I liked the plot and wanted to know what happened and “who-dun-it.” But I felt the story was a little basic, and I didn’t like the ending. I wish it would’ve given a little more in backstory and ending. I would’ve liked if the book was longer- it would’ve felt smarter and more interesting if there had been some more surprises and more history with the characters. Some parts felt a bit predictable- especially the reporter being Jess, the main characters, boyfriend at the time of the disappearance.. It wasn’t the worst mystery I’ve read, but I wouldn’t want to read it again.

Thank you for letting me read and review early!

There is a good book here. I just felt like all the pieces didn’t come together as well as I like for a thriller. I was able to guess the twist early on so overall, the shock factor was missing for me. The story was there. The plot was enthralling. I was completely invested, but something was just missing for me as the story concluded.

I will say the author does a great job of making you doubt your guess even though I put it together pretty early on. The way she was able to paint everyone as a suspect was very well done. So I still had doubts throughout.

Sadly, it wasn’t my personal favorite, but I do think it will find its readers. Don’t let it stop you from picking it up if it calls to you. It was a fast read, that kept me invested and it just might be the thriller you were looking for.

Pick this one up if you like:

-Dual POV and timeline thrillers
-True crime podcast elements
-Fast reads
-Multiple suspects
-Complicated family dynamics

I had really high hopes for this one, and maybe it's because I tandem read this while listening to "Listen for the lie" but this book missed the mark for me. DNF at about 50%

There's a really good book in here buried under some deeply annoying and overstuffed narration. I have figured out, by the way that basically nobody does it, that it's difficult to make multiple POVs sound significantly different from each other, but this book suffered DEEPLY from that, because both narrators shared one major flaw. I cannot overstate how grab-them-and-shake-them aggravating it is to read about wishy-washy self-destructive people, and both Lindsey and Jessica had the exact same tick of, every time they were confronted with a boy they should not be attracted to, being like "I know I shouldn't want him. Here's a description of multiple red flags. But I just want love! Might as well go for it" and it's just like - I think we're overestimating the self-awareness of people who make catastrophically stupid romantic decisions here. But more than that, it's annoying as hell to read and felt lazy that the two narrators both kept doing this.

I normally enjoy the conceit of writing a novel involving a podcast, but the inclusion of the podcast didn't really add too much, and it wasn't even really used capably as a framing device. I also guessed the ending sooner than I would have liked. However, what I want from a mystery/thriller is a plot that interests me enough to finish the book in a couple of days, and this book had that. So ultimately this wasn't too bad.

My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Great, twisty thriller told in multiple timelines. When four young women go missing from a small university in North Carolina in 1998, families are left looking for answers as police declare them runaways and do little to find them. 20 years later, a female body is pulled from a local lake and the sister of one of the missing starts looking for her own answers. There are multiple suspects who are all involved in the investigation. Who is telling the truth? Where are the other bodies? What happened to these women? Did not see the ending coming, kept me thinking until the end.

The Lake of Lost Girls ~ A Book Review
The Lake of Lost Girls is a novel that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat right up until the very end.

Stella and Rachel are two podcasters who follow up on cold cases involving murder!

book cover
Their followers are also tracking the evidence and speculations run rampant about the "Whodunit?"
Synopsis:

Lindsey has been living in the shadow of what ever happened to her sister so many years ago. All of a sudden out of the blue, the lake, the police and the crime scene tape is being played out yet again.

Body parts have been found by some young boys fishing in Doll's Eye Lake! Could it be they are the remains of Jessica (Jessie)? Will her disappearance finally be solved? Can Lindsey finally get out from under the cloud of grief and loss?

This story will have you turning pages and not wanting to put this book down for anything including coffee!

Jessica is a college student who comes home for a visit and her little sister is the last person to see her. It took ten seconds for her to disappear and never be seen again! How can anyone live with that kind of torment? Lindsey was only 6 years old when her sister disappeared. Twenty four years later body parts are coming to the surface.

Now back in the 1990's more than one college girl went missing, so could this be one of those girls or could it really be Jessie?

Back in the day when these girls first were listed as missing, the police did not have enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime. They also didn't have any bodies! No evidence and only a lot of hearsay about some of the professors and young men on campus!

What was going on here?

Well let me tell you, I had to read the book from start to finish in less than four days! My husband was busy cooking, because I was busy reading! He's great though and didn't mind. He's also a great cook, but I digress!

What I'm trying to tell you is that this book, The Lake of Lost Girls, should be on your MUST READ LIST!

It is available for pre-purchase as it is only coming out on November 5th, of this year.

If you have family or friends that love true crime novels, this one is for you!

I am a member of NetGalley (www.netgalley.com) and this book was made available to me for my honest review. The Lake of Lost Girls, does not leave you disappointed as you will engage with the disturbing and quick downfall of a responsible girl who does not cope well with college life . The aftermath of her disappearance leaves her younger sister with emotional scars too. All of this is very understandable and I think in a way relatable.

Bring in a few "shady" characters and you start to see how lost a young person can become when their lives change so quickly. No one gets out of this mystery without being touched by it in some way!

~ Mark your calendar for this release date! November 5, 2024!~

This was a true crime thriller that kept my attention.. kept my interest… moved pretty fast… had a good plot … but I figured out the majority of it pretty quickly. It was still really well done and I think people should give it a read for sure! There were multiple point of views. Past and present timelines. A podcast type narrative intermingled. I think if you love true crime stuff this is a great book for you because you are working along side the characters in the book to figure out what happened.

