I really enjoyed Next Girl to Die by Dea Poirier. It has all the elements of a good thriller. There are twists you never saw coming and secrets to be discovered. It's lots of suspense and a good amount of action. If you love a good crime thriller this is a great next read.

Claire is a detective working in Detroit. She lost her sister at a young age to a unknown strangler and moved to Detroit to get away from it all. Then, she gets a call that it's happening again. Another young girl has been strangled and dumped in the park. She doesn't want to go back, but how can she say no when she has personal experience and knows the town better than anyone. Is this her sister's strangler? Is it a copycat?

Claire moves back home and takes the job to catch the strangler. However, it proves harder than she expected. Not only is it bringing up past hurts, but this case threatens to unveil her sister's secrets Claire has promised to keep. Besides that, there is a handsome journalist in the mix. Everyone knows that journalists and detectives don't usually mix. She must overcome all of this if she is to catch the strangler.

This book is extremely well written. I highly suggest picking it up if you love books on crimes or thrillers. I really enjoyed the opportunity to read this and thank Netgalley for providing this for free in exchange for this honest review.

The bones for this book were good. Strong, likable heroine, a good mystery with suspense and a sick and twisted killer. But it was lacking in flesh. For me it bordered on being choppy. It lacked fleshed out details between one scene to another. One minute she is a homicide detective in Detroit and the next she is on a ferry returning home after 15 years to help local police. No mention of did she quit her job or take a leave a absence – we the reader were just left of out what happened in between. This happened a lot throughout the book. Even the final confrontation with the killer was less than 2 pages.

I liked the characters, the story and police procedure aspects and I hope since this was the authors debut novel that things are more fleshed out in the next book as I could see really liking this series.

In Dea Poirier's exceptional debut, Next Girl to Die, Claire Calderwood is a detective in Detroit who is relieved to have miles and years between herself and her hometown of Vinalhaven, Maine. After the murder of her sister when she was a teenager, Claire has tried to hold her sister's secrets while blaming herself for the unsolved homicide.

When another girl dies in a similar way, Sergeant Michaels begs Calderwood to return home for the first time in more than a decade. Her mother is controlling and manipulative and her father is detached, going through life as a shell, and Calderwood has conflicting feelings about seeing them again.

Calderwood isn't happy to be back, and the only thing that might rival that unhappiness is journalist Noah Washington. Noah tries to question her about her sister on her first day on the job in Vinalhaven. There's plenty of tension between them, and it only intensifies when he turns up at the next murder scene, snapping photos.

Next Girl to Die delivers on every level. Calderwood is fleshed out fully in a very believable manner. The manifestations of survivor's guilt are sewn into the fabric of who she is and the choices she makes. Calderwood's emotional journey informs her actions. And one of Poirier's strengths is resisting the urge to tack on a trite or simplistic resolution to years of emotional issues stemming from one of the greatest losses a teen girl could suffer. This isn't the Hollywood quick-fix to years of suffering and extreme emotional suffering; this is a very realistic character who starts out broken and remains broken. There are no quick fixes, which makes some of the moments with Calderwood raw and painful, but ever so believable. Even as Calderwood makes progress she understands her trauma forever altered her, and that isn't something that can be simply undone.

The realities of a challenging investigation on an island, removed from easy access to investigative resources, adds to the tension and presents the reality of investigative limits for cops; evidence processing takes time, crime scene techs can't just hop in a chopper and whisk over to the scene in a minute, and the elements can damage and destroy evidence. (As someone who spent three years living on a small island I'd say Poirier nailed these setting components and used them authentically to inform the investigation.)

Poirier's atmospheric writing transports the reader to the coast. Her delicious prose conveys the bite of the ocean breeze, the smell of the salt air, and the tension between characters.

This is an evocative debut with exquisite writing that indulges your senses and compels your investment in Calderwood's emotional journey as she races against time to solve a case that has haunted her for more than a decade. Calderwood is a worthy addition to the genre. Her spirit, like Poirier's voice, is tenacious and captivating, compelling the reader's investment in her journey, and Calderwood is determined to hold her own against her male counterparts. She doesn't take the easy path in her personal or professional lives, and the fact that her emotional issues haven't been glossed over with glib resolutions gives her plenty of room for growth in sequels to come.

