The Stranger in the Lake

This book was a mixed bag for me. There were parts that I enjoyed but I found other aspects underwhelming. To be honest, I was surprised that this book didn't hit me in the bookish feels more than it did.

The book's blurb had me eager for a psychological thriller in a remote Appalachian town. An awesome choice of setting and Belle excels at portraying the dark, atmospheric feel of the secluded town and, more specifically, the gorgeous lakeside mansion where not one, but two female bodies have washed ashore just years apart. The story is told using two POVs - Charlotte, the rags-to-riches new wife of Paul, a successful architect and Jax, a childhood friend of Paul's. The story also pivots from the current murder investigation to two decades earlier when Jax and Paul were teenagers. But unlike some of Belle's previous books (like Dear Wife) which have a distinct psychological thriller feel, I felt the suspense was lacking and felt disappointed that I guessed the culprit early on. I wanted to feel more drawn into this slow burn story and its characters but felt that connection was just out of reach for me.

Overall, this was a good read but not as twisty and dark as I have come to expect from this author. While this book wasn't a big hit with me, Belle continues to be an author that I eagerly look forward to reading.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for my advanced copy given in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Kimberly Belle
Genre: Suspense
Type: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Park Row
First Published: June 9, 2020

Opening Lines: I untied the dock cleats and shove the boat into water as gray as the sky. 

Sometime in the past few hours, gunmetal clouds have rolled over the mountaintops, shooting down 

icy gusts that froth the surface of Lake Crosby into a million white peaks.

Book Description from GoodReads: Charlotte didn’t know her greatest risk was saying, “I do.”

When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned.

At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two.

As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust—her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water.