspective I was reading. When one of the narrators initially spoke, I had a huge smile on my face, as they added an extra layer to this already amazing audiobook! The interspersed podcasts are so impeccably seamless that it sounds like listening to a real true crime podcast; the splicing between hosts is perfectly done! All this adds up to another amazing audiobook!

The more I sit with my thoughts after finishing, the more I love this book! It will leave you guessing and wondering what exactly a healthy relationship looks like... questioning what is acceptable and what isn't. It twisted the narrative, making everyone a suspect and everyone innocent. This execution really reminded me a lot of my feelings towards The Quiet Tenant!

Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for the complimentary copies to read and review.

Review published to Instagram (@book.ishjulie) October 10, 2024

First and foremost, Holy Shit! I think this might just be one of my favorite reads of the year. The dual timelines were so well executed I didn’t want to put the book down. I feel like sometimes with dual timelines, one can get boring and you rush through it to get to the other but not here. Each timeline was equally important and equally enthralling. I also really liked the use of different types of media in between the chapters such as social media posts or podcast dialogue. I thought the addition of a true crime podcast following along with the story was an interesting way to commentate on the way that the true crime genre can at times prey on the real life tragedies people are facing. I love the perspective of a victims family member listening to a true crime podcast about them. There’s a very fine line when it comes to those podcasts and the way in which the hosts share the story.

The entire time I was reading there were points I genuinely thought each possible suspect was guilty. The ending was such a shocking plot twist I never saw coming yet once it was said, you could piece together the little bread crumbs the author left you along the way. The last couple of chapters were perfectly written. The quick jumps between timelines and POV added so much and gave so much insight into the main character’s last moments. I will definitely be thinking about this book for a long time.

When I got to the acknowledgments and realized this book was co-written by two authors, I was in shock! The writing is so seamless! I will definitely be reading more by this author. I think this book has made me add them to my auto-buy list.

Thank you so much to Crooked Lane Books / Alcove Press and Katherine Greene for the gifted copy! I truly loved this book and this review is my honest opinion.

A fun-to-read mystery full to the brim with intrigue, exciting characters and twists that will make you want to read twice. This is my second book by this author and certainly an author that I’ll continue to come back to. The book is easy-to-read and quickly sucks you into its central mystery and you can easily relate to the characters and their motivations to find the truth no matter what. An enjoyable read that will certainly please mystery and crime fans.

Definitely a good thriller by an author I have not read before! Can't say I remember much a few weeks later though, so I'd say a solid 3.5-4 stars.

Lake of Lost Girls is an ideal thriller to dive into during spooky season. It masterfully combines a captivating blend of elements, from the integration of a true crime podcast and cleverly crafted social media posts, to its alternating timelines that will leave you eager for more. The multiple points of view are brilliantly written, keeping you constantly on edge and second-guessing each character’s role in the mystery. Just when you think you have it figured out, the plot takes a jaw-dropping turn that you’ll never see coming. This book is a must-read, and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves a suspenseful, twist-filled story.

This one had me scratching my head for the first 75%. Then I slowly started putting some pieces together. Definitely a dramatic ending that demands you suspend some reality, but still fun and thrilling!

This book was SO GOOD. I was immediately drawn in. Give me murder in the 99s and I am IN! The twists and turns in this book were so addicting I did not want to put this one down! I’m so glad I randomly picked this one to read and I just sped right through it! I really enjoyed all the character’s struggles and realizations there was just so much going on with this story! An absolute binge-worthy thriller!

My favorite Katherine Greene so far! This was TWISTED!

Almost 25 years ago Lindsey’s big sister Jessica went missing and it set in motion a change so fundamental in her life. At six the time of her disappearance, she has spent her whole life searching for answers. When bodies begin to be uncovered in the lake, Lindsey needs to find the truth more than ever.

In the late 90s, Jessica is in college, finding herself in a tailspin as her life is beginning to crumble. We get a great dual timeline from both sisters, as well as interspersed podcast segments throughout, working on uncovering the truth as well.

This went deeper than I was expecting. I really enjoyed the timelines and the tenacity in which Lindsey seeks the truth. This was fabulous!

Four college girls go missing 24 years ago. A mourning sister looking for answers to the mysterious disappearance of her older sister from their driveway on her sixth birthday. Three viable suspects who are connected to the victims or is there a serial killer on the loose?

Read this if you like;
-dual timelines
-multiple POVs
-dark academia
-small town college setting
-atmospheric and eerie
-mixed media (podcasts, articles, instagram posts) to add dimension to story
-twists and turns with red herrings and clues slowly revealed
-deceiving appearances, people who are not who they seem to be hiding secrets and lies
-troubled dysfunctional families
-satisfying ending

My rating 4 out of 5
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this eARC that will be published Nov 5 2024.

