annieb123's Review of Beneath Blackwater River (Detective Kay Sharp, #2)

by Leslie Wolfe

She looked alive, her hair drifting freely in the water, her red lips gently parted, as if to let her final breath escape. A small locket floated by her face, attached to her neck with a silver chain…

When Detective Kay Sharp first left Mount Chester—population 3,823—in her rear-view mirror, she promised never to look back. The town only contained bad memories and dark secrets. But when a brutal crime surfaces, she finds herself home once more, and this time she’s not going anywhere.

Kay is called to Blackwater River, where the body of a seventeen-year-old girl has been found. Surrounded by snowy peaks and a forest alive with the colors of fall, the victim floats in the water, a hand-carved locket around her neck.

The locket seems strangely familiar. Digging into cold cases, Kay discovers that three-year-old Rose Harrelson was wearing it when she vanished fourteen years ago. In the middle of the night, the little girl’s bedroom—with Mickey Mouse on the wall and a hanging baby mobile—was suddenly empty. The unsolved case still haunts the town.

But the teenager they have found has been dead for only a few hours. If the girl in the river is Rose, where has she been? Who has been hiding her all these years? Kay knows she must solve the kidnapping in order to untangle the mystery of the dead body.

Then Kay receives a shocking call. The dead girl has been identified—and she’s not Rose. So why is she wearing the locket, and what happened to the missing child from all those years ago? As Kay unearths a web of lies and deceit spun for decades, the close-knit community will never be the same. And Kay will find herself facing a truly terrifying killer…

A totally gripping page-turner that should come with a health warning! Be warned: you’ll lose sleep and your heart will race like crazy as you read twist after twist. Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Kendra Elliot.

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Beneath Blackwater River is the second book in the detective Kay Sharp procedural series by Leslie Wolfe. Released 23rd April by Bookouture, it's 319 pages and is available in paperback, ebook, and audio formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a competently written ensemble procedural mystery with a strong female protagonist, rural setting, and unsolved child abduction cold case mystery from a decade-and-a-half ago. Although it's the second book in the series, it works very well as a standalone and I had no trouble at all keeping the characters straight or following the plot. The writing is solid, with well rendered and believable characters. The denouement and resolution were satisfying with some twists along the way which I hadn't foreseen.

There is some content which might be problematic for some readers including child abduction, neglect, failure of a caregiver, corruption, substance abuse, and murder. Language is R rated and about average for a modern procedural mystery.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Beneath Blackwater River (Detective Kay Sharp, #2)

by Leslie Wolfe

Reviewed by annieb123 on Jul 2, 2021

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