My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Many Thanks to Net Galley, Random House UK and the author for a chance to read and review this book.

#DarkWaters #NetGalley

Oh God, what have I just read? One of the most disturbing and troubling book that I have come across in some time, G R Halliday’s Dark Waters is terribly dark, so dark that I would like to give fair warning to readers that there are descriptions of dismembered bodies so gruesome that can make you feel nauseated.

Fans of thrillers have nothing to worry, Dark Waters with Monica Kennedy is a book that need to be read and have to say this, to be READ in order to understand the whys and whats of Monica’s trauma. This is book #2 and like always with me, haven’t read the first one, and there’s quite a bit of references to the previous case that has affected her and her team. Dark Waters continues from that previous case where in DI Monica has become so paranoid and worried about her young daughter Lucy that she’s taken to sleeping on the couch. I loved her team of Crawford, Fisher and Khan. Khan’s character is yet to be fleshed out fully but there’s a sense of solidity to her presence.

Anabelle is on a road trip to the highlands when she meets with an accident. But as her blackness recedes, Anabelle discovers that her troubles are just beginning. The story alternates between Anabelle and the investigation into the discovery of the 2 corpses found in the glen, dismembered and mutilated. Monica’s enquiries take her deeper into her own mental anguish as Lucy begins sleep-walking and giving out cryptic and distressing warnings.

There’s a sense of otherworldliness throughout the book with its setting in Inverness and the glens, the dam and its tunnels, the story gliding thru many POV’s before the adrenaline pumped climax. I loved how the author has used the bleakness of the place in creating a menacing and scary thriller that would probably leave me with nightmares with the kind of visceral images that the story left me with. It was interesting to see how the readers are made aware of Annabelle’s plight and about her captors but the grab your throat tension never lets up steam as Monica inches closer to the finish line.

Incredibly well-written, Dark Waters by G R Halliday is a must read for fans who love atmospheric thrillers.



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THREE MISTAKES. TWO MURDERS. ONE MORE VICTIM TO GO . . .

Annabelle loves to drive. It helps her escape her world, her past. Speeding on a mountain road in the Scottish Highlands, she sees a little girl step out in front of her. She swerves to avoid her. The next thing Annabelle remembers is waking up in a dark, damp room. A voice from the corner of the room says ‘The Doctor will see you now’.

Scott is camping in the woodlands in the Scottish Highlands – but in the middle of the night, he hears something outside his tent. When he goes out to have a look, a little girl is standing among the trees, staring right at him. Scott is never seen again.

When a dismembered body is discovered, DI Monica Kennedy gets called to the scene immediately. After six months away from the Serious Crimes team, they need her back on board.

As Monica searches for the murderer, another body is found. Monica knows the signs . . . She’s on the hunt for a serial killer.