This dark thriller is the first in a new series from Mel Sherratt to feature Eden Berrisford, and weaves together four storylines with a wealth of colourful characters and plenty of twists and turns.

Told from multiple perspectives over a weekend, The Girls Next Door is pacey with a lot to digest, and you need your wits about you to stay on track! An impressive start to a new series.

*Thanks to Bookouture and Mel Sherratt for providing an eARC via NetGalley. This is my unbiased review.

A engaging detective procedural book. With a brilliant cast of characters well written

Thank you Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

Scrolling through my kindle and trying to find something to read can sometimes be a difficult task especially if you are a mood reader like myself or someone again like myself who needs to get into a book within the first few pages to a chapter, otherwise, it ends up as a DNF. Could be a mixture of the weather and me just not feeling it but I had a spate of DNF thrillers - such a shame. However, in those DNFs always sit a few books I can finish and Mel Sherratt's The Girls Next Door was one of those. The book starts with a bang as Katie ends up out on the town with Nathan Lucas- a guy she has a love/hate - mainly hate relationship with. When a case of mistaken identity ends up with one of their classmates dead, along with Nathan and two others Katie finds herself charged with murder/manslaughter and sentenced to a juvie holding centre till their trial. The book then jumps a few months down the track and Katie's friends including Jess, Cayden, Stacey, etc are all attacked on the same night. The only difference though is during that night, they all came home except for one - Jess. Jess also happens to be Eden's niece and daughter of a single mother Laura who works for CrisisChat helping teens in need. Is Jess's kidnapping related to the attacks that her friends all suffered or a case of something much deeper and entirely different? The Girls Next Door has four different storylines running through the book, despite this at times it gets a bit muddy feeling but overall, it is easy to follow. The other thing is though this is pitched as an adult thriller, due to the main characters being teens - it has a young feel to it and I would say it would be more enjoyed by thriller readers aged 16-30's – the YA to NA crowd.

I really liked The Girls Next Door. It was a real page turner & kept me wondering the whole way through. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, great characters and easy to read.

Omg......... this book was amazing I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed I was hooked from the very first page. I found it full of twists and turns threw out and it kept me on the edge of my seat all the way threw  I would defiantly recommend this book if you like a good book to keep you reading threw the night hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did

I can't tell you how much I look forward yo a new book from Mel Sherratt! Always gritty and intense, keeping you gripped and gussing right up until the end. The Girls Next Door was a one-sit read and I absolutely loved it!

A well done procedural with a plot that might sound a bit familiar but twists enough to keep you guessing. Good characters and nice storytelling make it a good read.

Many thanks to Mel Sherratt for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Having read and enjoyed Mel's other books I was looking forward to this one involving a new character in Eden Beresford.
I am pleased to say that I wasn't disappointed. The story was gripping from start to finish and it was good to recognise places and people that were in her previous books such as the Mitchell Estate and the character Josie Mellor.
I think Mel is on to a winner with Eden Beresford and look forward to further books to see how the character progresses.
Thoroughly enjoyed the book and five stars from me

The Girls Next Door is the first in a new series by Mel Sherratt featuring Detective Eden Berrisford who is racing to catch a killer.

Five teenagers meet in a local park, but one is stabbed. Six months after the stabbing someone is coming after the teenagers with vicious attacks. Detective Eden Berrisford is out to catch whoose behind the attacks when her own niece goes missing.

This is the first book by this author which I have read and I have to say it wasn't to bad. The story is an urban, very modern police procedure, but not too heavy on the police work.

I did enjoy the story and although I wouldn't call it edge of seat it certainly had enough to hold my interest. Just over half and a sudden twist to the who and why which gave the story the unexpected.

I did feel towards the end it became a little rushed, lets get this over with in time for tea, but by this point the story was over for me as all was explained.

This book didn't blow me away but was an enjoyable read and I would read more by this author. Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review the book.

WOW! I simply could not put this down, each page turn made me want to read more and more. It was a real mystery to me too, it is set up for what you think is obvious and the WHAM!, it takes a completely different direction. I eagerly look forward to reading the next in the series.

RATING: 4 STARS
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY)
(Review Not on Blog)

Bookouture is fast becoming one of my favourite publishers of mysteries. This was a great suspenseful read. I like the character of Eden and her sister. When Eden's niece is kidnapped, as she tries to solve the case there is also family tension bubbling up. The suspense combined with drama had me flipping the pages through the night. I can't wait to read the next one!

The Girls Next Door (Detective Eden Berrisford #1) by Mel Sherratt
Bookouture, 2016
Crime Fiction; 318 pgs

The Girls Next Door is a dark thriller about a group of teenage friends who have gotten in over their heads. The novel opens with the death of sixteen year old Deanna Barker and the events that follow leading up to the trial of the teens being held responsible for her death. How much should Katie be held accountable for a crime she witnessed and tried to stop? Will anyone believe her given her relationship and history with the boy who stabbed Deanna?

