Loved this fast paced mystery about a community whose young girls keep going missing. Freya is a police detective who is returning to her job after a five year hiatus. The hiatus involves her parents and some mistakes she made on the job that caused many of the towns residents to turn against her. On the first day back on the job a young girl is pulled from the lake, having drowned under mysterious circumstances. While trying to identify the young girl and figure out what happened, another young girl is reported missing. Freya must race against time to find the young girl and figure out what happened to the drowning victim before another young girl is harmed. I am so glad this is the first in a series about Detective Freya Sinclair, she is a fascinating character with quite a backstory. Highly recommend!

Oh no, this was not for me at all. I found it very repetitive with a sluggish pace. In addition, the main character's detective work seemed aimless, as if the stumbling blocks she encountered were not real obstacles, but merely points to drive forward the plot. I was also disappointed with the characterization, particularly that of the multiple child victims, none of whom felt like more than paper dolls.

Detective Freya Sinclair is on the case in this unsettling, twisted, and shocking mystery thriller. When the body of a young girl is pulled from the river, Freya is determined to get to the bottom of things. Three Drowned Girls had me doing my own detective work trying to figure out whodunit.

Freya has a dark history. Her parents are serial killers, and she has vowed to do her best to bring other criminals to justice. She knew returning to her hometown would be hard, but she never imagined what would be waiting for her when she did. Freya is determined, hardworking, tough, and unrelenting. I loved her relationship with Esther, the woman who took her during her teenage years. Enough is provided about Freya's serial killer parents to whet my appetite and pique my interest. I look forward to learning more about her past and her parents in future books.

This is an interesting and dark police procedural with a likeable character - Freya, Esther, Brad, and Candy. I enjoyed them and look forward to getting to know more about each of them in future books.

Although this book did not move as fast as I would have liked, I found it to be enjoyable, with a nice number of twists and turns. Reading about the murder of children is not easy but the author handled it with care, and nothing is told in detail or graphic.

I had both the book and audiobook versions of this book. I enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. I thought she did a great job bringing the characters to life.

Dark, twisted, captivating and well written.

This was quite different to the other books I’ve read by Emily Shiner. The first detective style in this series follows the story of Detective Freya Sinclair who has returned to her home town. A young girl has been found drowned and as the investigation begins, more young girls are reported missing.
The book has a dark suspenseful plot, it had good characters, it was engaging and had good pace and kept my interest throughout. I will certainly be checking out the 2nd book in this series.
Thank you Emily Shiner, NetGalley & the publisher.

Great start into a great series. Really likeable characters.

I've read some similar books where everyone was super unfriendly and blaming the main character. Happy this wasn't the case here. Lot's of twists and suspects which were keeping me on my toes.

I actually would love to get more background on Freyas Parents :)

I have come to love Emily Shiner’s domestic thrillers, so I was excited to read this first crime thriller in her Detective Freya Sinclair series. This first book did not disappoint. Every chapter left me wanting more. I found myself really liking Freya, and enjoyed the small pieces dropped about her past. At some point in the series, I would love more details about her parents and their crimes.

The plot was fast paced, and the suspense building was intense. I was so invested in this story and what was going to happen. This was such a dark and twisted crime thriller. I devoured this in just a few hours. There were twists and surprises throughout, and some secrets that were revealed as time went on. There was a small, clique-like vibe in this book. So many secrets needed to be uncovered to prevent another death.

Even after the big reveal, I thought the book was over, but there was more drama and more secrets to be revealed. I am IMMEDIATELY jumping into book two.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a well written story of a detective who has moved back to her home town thinking she will be back to a quiet life and instantly thrown into a case that will need to resolved quickly.
Really enjoyed this read and it was all pieced together really well. There weren't any surprises but the story held my attention and I'd look forward to reading more from this author.

Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner is a recommended crime thriller and the first book in a series featuring Detective Freya Sinclair

After five years in Texas, Detective Freya Sinclair has returned to her hometown, Fawn Lake, North Carolina. The community knows her history and some will hold her background against her while others are happy to have her back working for their police department again. On her first day back the body of a young girl is pulled from the river. With no report of a missing girl, Freya and Detective Candy Ettinger along with help from Officer Brad Williams, immediately start trying to find the child's identity but before they do another young girl is reported missing.

