I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

I have read all of Louise Douglas’s previous books. I love her style of writing and the interesting storylines.

This one was no exception. Slow burning and mysterious. As always well written and a great easy read. Really enjoyed reading.

An interesting mystery!

I have to say that I am in two minds about this, on one hand, I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery surrounding the missing woman in the red dress and I was intrigued by what happened to her 25 years ago, what happened to Alice?
But on the other hand, I thought it was taking way too long to get to the point and I am about to give up as it's so slow and a little sluggish - sorry!
Which has to be said made for quite confusing thoughts while reading, something I don't like, I don't particularly like overthinking things while reading and I'm afraid that my mind wandered far too many times during certain aspects of the book and I did tend to over think other aspects of the plot.
Not good!!

But, despite my personal reservations regarding this, I do think it will appeal to those who love their mysteries, especially if you have a fondness for dual timelines, personally it didn't work for me, I liked the mystery it was just getting to the overall conclusion of what happened that bothered me.
Yet, saying that I think this would make great TV and it's certainly something that I would watch.

This is a slow burn mystery with great characters.
I felt at times the pacing was off and could have been a few chapters shorter.
Overall a good read

This was my first time reading a book by Louise Douglas and I really enjoyed her writing. This was a lovely story and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future!

This is a run-of-the-mill mystery that uncovers the truth behind a body that has been discovered in a run-down holiday park. Flitting between past and present, readers are gradually shown events leading up to Alice’s disappearance, from the perspective of Will and Marnie.

I did not take to Will’s character. I thought him lazy, selfish and self-centred – he really irritated me! Furthermore, his obsession with Alice’s story and lack of care for others around him meant that I bristled when the chapters switched to focus on him. I don’t think it helped that Will does not appear popular with any of the residents of Severn Sands either; I guess I was siding with the majority on this one.

As for Marnie, I don’t think I truly connected with her either. Her silence was not convincing, despite Douglas portraying that Marnie’s mutism is a result of the trauma of losing her mother and then Alice’s disappearance. I thought it became a convenient plot method to add tension to communications and show the difference between Marnie in the past and present.

Despite these misgivings, I did largely enjoy this mystery. I thought the setting was appropriately haunting and really intensified the abandoned feel that you grow to associate with Alice. Alice’s story was unexpected and I could not predict who the perpetrator was behind her disappearance. I enjoyed the flashbacks to when the holiday camp was full of life and energy: Douglas’ contrast emphasises how stagnant Severn Sands has become as a result of the discovered body. Furthermore, the story itself is really atmospheric and the pathetic fallacy added to the panic as Will and Marnie come close to discovering the truth.

This is definitely a winter mystery, reinforced by the chilly weather on the coast! I enjoyed this story for the most part, but did find the last few chapters a bit of a drag: I wanted the story to wrap up quicker and could not get a sense of the threat that Will and Marnie felt. On the other hand, I liked Douglas’s style of establishing the characters and the mystery: we know something happened, the writer leads us down an interesting path to find out the real truth.

With thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m sorry to say it, but I found this book really quite dull. There was so much description it and very little action. I wasn’t a fan of any of the characters and there just wasn’t enough drama to keep the book going. It dragged on for about 64 chapters before we started to get close to making sense of everything and then it just ended with no real explanations. What actually happened to Alice? We know who, vaguely know why but no idea how! Disappointing read.

Loved this one. It was a bit of a slow start for me and I was skeptical if I would enjoy it. But it had all the elements that I look for in a good thriller.
I would recommend this to anyone wanting a quick and engrossing read.

Wow what a gripping read I was hooked loved the characters I was pulled into the plot just wonder full read so good a page tuner loved it

This was quite an interesting tale with a different storyline which at first glance might appear to be familiar. A renovation and bones were found. Was it Alice who had disappeared 25 years ago wearing the scarlet dress?
This slow-moving mystery was had engaging prose which kept my curiosity peaked and made me want to know what really happened. The characters were well developed. Alice herself was a sweet soul who was kind and courteous. Told in dual timelines where some parts were memories, I liked both Marnie and Will as they remembered Alice. Overall, this kept me engaged in its pages over the afternoon.

Alice Lang, 'the star of the summer' at the caravan park, has disappeared without a trace. Many lives have changed and being ruined in the wake of her disappearance. Many years after the event the heir of the property where caravan park once stood decided to sell...

What is uncovered is unthinkable, unfathomable, unexpected...

The Scarlet Dress is not your straightforward murder mystery or whodunit. It is a journey into vortex that a crime leaves behind. It is about what disappearance of Alice has done to people around her. What secrets and lies have done for so many years, lying dormant and festering.

