Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Amelia Sciandra who does a great job. I recommend the audio version if that is of interest.

Detective Freya Sinclair returns home to Fawn Lake, NC after a 5 year self inflicted banishment to Texas. Freya is smart enough to know that the town will not be forgiving of her past but she is determined to return to her small hometown and restart her life. When Freya left, her parents had just been convicted as serial killers operating out of her home's basement. Just as soon as Freya returns, a case of murdered little girls begins and Freya races to solve the crimes.

This is a fast paced thriller with suspense and a good story. The characters are likeable and there is a lot going on. But I had a couple of issues. I wanted to know more about what made Freya leave for Texas, her parent's case and what happened before. Also, I felt that things fell into place a bit too much such as the ending. Otherwise, this is a solid police procedure murder mystery and worth the read!

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

I randomly selected this audio book from the title and cover alone, unfortunately I didn't love this one and found it very slow majority of the time until maybe the last quarter of the book theny attention picked up and made the book worth listening to. I would round this up to 3 stars. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this audio arc in exchange for an honest review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner, an audiobook narrated by Amelia Sciandra is the first book in
Freya Sinclair series. It's a good opening and a good cliffhanger at the end of the book to ensure you return!
It was intense and it was heavy, I'm not gone lie. Definitely not an easy topic!

Freya Sinclair is a dedicated, traumatized but dedicated detective and it's amazing how she keeps things together!
When she felt her life fall into pieces she left... she spent years in Texas, did therapy and now she is ready to return. Not everyone is happy to see her and she knows that. At the same time, she is a brilliant detective and she is happy to prove that!

I want to do a special shout-out to Amelia Sciandra! The voices you made!!! So good! So good! The narrator was perfect for the book!!!

Small-town vibes! Dedication!
Dark past and judgment that follows!
A brilliant mystery and police procedural!
The characters were well developed!
A sensitive topic that was carried with respect!

Thank you Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for this fantastic audiobook, I am looking forward to exploring more!

Detective Freya Sinclair returns to work at Fawn Lake and her first day back will be a trial. A young girl is found drowned, identity unknown but more girls are found to be missing too. Freya and her team will work nonstop to find out what is going on and who is killing young girls.

Very well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). Good characters in this well paced novel. Can Freya cope with being back at work knowing many people dislike her? Will her past stop her doing her job? Gripping novel so enjoy.

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.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review #ThreeDrownedGirls

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I was hooked from the beginning. There were so many twists that I didn’t see coming! There wasn’t even a point where I thought I figured out! The story had a good pace, and gave just enough to lead you, but not give it away. I’m

I don’t always love detective type thrillers, but Emily Shiner hit it out of the park with Three Drowned Girls.

This is a dark, disturbing thriller told from the POV of Freya Sinclair. It’s her first day as Captain for her hometown police department and shits about to hit the fan.

This does have some tough topics - the discovery of deceased young girls. Lots of plot twists along the way though that will keep the reader/listener on the edge of their seat.

Loved her co-workers Candy and Brad, and I’m excited that this will be a series. Hopefully we learn more about them in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Boukouture Audio for this advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 22 April 2024

I don't always like thrillers when told from the perspective of the police, but this one sure had me hooked. This was a dark ride. Detective Freya has moved back to her hometown after leaving five years prior due to a major screw up investigating a serial killer. We find out more details about as her new case unravels, day one on the job, when a little girl's body is pulled from the river. It soon transpires that several girls from town are missing. As Freya tries to find out what caused this and if the death and missing girls are linked, we learn more about why she left town, some of her traumatic past, a few minor side plots, and a lovely cast of supporting characters. It was obvious from the way the book was written there is going to be a sequel, and I can't wait to read it. The resolution of the book was seriously messed up, but I enjoyed how it all played out. The narration was also really good, and this was a great binge read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I love Emily Shiner’s writing so it’s a treat to be able to catch her new police procedural series right from the start.

Police Captain Freya Sinclair is a well written, likeable and relatable character. She has returned to her hometown after five years away and as the story progresses, we start to learn about the disturbing events that lead to her leaving.

Her police colleagues Candy and Brad are also great characters and I look forward to getting to know more about them in future books in this promising new series.

Just as Freya starts her new position with the local police force, a young girl’s body is found in the lake. With none reported missing, the team are on the hunt for the identity of the child, as well as her killer. Another, different girl is reported missing and then yet another girl is found in the lake.

The action doesn’t let up and this dark and disturbing story is a compelling listen, with brilliant narration from Amelia Sciandra bringing Freya and her team to life.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Emily Shiner and Bookouture, for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I love me a fast paced thriller. Also, the fact that this is a female lead detective just makes the story more bad a$$. I would have liked more of a background to her life growing up though, that is one thing it lacked. I listened to this book, and really enjoyed the different accents, and voices. The twist I did not see coming, and it drew me in from the first chapter. I would be interesting in reading more as they are released!

I really enjoyed listening to this book. When young girls start going missing Detective Freya Sinclair is on the case. She has just arrived back to her childhood town Fawn Lake and got her job back at the police department. She has a past, but needs to find out who has been killing/ drowning the girls.

Loved the plot and the mystery of who did it, the setting was great and it did give me the shivers. The ending was not what I expected.

The narrator was very good and her accents were great, it was easy to follow too. She reads the story very well.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

Thank you Netgalley, Emily Shiner and Bookouture Audio
Narrated by Amelia Sciandra

I found Three Drowned Girls a well paced thriller/crime series ( This is book 1 so hoping other books will follow )

Freya, a local detective of Fawn Lake, picks up a case where a girl was found in the local River. Freya becomes determined to find out what happened when another girl goes missing. It's a race to find out what is going on before another girl is either found died or more go missing.

