I received a digital ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Stranger at Black Lake is a prequel to These Still Black Waters and What Lies in Darkness. It gives the back story of how Jess Lambert decided to become a detective. Readers should know that the descriptions of events and situations in this story are very graphic, and may be upsetting. I do look forward to reading the next novel in the Jess Lambert series.

The Stranger at Black Lake is a fast paced and short thriller! I found out afterwards that it is a prequel book, meant to be read after the first book, These Still Black Waters. Needless to say, that is going on my TBR instantly, as well as the next book in the series that releases later this year! It kept me on the edge of my seat and despite being a novella, it did not feel rushed or as if information was left out.

The story follows Jess as she moves to Black Lake with her husband, trying to have a fresh start. She ends up making a new friend, Annie, but then shortly finds her friend at the scene of a murder and acting strange before she disappears. Jess soon finds out more of the mystery surrounding a local house that seems affect all of its residents

This review is my honest opinion and a special thanks goes out to NetGalley and Christina McDonald as I was able to review an early copy of this novella.

The Stranger at Black Lake by Christina McDonald is a prequel to These Still Black Waters and gives a peak into Jess Lambert’s history. It goes back and forth between Jess’s point of view and a man who was recently released from prison. Jess befriends a woman who is also new to Black Lake and later finds her naked by the lake in front of the woman’s house, which is also the “haunted” house in town. This was a short novella and I enjoyed getting to know Jess Lambert a bit better, and there were twists in the story that kept me guessing. I wasn’t as emotionally captured by this book as I have been with all Christina’s other books, but this did get me more deeply invested in Jess Lambert’s character. I would recommend as a precursor to her book coming out later this year, What Lies in Darkness, as I assume it may set us up for more Jess Lambert adventures.

I have no idea how Christina McDonald managed to pack such a punch into this novella but I am definitely here for it. These Still Black Waters (the 1st Jess Lambert book) was one of my favorite reads of 2023 so I jumped at a chance to read this prequel. For me the emotional impact of this one was amplified by having read These Still Black Waters first.

Jess has just moved to Black Lake with her husband Mac. Still trying to figure out this fresh start as well as what she wants next career wise, she’s accidentally plunged into a murder investigation after meeting a charismatic stranger in a coffee shop.

I loved getting a glimpse of who Jess was before and her “origin” story as a police officer. Even though this was such a quick, fun and short read, I feel it still managed to cover quite a bit of ground. Though the mystery aspect of the story was great, my favorite part was getting more insight into Jess and her relationship with her husband.

I am definitely invested in Jess Lambert series and can’t wait to read What Lies in Darkness next! If you’re looking for a dark, enticing new series to dive into, I highly recommend this one!

A huge thank you to Intrigue Ink Publishing and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC of this novella in exchange for an honest review!

A nice little introduction to a series. From the first page the action keeps you invested. The premise of the story was good, slightly unbelievable, but still fun. A nice set up for the next two books. This book sets up the main character quite well and I am excited to read These Still Black Waters!

This background on Detective Jess was so good! There was so much packed into this novella but it gave so much insight into her character and her past. I loved this mystery and how she came to be at Black Lake and I am really looking forward to the cases that Jess will work on in this series. Brand new in town, she meets a woman at a coffee shop and feels she may have just met her first new friend. But when she finds her new friend disoriented and she leads her into her house with a body and blood everywhere, Jess is questioning this new little town. Who is this new friend of hers and what is she now tangled in? Rumors and newspaper clippings from the past only seem to create more havoc in this case. Can the local police solve what happened and who these people are? The first book was so good, and now I cannot wait to dive into the second one! Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the complementary ebook. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

I only realised AFTER reading this that it’s a prequel but now I am just so excited to pick up the other book.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s so mind-blowing that some authors can manage to fit such a fantastic story in just a short amount of pages.

This was such an easy novella and I was able to finish it all in one sitting with how immersive and fast-paced it was.

These characters were so fun to read and I’m definitely excited to pick up the other book to read more about them and get to know them better.