Although Freya's background is referred to and hinted at throughout the novel, the total story isn't told until the end. This plot device didn't work well at all in the novel. Disclosing Freya's back story right away would have made Freya a more compelling and sympathetic character. Readers will still be supporting her investigative abilities, hoping she finds evidence and pieces clues together quickly before something else happens to some other little girl, but they aren't going to understand some of the interactions she has with others.

The writing is good and the investigation takes a logical direction. On the other hand, the plot moves a little slowly and the final denouement required too much suspension of disbelief. Additionally, there was a part of the investigation that really annoyed me for numerous reasons but to say anything would be a huge spoiler. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

This seeks to be a dark thriller, but turns out to be a very stupid plot.

Freya, is a police detective, who carries the burden of her parents having been killers. As a result, there are many in town who do not like her, and her boss at work is also somewhat hostile. The full backstory I expect will come in future books in the series. A young girl is found dead in a lake. As Freya investigates, she finds to her concern that there are other girls from school who might be missing. They are assumed to be somewhere else by the parent, but Freya has her fears. The school Principal Steven and the janitor John are brothers, and are temporarily away, visiting their ailing mother. The girls who cannot be traced right now, were attending football training together.

In a story like this, as expected there are twists and there is quite a bit of dark stuff involving children. The story takes time to build-up and till about 40% of the book, it is not even clear what the mystery is. I found the plot senseless.

This is a common review of these two mysteries as I read one after the other and there’s an interesting character’s arc.
I’m not a fan of Freya. As soon as she appears she starts to insult anyone who’s not an early bird because she can’t understand how they can spend daytime in bed. I’m a night owl and this marks the beginning of our rocky relationship.
That said Freya slowly changes and we go from a stubborn and not very empathic character to one who’s more soft and ready to understand people around her.
The mysteries are well developed and kept me turning pages. They require some suspension of belief but they’re well done and the twisty and gritty plots kept me hooked.
I think that the second is better as we do not know why Freya is disliked by part of the small town and what is really happening when she’s being shunned by parts of the inhabitants and this is a sort of mystery in the mystery even if you know if you read the blurb.
Freya’s a good leader and I liked the member of her team, Candy and Brad, and Esther, the woman who acted as Freya’s mother.
There’s a lot of potential, well plotted thrillers and I had fun in reading both novels.
The rating is 4.5 upped to 5
Recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture for these arcs, all opinions are mine

3.5 stars

Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner  is the first in the Detective Freya Sinclair series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
 

Series Information: 
Captain Freya Sinclair became a detective in North Carolina, so that she could bring serial killers (like her parents) to justice. She has recently returned home to Fawn Lake to where it all began, and to Esther, who raised her as if she was her own.   It's been five years, but she's re-joining the town's police force. Freya's partner and old friend is Detective Candy Ettinger, and they get help from Officer Brad Williams.  The Coroner in town is Lance Jones.  Her boss is Chief Callahan.



My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions):
Freya has barely started her fist day back on the force in her home town, and she's thrust into a case.  The body of a young girl has been pulled from the river, but trying to identify her will prove to be difficult.  No one has been reported missing.

However, it isn't long before a different girl is reported missing by a distraught father.  Then another girl is found drowned.  But trying to find a connection between the girls, and even their identities continues to baffle Freya.  How could mothers not know their little girls are missing?

Meanwhile, the front window of Esther's bakery is smashed, and Freya is fairly certain that the town is targeting Esther because of Freya.



My Opinions:
First, I loved the characters, in particular Candy and Brad.  I am hoping their back-stories will be fleshed out a little more in future books.  Freya is a passionate and driven leader, and I think her team members will respond in kind.  However, I did not always like Freya.  I felt that as driven as she is, I also felt that some of her actions were bullying.  As well, she seems to be a rather angry driver, always speeding.  Her background was also a little sparse.

