Not as great as expected but an enjoyable read all the same.
Whilst it was the usual predictable kind of story I thought the estrangement of the two main characters and the setting in Portugal made it a more interesting read. Lots of ups and downs but over all was a just lacking something more

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publishers for this read

3.5 of 4 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2024/08/15/review-the-wilds-by-sarah-pearse-detective-elin-warner-3/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : My Favourite of the Series

The Wilds is the third and final instalment of the Elin Warner series that started with The Sanatorium, and then continued with The Retreat and this is definitely my favourite of the three although I still had a few issues here and there.

Elin and her brother Issac are taking a holiday together in Portugal’s national park, the aim to try and mend bridges and reconnect. It soon becomes apparent that Issac has a secondary mission, he’s promised a friend to follow up on the disappearance of his sister (Kier), last seen camping in the spot that Elin and Issac are now staying near. Although Elin doesn’t initially want to get involved her naturally instincts eventually win out and the two find themselves following in Kier’s footsteps and trying to find clues as to where she was last seen.

The story is told in dual timelines. We flit back and forth between Elin and her brother Issac walking the trails over in Portugal and chatting to the residents from a local camp in search of clues and then we jump back to events from 2018 and witness Kier and her boyfriend Zeph, they’re staying in Devon in their camper van whilst awaiting the wedding of Kier’s brother. I found myself really intrigued by Kier’s story, her relationship with Zeph is soon revealed to be abusive and I became worried for her safety.

What I liked about this was the way Pearse creates tension as the relationship between Kier and Zeph starts to fray. Kier begins to question Zeph’s past relationship and starts to look more closely into his comings and goings. I definitely started to feel very worried for Kier.

I was more invested in Elin’s story than I was with the previous two books. She and her brother are looking for clues to a mystery that may (or may not) have taken place a few years ago and with this in mind they’ve become very interested in the local camp who seem to be hiding something. I felt like the focus was much stronger on the mystery with less muddying of the waters with too many personal dramas.

For those who have been following the series the mystery element that has followed Elin is finally revealed. I’m not totally convinced with this element to the story, it just felt messy and a bit convoluted but it does tie up all the loose ends.

Overall, a series that I’ve had ups and downs with but I felt ended on a high.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Kier and her brother had a troubled childhood as their Mother killed their Father after years of abuse.

Kier goes travelling but always stays in contact with her twin brother sending him maps she has drawn of where she has travelled. Then she stops contacting him and he gets worried. One of his friends is travelling with his sister a detective in the area she went missing and try to get to the bottom of her disappearance. They discover a camp of people who seem to be linked to Kier and act very suspiciously, do they hold the key to Kier’s disappearance?

The story is told on two different timelines, one told by Kier leading up to her last travels. The other by Elin the detective and her brother Penn trying to solve the mystery.

First, she stayed at The Sanitorium, then a visit to The Retreat, and now she's off for R&R in Portugals National Forest. Detective Elin Warner is back!

Along with her brother, they head off for some bonding time but Isaac has an ulterior motive. His friend Penn's twin sister has gone missing near where they are staying and he's out looking for clues. Kier (Penn's twin) has been running her whole life and doesn't settle, but she's always stayed in touch with Penn. What has happened to her and what are the residents of the Camp where she was last seen hiding?

This is told through dual Timelines & POVs and concludes Elin's story perfectly. She's grown so much as a character. There are twists you don't see coming and it covers some very important subjects.

Check trigger warnings ⚠️

The last of Detective Elin Warne series, and also my favourite.
Elin is on holiday in a national park in Portugal with her brother after a stressful time.
Kier, haunted by the past, can't settle down in one place and has left her hometown and twin behind.

Elin discovered that her brother Isaac had another motive to come to Portugal on holiday, he is friend with Kier's brother and she has gone off the grid, this was the last place where she was seen.

