“In the present, one sister seeks to untangle a complicated web of lies. In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate. This propulsive and chilling suspense is a sharp examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime.”
The Lake of Lost Girls, Katherine Greene
The first 65% or so of this book had me hooked! We bounce between timelines, with Jessica in 1998, and her younger sister Lindsey in the present day. Lindsey, along with several of her other female classmates, had disappeared from her college campus in the 90s. Now, Lindsay is more determined than ever to find out what happened. Both sisters’ personality shone through in their chapters, and the momentum and tension was incredibly paced through each swap.
Unfortunately, the ending did not live up to the beginning for me. Between the podcast elements that were crammed into each of Lindsay’s chapters, Jessica’s oddly close relationship with her father mentioned every 10 minutes, and the five suspects that were all an equal possibility, I began to feel like my brain was melting.
And as with all murder mysteries, the killer’s reveal is a big part of the storyline. Without spoilers, I think so much time was spent on making everyone a suspect that the killer’s development was lackluster and thrown together. Sure, I had assumed who it was pretty quickly, but the ending didn’t make the choice believable or give a satisfying resolution.
However, this is a classic “podcast about an unsolved murder” mystery, and it definitely held my attention. Without the podcast’s recap every few chapters, I definitely would’ve gotten the minor characters and short timelines confused. The multiple narrators in the audiobook also really helped keep things interesting! This also had a creepy slasher vibe, so it’d be a good choice for this time of year!
Thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Blackstone Publishing for the free advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review!
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