The first 90% of the book was a fairly solid read. The story and writing were fast paced and interesting enough to keep me going. Even so, it didn't strike me as an especially outstanding thriller book. An enjoyable page-turner. What I want and expect from a thriller/mystery. However, the ending really did it in for me. I saw it coming from fairly early on even though it was kind of an insane answer to the puzzle. I don't lower my rating solely because an ending was predictable. I've read enough that it's hard to pull the wool over my eyes. This ending was just too unbelievable for me, so unfortunately I'm going with a lower rating. With another ending it would have been 3 stars.

“And it was in the way that he loved me—a superficial kind of affection—never the deep, abiding tenderness I longed for from my father. In some ways, it felt like he was too scared to love me fully in case something happened to me, too. Or at least that’s what I told myself.”

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene
🖤🖤🖤🖤

Wow wow wow. THANK YOU NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this copy of #TheLakeOfLostGirls

I can’t remember the last time I’ve read a book that had me guessing right to the bitter end!

Lindsey’s sister Jessica went missing of their driveway over twenty years ago. She never knew what happened. But a new podcast focusing on her disappearance and the disappearance of three local college girls and then discovery of bones by a local lake has made Lindsey crave the answers of what happened to her sister.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Nov. 5, 2024
When Lindsey was a child, her older sister, Jessica, disappeared without a trace. Now, twenty-four years later, a podcast hits the airwaves that inspires Lindsay to look into the disappearance of her only sibling. But, as Lindsey discovers, it wasn’t just Jessica that went missing- three other young women from the same college campus went missing around the same time. So far, the police have discovered three bodies in a local lake, but none are Jessica. Lindsay has to rely on memories of a sister she barely knew to try and find out the truth, before another body is discovered.
“The Lake of Lost Girls” by Katherine Greene is a dual timeline story of sisterhood, misogyny, grief and mystery that holds you in its firm grip from page one. Since their previous novel, “The Woods are Waiting”, I was an immediate fan of the writing duo, and it looks like these two aren’t slowing down.
The novel is narrated by Lindsay in present day, and by Jessica back in 1998, when she went missing. Both sisters are very different in many ways, but their dedication to each other is fierce. Right away, there are a few suspects that come into play; however, Greene’s plot is full of twists and turns and “Girls” is a non-stop guessing game until the final pages. Without giving anything away, there was one moment (involving Jessica’s roommate’s I.D card) where a lightbulb went on over my head and I immediately knew most of the outcome but, even then, I needed to finish reading to see how it all ties together.
There are shady men everywhere you turn in this novel and not one of them can be trusted. This component of the novel highlights the dangers for women, in the 1990s and now, and how we need our own brand of “sisterhood” in order to keep each other safe.
Greene’s novel is engaging, thought-provoking, suspenseful and compelling from beginning to end. I did not know what to expect from this writing pair’s sophomore novel, but “Lake” delivered and I can’t wait to see what else Greene comes up with.

Oh boy. This was just the mystery/thriller I needed. I was completely left guessing throughout the story, and I was completely enthralled by all the way it unfolded. I loved pretty much everything about it - the dual timeline perspectives of Lindsay and her sister, the angle of the podcast turning over some rocks - I thought this one was a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it!

4.5 stars, I was absolutely hooked by the twists and turns in this book. With so many people having secrets, you don’t know who to trust! Lindsey is trying to uncover what happened to her missing sister all those years ago, and along the way discovers her sister may be connected to other missing girls. As the plot continues she finds more and more people who may have motive to keep things buried. The characters were fantastic and the plot was well timed. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ok I am really digging these books that feel like a Netflix documentary or murder podcast (ie. Listen For the Lie)

There was so much information given to the reader, but which narrator do we trust? Who is giving the truth and who is skirting around the edges?

I was truly hoping for some major SHOCK, but there really wasn't. My prediction was over the top compared to the truth (BUT only because it felt like it was setting us up for it.)

All in all, I enjoyed it and when I put it down I couldn't wait until I had more time to read so I could figure out it what happened

While I found the premise of this book interesting and intriguing, the actual mystery fell a bit flat for me. The start of the romance was very unnecessary to me. The dual storylines were a good concept but I cared about the past so much more than I cared about the present. I also know a lot of the story was about the incompetence of the police but I feel like it was incredibly unbelievable that NO ONE connected four girls who went missing from the same school. Like, come on.

I found the ending to be interesting but also quite predictable. Overall, I found this to be quite a skippable mystery.

A captivating "whodunnit". Some aspects of this book really sunk it's teeth into me... I loved the dual timelines and POV's, I also loved the mixed media aspect with podcast transcripts and interview notes sprinkled in. I think that on audio this would be 10/10 with multiple narrators but via print something was missing. I am unsure where it fell a little flat for me but it was close to being a 5 star read! Thank you #netgalley!