Will Elin be able to find out what had happened to Kier?
The book is narrated alternating Elin and Kier's POV. Having read the previous two books, I loved this one the best, maybe because we finally know the identity of the stalker?

This is the third book in a series and whilst it probably can be read as a standalone I definitely recommend reading the first two books in the series first. This one follows Elin and her brother as they go on a trip together to a national park in Portugal; there is also a past timeline where we follow Kier who is struggling with her relationship and her direction in life and we know that in the present she is missing. Elin is recovering from events in the previous novel but she stumbles on a strange camp in the park and her brother tells her why they are really on holiday here. I loved the setting of this book, it felt oppressive and a character in its own right. The story was more interesting to me in the past timeline and I did find I had to suspend my disbelief in this book with some of the twists and turns but I did still enjoy it and I hope there is more to come in this series.

First of all, I would like to thank Sarah.And little brand books UK for having me.Review this barrel.Fantastic spine chilling book book.

I read the first book the Santatorium I fell head head over heels for the creepiness and a spine tilling story, And I can happily say the wilds has done just The same , It gave me such goose bumps at times such a great adrenalin rush.

We follow Elin Who is the main charact , This girl has no fear or whatsoever.I think that's what I love about how the most., Elin and her brother Isac Go on a trip together.They haven't seen each other for a while, so they re.Connecting again. What is meant to be a chilled ghetaway let's be honest for Elin That was not going to happen !!

The setting as always very atmospheric and You will have a constant adrenaline in russian wanting to know what's going to happen next, Every time I read these books I feel like I'm in the story with the actual characters.

As for Sarah's writing, I think that she's always so clever I'm so perfect.She really knows how to Sucker.Punch you or pull the wall over your eyes. I absolutely love that .

As for the characters.Well , they I am always suspicious of them and they are guilty until proven innocent. And trust me , you will be actually questioning the characters as well.

They book is very well paced.It's very quick and will spring surprises on you, I love all the plot twists.Sarah is great at this .

I'm giving the book five Spine chilling stars

This is the third book featuring Detective Elin Warner and it certainly didn't disappoint.

Even though this is the third installment, it can be read as a standalone quite easily.

If you haven't yet read The Sanatorium and The Retreat, then where have you been? I can highly recommend both.

Once again, the setting for this is so atmospheric, I could picture it clearly in my mind.

Elin and her brother Isaac, are reconnecting and take a trip together while Elin takes a break from work due to a tough previous case.

Isaac's friend, Penn asks if they could look into the disappearance of his twin sister, Kier. Of course, Elin is going to be drawn into this!

Chapters are written from the POV of Kier in the past and Elin in current time. This works really well, finally coming together at the end.

Sarah's descriptive writing is just brilliant and the way a difficult subject is portrayed is done in such a good way.

I can't wait to read more from this author.

I really enjoyed Ms Pearse's previous books and the continuing story of detective Elin, but sadly this one didn't really grab my attention. The sense of place and atmosphere were well expressed, but I found I cared less than I wanted to about the characters.
Thank you to netgalley and Little Brown for an advance copy of this book.

A brilliant final instalment of the Detective Elin series. This book has made me desperate to visit the parks of Portugal now! I’ve enjoyed all of the books in this series and being part of Elin’s journey.

I loved this book and this author is fast become one I am reading. A well written book with lots of atmosphere and a story that keeps you well engaged.

The Wilds is a mystery/thriller that jumps in time between the accounts of two characters: Elin, a detective who is recovering froma traumatic period involving a stalker and Kier who has escaped a controlling ex by travelling to Portugal in a camper van.

Pacy and atmospheric, with the locations in Devon and Portgual, told through the description of Kier's map art.

This story kept me on the edge of my seat as the characters' stories unfurled and their links are revealed. Another great read for the summer (perhaps not if you arenstaying in a camper van though!)

