#ThreeDrownedGirls #NetGalley
5 ⭐
After five years away from her hometown of Fawn Lake, Detective Freya Sinclair isn’t expecting a warm welcome from the people she’s sworn to protect. She became a detective to bring serial killers like her parents to justice, but the tight-knit North Carolinian community can’t see past her twisted roots. Minutes after stepping foot back home, the body of a dark-haired young girl is pulled from the river and Freya races to the scene. She’s determined to identify the child and finally prove herself, but before Freya even has a chance to search through missing persons, another girl is reported missing. Freya’s heart breaks at the sight of little Isa’s blonde ringlets and pristine soccer uniform in the photo her father clutches, but the look on his face says he doesn’t trust Freya. Does he think she’s just like her parents, or does he have a sinister secret of his own? But when another innocent girl is found drowned, Freya finds a white hair ribbon snagged on a branch, and instantly recognizes it as part of the soccer team uniform at the local school…
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for giving me an advance copy.

This was a 4 star book for me! I found the storyline incredibly interesting. The narrator was fantastic and did a great job with all of the characters. Highly recommend for a good thriller!

I've never heard of this author, but chose to read it based on the cover alone. Definitely a page turner. I was shocked by some of the twists.

I got to read an advanced copy (in this case an audiobook) in exchange for a fair review. I wanted to like this book but there were so many problems. The plot centers around multiple young girls being victims, and the people in the community don't seem that interested. The final reveal was unbelievable -- literally. For multiple reasons. There's a subplot about the lead detective having serial killer parents, but there isn't much about that, and I've seen other writers do the same thing recently. There were also a lot of mistakes regarding police procedures. The narrator felt like the wrong voice for what was happening and the accents didn't feel natural for what was happening.

I devoured this book. It was messed up and twisted. Missing little girls, ones that weren’t even reported missing?! How can that even be? Freya and Candy bust their butts to try to figure out who the girls belong to. The more time that passes the more bodies pile up. I thought I had figured this one out a couple of times, but I wasn’t even close.

I want more of Freya’s backstory. I need to know more about her parents and Esther and why she left Fawn Lake. I can’t wait to read book 2.

I really enjoyed the audio. Amelia’s voice really sucked me into the story.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for my ALC of this book.

Freya has recently moved back to her hometown and is feeling the backlash of her parent's actions from her childhood. She is a detective, but people don't trust her because of her history. On her first day on the job, a little girl's body is discovered in the river and nobody can identify the child. Another girl is reported missing who looks similar to the girl who was found. Freya cannot get clear answers about the child's whereabouts and starts digging deeper into the family and how suspicious they are acting. A third girl is found drowned and this is when Freya knows that something nefarious is going on. She has to get to the bottom of it before another child is killed.

This book hit me so deeply in my mom heart, and disturbed me to my core. I still loved it though. The story was frustrating at times because we had to go through the same frustrations that Freya had. It all worked perfectly and the book was amazing. I would maybe put a trigger warning about cultish scenarios. I would highly recommend this for thriller fans.

Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner and narrated by Amelia Sciandra, is the first book in a new Detective Freya Sinclair series and what a cracking read this was. It was full of great twists and turns that will have you gripped from the very first few pages.

When Freya Sinclair was a little girl, she had no idea what her parents were hiding in the basement of her childhood home….....She could never of dreamt it and it was a shocking find when she found out about it!

Five years have passed, Freya had moved away from her hometown of Fawn Lake.......Now, she is now a Detective and she became a detective was to bring serial killers like her parents to justice, but the tight-knit North Carolinian community can’t see past her twisted roots. So, she wasn't expecting a warm welcome from the people she’s sworn to protect.

Within minutes after stepping foot back home, a body of a dark-haired young girl is pulled from the river and Freya races to the scene. She’s determined to identify the child and finally prove herself, but before Freya even has a chance to search through missing persons, another girl is reported missing. WoW this is sooooo good......

I highly recommend this book. I loved it.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a dark police procedural driven by Captain Freya Sinclair with a shocking plot. I enjoyed the main characters including her detectives Candy, Brad and Esther who had taken her in when her own parents abandoned her. Freya has her own past of her issues but deals with them appropriately.

I found the book quite disturbing in all honesty but thoroughly enjoyed it, if that makes sense at all. I would recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookoutre Publishing

A really interesting book, following a Detective recently returned to her home town (to a not super welcoming reception, because of the actions of her parents). A young girl is discovered drowned, and other young girls seem to be going missing...

This was a solid mystery, a little repetitive in places and a few times when I thought they should have come to conclusions a bit quicker, but it kept me interested and I enjoyed hearing about these characters. Would be interested to read more from this author.

I listened to an advanced readers copuy of the audio book of Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner. The book was well narrated, and the story was interesting. The book tells the story of a police detective who has returned to her home town to work, five years after having left when her parents were convicted of a series of murders. Detective Freya Sinclair has returned at the wrong moment, as a drowned girl has been found in a local river. And then a second body is found along a lake. Add to it, there are several young girls who have been missing from the local elementary school - or at least not showing up for school.

The book tells an intriguing tale of a criminal investigation seeking to solve a mystery. The story has a lot of pieces, and requires the reader to pay close attention to it, but the story is interesting, and compelling enough to keep reading to the end. There were a few times when I felt like the author was a bit repetitive with the constant theme of going to a person of interest, and threatening to get a warrant when they don't cooperate. In many instances, I wasn't sold that there actually was probable cause, just a sense of suspicion. BUT minor quibbling, an interesting book. AND it is the first in a series featuring Detective Freya Sinclair.