Thank you to NetGalley and Intrigue Ink Publishing for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is the prequel to “These Still Black Waters”, which was a five star read for me last year. To say I was very excited to see and read this novella is an understatement! “The Stranger At Black Lake”, is about a younger Jess Lambert who just moves to the town of Black Lake. Did this novella deliver? It certainly did! But now I need another sequel to the prequel… or prequel to the sequel (you know what I mean).

In this short story, Jess Lambert has just moved with her husband Mac to Black Lake into their new home. Jess is currently not working, after having been a paramedic in NY and is quite lonely while her husband goes to work all day. One morning while getting coffee in town, Jess meets Annie and they become friendly with each other and even exchange phone numbers. Later on that day, Jess sees Annie walking naked by the lake with only her shoes on. When Jess rushes to help Annie at her home (because that’s what paramedics normally do), she finds a dead man on Annie’s kitchen floor. Jess calls 911 for help, but then Annie disappears. Who is the dead man on the floor? And where is Annie?

The story then takes us into Annie’s disappearance and background, with Jess looking for her. Jess then re-enters Annie’s home (which is called The Gingerbread House) for more information on Annie and the family that used to live there. Was that a bad or good move on Jess’s part?
Read this short, twisty thriller to find out! I definitely recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Intrigue Ink Publishing, and the author for an ARC of this novella which I had the pleasure of reading. Publication date: March 19, 2024
Genre~ Novellas & Short Stories, General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers

The Stranger At Black Lake is the prequel novella to the Jess Lambert series and let me tell you it packs a punch. From the eerie setting, the compelling plot, the mystery and intrigue everything just hit perfectly. You will be on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

It is a novella but it truly reads like a full length novel. It didn't feel rushed, the characters had a lot of background information, I honestly don’t know how she packed all of it into a novella. I could not flip the pages fast enough.

It was fast paced, never letting down on the suspense. I loved all the red herrings she sprinkled throughout. I truly loved getting to know Jess more and it makes me even more excited for the next book in the series.

I highly recommend reading the first, then the prequel, as you will already have fallen in love with Jess and will have more info on her. Overall stellar prequel !!

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @intrigueinkpublishing & @christinamac for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliant novella! I was engrossed from the get-go and until I put the book down. Christina McDonald has created a story that will have you gripping your book and hungry for more. The prose is elgantly sculpted to create a haunting atmosphere which envelops the reader, keeping them in the depths of the story, rolling them like an alligator rolls its prey and then the ending, gasping for air. Eeeeesh this was a real breathtaker and it's a prequel. It's a prequel!!

Jess and Mac Lambert move to Black Lake, a seemingly idyllic location. That is until Jess finds her new friend Annie after an attack that is only the beginning of a series of events making Jess question everything she has come to know

Stunning, stunning, stunning! I have added "These Still Black Waters" to my TBR for when I have recovered from the awesome that is "The Stranger at Black Lake"

Thank you to NetGalley, Intrigue Ink Publishing and Christina McDonald for this incredible ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Instagram and Goodreads review:

The Stranger at Black Lake follows Jess, a former paramedic, who moves to a small country town with her husband Mac, for a change of scenery following a traumatic event which turned her life upside down. While settling into life at Black Lake, Jess has a chance encounter with a mysterious woman, Annie. This plot-driven and engaging murder mystery had me on the edge of my seat at every twist and turn.

I thoroughly enjoyed some of the tropes, including haunted house, small-town murder mystery, urban legend and ghost stories.

This fast-paced thriller/mystery was extremely engaging. While it is considered a prequel to an existing story, I read this as a standalone novel as I have not yet had the chance to read ‘These Still Black Waters’ yet. This book gives you that sinister and creepy feeling, that you only get from a truly gripping thriller. The ending was well thought out and detailed, especially given the short-length of the story.

I highly recommend this book! Get your hands on it on March 19 2024.

Thank you so much to Intrigue Ink Publishing for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have posted this review to both my Goodreads and Instagram accounts and will post another story about this book on publication week and publication day.