I don't read a lot of true crime, but I do like to hear about stories that were cold-cases suddenly getting solved after looking at new evidence or utilizing new technology. The Lake of Lost Girls had some cool details such as articles and social media posts to generate interest. My problem with this book was that it dragged on and on, seeming to get nowhere but dragging up details such as what Lindsay likes to drink. Who cares?! I made it to the halfway point before being so sick of it that I searched out a spoiler so I could find out what happened.

Wow to this book! I loved reading it, the different perspectives and the interweaving of the true crime podcast. I wasn’t expecting the ending. Will definitely read more by this author.

I read this within a day and a half. If you like books that are told through alternating timelines this is for you. This has to be my top read of 2024 so far. The twists gave me absolute whiplash. It was written so well I would’ve loved to see a movie made out of it!! I don’t believe it’s available until November but you should request it on Netgalley!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book!
The Lake of Lost Girls was a twisty story! The chapters bounced from past to present day, where Lindsey is trying to solve her sister's disappearance. I would think I had it figured out then something would happen that changed my mind! Definitely worth checking this book out!

Easy read, murder mystery that goes back and forth between the late 90's and now. The story introduces a number of potential suspects and kept me guessing till the end. Felt like the story was a bit disjointed though and could have used more beefing up at times.

The Lake of Lost Girls is a plot driven thriller with lots of twists. More than two decades ago, four young women students went missing from their small southern University. Now their bodies are showing up in Doll Eye Lake. Who killed them? That's what several people--one of the girl's sister, her roommate, her old boyfriend (now a journalist) and the police are trying to find out. There is a HUGE clue that signals who is the murderer about 3/4 of the way through the book, but all in all a good, fast, twisty read for those of us who like those things. 3 1/2 rounded up to 4 because there's a bit too much repetition in this book.

I received this book from Netgally on behalf of the publisher and author.

I’m a true crime podcast woman, like most millennials these days. The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene, perfectly meshes the story with a podcast excerpt. I honestly wish that podcast was real, because I’d listen to it.

The “whodunnit” plot was great and kept me interested the entire length of the book. I did accurately guess the “twist” well before the ending, but I still enjoyed reading how it eventually turned out.

I also liked the flashback chapters and thought it worked nicely with the overall feel of the novel.

Overall, the storytelling was decent and kept me intrigued.

Recommended for those who like true crime podcasts and books!

The Lake of Lost Girls by new to me author K. Greene, published by Crooked Lane Books, is a thriller of its finest.
Fast paced, complex kept me the story in suspense til the last page.
A story excellent told, full of unexpected twists and turns that had me hanging on the edge of my seat, had me guessing till the very end.
Set in the 19998 in NC Southern State University where bad things happen to female students its a gripping, raw and gritty, highly suspenseful read. I recommend the book.

WHAT A RIDE.

Lindsey Fadley,'s big sister went missing when she was just 6 years old. Now 30, Lindsey meets a journalist who wants to help her uncover the truth behind her sister Jessica's disappearance. Told through the lens of Lindsey in the present day, Jessica in the past, and social media and podcast episodes, they ultimately figure out exactly what happened.

I think the blend of story styles really got me sucked in here. I will say, it was the first time I've ever figured out "whodunnit" before the big reveal, but that did not detract from this excellently written story at all. I was so invested in every single character and ready to see what happened in the end.

This is so amazingly written that I really suggest EVERYONE read it, and I'll be waiting for the release date to post this in all my reading groups!

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the dual timelines and multiple POV's as well as the snippets of podcasts. I read another book like this recently and this one reminded me a little of it!

I had my guesses about what would happen and was happy to watch it all u fold in front of my eyes! I will definitely be recommending this to my bookclub!

What an intriguing read! The story of missing university student Jessica Fadley and her younger sister Lindsey's quest for the truth are told in The Lake of Lost Girls through a combination of shifting timelines and points of view. That being said, Jessica is not the only girl gone missing. Following the discovery of the other missing women's deaths near the neighborhood lake, Lindsey makes an effort to delve into her sister's background in an attempt to ascertain the truth. I couldn't have put this book down. It's evident from this, my first read of a Katherine Greene book, that she excels at building tension. The flat characters in this book, who also seemed to contradict themselves, cost me a star!

What a page turner! The Lake of Lost Girls follows alternating timelines and POVs to tell the story of Jessica Fadley, a university student who goes missing, as well as her younger sister Lindsey as she searches for the truth. Jessica isn't the only missing girl, though. When the bodies of the other missing women start to turn up near the local lake, Lindsey tries to dig into her sister's past to finally find out what actually happened.

This book had me enthralled the entire time. This is my first Katherine Greene novel I've read, and it's clear that suspense is her strong suit. Where this book lost a star for me was in the one dimensional characters, who also seemed to contradict themselves at every turn. However, where the characters lacked in depth, the story made up for in twists! 4 stars from me! Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGally for providing this ARC.

Twists, turns, and a terrific dual timeline! Holy cow this book sucked me in right from the beginning. I had my suspects, but was kept guessing the whole time! I am always a little skeptical of a dual timeline, but this book was fantastic. The use of the podcast, articles, social media posts, and police interviews was great and they were well spread throughout the book.