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A review by nietzschesghost
The Girls In The Water by Victoria Jenkins
4.0
Girls in the Water is the first book in the newly created Detectives King & Lane #1 by Victoria Jenkins. This first book has received excellent reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. The second book is expected on November 15th 2017. Victoria Jenkins is relatively unheard of in the wider world - outside of the bookish one that I live in, but that will not last long if she keeps writing thrillers as well as this one! I, for one, will be reading #2.
Detective Alex King and her new recruit Chloe Lane are called in to lead the hunt for lola Evans' killer. Her body was discovered in the local park on a very chilly winter's morning. Then, only a few days later, another girl goes missing. As always in cases like these e.g multiple missing persons in the same area, multiple murders in the same area etc, King and Lane investigate to see if there is anything that ties the two girls together, something they both have in common. This is an excellent strategic choice thst they hope will lead them to the murderer.
So, is there any connection between the two girls that might indicate that they were taken by the same person(s)? After looking into it they find that the two girls shared a troubled past, and happened to both be members of the same support group. Finding this monster has become even more crucial as it's thought that he is targeting vulnerable young girls. But why target these particular girls? Who would sink so low?
As the detectives piece together all the evidence collected, Chloe realises that she too is in danger - as she uncovers secrets regarding her own brother's death which someone will kill to keep under wraps. Will Alex and Chloe find the killer before more lives are lost?
Although the story is not unique to this book and there are many other recent novels playing around with the same story, I still really enjoyed this. Te reason I have not given 5 stars is due to the storyline being one that's been used many times before. I know from writing myself that it's difficult to cook up a truly unique and enthralling book.
What a way to kick off a series, very promising! An entrancing ride through the pages and a dark, twisted tale which is exactly what I love. The characters I found most interesting - I liked that there was some backstory to them and I hope they can be developed further and we can get to know them and their motivations much more in the second novel. For these books where there are recurring characters throughout the series e.g. Alex King & Chloe Lane, people need to find that these characters are relatable - that we can understand and perhaps even admire them.
Bookouture -
I would also like to mention the publisher and just how special they are! I wouldn't normally write about a publisher during a book review but this is how I feel and wanted to express it. I discovered Bookouture while scouring the NetGalley recently added titles and I noticed right away after reading the synopsis for a handful of their books that every synopsis I had read, for what had been classed as mystery/thriller/crime title, sounded so damn exciting that I wanted to request and read them all. I knew from then that they were going to be a massive part of my NetGalley journey as quite frankly they just have so mzny fantastic books. I ended up limiting myself until they get to know me more and Girls in the Water by Victoria Jenkins was one of my picks.
I have read that Bookouture only choose a small selection of great books for a reason - so they can focus all their attention on helping those select few succeed. This doesn't just help the writer but also helps a reader like me as I know that their mystery/thrillers are something I can rely on to be right up street! So, as you can see, I have quite the thing for Bookouture! I can see that this will be a publisher I will be reading (hopefully) and reviewing a lot through NetGalley. Seriously, if you are a fan of mystery/thriller novels you NEED Bookouture in your life!
I am hoping that The First to Die (Detectives King & Lane #2) will live up to my expectations when it arrives in the not so distant future.
I would like to thank Victoria Jenkins, Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review.
Detective Alex King and her new recruit Chloe Lane are called in to lead the hunt for lola Evans' killer. Her body was discovered in the local park on a very chilly winter's morning. Then, only a few days later, another girl goes missing. As always in cases like these e.g multiple missing persons in the same area, multiple murders in the same area etc, King and Lane investigate to see if there is anything that ties the two girls together, something they both have in common. This is an excellent strategic choice thst they hope will lead them to the murderer.
So, is there any connection between the two girls that might indicate that they were taken by the same person(s)? After looking into it they find that the two girls shared a troubled past, and happened to both be members of the same support group. Finding this monster has become even more crucial as it's thought that he is targeting vulnerable young girls. But why target these particular girls? Who would sink so low?
As the detectives piece together all the evidence collected, Chloe realises that she too is in danger - as she uncovers secrets regarding her own brother's death which someone will kill to keep under wraps. Will Alex and Chloe find the killer before more lives are lost?
Although the story is not unique to this book and there are many other recent novels playing around with the same story, I still really enjoyed this. Te reason I have not given 5 stars is due to the storyline being one that's been used many times before. I know from writing myself that it's difficult to cook up a truly unique and enthralling book.
What a way to kick off a series, very promising! An entrancing ride through the pages and a dark, twisted tale which is exactly what I love. The characters I found most interesting - I liked that there was some backstory to them and I hope they can be developed further and we can get to know them and their motivations much more in the second novel. For these books where there are recurring characters throughout the series e.g. Alex King & Chloe Lane, people need to find that these characters are relatable - that we can understand and perhaps even admire them.
Bookouture -
I would also like to mention the publisher and just how special they are! I wouldn't normally write about a publisher during a book review but this is how I feel and wanted to express it. I discovered Bookouture while scouring the NetGalley recently added titles and I noticed right away after reading the synopsis for a handful of their books that every synopsis I had read, for what had been classed as mystery/thriller/crime title, sounded so damn exciting that I wanted to request and read them all. I knew from then that they were going to be a massive part of my NetGalley journey as quite frankly they just have so mzny fantastic books. I ended up limiting myself until they get to know me more and Girls in the Water by Victoria Jenkins was one of my picks.
I have read that Bookouture only choose a small selection of great books for a reason - so they can focus all their attention on helping those select few succeed. This doesn't just help the writer but also helps a reader like me as I know that their mystery/thrillers are something I can rely on to be right up street! So, as you can see, I have quite the thing for Bookouture! I can see that this will be a publisher I will be reading (hopefully) and reviewing a lot through NetGalley. Seriously, if you are a fan of mystery/thriller novels you NEED Bookouture in your life!
I am hoping that The First to Die (Detectives King & Lane #2) will live up to my expectations when it arrives in the not so distant future.
I would like to thank Victoria Jenkins, Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review.