Water's Edge: A totally gripping crime thriller (Detective Megan Carpenter, #2)

by Gregg Olsen

The young woman’s body is lying with her arms stretched out to each side. Her lips slightly parted. Her face untouched by injury and her hair spread around her head like a fan. A redhead. Just like the others.

When the body of Leann Truitt is found in a secluded cove in Mystery Bay, Detective Megan Carpenter is one of the first on the scene. The victim has tell-tale marks on her wrists, ankles and neck where she has been bound. But that’s not all. Next to Leann’s body lies a puzzling clue – an unusual symbol scratched into a rock.

With rookie Deputy Ronnie Marsh under her wing and the investigation underway, Megan starts to receive disturbing messages. Someone knows about her traumatic past. They know what she did.

Determined to stay focussed, Megan soon makes a chilling link between Leann’s brutal killing and the unsolved murder cases of two other women – all redheads with the same marks on their bodies, the same symbol carvings found at the crime scenes, and most shockingly, all had been pregnant.

The killer stalks his prey, kidnapping and torturing them in a very exact and methodical pattern. And he is not finished yet…

When the body of another woman is found bearing a striking resemblance to the other victims, Megan must crack the clues fast if she is to catch the twisted soul before they strike again.

Megan might be closing in on the killer, but someone is watching her every move. Can Megan hide the secrets of her past threatening to destroy her future? And can she protect herself and Ronnie before they both find themselves in terrible danger?

• ISBN10: 1838887458
• ISBN13: 9781838887452
• Publish Date: 28 May 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bookouture
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 310
• Language: English

Reviews

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley and for letting me take part in this tour. This is the second book in the Megan Carpenter series but they can be read as standalones.

I was very intrigued by Megan and her backstory in the first book and we get to hear more of that in this book. Again this is mainly through Megan's therapy tapes but as parts of the case trigger memories for Megan, we also learn more this way. Megan is an easy character to like but she clearly has a less than clean background. Especially for someone who is a detective. I loved hearing more about Megan but the story is anything but finished and I can't wait for more!

This case is a complex and strange one. There are lots of red herrings in the case and Megan sure has her work cut out getting to the bottom of it all. I liked Ronnie and I hope she will be back. It's nice to see Megan learning to work with others and that she doesn't only have to rely on herself.

Gregg's writing is thrilling and addictive. I was on the edge of my seat and very concerned for some characters during the book. I had to race through page after page to see what fate lay ahead for them.

This was another excellent installment in this series and I can't wait for more!