I found this novel entertaining, suspenseful, insightful and very well put together. It is a must for the lovers of crime and human nature. Sometimes, like in case of this novel, you do not even know how far can human go to cover up or to uncover the truth.

An excellent book that I loved.
Great character and plot development. I thoroughly enjoyed it as it's engrossing and entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Scarlet Dress by Louise Douglas

Alice Lang was wearing her favorite scarlet dress when vehemently disappeared twenty-five years ago, and her memory still casts a long shadow.

This was a great book. It was well-written, and ITV had many twists and turns. I didn’t figure out who they murderer was until ballots they end. Almost all the characters were.very friendly. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

I was given a copy of The Scarlet Dress by Louise Douglas by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I have read other books by Louise Douglas so was keen to read this novel. The novel is about Alice Lang who disappeared 25 years ago. When her dress is found 25 years ago Will returns to Severn Sands to find out what happened to Alice. He meets friends long since forgotten about. A good paced thriller.

I loved the setting for this book. A Holiday camp, a fair, caravans, the sea, I could even taste the toffee apples.
Alice Lang was 22 when she went missing, no one knew what happened to her, all they found was the scarlet dress she had been wearing.

25 years later, Will is still mourning his lost love, Marnie was just a child when Alice died but she still misses her friend.

When human remains are dug up the past is about to be revisited.

This is an extremely dark and gripping thriller. There is a chilling atmosphere that pervades the town, and no one is above suspicion. Every little twist I encountered just led to more questions being asked. I really felt for Alice and quickly forgave her any misdemeanours. I felt Marnie losing Alice meant that she had also lost hope. And Will, I was never really sure about him!

Louise, I seriously think this is the best book you have written so far.

I had a love/hate relationship with the characters, great book thought, scrammed full of suspense.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Another fantastic book by Louise, this had me gripped from page one. I loved the character of Marnie a lost soul. Wow what an ending .

I’ve been a huge fan of Louise Douglas, since I first discovered her writing and adore her work. She just gets better and better with each book.

As always, Louise does a fabulous job of creating mysterious characters and plots. I found it particularly brilliant that the main character was one who wasn’t alive and she was portrayed brilliantly, making the reader wonder about her life and slowly unravel the mysteries as the story developed.

The characters and plot, were very cleverly written, and the location was particularly atmospheric and I really could imagine the setting of a run down holiday town, and a community affected by a tragedy years ago, with some never recovering.

As always with Louise’s books, you are compelled to turn those pages asking yourself many questions and tying yourself up in knots, trying to work out characters that you trusted one minute, then suspected the next.

The final part of the book had me holding my breath as the conclusion came to light. And I had no idea. I’ve said before I’d make a rubbish detective.

This was a brilliantly written, gripping, clever, compelling story, that I struggled to put down. The vivid descriptions, the evocative plot and the intrigue that Louise created, made it a highly enjoyable, absolute treasure of a read. I ran through the whole book in my head as if I was watching a film or TV series.

A highly recommended read with all the feels and all the stars from me!

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Louise Douglas is one of my favourite authors, I have all of her previous books and I'm always excited to read her newest novel and this one is excellent. I was gripped right from the start, I couldn’t put it down as I was desperate to find out what had happened to Alice, I genuinely did not see the twist either. Would highly recommend

This is the first book I’ve read by Louise Douglas and I look forward to reading more in the future (I have The House by the Sea on my Kindle ready to start).

As the synopsis tells us, Alice went missing 25 years ago and her body has finally been found buried at the holiday park. So why was her scarlet dress found by the estuary? Who could have wanted to harm Alice – a visitor to the area?

The story follows Will and Marnie, both of them were severely traumatised by the disappearance of Alice. Will has been trying to solve the mystery for 25 years, having fallen in love with Alice that summer when he was just 19 and Marnie is scared about what happened to Alice, who had been kind to her during an already difficult year.

The main characters have to deal with the press and police interest into the events of 25 years ago. Will had always blamed Guy, but was it Guy? Who was the mystery person that Alice was going to share a bottle of champagne with on the evening she disappeared?

The setting seems very dark and drab, as the holiday site park has become a muddy building site. As Will and Marnie start to think about what happened during the three weeks Alice stayed at the holiday park, they start to remember conversations and events. How many secrets could they uncover?

I enjoyed how the story evolved. Although I had worked out who Alice was and why she may have been murdered quite early in the story, I didn’t know who the killer was until near the end of the story. Happy to recommend this book and I look forward to reading more by Louise Douglas in the future.