Dark Waters by Mary-Jane Riley

Dark Water
By Mary-Jane Riley
Published by Killer Reads (16 March 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

Secrets lie beneath the surface…

Two men, seemingly unconnected, are discovered dead in a holiday boat on the Norfolk Broads, having apparently committed suicide together.

Local journalist Alex Devlin, planning an article on the dangers of internet suicide forums, starts digging into their backgrounds.

But Alex’s investigation soon leads her to a much darker mystery – one that will hit closer to home than she could possibly have imagined, and place the lives of those she loves in terrible danger.

My verdict

I really enjoy Mary-Jane Riley's writing. All three of her Alex Devlin books have been very easy to read, with plenty of description to paint a vivid picture in my head of characters and places without taking anything away from the pace of the plot.

Alex Devlin is a fantastic character - a feisty journalist with a nose for mystery who throws herself into her job 100% but still manages to maintain a strong sense of family. There are some larger-than-life flamboyant characters in Dark Waters too, providing some light-hearted humorous moments. There's one particular character I would have loved to see more of (since he features more heavily in the previous books) but he's still there in the background.

I highly recommend Dark Waters. I found myself racing through the pages and had to remind myself to breathe! A couple of twists and turns made me sit upright as I really didn't see those coming. This series is getting better and better, and the main characters are definitely growing with each book. As with the previous books, Dark Waters left me wanting more (in a good way).

Can this be read as a standalone? Yes, it probably can. But I would suggest you buy (and read) all three books in this series so far anyway!