I found this a slow burner to begin with building on Freya's backstory and what she has to deal with from the local people. Her background is intriguing and makes sense where she gets her drive from. The pace builds as Freya starts putting the pieces together and really enjoyed the twists. The characters were fleshed out and felt real so looking forward to reading more about Detective Freya !

Amelia Sciandra has a great paced voice for this audiobook.

I was fortunate enough that NetGalley allowed me a copy of the audio.. I enjoyed the characters and storyline. I loved that the main character was able to put her past aside and go over the killer/s. I thought I had it figured out half way through with the principle and janitor, I’m so glad I was wrong because finding out it was that kids mom blew my mind. Crazy part is there’s people actually like that in this world so i feel like I’ll be thinking about this book for a hot minute. I absolutely loved this book and when I googled it I found there was another comming out the same day so of course had to request that one as well.

I am not sure if I love the story or the narration. The narration is so amazing! All the different voices. I like how it all came together in the end. I loved out protagonist too. I hope she hooks up with the single dad.

Very predictable and YA writing. I really wanted to like this book, but just didn’t enjoy it. Also, the narrator had a fake accent half of the time and I felt it really took away from the book, making it harder to enjoy.

Three Drowned Girls
Emily Shiner
Freya Sinclair returns to her childhood home of Fawn Lake after five years of living in Texas. The reputation of her parents goes before her. As a child she didn’t know the heinous crimes they were committing in the basement. She knew the townspeople would be suspicious of her even though she had nothing to do with the crimes that put her parents behind bars.
She barely had time to sit down before she was handed a case. The body of a young girl is found in the river. Freya is determined to find the serial killer before another child is murdered. She receives the report of another missing child. The body of another girl is found in the river. Freya discovers part of a soccer uniform. The body of two drowned girls and one missing girl…can Freya save the missing girl.
The story behind Detective Freya Sinclair is fed to readers one bite at a time. I am eager to find out more details. I liked all the characters including the secondary ones, especially Esther, Brad and Candy. Esther took Freya in as a child and offered her love and a home. Freya loves her and wants to take care of the elderly woman.
I don’t want to give away anything about the murder of the girls other than to say it was a unique part of the plot.
Kudos to author Emily Shiner for offering readers a top-quality thriller. This is the first book in the new series, Detective Freya Sinclair. I look forward to the next installment.

Three Drowned Girls fell a little short for me. It wasn't very thrilling. It didn't grab me, hook me, or leave me on the edge of my seat.

This was more of a "police procedural" or "investigative" type thriller. It was your typical "detective goes back to their home town and has to face their past while solving a murder" plot. I will say, I wasn't expecting who the killer was, and I did like that surprise. However, we didn't really find out anything about the detectives tainted past even though it seemed to be connected to the story. I'm hoping that since this is a series, they are just waiting to unfold it over time. If that is the case, then I will likely read future books to see what they reveal. I guess that is one way to hook a reader.

I listened to the audiobook and loved the thick southern accents from the narrator. They really went well with the small town, backwoods, country feel of the book. It honestly made it feel like I was listening to a story about my hometown, which was appealing. It endeared me to our detective for sure.

Overall, I didn't dislike this book. My preferences are just a little more thrilling than what I was given here. I've noticed that with a detective thriller series, the pace will usually pick up as the series progresses. Maybe the future books will get a higher rating from. I definitely think I'll give them a try.

Detective Freya Sinclair, back from a five-year hiatus from her hometown, jumps right into a frightening case on her first day. The body of a little girl turns up in a local river and it quickly becomes obvious that there's much more to the story.

I enjoyed this one a lot. The story is very different from a lot of crime stories. I have read some reviews that found some of the mom group stuff to be a little unbelievable but having been in mom groups in a small town.... some people are bananas I could absolutely see their weird beliefs getting out of hand. I found her use of moms referring to other moms as 'momma' just as cringey as I did in real life but that was exactly the intention. I really liked the whole thing, and I think it's especially relevant now given the cultural climate and the crazy mom groups that are so prevalent in the US. I also really liked how this author walked a very fine line where children were the victims which made it very suspenseful, but it was not explicit description wise, so it didn't turn my stomach or make me put the book down.

I will say that I did find it a little confusing that this is billed as Book One in the series, but the Freya's backstory made up like 20% of the story. It was noted in every other scene. I did enjoy the backstory, it just felt like this should have been book two. I also did not love the narrator. The southern voices were very put on and it was a little rough for me. I sped it up and it was a little better. Neither of those things were enough to bother me though, still loved the book and look forward to Book 2!

I would like to give this book 3.5 stars overall if there were an option to do so.
Overall, the story is intriguing and intense and drew me in. I’m not sure if the narration threw me a bit, but I felt lost at times in the storyline. I would have liked more unpacking of the main protagonist’s past to better understand the present. I feel like I missed something. Maybe more will be revealed in subsequent books. I will read more from this author to see how it all unfolds.
Detective Freya Sinclair returns to her hometown after being away for 5 years to heal from the trauma of discovering her parents were serial killers. Her life mission is to bring other serial killers to justice. She arrives back in town and is quickly called to the scene of a dead body in a lake. The case leads to the discovery of other missing girls in the community and her intuition tells her there is a serial killer at work. She faces doubt and judgment from her chief and the community due to her past experience and struggles to be heard with her concerns.
The story has twists and turns and some missed opportunities for background information that would help move the story along for the reader. It does keep the reader guessing and interested.

I received an arc from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.

This book makes you feel all the feels! I love everything about this book!! I cannot wait to see what other mysteries this team solves!