Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Park Row, for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
Two words: murder mystery! I’m weird in the sense that murder mysteries calm me down. When I have had a stressful day, I put on an episode of some murder show and I feel better. When I’m anxious and feeling on edge: murder mystery.
Here is the thing, though. It has been very hit and miss for me when it comes to murder mystery books. Some of them are so good, I clutch them until my knuckles turn white, refusing to let go. Others, well, it just wasn’t meant to be for the both of us.
Stranger In The Lake belongs to the second category, which is unfortunate, because it did not live up to the potential of its premise. It was atmospheric, but lacked that certain something to make it truly bone chilling.
The Details
The main character, also the narrator, had me confused. She was a woman in her late twenties, from a broken and poor family, and knew how to survive on her own.
Yet, she was immature and very self-absorbed. I kind of understood where she was coming from, but she kept repeating the same statements over and over. I began to lose my patience with her.
It was all about her. How she felt. What she thought. What she did or mostly did not do, because the majority of the narration was just that: a narration of her thoughts; there wasn’t much going on at all.
The secondary characters were just kind of there, hovering on the outskirts of the story, being annoyingly elusive and not very detailed.
Everyone was either dirt poor or incredibly successful and wealthy, but neither social classes were ever properly explored, because the reader was stuck reading the protagonist’s tenth rendition of how rich her husband is and how poor she still feels.
I get it. we all got it. Let’s move on to the murder mystery part, please.
No such luck, though. The narration was stuck on her artful description of the slate grey skies and whatever else she would ramble on about. That’s exactly what most of the book felt like, rambling.
Once in a while we got to read tiny chapters that flashback to the year 1999, but they were so short and left more questions unanswered than before that I’m still not sure what the point of them were.
With that I’m coming to my next point: the plot. Yup, in theory, it was excellent. We got the murder mystery, the suspicion of a murderous husband, isolated house, secrets and an atmosphere that was to die for (in the murder mystery sense, of course).
Sadly, that’s where it came to a screeching halt. Nothing came together and the possibility of a slow-burn type of mystery turned into me asking the question of what the point of this story was more times than I’m willing to admit.
I wonder, if it would have worked a little better, had the point of view shifted between various characters and the flashback chapters been a little longer.
The Verdict
Overall, I love a good murder mystery story and if anyone is ever looking for a good show to put on, I have about a dozen to recommend. However, I’m still struggling to find interesting and captivating murder mystery books.
When it comes to Stranger In The Lake, I will give it extra credit for the atmosphere the author created, but the story itself just wasn’t for me.
I would probably suggest it for a slow-burn type of read.
About the Author
Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of six novels, including the forthcoming Stranger in the Lake (June 2020). Her third novel, The Marriage Lie, was a semifinalist in the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery & Thriller, and a #1 e-book bestseller in the UK and Italy. She’s sold rights to her books in a dozen languages as well as film and television options. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, Belle divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam.
