Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner is the first book in her new Detective Freya Sinclair series, and both books 1 and 2 are out now!

Freya Sinclair has returned to Fawn Lake as Captain of Detectives, and she doesn't even get to sit down in her office before a call comes in that a young girl's body has been found in the river. Knowing that most of the town isn't happy that she's back, she's determined to prove herself. Then the school calls saying there's a little girl whose been out for a few days with no notice from her parents. Then a dad calls because his wife took their daughter on a short trip and he hasn't heard from them in days. A dead little girl with no identification, a missing girls, and zero leads. How is Freya going to solve this before more girls go missing or are found dead?

With mothers and daughters missing with no way to find out where they are, and the principal and janitor of the school on the lamb, Freya thinks she's onto what happened. But the two men had nothing to do with the disappearing daughters, although they aren't in the clear for other things. And to top it off, someone vandalizes the bakery of Esther, the woman who took Freya in when her parents were taken away. The story immediately jumps into the case, and it quickly looks like there may be a serial killer on the loose, so the townspeople immediately look at Freya as the culprit because there were no major crimes until she came back to town. Being the daughter of a married serial killer couple, everyone thinks that Freya is just following in her parents footsteps. Can she solve it before the town turns on her?

All in all, it's a relatively fast-paced mystery with a lot of missing puzzle pieces. I did wonder at times why Freya and her team weren't trying to find the missing mothers who were supposed to be with their daughters, or checking emails or phone records, but I guess if they had it would have been a lot shorter book.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Bookouture for a digital copy of books 1 and 2 for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own. ( )

Three Drowned Girls by Emily Shiner is a recommended crime thriller and the first book in a series featuring Detective Freya Sinclair

After five years in Texas, Detective Freya Sinclair has returned to her hometown, Fawn Lake, North Carolina. The community knows her history and some will hold her background against her while others are happy to have her back working for their police department again. On her first day back the body of a young girl is pulled from the river. With no report of a missing girl, Freya and Detective Candy Ettinger along with help from Officer Brad Williams, immediately start trying to find the child's identity but before they do another young girl is reported missing.

Although Freya's background is referred to and hinted at throughout the novel, the total story isn't told until the end. This plot device didn't work well at all in the novel. Disclosing Freya's back story right away would have made Freya a more compelling and sympathetic character. Readers will still be supporting her investigative abilities, hoping she finds evidence and pieces clues together quickly before something else happens to some other little girl, but they aren't going to understand some of the interactions she has with others.

The writing is good and the investigation takes a logical direction. On the other hand, the plot moves a little slowly and the final denouement required too much suspension of disbelief. Additionally, there was a part of the investigation that really annoyed me for numerous reasons but to say anything would be a huge spoiler. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2024/04/three-drowned-girls.html ( )

Something bad was happening in Fawn Lake.

Freya Sinclair, a Captain in the local police department, has just returned to the town where she grew up. She'd had to leave for a time after discovering that her parents were serial killers and getting them put in prison. On her first day of work, she is called to the scene where the body of a young girl has been discovered alongside the river. As the investigation heats up to determine that this was foul play, more young girls go missing.

This was a fast and entertaining crime thriller and the first in a new series featuring Captain Freya Sinclair and her team in this small North Carolina town. I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook at the same time enjoying the excellent narration -- especially the accents. I liked the characters and the backstory that revealed some of Freya's history. The plot was interesting and though there were a lot of characters to keep straight, the police investigation and their discoveries were really dark and wild. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing this series and will be looking for the audiobook before I dive in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copies. ( )