The Shadow Girls by Alice Blanchard is the fourth novel in the author’s Natalie Lockhart series, a fact of which I was unaware when I downloaded this book.

The novel begins with the discovery of the body of sixty-four-year-old Randolph Holmes in a warehouse where he had been employed. Though his employer praises his work ethic the deceased’s female colleagues were wary of him. Detective Natalie Lockhart leaves the side of her comatose senior officer/friend, who was attacked by one of their colleagues who is now absconding, to attend to the case. Her investigation reveals a sinister side to the deceased and links to other crimes being investigated. The narrative follows Natalie as she investigates several cases which seem to be connected including one involving the disappearance of her best friend more than a decade ago while navigating her personal life and relationship issues.

I loved the premise and the setting of a town known for its “witchy" history, covens and Wiccans and thought the procedural aspect was really well executed, though I thought the drama in the protagonist’s personal life (the romance tracks) messed with the pace of the novel and distracted from the mystery angle. Usually, I don’t have problems picking up a series midway if the story is well-rounded. However, this book does not work as a standalone. There is a strong continuity with the preceding books and I felt that I was missing out on a lot of the backstory and important plot points since the resolution of several previous cases were related to the present one.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.


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Natalie has stumbled upon a crime in which no one knew it happened. She has discovered a possible serial kidnapper and killer in her jurisdiction. This sends Natalie into an obsession of finding the truth. She is not to be stopped.

Natalie is a character that I enjoy. She is damaged but she pushes through everything to get to her final outcome. Does she always do it right? No. But she always has good on her side.

I have not read all the books in this series. I have read The Wicked Hour. And this one falls on the same level as that one. This story takes a bit to build and just didn’t hit the right notes for me at the right time. That being said, it is a good mystery and I do enjoy Natalie. I just wanted it to move quicker with more intensity.

Need a good police thriller…THIS IS IT. Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. ( )