The Girls Across The Bay by Emerald O’Brien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Girls Across the Bay is the first book in the Knox and Sheppard series by Emerald O’Brien. It is quite a clever and thrilling mystery- with plenty of intrigue, suspense, and dramatic moments. I was definitely caught up in the web of intrigue, wondering at all the possibilities, looking for clues, and being suspicious of everyone and everything- all while hunting for the killer. The story twists and turns, which left me guessing- and when I thought I finally had everything pinned down, BAM, another twist.
This proved to be quite a complex and multi-layered storyline, with several threads playing out at the same time and throughout Ms. O’Brien orchestrated everything quite seamlessly. A couple of minor issues for me were that there were moments where the story was a little slow, such as in the beginning as the foundations were being laid out. And there was a lot of inner dialogue from the two main characters, whose perspectives drive the story. Madigan and Grace had been through quite a lot, but through it all had formed such a close bond, which still stood strong after all the years. But some of their inner dialogue was quite negative and defeatist- and I understand why it was written that way, but knowing didn’t make it any less frustrating (for me). And at the same time, I really felt for them and wanted to tuck them under my wing and ‘mother’ them.
I liked that we got to see the characters grow and develop a little over the course of the story, and I hope that they will continue to do so through the rest of the series. I will definitely be reading the other instalments in the series- to see what’s in store for the characters next. I like the ‘direction’ the storyline seems to be heading in, which holds a lot of promise for the other books books.

Thank you, Ms. O’Brien!

Reviewed by @angelahayes

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