The actual plot was really good, and very different.  It was also a little dark. That was all fine, but sometimes I wondered about the police work, and evidence processing.  Bu that didn't detract from the actual storyline.

Overall, it was a fast and entertaining read.  This was a good start to the series, and I will be looking forward to the next in line.

This book was the perfect mix of suspense and police procedural.

Emily did a great job giving enough character development to make me care, but leave me wanting to know more (leaving lots of room for activities when it comes to sequels I hope!).

Young girls in Fawn Lake are in danger. The source of that danger? That's Freya's job. When one drowned girl leads to a host of missing girls, the suspects start to pile up. I did not see this ending coming, which is exactly what you want from a book like this.

Thank you Bookouture, Emily Shiner, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

As intriguing as the plot was when I first started reading this, I quickly found myself losing interest in the story. The idea of something like this actually happening seems too far fetched and I felt no connection to the missing girls because we got no background on them. I also found the main character to be annoying and unlikeable.

First in the series of Freya Sinclair novels. Captain Freya Sinclair has returned to her hometown and previous job just in time to notice a pattern of local little girls going missing. Her and her team are on the case to figure out what's happening to these missing girls and why.

This is my first Emily Shiner novel and I loved it. It's a great beginning to a series I will definitely continue. I enjoyed the character development of Freya and the little pieces of her past that were given throughout the book.

I look forward to reading the next in series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this author but the writing style on this one just wasn't for me. The plot was great, I felt like I was watching an episode of criminal minds the entire time. However, I struggled a ton with the style of writing. (just because it wasn't for me, doesn't mean its not for you). The plot qualities were great.

I love when a first in the series, sucks me right in. And this one done exactly that.
Captain Freya has returned home after five years. Almost as soon as she gets home, the body of a child is found in a river. With the help of her new team members, the hunt is on.
I really enjoyed the characters, I thought they were believable and easy to relate to. I love how the book gives little snippets about Freya's parents' crimes and it makes you want to know everything. But a few times, I did wish that it gave a little more background about the other people involved.
This was a book that I loved and hated at the same time. I loved how well written it was, but I hated the thought that there are really people in the world that commits these atrocious acts against our children.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this one, I cannot wait to read the next one.

Unfortunately this story fell pretty flat for me. I am an avid consumer of dark, mystery and thriller novels about detectives and I had high hopes for this one but left feeling pretty disappointed and underwhelmed. I was really intrigued by the FMC having serial killer parents but I think the book could have been more enjoyable had it come into more detail about that maybe with Past and Present chapters.
I enjoyed the premise of the storyline of missing and dead girls with a local detective trying to solve the case while others are suspicious of her due to her parents being serial killers. I liked the side characters, Candy, Brad & Esther. 2.5/5⭐️

This was a first read for me by this author and it didn't disappoint.
The main character Freya is a very strong character that you easily grow to love. This book has a great storylinethar kept me wanting to see what was going to happen next. A must read!
Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in return for my honest review.

A run of the mill police procedural based in a small town. Feel as though editing may have let this book down a little, with a fair bit of repetitive dialogue not allowing the story or characters play out to their full potential. Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced readers copy and opportunity to review.

The premise sounded like my kind of listen and I was interested to get stuck in. It’s a very slow burn for the first 3/4’s of the listen and I found I was disinterested but it does ramp up for the last 1/4 and did grab my attention. It was interesting how the storyline came together but it was a slow slog to get there. This is the first in the Freya Sinclair series but it felt like the second as there was a lot of references to Freya’s backstory and it felt like I’d missed out on a previous read. Her backstory was never explained so I felt I was missing a huge part of the story which is important to the character that Freya is today. I found the characters likeable and could see myself becoming fond of them. It’s a well developed storyline but it’s not executed well in the pace and how the story flows. The narration felt a little stilted and over dramatic at times. Hopefully the next instalment will have a little better execution and sheds more light on Freya’s history.

3/5 🌟🌟🌟

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review #ThreeDrownedGirls