As a storm rages in Stockleigh, someone or someones are playing awfully mean pranks on this group of friends, targeting them and warning them to keep quiet. When one of their own goes missing, it raises the stakes even higher. Detective Eden Berrisford isn't sure how long she'll be allowed to stay on the case given her relationship to the missing girl, Jess Mountford, her niece, but she is determined to find her.

There are multiple threads of the story at play in The Girls Next Door. Grief permeates the pages in one form or another. The mother of the murdered girl is both bitter and angry, not to mention devastated by her daughter's senseless death. Then you have Katie, accused of being involved in a murder, and her family, struggling to deal with their separation, the accusations and societal judgement, not to mention the internal turmoil each of the family members are going through. These among several other characters struggling with their own challenges related to grief.

Kidnap victim Jess has her own family issues, being raised by her widowed mother and older sister. It was really hard for me to connect with Jess. She isn't an easy person to like. I felt more for her mom, who was working hard to provide for her family, and raise her two daughters on her own. Eden has her own teenage daughter and has her own baggage. She is good at her job though, that much is obvious.

The novel shifts from perspective to perspective throughout the novel, including the kidnapper's, and so no one person was the main focus of the novel. This may have contributed to my not really connecting to any of the characters as I never felt like I got to know any of them very well. But honestly, it was hard to sympathize with any of the kids involved given their own actions. I lost a little respect for the detective at the end of the novel, wishing she'd made a different choice (about a seemingly small matter)--but I realize it is hard when it is family involved.

Tension is high throughout The Girls Next Door, although I found it a struggle to read it at times. The message to parents to be involved in your child's life--know their friends and be vigilant to how much money they spend or how and where they spend their time coming across loud and clear. While I thought this to be a decent novel, I am on the fence about whether I will continue with this series or not.

After one girl dies, several others are humiliated and warned to keep their mouth shut. The case gets personal for Detective Eden Berrisford when she finds out her niece Jess is kidnapped.

This is the first in a series of mystery books about Eden Berrisford, and I can't wait to read the next one. I couldn't put this down. The characters were well-developed. I felt like I knew Jess personally. I had to know what was going to happen to her.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to have read this great read. This is book 1 in the detective Eden Berrisford series, and was really well written. I identified with a lot of the characters in the book and really enjoyed it. Can't wait to start book 2!

This was the first in a new series featuring Detective Sergeant Eden Berrisford who ends up involved in her niece's kidnapping and other situations affecting teens in Stockleigh. The plot unfolds after one of the girls, Katie Trent, is incarcerated in a detention center after being onsite of the murder of another teen girl. Her trial is approaching an other things start happening to her friends as the date looms closer and tensions mount. The dead girl's brothers want revenge for their sister's death, but they aren't entirely blameless as they've been engaged in some illegal activities. Eden's niece, Jess, is kidnapped and held for reasons that are eventually clear and not related to the random acts of assault that occur with the other girls.

I don't know, this one just didn't do it for me. Never really engaged with the characters -- way too much angst and internal dialog that went nowhere and got old fast. Eden was OK, but didn't really have any depth -- a typical female DS who wasn't all that interesting. The story moved slowly and I never felt tension or suspense as it meandered toward a lackluster conclusion. Would not really call this a thriller. Rather disappointing given the cover and the blurb. I do have the second one in the series and will probably eventually get around to it, but not feeling compelled at the moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the e-book ARC to review.

This was my first read from Mel Sherratt. I thought this book was a little dull. It had a lot going on and had potential but there was no build up and the ending was just flat to me. I wasn't crazy about the writing style either. From the beginning, each chapter had a name thrown at me and I couldn't keep track with who was who.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Mel Sherratt for an arc of "The Girls Next Door" in exchange for my honest review.

Opening line of the book preview, "one warm spring evening, five teenagers meet in a local park. Only four will come out alive", trapped my attention right away. This first book in the series introduces the reader to Detective Eden Berrisford. Six months later the other four teenagers are attacked with one of them, Jess, being kidnapped and Jess is Detective Eden Berrisford's niece.
This book is tagged as a police procedural novel so going in I knew to expect this and see less suspense/thriller. Huge pros to this novel was our kick-ass, hard-working protagonist and the snappy dialogue. Only con is that this novel lacked some twisty plot turns compared to other books in this genre.
Many thanks to Mel Sherratt, Bookouture, and Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Mel Sherratt novel, but it certainly will not be my last. This was a great book! Gripping and full of twists!

Minor spoilers ahead based on some of the subjects addressed in this book.

This story covers multiple crimes within one book, and while it could have all turned into a jumbly lump, the author pulled them all together quite nicely. Having read the whole book in one day, I have to say it's quite a page turner!

It may just be me, but the introduction of many characters in the beginning of the book left me a bit confused. It took me awhile to get everyone straight, but once I did and the plot began to unfold, it was a very interesting read.

There are many strong subjects taken on here - bullying, kidnapping, petty crime, grief, abandonment, eating disorders, and suicide just to name a few. It was a bold move by the author to cover so many issues, but I feel they were handled with grace. There is a lot of potential here for the beginning of a strong series.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.