A review by gwendolyn_kensinger
What Waits in the Woods by Terri Parlato

3.0

More police procedural than thriller, this sophomore novel from Terri Parlato reunites us with Detective Rita Myers for a second case in Graybridge, Massachusetts. Although it’s technically the 2nd in a series it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Esme Foster returns home after a failed ballet career. When she arrives she sees police cars surrounding her childhood home. It’s then that she finds out that one of her closest friends has been murdered in the woods behind the house. Apparently the ailing father heard a scream, her brother investigated the sound and found the body. Now it’s up to Detective Rita Myers to figure out who did it and why. I enjoy Parlato’s writing. It’s dual POV, has short chapters and it was fun seeing how the suspects were revealed as red herrings accumulated. I was invested in the story and was curious to see who the killer was. There were a few people that I suspected, but in the end there was a twist and I was wrong.

Although I think the author’s debut, All the Dark Places was stronger, this is still a worthy follow up, and I will definitely be watching for her next release!