It started out well, promising to be an interesting police procedural about a tough female cop investigating the "accidental" deaths of several ex-cops. But I first got suspicious when the author spent an inordinate amount of time detailing the MC's appearance, right down to her lipstick and every article of clothing she's wearing. Then hints of a possible romantic interest, then love triangle. And now we have an assholish love interest where she's apparently more interested in getting nekkid with him than in solving crime. No NO NOPE. This is showing every sign of being a Romance disguised as a mystery/thriller and it's already using too many of the genre tropes that I really dislike.

DNF after 51 minutes, or 9% of total.

Audiobook, borrowed from my public library via Overdrive. Good performance by Kirsten Potter.

I was attempting to read this for The 16 Tasks of the Festive Season, Square 7: Book themes for Saint Lucia's Day: Read a book set in Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden - and Finland for the purposes of this game) or a book where ice and snow are an important feature. Hopefully I won't have a hard time finding another book to fit this task.

This is the first book in the Lizzie Snow series, but Lizzie Snow is not a new character.  She had been first introduced in the 16^th book of Sarah Graves Home Repair Is Homicide series, Bats in the Belfry.  Now she leaves the city of Boston to work for Cody Chevrier in law enforcement in Bearkill, Maine.  She agreed to the job at the recommendation of her former boyfriend, Dylan Hudson, in this desolate location because it’s the possible whereabouts of her niece, Nicky, who’d been abducted eight years ago.  Now, Nicky would be nine years old.  Lizzie’s sister, Cecily, died very mysteriously just before her daughter was taken.

No sooner than Lizzie settles in, she’s assigned to work on the suspicious deaths of four ex-cops.  Initially, they appeared to have been suicides.  She’s approached by a tattooed teen who wonders if she’d buy information from him.  She dismisses him at first, but then later gets to know him better.  Could he really know something that may be of assistance?

There were multiple directions in this one novel, making it a bit perplexing to follow.  As the story concludes, I can’t say that all of my questions were answered. So, clearly this appears to be a new series which will need to be read in order.  I liked the characters, especially the way Dylan seemed to be trying to make amends for the undoing of their past relationship.  Could they resolve their issues?  The winter scenes were depicted extremely well making it easy for the reader to envision.  Rating: 3 out of 5.

THE GRILS SHE LEFT BEHIND

Bestselling author of the Home Repair Is Homicide series

SARAH GRAVES

A Bantam Hardcover | On Sale January 12, 2016

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Lizzie Snow is back in The Girls She Left Behind the sequel to Winter at the Door. This time, she has to find Tara Wylie a young girl that has gone missing. She has disappeared before so no one is worried at first, but then Tara's mother gets a Help Me text message from Tara and the timing couldn't be worse; kidnapper Henry Gemerle has escaped and he has previously held three girls captive for 15 years. Is he the one behind Tara's disappearance? 

I read the first book in this series at the beginning of 2015 and loved and have been looking forward to reading the next book in series since then. Lizzie Snow is still searching for her missing niece, but she is thinking of moving from Bearkill back to Boston after everything that happened in Winter at the Door, but then Tara sends a help message to her mother and she has to put every thought about the future on hold to find the girl. 

This is a page-turner from the start and I loved that, it's never a dull moment, though I did feel sometimes a bit frustrated by some people's inability to tell the truth, but that's part of the story. I like that Lizzie's relationship with Dylan hasn't turned romantic and that Trey is still there a good friend and perhaps something more in the future. I especially like that this hasn't turned into a triangle drama. Lizzie's personal life is not the focus in this book, the missing girl is and that's something that I'm happy about. Of course, there are moments between Lizzie and Dylan and Lizzie and Trey. But they are not dominating the book. And, this is a series where I actually like both guys so it will be interesting to read future books to see what will happen. And, I'm very curious about Lizzie's niece that's missing, will she ever find her? 

The case with the missing girl was was interesting and the story took turns that I didn't always expect and sometimes turns that I suspected. And, the ending is, well let's just say that like the first book is the ending packed with action. 

