Book Description:
Harlow looked down at a photo of her victim and couldn’t reconcile it with the body found by the lake. Here was a young and carefree woman, gazing at the camera with her striking emerald green eyes, her long black hair waving in the breeze. But within an instant her future had been extinguished. Harlow had to find out why.
When the remains of a young woman are discovered on the edge of Saranac Lake in upstate New York, local law enforcement immediately call Detective Harlow Durant. When she arrives at the scene, she instantly knows this case will get under her skin. Lying just beyond the picturesque lake popular with families are the remains of a victim who has seemingly been burned to death. With very little evidence remaining, Harlow begins scouring missing persons reports.
The victim is identified as twenty-six-year-old Ellie Gordon—a fun-loving young woman who worked in the bookstore and enjoyed going out with friends. When her mother comes to ID the body, she reports her daughter’s gold crucifix missing and the hunt begins to locate it and any potential DNA evidence. But as Harlow starts to piece Ellie’s last movements together, another body is found. The victim was killed in exactly the same way and worked with Ellie.
Witness statements identify a local man who was obsessed with both women and when Harlow sees video evidence of him pawning the gold necklace, she thinks she has her man. But when he too winds up dead, Harlow has to start over. The only other link to the women is Gavin Croswell, one of the most powerful men in the town. But with a whole host of alibis, pinning the murders on him is almost impossible.
With time running out to find the killer before another woman loses her life, the case soon becomes personal when Harlow’s car is violently run off the road. Someone wants to warn her off the case and they will use anything they can to threaten her. Even if it means exposing her own dark secret.
Can Harlow confront her demons to save another innocent life from being lost? And just how much is she prepared to sacrifice?
An absolutely addictive serial killer thriller perfect for fans of Melinda Leigh, and Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Girls In The Fire' by Dea Poirier.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Dea Poirier, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 4th March 2022.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the second book in the 'Detective Harlow Durant' series but can be read as a standalone.
I was originally drawn to this book by its stunning eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'An addictive serial killer thriller perfect for fans of Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliot and Robert Dugoni.' I am a huge fan of Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 46 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in New York, USA 🇺🇸.
This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective and the protagonists are Detective Harlow Durant and an unsub. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.
'The Girls In The Fire' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Dea discusses/includes domestic abuse.
WOW!!! WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY GRIPPING PAGE TURNER WITH AN EXPLOSIVE ENDING!!
This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that really set the scene and put you in the picture leaving you feel the heat of the fires on your skin. The cover and the title suit the book perfectly.
The storyline is realistic and I was completely invested throughout. I absolutely loved reading this book in the series and I'm looking forward to going back to read book one along with any future books in this fantastic series. It is filled with murder, secrets, lies, mystery, tension, suspense and red herrings galore, especially one in particular! I was completely hooked and could not put it down even at 3am!!! The atmosphere was perfect and I was kept on the edge of my seat. It took me ages to work out the killer which is an accomplishment as it is getting harder and harder to surprise me with the amount of crime books I've read so a huge well done to Dea. The storyline is also multi-layered with not only one but TWO serial Killers on the go which is unique for a crime book but also the investigation into Officer Greens death along with Harlow's family history. There is so much going on, not too much to confuse you but the perfect amount to keep the suspense going from page one until the end. The explosive ending is definitely the cherry on the top leaving it on one heck of a cliffhanger!!
I hope your busy writing the next book Dea as I, for one, cannot wait to find out what happens next!!
It is set over/includes multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
Although this is the second book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but strangely I find it important that I like the pathologist too along with other team members. In this case the pathologist was Doctor Pagan and I am pleased to say that I clicked with her immediately.
The characters are all strong, well developed and realistic. I really enjoyed getting to know the team in this book. I absolutely love Harlow who is a strong female lead. I always enjoy meeting strong women in books being female myself. I like the fact that she is full of sarcasm, kick butt but also shows a side that is vulnerable. Harlow has history that has affected her and it is nice to see someone who isn't constantly soldering on but is struggling with their past and getting through it. I enjoyed seeing her relationship with her partner Lucas grow and develop throughout the book. Lucas made me laugh on several occasions with his sarcasm but you can also see that he cares greatly for Harlow and worried about her. They both make a great team and I'm looking forward to meeting them again in the next book. Ashley Gordan and Harlow's parents are horrific and I'm not surprised how they treated her has affected her so much but it was interesting to see how her mother seems to realise how much damage she caused and was possibly trying to make up for it. However, I do believe that it was too little to late. I also really clicked with Dr Pagan and Racquel and am looking forward to meeting them again along with Sergeant Dirby. Although we didn't see much of Sergeant Dirby from how Harlow speaks of him he seems like a good boss so it will be interesting to see more of him. A fantastic set of characters who I am looking forward to getting to know more!
Clear your schedules before starting this book as it is a true page turner!!
Congratulations Dea on an absolutely fantastic page turning success and welcome to my favourite author club!! I cannot wait to read more of your previous and future books!!
Overall an absolutely action packed psychological thriller with an explosive ending that will keep you turning the pages until you've finished.
Some of my favourite quotes in this book include the following:
♥ "I hate the viewpoint that women are only valuable for what comes out of their body. If you don’t breed, your life is worthless. What a crock of shit." Love this as it's very true!!
Genres covered in this book include Thriller, Mystery, Police Procedural, Psychological Thriller, Suspense. and Psychological Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliot, Robert Dugoni, PJ Tracy, Carol Wyer and anyone who loves a page turning psychological thriller.
313 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@DeaPoirier @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio:
Author Dea (D.H) Poirier is the author of NEXT GIRL TO DIE, which hit #1 in the Amazon charts. She was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, where she got her start writing in creative writing courses. She attended The University of Central Oklahoma for Computer Science and Political Science. Later, she spent time living on both coasts, and traveling the United States, before finally putting down roots in Central Florida. She now resides somewhere between Disney and the swamp. She spends her days at her day job as a President of Digital Marketing, and her nights writing manuscripts.
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B09KCDJLT4social
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