If you like a high-quality serial killer murder mystery, you may want to check out The Girl From Silent Lake. It’s by Leslie Wolfe and is the first book in a series set in Northern California. Currently, there are four other books in the series. I haven’t read any of them, although I may. While this book is fiction, there are some elements that are creepily similar to other recent real-life murder cases.
Basic Plot
Kay, our main character, has been working her way up the FBI ranks in San Francisco since soon after she left her Northern California hometown years ago. She never planned on returning home, but after her brother gets in trouble, ending up in prison for a minor offense, Kay heads home, hoping to help out her brother. Within a short time, it’s clear that Kay’s hometown has a serial killer, and serial killers just happen to be right up Kay’s FBI expertise alley.
Early Thoughts
This is the sort of book that you’ll find yourself really drawn into right away. There are quite a few twists and turns in the plot. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, and for a while, I wondered how this book was going to end. It was interesting to find out what led our main character, Kay, to an FBI career. There were several places throughout the book where I found myself thinking, “Oh, that’s why that happened” or something similar.
What I Didn’t Love
Despite really liking the plot of this story, there were two things that I didn’t like about this book. First, there were a few places where information that was revealed in one part of the book doesn’t seem to fit with information that was revealed later in the story. I found it a bit confusing, and I wasn’t sure which information to believe. Second, I felt like it was too obvious too early who the serial killer was. Yes, we have to figure out the guy’s motives, but we know about a third of the way through the book who he is, although our main character doesn’t know. It was just disappointing to not have that mystery to solve.
Potentially Offensive or Sensitive Topics
This book does have some swearing in it. I think the f-bomb’s dropped at least once. While I wouldn’t say the book as a whole has a lot of swearing, it was there, and there are a few scenes that have a lot of swearing. The scenes with a lot of swearing are also the scenes that are the most violent.
This book does have some topics that might be difficult for some readers to handle. They include rape, sexual assault, child predators, murder, domestic abuse, police corruption, and bribery. When it comes to sexual issues and violence, there are definitely books that go into more graphic detail, but they go far enough in this book that there were parts of the story that made me a bit uncomfortable.
Overall, I would say that this was an enjoyable, intense read. I’m interested in reading the next book in the series, mostly because Kay has a secret, one that could blow up in her face, causing serious professional and personal life damage. I’m wondering how long she can hide it.
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