So many mothers want the perfect daughter, the girl that's seen and not heard, clean at all times, polite, graceful, obedient... you get the gist. Unfortunately for Detective Freya Sinclair, way too many mothers believe that purity may result in the ultimate cost, death. After officially being back in Fawn Lake for more than one day - following a catastrophic scenario with her serial killer parents - little girls start to appear in the water, and many others haven't been seen in far too long. As her team assists her in uncovering the sinister doings of a cult-like mothers-only society, Freya must face criticism from the community where her parents committed unfathomable crimes.

Although this book was mentally difficult to process due to the truly evil acts involving children, it wasn't too graphic, and I loved it and highly recommend it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Emma Shiner for providing me with an opportunity to give an unbiased review of this attention-holding thriller!

I was a little concerned I was getting burned out on crime procedurals, so I was nervous to start this one. But I need not be as I was invested in this one from the start. Freya is introduced in this first in a new series. And while the reader is a little slow to learn about her, we know she is the daughter of serial killer parents. If that isn’t a heck of a stigma to live with. We know she was injured on her last job and there was some sort of incident that brought her back to her hometown even with it being haunted by her parents’ actions. I like this slow burn of information. Freya is interesting enough that I want to know more and like that anticipation.

In addition to being a fan of Freya, I also like the team she has and how their characters are also slowly being established. They are there from the start, but slowly become more fleshed out as we learn little bits of information about them.

This case is a little bit dark as it involves missing children. Well, it starts with the death of one and moves on to missing children that everyone fears may also have been killed. This could be a trigger for some, but I felt it was tactfully done without any gruesome details.

Amelia Sciandra does a good job narrating the audiobook and the various characters. While I wasn’t a huge fan of her male voices, there isn’t a lot of male dialogue. But she did a great job with the story itself and the female voices.

It’s a good start to an intriguing series.

I enjoyed this book so much! I loved Freya’s character and her team & how well they worked together. I’m a big fan of books with lots of dialogue and this one is on point! Great plot (dark), great character development. I liked how Freya’s background was pieced in throughout the book instead of a big information dump at the beginning. This allows the action to start right away from page one. Great thriller! I’ve already downloaded book 2. No, book 1 is not left with cliffhangers. Also, we need a book on Freya’s parents! 😋

Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner the first book in the detective Freya Sinclair series was due to be published on April 22nd 2024 by Bookouture.

This isn’t the first book that I have read by the author and it will definitely not be my last I absolutely love her writing and just how the stories flow. Detective Freya Sinclair returns back to her hometown after a five year hiatus following the arrest of her serial killer parents.
It's barely a couple hours into her first day at her former precinct when a child's remains are found at alocal lake. Little does she realize, she'll be lead down a dark road of suspicious parents and missing children.

I just love a good detective story and this definitely topped the cake for me and I cannot wait for the story to go on so I can learn more!!


I highly recommend to read this if you love a good strong female detective story. Reminds me of how AJ Rivers does her books and she’s one of my favorites 🫶🏻🫶🏻

I had the pleasure of reading Three Drowned Girls and One Liar Left, Books 1 & 2 in the Detective Freya Sinclair Series. They are thrilling and eerie books with all the action and drama of a police procedural. I couldn’t put these books down because I had to know how they would end. They are both full of twists and suspense with satisfyingly shocking conclusions.

I have posted this review on Amazon, Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6448477090

And Instagram

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I received this arc from Bookouture for a book tour.

Title: Three Drowned Girls
Author: Emily Shiner
Genre: Thriller
Media: ebook
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Favorite quote: N/A
Sum of this book in 5 words or less: So much senseless child killing.

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Themes: murder, child abuse, detective

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Thoughts:

I received a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Short summary - Freya Sinclair has been away from her hometown for 5 years and when she comes back she doesn’t expect a welcome, especially coming back as a detective. A little girl is pulled from the river, drowned, soon after she returns home. Another girl is reported missing soon after. Freya dives into solving these murders even with backlash from the town.

We talk in the synopsis about a father that doesn’t trust Freya but it’s really the entire town that doesn’t trust her. Also, the title is three drowned girls. There are more than 3 that end up dying, just a warning.

If you can handle a detective solving the murders of little girls under the age of 6/7 go for this book. I wanted to read it because it’s good to know, even though it’s fiction, that there are detectives and police officers out there that actually do care.

This book is the first of two so far and are both available on Kindle Unlimited! I’m going to dive into the second one once I have a chance!

This was a great mystery/thriller book. The main character, Freya, a police captain, is working in a case to solve the mystery of missing and murdered little girls in her town. This was a real page turner!

