Digital Reads Reviews

Many thanks to publisher Bookouture for my spot on this Blog Tour.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Beth Adams was back with the girls drowned in the lake. A girl found drowned was ruled as accidental until another was found. Two seemed to be too much of a coincidence, and when the third death occurred, the investigation sped up.

My second book by author Helen Phifer, the book was entertaining and easy to read. The pages turned faster as the suspects clammed up. This was completely different from the rest of the police procedural. It was a thriller too as it showed me a complete story not only from the cops’ POV but also from the suspects.

The doc in me was fascinated with the explanation of internal drowning and pulmonary edema. Not many write about alveoli and surfactant. Kudos to the author’s research. Being a perfectionist and expecting more from the story, I wished Beth didn’t drink so much especially when emergencies could occur any time. But she was bold to travel a path which should have been left to the investigators.

I wanted a bit more cohesiveness from the story. Maybe I imagined myself in Beth’s shoes and thought there would be more of a teamwork. What Google could discover, the cops didn’t…

Overall, a fun read. A different sorta police procedural. I hoped book 3 would have the nitty gritty of forensics linking well to the main story. Bring on the CSI…

On a lighter note, I found it funny that the main character weighed one dead body in kilograms and the other in pounds. I wouldn’t know how to convert. But then I don’t know most conversions. Do you?

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

Peering over the side of the boat, the glare of early morning sun catches on something pale in the inky water. The boy’s curious fingertips break the surface, pulling up a tangle of long blonde hair from the reeds below…

The discovery of a young student floating face down in Lake Windermere, her naked skin almost translucent in the freezing water, looks like yet another tragic teen suicide. But the victim’s lack of clothes make Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams want to investigate further. Anything to distract her from the arrival of her abusive ex-boyfriend’s body on the mortuary table that morning.

With witnesses keeping tight-lipped and any clues washed away by the tides, it’s up to Beth to find the evidence her team needs. But then another girl is found in the lake, this time still clinging to life. She tells them she was at a party on a boat, and that she was pushed…

As more bodies surface, Beth finds tiny traces of boat paint present on each victim. It’s a critical lead that links these attacks back to a tragic accident involving a group of school children years ago.

Faced with a killer hungry for revenge, and with her own life spiralling out of control, it’s going to take every ounce of skill and determination for Beth to catch this monster before he takes another innocent life. But will Beth realise he’s been right beside her all along?