You don't have to read the first book; Winter at the Door, to keep up with what is going on in this book. But the first book is really good so I recommend reading it if you get the chance.    

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

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“Graves’s dark second Lizzie Snow mystery (after 2015’s Winter at the Door) examines the ugly, soul-destroying things that mark the aftermath of a child abduction.”

—Publishers Weekly

“…[a] tense and fast-paced tale of love gone horribly and fantastically wrong.”

—Kirkus

“An action-packed psychological thriller that readers cannot put down. Both insightful and twisted…This haunting novel is a must-read.”

–RT Book Reviews (four stars)

SARAH GRAVES lives with her husband in Eastport, Maine, in the 1823 Federal-style house that helped inspire her Home Repair is Homicide books. The series and the author's real-life experience have been featured in House & Garden and USA Today.

By:  Sarah Graves

Series:  Lizzie Snow #2

ISBN: 9780553390438

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: 1/12/2016

Format: Hardcover 

My Rating: 4 Stars 

A special thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Graves returns with more mystery and suspense, following Winter At the Door (recommend reading prior to #2) to learn the background of Lizzie Snow. A homicide detective, who has left Boston for Bearkill, Maine-- with her second installment, THE GIRLS SHE LEFT BEHIND, she continues to look for her niece who went missing after her sister was found murdered.

New Haven, CT: As the book opens we meet two cousins, fifteen-years-old—often mistaken for sisters. Their mothers were sisters. One was the good girl (Janie), attending knitting classes, always agonizing over her sins, the other (Cam) wild one, very good at convincing her to do bad things.

Leaving the youth group, they are abducted by a sexual predator and imprisoned in a basement with two other girls. Jane manages to escape and tells no one—while believing Cam is dead. But is she? And what about the other girls?

Fifteen years later, nightmares. Terrified, traumatized, drugged. Three saved from basement prison. Someone left their cousin in the hands of a monster. Secrets. Now, what will she tell?

Lizzie Snow has a lot on her plate. She is dealing with a forest fire out of control and now a local teen has gone missing (plus her men). A fourteen-year-old along with her older boyfriend. Lizzie is working with Dylan, a murder cop—she knows all too well about missing girls: the found ones, and the ones; never found. However, in this town, if she were a teen--she probably would have run herself.

Tara had taken off several other times and always returns; however, this time, they are not so sure. To make matters worse, Henry, a kidnapper and rapist escaped from a locked hospital ward in Connecticut, who had held three girls’ prisoner for fifteen years --has escaped and may be in Bearkill.

Tara thought of calling home, but she would explain when she returned home. Someone traps, cages, preyed upon women, and brutalizes them.

Then there is Tara’s mother, a desperate text—the mother is hiding something—more lies. Lizzie is getting annoyed. What is Peg (Tara’s mom) the volunteer firefighter lying about?

"Secrets like Peg's were like acid. They ate through you. If you kept them, they ate right through your soul."

Someone else is looking for Tara and Henry. A victim of the monster, Jane (survivor) is also hiding a secret.

Who is the real monster?

From past to present. A box, a grave, a motel, a fire. The case fifteen years ago, combines with the present. Sexual crimes. How are the two events connected? Dark, complex, clever and twisted.

Revenge! As always, Sarah Graves keeps you in suspense with multi-level mystery, crossing into psycho-thriller, with many twists and turns.

We continue to learn more about Lizzie’s haunting past, and her present situation. From her ongoing search for her niece, her old partner, and of course always plenty of new crimes and drama in Bearkill. Graves definitely knows her way around the Great North Woods.

Hoping Lizzie finds her niece in the next installment and decides on her man.

Lizzie Snow #1

#TheGirlsSheLeftBehind  Available 1/12/16  5 Stars!  @RandomHouse @SarahGraves2011

This was a really good book. I could not put it down. There were so many twists going on what with the missing teenager, the three girls that had been rescued, a forest fire threatening the town and an escaped maniac. And, that's just the major things going on. There are other little things and lots of secrets coming out. I definitely enjoyed reading this one and highly recommend it! Start this one early in the day - don't wait until bedtime!

A huge thanks to Random House for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.