Thanks to Netgalley for this eArc review!

This was a great mystery/thriller! It was a quick read, and I couldn't put it down!
I liked the small-town vibe. It was interesting to see how something like that could happen in a small town without anyone knowing.
I liked all the characters but definitely also want to learn a little more about them. I really liked the FMC, Freya. She's a force to be reckoned with. However, I wish we had more of her backstory. We got bits and pieces, but I would have liked to hear the whole thing.
I would definitely recommend this!

Detective Freya Sinclair is a force! I admire her for overcoming her traumatizing family drama & the careful detective she is. She works with Candy & Brad on her team that work so seamlessly to solve horrific crimes.
Esther is a wonderful addition to the cast as the one everyone would love to have looking out for them as she does for Freya.
Three Drowned Girls, is one of the most devastating crimes I’ve read with the killing of little girls. Fast paced and gripping, it’s a psychological thriller that had me feeling how intense the story is.

Thank you, Emily Shiner, Bookouture, & netgalley for my copy! All opinions are my own.

After being away from her home town for a few years Freya decides to come back and take up her old job as a detective. Not long after arriving a girls body is found in the local river. When other children have gone missing but not being reported as missing by anyone Freya and her team have their hands full trying to figure out just what is going on...
I enjoy reading books from this author and it didn't disappoint and am already reading the next book in this series

A brilliant read very hard to put down once you start. Book one in a new series which I look forward to reading more of this series.

I honestly enjoyed this book. I liked the plot and found the author's writing style to be very captivating for me. This was my first book by this author and I enjoyed the perspectives she gave. We follow mostly from the perspective of Captain Freya Sinclair and her journey back in her hometown where she grew up. She's trying to solve a case of missing girls along with one dead girl found in the river. She questions herself and really doubts her worth a lot. It shows how caring she is as an individual and wants nothing more than for people to forget about her past. I thought it was a lovely story.
However, I felt as though it lacked a lot of detail. For instance, the book really focused on Freya's past and the reason she had fled town to begin with. We weren't really given the story, just the basis of what had happened. Her past being a large part of the book, I felt as though we could've really benefited from knowing more about it.
I also feel as though with the girls, her reasoning for connecting the cases never really made sense to me. The police got calls about missing girls, but it seemed like there wasn't much else to go on other than the mothers behaving strangely. It could've just been how I interpreted the book, but I'm a person who thrives in detail; I appreciate the full picture of things.
Nonetheless, I thought the plot was great and it was a book I couldn't put down. It was easy to glide through the pages and into the next chapters. I'm looking forward to more of what this author writes in this series. This is just the first book and the others could go way more into detail. But I'm definitely going to be reading her other books as well.

I’ve never been one for police procedurals, but I saw some people talking about what a good book this was and it piqued my interest so I decided to give it a go.

Freya returns home to Fawn Lake after leaving because her parents were serial killers and she arrested them. I hoped for more of the back story since throughout the book it repeatedly mentioned the pain in her hip from what took place five years earlier, but it was never really delved into.

Anyway, multiple girls are missing, some are found dead, and Freya and her team must find out what is going on. I had a hard time keeping all the names straight and couldn’t remember who was who. When the killer is finally revealed it makes the whole story that much more disturbing.

Overall I’m giving this book a three star rating, but don’t think that should deter anyone from giving it a chance. Like I said, police procedurals aren’t really my thing and I wanted to try something different. Other people may love it!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Bookouture Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the first in a new series by a favorite, Emily Shiner, wonderfully narrated by Amelia Sciandra. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Detective Freya Sinclair is back in her hometown and not getting a warm welcome from its residents. Unbeknownst to Freya, her parents were serial killers and she initially accused the wrong person, so many won't forgive her. Minutes after returning to the police force, a young girl is pulled from the river. Before she can barely begin to investigate, another girl goes missing. Just what is going on in the town?

I really enjoyed this police procedural. Freya is a strong character, with a past that still haunts her, but Esther, who raised her is still a strong force in her life. We don't learn too many details about her past, and I'm assuming those will unfold in the next book. There were plenty of good characters - I liked both Candy and Brad, who work with Freya. While the subject matter of missing and murdered young girls is definitely dark, it was not overly graphic. Onto #2!

