The Girls in the Water (Detectives King & Lane) by Victoria Jenkins
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction
Read: 8th June 2018
Purchase: Amazon
★★★★★ 5 stars
What a debut! Thrilling and exciting from start to finish!
"The Girls in the Water" is our introduction to DI Alex King and DC Chloe Lane, a police procedural/serial killer thriller set in South Wales. I was hooked from the first pages, which is just how I like my books and I wasn't disappointed as I was thrown into the thrill-ride. What I particularly liked about this book was the "two mysteries" component, that you feel you are trying to solve a past and present crime at the same time. I've read a few like this and I love the way they are drawn together to tell the story of both past and present.
After the initial prologue, we begin with the body of a young woman found in the river in a local park. Her identity is a mystery and no one seems to know or even care that she is missing or dead. DI King and DC Lane are put on the case and desperately search for clues as to who she was and who knew her. When another girl goes missing, the race is on to find her before it's too late - and to find a link between these two girls and why they are being targeted.
But amidst the investigation, Chloe is soon distracted by a secret from her past. Someone is bringing up things she has buried and is taunting her with death of her brother. Was it a suicide? Or was he murdered? It is clear her mind isn't always on the job at hand as she tries to solve the mystery of her brother's death and his girlfriend's murder some 8 years before, despite the case being closed. And then a headline hits the papers that sends Chloe's world into a spiral as she finds herself suspended from duty. Someone definitely has it out for her.
This thrilling debut is a page-turner from start to finish and the character, whilst flawed in their own ways, are completely likeable. I love how they are both women on the case, when usually there is generally a male component in the team. I love the backstories of each of the women, and how each are far from perfect with their own sets of baggage - Chloe's struggles with her past and her self worth to Alex's failed marriage whilst sleeping with her ex-husband. I also love how these two stick together. Whilst Chloe seeks out Alex's help and advice but then runs in the opposite direction when she feels she's crossed a line, Alex still goes above and beyond to stand by her DC. Neither of them are perfect and they know that, but they don't martyr themselves either (like I feel some do in other books). Despite being flawed with their own sets of baggage, Alex and Chloe are strong and likeable characters that complement each other perfectly throughout.
There are so many different characters throughout the course of the story as it unfolds, as you find yourself questioning "is it him?" several times. There are both likeable characters and those I would happily hold under water myself, but one of the most haunting is the back story of the little boy neglected and abused by his mother. It is obvious this is the back story to the killer...but just which character does he grow into being? I admit, I had an inkling but his identity wasn't clear to me until right near the end (particularly as he went to great pains to disguise it) though I suspected just who his alter ego was and how he related to both stories. It was cleverly interwoven and quite genius, I felt. But maybe that's because I just loved it so much I can't find fault with this book at all.
I love how the setting is in South Wales - somewhere different than the usual London or Glasgow. Although I do love my British thrillers, so I really don't mind where they are set, but I do love that we are introduced to a new and fresh setting around Cardiff and South Wales. Not an important aspect, but something different. I'm just surprised to find the writer is Australian (like me - yay!) though lives in South Wales herself.
"The Girls in the Water" is just WOW! It is incredibly compelling, thrilling, exciting, page-turning...I loved it! The fact that it is a debut for this writer shows a certain promise I'm sure she can live up to. I can't wait to follow their journey some more...
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