Themes: murder, child abuse, detective, crime
Book Cover first thoughts: Beautiful and I love the trees, I think the title / author's name is too large.
First Book in the series: Three Drowned Girls

The main character, Freya Sinclair is a detective who grew up in a small town, Fawn Lake, North Carolina. I read more books with strong female lead characters and this did not disappoint. Everything is the viewpoint of Freya. The book jumps into the story quickly with Freya going to a crime scene where a young girl has been found in the lake. Freya then tries to find information and review files to identify the missing girl when another girl is reported missing. As the book progresses Freya continues to try to solve a case involving 3 young girls.

Overall, I think the book was exciting, had some intense moments. I could see the book triggering those that maybe have lost a child or lost a friend.

Con: I do wish the story about her parents was discussed more, what they did, etc. I expected that to be discussed more and be a bigger part of the story overall based of the description of the book.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently expected to be April 22, 2024. This review is being shared on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon.

I thought the story and writing was great, however the narration wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t catch certain parts of the story due to it, but overall great story. I will read it next time

When Detective Freya Sinclair moves back to her hometown she didn't expect her first case to be about an unidentified girl that was found in the river. But little did she know this girl was going to the first of many. What is happening to the girls in this town? And why is no one looking for them? Follow Freya and her new team as they solve these cases.
This book had me laughing, crying and glued as I worried if another girl would go missing. I would describe this book as part Law and Order SVU and part Criminal Minds. And I would recommend this book to anyone who loves crime, mystery and thrillers! Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

What a great thriller!!! This book was so good! Very well written only thing was I didn’t really like the narrator. But the book is great!!!

A carefully creative story of a parents worst nightmare that will have you wondering about the human race. Remaining clean takes on a new horrific meaning

I had a very hard time with this book. The narrator did a great job in production but I struggled to follow timelines

Three Drowned Girls (Detective Freya Sinclair Book 1) by Emily Shiner
Narrated by Amelia Sciandra
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers
Expected Publication Date: April 22, 2024

Three Drowned Girls is the first book in the new Detective Freya Sinclair series by Emily Shiner. This is the first book I’ve read by the author and I’m sure it won’t be the last!

I loved the narration by Amelia Sciandra. She did such a great job bringing this story to life!

I love Freya! She has gone through so much, and continues to go through so much, while she tries to be of service to her home town.

Following Freya while she tries to solve and stop future homicides of little girls was captivating! The author wrote this in such a way that I could not stop reading!!! I loved seeing how this mystery unraveled and how everything worked out.

I can’t wait to read the next book, I know it’ll be just as good!!!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Three Drowned Girls is the first book in the Detective Freda Sinclair series.
Freya comes back to her hometown after escaping several years earlier over her own past.
Girls start to come up missing/unaccounted for and some even drowned.

While the book room several turns and seem to have so many “hmm maybe he did it” scenarios, it always kept me on my toes. I really enjoyed it. I was completely clueless as to who dun it. I will 100% read the next in the series.

I just loved the narration by Amelia Sciandra. She really left me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for a chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's a book by Emily Shiner, I'm going to love it!! But I made the mistake this time of listening to the audiobook and I had to give up half way through. I really wasn't enjoying the narrator and because of that, I missed some of the story. So I read the last 40 % and yes, I missed some of the story but what I read I really liked.

It didn't feel like a first book in a sparkly series, but an already well established on. Freya has a dark backstory and I hope we see more about it in the future books, it sound so messed up and shocking! It got me intrigued. Brad, too, he has a story that needs to be told. The way he clammed up at the end, well colour me intrigued!! This is definitely a great start to a series, and I am excited by it, just a bit gutted I listened to it first and I'm NEVER like that! It might have been my concentration too.

This story was a hard one to digest, I couldn't believe, but at the same time I could, the way these mum's were behaving. My heart broke again and again. Having Freya on the case was the saving grace with her makeshift team of Candy and Brad. Whilst this was going on, we had a side story of a dodgy school principal. But the main focus was on Freya and how the town blamed her for her past, because of mis-judgement she made on an arrest but that said case wrapping up. I felt for her but she was so strong and she was focused and determined!

I am excited about this series and Freya and I can't wait to read more!

Emoji Book Review: 😯🥱😕

⏰Short Summary: Detective Freya Sinclar has gone home after being away for five years. Her first case involves the tragic drowning of a girl in the river. Then the bodies start to pile up. Freya races against time to solve this case and stop a killer, while encountering many challenges along the way.

⚡Thoughts: This is my first read by this author. Definitely a good read although a little slow paced for my liking. I dig a page turner through and through. I’d find myself reluctant to pick this one back up, which is never a great sign. There were also a lot of sub plots that oftentimes felt laborious and confusing.

The story was compelling - but the mystery aspects left me wanting. Don’t get me wrong there were some captivating parts for sure, but overall it just didn’t come across as fully believable for me and I struggled with those aspects.

Overall, I definitely say give it a try. There is a good story here, you just have to wade in a little further than I like to get to it.

📚Genre: Mystery

📅Publish Date: April 22, 2024

Big thank you to the author, NetGalley and Bookouture for my advanced copy. 🥰