Her Ocean Grave by Dana Perry

Her Ocean Grave (Detective Abby Pearce, #1)

by Dana Perry

Over the cliff edge, she sees a broken body on the jutting rocks below, the waves crashing all around. She can’t see the girl’s face, which is covered by her long, brown hair. But she knows her. She met her just yesterday…

When Samantha Claymore doesn’t return home after an afternoon bicycle ride on Martha’s Vineyard, Detective Abby Pearce acts immediately. She knows from experience how quickly a lost girl can become a tragedy. Back on the island for the first time since she ran away as a teenager, Abby hopes solving Samantha’s case will make up for her past mistakes… But, as the media swarm and Samantha’s grieving mother joins the search, the police find no trace of the beloved sixteen-year-old—even when a reward is offered for her return.

Trawling through old case files, Abby discovers that Samantha is not the only girl to have gone missing in the small community of Martha’s Vineyard. She’s convinced more could follow, but her team insists there’s no link to be found. Until Samantha’s best friend is found dead at the bottom of a cliff the next day…

After searching Samantha’s bedroom and trawling through the files on her computer, Abby digs into the death of Samantha’s father five years ago at sea, following the trail to one of the island’s most powerful families. The same people who failed to protect Abby the night she was forced to leave as a young girl. Is there anyone left on this quiet island who Abby can trust? Can she find Samantha before more innocent lives are taken?

An absolutely unputdownable and nail-biting crime thriller that will have you racing through the pages. Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Kendra Elliot and Gregg Olsen. 

Reviewed by Emma (SCR) on

4 of 5 stars

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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 letting me take part in this blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I really enjoyed Dana’s previous books so I was excited to dive into this one.

Detective Abby Pearce has had a difficult past and returning to her home town is bringing back lots of unhappy memories. I quite liked Abby. She is a hard worker but she’s not perfect. I look forward to seeing how her character progresses as the series continues. I think she’s going to be an interesting one.

I also really liked Teena. I can’t wait for these two to work together again. Teena is an excellent cop and has just the right attitude to work with Abby.

The case of missing girl Samatha Claymore is quite an interesting one. There was very little for the team to go on. The evidence was scarce. The outcome of the case really took me by surprise. There are some very good twists in this story.

This book was very easy to read. It has a good pace and is well-plotted. It’s one of those stories that is easy to follow but not so easy to put down. I really enjoy Dana’s writing style.

My only little grip was that the ending was a little too wrapped up. It doesn’t really detract from the story but a bit of mystery at the end would have been nice.

This was an addictive book and I look forward to the next chapter in Abby’s story

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 June, 2021: Finished reading
  • 6 September, 2021: Reviewed