Maybe a little too long, but on the whole atmospheric and well written. It is told from the viewpoint of 2 women, Kier and Elin in 2 different timeperiods a couple of years apart . The main locations are in Devon and a national park in Portugal . Gradually you come to realize that at least one of the women has problems. Both also have brothers and no other family to speak of. Erin and her brother go to Portugal to reconnect with each other, as they arrive , Isaac asks Erin to help him look into the disappearance of his friends sister. The book built the suspense up well, the location and the people there were well described, so you feel that they are all off grid and hiding something, but the prolonged descriptions became too tedious after a while and the ending was rounded off a little too quickly for me. I guessed some of the twists about half way through the book. So a reasonably good read, though I had to push myself to pick it up to continue at times.
Thanks to NEt Galley for the ARC. 3.5 stars, but will round up to 4

Even on holiday, trouble follows Elin, and so in this story , although being away with her brother she becomes caught up in the disappearance of a woman. Told by both women and in two timelines, Sarah yet again describes a wilderness - this time in Portugal - so vividly, that she takes the reader there. There are plenty of questions and suppositions throughout and then she hits the reader with a few explosive moments and ultimately a great ending.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

Really enjoyed this, I have with Sarah's last two books following the same detective.
I hope she continues this series!

Loved the Sanatorium, and this next book from Sarah Pearse did not disappoint. I love books that blend the thriller and detective genres, so this was a fab read.

I’m new to Sarah Pearse and didn’t realise that all her books feature the same detective, Elin Warner. Luckily it’s easy to read The Wilds as a stand alone ( though I will be going back to read the other two!)
This is an absolute page turner, Sarah Pearse finishes her chapters in such a way that you just have to read one or two more. As you are reading a dual time line for much of the book the pages flies by.
Though this a thriller it is dealing with some very serious subjects, particularly violence and coercion against women. Sarah Pearce has done a brilliant job of bringing these subjects to light in a book that is bound to be a huge hit.
She is also brilliant at bringing place to life. The way the wilds of the Portugal National Park are wonderfully described, what a fascinating place.

We’re back in the folds with Detective Elin Warner, but this time she’s on holiday with her brother Isaac in the vast wilderness of a Portuguese National Park. If you’ve read Sarah’s previous books; The Sanatorium and The Retreat, then you’ll know that things never seem to go as planned for Elin, and that’s not about to stop now!

This book read slightly different from the previous ones, with a dual perspective and a dual timeline element. Now, at first this did take me a little while to get into as I tried to follow both timelines and sets of characters but it didn’t last for long and I was soon following both parts easily. There was lots of tension, a few twists I did see coming and a fair few that I didn’t, but from about the 20% mark I was in this book 100% and was determined to find out what had happened to Kier.

I loved the way that this book ended as well, it was such a good and rounded ending that left me feeling a little bit lighter - and that definitely can’t always be said for a thriller! Another work of art from Sarah Pearse that I will be thinking about for a while, especially trying to think of where would feature on my map!

In the Wilds we see Elin and her brother Isaac travelling together.
They end up in Portugal.
There Isaac asks Elin to help him investigate a case a friend has told him about, of how his sister Kier has gone missing.
She has good reason for this, she is termed "The monster's daughter" after her mother killed their abusive father and then herself in prison.
Always on the wander and searching for something she has finally disappeared, seemingly for good this time.
Which is why he has asked Isaac to search the area.
Though this is a time for both brother and sister to reconnect and work on their relationship, Elin throws herself into the case with gusto.
Kier loves making maps and working off the last one she left behind they find clues to try and piece together her last days to see if they can track her down for her distraught brother.
But what they discover is chilling, dark and worse than they could have foretold.
A truth her brother had no notion about.
Absolutely fantastic read, I love the Elin Warner novels.

I have read Sarah Pearse previous book, the Sanitorium, and was looking forward to reading this book.
The Wilds is about a missing woman, and the hunt to find her. There were lots of twists and turns in the book, and I really enjoyed how the plot gathered pace throughout the book.
I really enjoyed this book, and hope there will be more in this series.