This is the novella I needed! Immediately upon finishing the first book, These Still Black Waters, I dove right into this one, as suggested by Christina. It worked out so perfectly! I feel like this book really peeled back the layers of Detective Jess Lambert and gave us some back story of why she came to Black Waters and how she got her start as a detective. It was really a perfect novella for this series and makes me even more excited to read the second one, What Lies in the Darkness! I love a well done thriller novella, and this one checked all the boxes! I love that she released this before the sequel, as I wanted more of Jess when I finished These Still Black Waters. Definitely recommend for fans of the series.

Title: The Stranger at Black Lake
By: Christina McDonald

This is a prequel novella in the Jess Lambert series.

Jess having survived a traumatic experience moves to Black Lake with her husband for a fresh start. Only the thing is she meets a mysterious woman who says she just moved into the house in town with its own stories past.

The author builds the characters and then hits you hard with the first of several shocks/twists/turns. Each chapter allows the reader to gain another piece of the puzzle all the while leaving you wanting more.

This was a great book to pick up for a quick read filled with twists and turns. When you finish, you will know a little bit more of who Jess Lambert is so as to entice you right into her next two books! (These Still Black Waters which is available now and What Lies in Darkness available in July 2024).

Thank you #NetGalley and #IntrigueInkPublishing for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved this novella! It gave you the intense backstory of Jess and why she became a detective! I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

This was a prequel to These Still Black Waters and follows Jess after she moves to Black Lake. If you've read the first book, you'll know that Jess is a detective, separated from her husband, and dealing with an injury and a personal loss. In this book, she is a paramedic, still happily married, and this is before her injury and before her daughter is even a thought. It can be read either before or after the first book, it doesn't make too much difference.
The story helps us understand Jess a bit more, and it's made me super excited to start the new book.

I have not read the Jess Lambert books which was why I requested this novella and I am certainly interested! It was thrilling, nauseating and unexpected. I read a lot of thrillers but not many crime thrillers or ones based around a detective so I will be looking forward to reading These Still Black Waters + What Lies in Darkness.

Thank you to the author, Intrigue Ink Publishing + Victory Editing/NetGalley for my DRC.

This was an ok read. I read the other so wanted to continue on. It was a fast read for sure. I was found wanting more.

I absolutely LOVED These Still Black Waters so was squealing with excitement when I saw this prequel. I just LOVE ME a prequel 🤩

This was a hauntingly unsettling novella and even though I thought I was piecing things together, I really wasn’t. McDonald’s writing has a powerful rawness to it - I feel “a lot” of feels when I read her books!! I’m not usually big on novellas when they’re thrillers but this one was spot on!! A super tight and compelling plot, and well rounded characters, this prequel really did add more depth to Jess. I especially loved the “Him” chapters.

I found this one utterly compelling and couldn’t wait to see how it all pulled together.

I strongly recommend that you read the first book in the series before this one, so you get a good sense of Jess as a person. I think Jess is my new favourite female detective 🖤

Thank you, #NetGalley and #IntrigueInkPublishing, for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I rarely read novellas, and when I do, they're usually a prequel to a book series, and "The Stranger at Black Lake" by Christina McDonalds is no different.

Jess Lambert and her husband had just moved into the neighborhood. It was a perfect place to raise a family - quiet and peaceful. But just like Jess, Black Lake harbors some secrets, too. But when she meets Annie Parker, Jess's strong sense of intuition leads her into the horrors of the "gingerbread house," a focal point of Black Lake's local folklore and houses its very own boogeyman.

Every chapter was a page-turner. Being a novella reduces monotony by encapsulating the plot in less than a hundred pages. It was propulsively good. I love the mystery behind the first few pages, wanting to connect the different characters to how the plot would unfold. It even gave an eerie atmosphere that left me wondering if it contained paranormal elements.

The only evident misgiving is that usually, with novellas, any potential for character depth and development is limited. Rather than seeing it as a flaw, I'm more accustomed to a novel structure that explores complex character arcs and themes for reader connection. For example, one character in the story has had their motivations disclosed, yet I feel they warrant more introspection, which left me wanting. However, this being a novella, there's no need for argument. Any expectations of a more intricate storyline are unnecessary. Overall, "The Stranger at Black Lake" is a well-written narrative supplement to the series exploring Jess Lambert's detective prowess.

Captured my attention right away. Felt like a familiar story but I kept going. Good writing and interesting setting. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.