"Three Drowned Girls" is the start of a brand-new detective series for me! Freya returns to her hometown, after some time away, to join the police department. Upon arrival, she is quickly immersed in a mystery when a young girl shows up in the river. The action throughout this story kept steady as Freya worked to follow the clues and solve what was occurring. I couldn't put it down until I had answers! Freya is a strong character who does not allow herself to be held back. I enjoyed watching her character unfold on the pages. The supporting characters also added elements to the story and guiding Freya in the story. I look forward to reading more in this series! Thank you to Bookouture for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner. This book was enjoyable with several twists and turns. There were interesting characters and some back story was provided to get to know the main character. This is a dark crime thriller because it involves children being killed. It was not overly graphic. I have read several books by this author and she did not disappoint. I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series. I 4 star rating. Give it a try.

Shiner is a new author to me with a brand new crime fiction series starring Captain Freya Sinclair.
Sinclair hits the ground running after moving back to a town where she has a tainted past and residents have long memories. Shiner teases us with bits and pieces of Freya’s history but there is a lot more to explore.
Her team also have depth that need plumbed.
The mystery was heinous and sinister but involved different types of culprits which was refreshing.
Just avoid white garments and lakes!

First, I want to thank Emily Shiner, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review.

DANG!!! Emily Shiner’s latest psychological thriller Three Drowned Girls reads like an episode of Law and Order SVU!! That is a huge compliment as that is one of my favorite shows!! Three Drowned Girls was fast paced, insanely addicting, very detailed in descriptions, intense, and so very twisted! This book is book 1 in the Detective Freya Sinclair series and deserves way more than 5 stars! I can’t wait to see if the next book in the series is as good. Stay tuned for my review for that one.

WOW! Emily wasted no time and jumped into her intense, powerful and jaw dropping storyline. She totally blew me away with this book. I have been a fan of hers for a while now and can say with each book she comes out with gets better and better. This one has to be my favorite.

Not only did this book read like an episode of Law and Order but it could also be a storyline ripped from the headlines as well. This is one book that I would absolutely binge watch on Netflix if it ever made its way there.

All character names were totally unique as was this storyline. I did have to giggle at two musical artists' names thrown in as a character.

There were parts of this book that pulled on my heartstrings and were totally heartbreaking! Oh and many times I found myself yelling OMG at my Kindle. Oh there were dark twisted secrets and revelations I just can’t get out of my head.

Emily brought light to some very important topics within her storyline.

There was one aspect of the storyline in which I wish was elaborated upon. I didn’t feel like I got the answers as to why Freya moved away and her past. I am hoping in the next book we will get our answers.

Three Drowned Girls will be a book that every reader will be talking about! So what are you waiting for? Go out and get it and put it on the top of your TBR list! You will thank me later!

Three Drowned Girls starts with a really intense scene and it never loses its intensity. It's a crime thriller at its best. Really well written, clever plot, full of intrigue and constant tension, it never lets off.
The main character, detective Freya Sinclair, is such a great lead. She's somebody with traumatic, difficult past, trying to overcome people's prejudice and just get on with her job and create a stable, safe life for herself. She's strong yet vulnerable.
I really liked all the other characters too. Emily Shiner did a great job creating a cast of characters that complement the main lead really well whilst remaining fully pledged characters in their own right.
I really enjoyed the story. I loved the concept. I thought the story was executed really well. I couldn't put it down. The story is twisted and dark and complex yet very well-written and never confusing.
I loved it and can't wait to get my hands on second book featuring Freya Sinclair.

Yay I love nothing more than starting a good book only to realise it is going to be a series 😃 this has just made my day.

Freya Sinclair has just moved back to her home town of Fawn Lake to take up the roll of Captain in the police. However a dark secret hangs over Freya, when she was just a child, unbeknown to her, her parents were serial killers.

This is why Freya became a police officer to ensure people like her parents are brought to justice, to keep serial killers off the streets. Returning to her home town things aren’t quite as simple and easy as Freya would have liked, people remember her and her parents dark past and people don’t know whether they can trust her or not.

There are also doubts about Freya in her department, her team are 100% behind her however the chief has his concerns over whether Freya is really up to the job or whether the secrets from her past will cloud her judgement.

Hoping for an easy couple of days to settle into her new role Freya is shocked when the body of a child is pulled out of a near by river, no sooner than Freya leaves the crime scene another child around the same age is reported missing. Soon another girl is found drowned, followed by more missing girls and it is a race against time for Freya and her team to find these missing girls. Determined to prove herself Freya will stop at nothing to find out who is behind these abductions and who is drowning these poor innocent girls.

When Freya eventually uncovers the truth it is more shocking than she could have ever imagined. I certainly would never have guessed what was going on. This has to be one of the darkest and most twisted thrillers I have ever read although on that note I did completely love it, and I cannot wait to move onto the next book in this series.

If three drowned girls is anything to go by then we are in for a treat. I look forward to learning more about Freya and her team in the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.