Format: Kindle, 315 pages
Release Date: May 28, 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thriller / Police Procedural
The young woman’s body is lying with her arms stretched out to each side. Her lips slightly parted. Her face untouched by injury and her hair spread around her head like a fan. A redhead. Just like the others.
When the body of Leann Truitt is found in a secluded cove in Mystery Bay, Detective Megan Carpenter is one of the first on the scene. The victim has tell-tale marks on her wrists, ankles and neck where she has been bound. But that’s not all. Next to Leann’s body lies a puzzling clue – an unusual symbol scratched into a rock.
With rookie Deputy Ronnie Marsh under her wing and the investigation underway, Megan starts to receive disturbing messages. Someone knows about her traumatic past. They know what she did.
Determined to stay focused, Megan soon makes a chilling link between Leann’s brutal killing and the unsolved murder cases of two other women – all redheads with the same marks on their bodies, the same symbol carvings found at the crime scenes, and most shockingly, all had been pregnant.
The killer stalks his prey, kidnapping and torturing them in a very exact and methodical pattern. And he is not finished yet…
When the body of another woman is found bearing a striking resemblance to the other victims, Megan must crack the clues fast if she is to catch the twisted soul before they strike again.
Megan might be closing in on the killer, but someone is watching her every move. Can Megan hide the secrets of her past threatening to destroy her future? And can she protect herself and Ronnie before they both find themselves in terrible danger?
Water's Edge is the second installment in author Gregg Olsen's Detective Megan Carpenter series. The author returns to Jefferson County, Washington for this follow up to Snow Creek. So, from the outset, let me say that this story actually follows several storylines. One storyline is that someone knows who Megan Carpenter was before she was a cop. Someone is apparently stalking her and sending her creepy messages about knowing what she did last summer. Oops! Sorry, I meant to say they know what she did years ago that readers are now seeing thru flashbacks.
I'm eager to discover who this stalker is once and for all. I don't want this creepy stalker to remain behind the scenes as a way to keep the readers coming back for more. Now that - that is out of the way, Megan ends up with a partner in this installment. Reserve Deputy Ronnie Marsh is a female cop making her rounds before she ends up with a permanent assignment. So far, she's rotated through the morgue, and Marine Patrol under a Captain they call Marvel. Megan and Ronnie are put on the mystery of a floater found off Marrowstone Island.
Megan likes to work alone, but Ronnie is perhaps someone she can actually call a friend. Like everything else in this series, the locations are real. As Megan and Ronnie uncover the identity of the murdered victim, Megan soon makes a chilling link between Leann’s
brutal killing and the unsolved murder cases of two other women – all
redheads with the same marks on their bodies, the same symbol carvings
found at the crime scenes, and most shockingly, all had been pregnant.
In fact, each women has very familiar characteristics, including Red Hair, and each have the same build as Ronnie. Could Ronnie be next? The third part of this story really unravels Megan's past and who she was and what she did that sent her running and leaving her only brother Hayden behind to be raised by foster parents. Something she has regretted every day. Hayden has refused any contact with Megan. He's spent years in the military, but he suddenly appears at the very end of this story. I'm very curious as to how the author is going to resolve that issue.
Megan's past is one that is truly dark but I truly believe those involved had what happened to them coming and much, much, much more. I could tell you why I said that but I think it would spoil the reason why she choose to be a cop and how she ended up surviving and being helped by Sheriff Gray. For someone who claims to have near perfect memory, I'm curious as to whom this stalker could be. Megan
is still coping with secrets from her childhood when she had a
different name. Can she cope with her memories and still solve a murder?
While
working the case, Megan makes her way through the tapes given
to her by her college therapist, Dr. Karen Albright, finding out more about herself and why
she sees the world the way she does. I think having the types around also gives readers a deeper understanding into a young women who did some bad things in order to protect herself and maybe it was also about revenge as well. She's very good at getting revenge on those who get in her way. One of the open questions is Megan's non-existent relationship with her mother. I think this needs to be addressed soon, especially with Hayden back in the picture. The author does a great job of worldbuilding and gives the reader a vivid sense of the place and people. You can actually research this area and find that every location the author mentions, actually exists.
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