** will be posted on Toe Six Press March 16

Thank You to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters were well developed and like-able, the story line was solid and suspenseful and it held my attention start to finish. We follow Claire through her journey through her past in reliving that fateful night her sister died and her present trying to catch a killer whose methods match those of her sisters killer. The only complaints i have is that i found the story a little slow paced and i found the motive of the killer to be a little far fetched.

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #NextGirlToDie

At fifteen, Claire Calderwood loses her sister to a heinous murder. She flees the island in Maine she has forever called home, never to look back. Only now, fifteen years later, she is called home again when her work as a Detective is needed to help solve a young girls murder. One that is unnervingly similar to that of her sisters. But not everyone on the island is happy to have Claire home and her investigation is leading her further and further into danger.

An invoking and well thought out thriller. Dea Poirier takes her time to narrate an elaborate setting and plot that tells her readers a story opposed to delivering a quick adrenaline rush. As the story unwinds, Poirier develops each character with this subtle dark underpinning that leaves a sense of impending mystery surrounding everyone in the novel. The main character has been perfectly crafted for a premier novel in the series. Poirier has given enough contextual material for the reader to connect with her on an emotional level but still leaves years of her life and emotional-self open for exploration. Great read. 5 stars.

This was a very interesting first book of a new series. I love detective stories when the main character has their own personal reasons for wanting to solve the case. The past moves to the present and it shows that secrets don’t remain buried for long.

Next Girl to Die is the story of a woman who comes home to investigate a murder that may be the work of a serial killer. Claire Calderwood's life was never the same after her older sister was found murdered. She left her Maine island home and became a detective in Detroit. However, when a sergeant from the island's police department calls her and asks her to come help solve a murder that resembles her own sister's death she agrees to return to home. What she finds during the course of the investigation brings back painful memories and puts her in the crosshairs of a killer who will do anything to avoid being caught. The story is interesting in parts but overall it doesn't really engage the reader until the end.

Love a book with a strong-willed female protagonist, especially in a story which grabs my attention from the first chapter. I couldn't put this book down and wasn't expecting all twists along the way. Will definitely recommend this book.

Exquisite writing! Ms. Poirer created a masterful suspense that kept me on the edge of my seat and introduced me to characters that I fell in love with. I savored the story, wanting it to last, but near the end the pages were turning faster and faster as the climax approached. The ending was cathartic in more ways than one. This is one of those books that you want to read slowly because you just don't want the story to end but at the same time, you can't put it down because you HAVE to know how it ends!

I fell in love with the Claire and Noah. Their chemistry is amazing and both characters were extremely well written and believable. Claire, especially, is a character that the reader cannot help but engage with, as she is so tough on the exterior but her internal dialogue allows us to see just how vulnerable she really is. Her characterization is extremely well done - we see more and more of her personality and inner demons as the story unfolds so it is truly like getting to know a friend. The author allowed us a view of Claire no one else gets to see and peels back the layers of her complexity slowly, which I loved. I also fell in love with Rachel. Ms. Poirer slowly unveils Rachel and her story so the reader is allowed to know her even though she is present in the story only as a memory, an investigation. I can't rave about the characters in this book enough.

The story, itself, is one that you become so engaged with, it feels like you are with Claire as she moves through her investigation. One thing I often don't like about crime drama/suspense is that I am often able to determine who the killer/villain is early on. This story did not allow me to get that inkling until very late in the book, which I loved! The ending was a catharsis in several ways - both for the reader and the characters, especially Claire. Overall, excellent word choices, descriptive phrases, and plot creation, as well characterization.

I wish I could give this book more than five stars. Highly recommend.

Next Girl to Die by Dea Poirier is a steady-paced, gripping, action-packed, mystery/thriller centered around Detective Claire Calderwood. Claire returns to her childhood home of Vinalhaven, a small island, fishing village in Maine, to help solve the murder of a local girl. Reluctantly, she has agreed to help solve the murder case that is so similar to her sister's, Rachel. While dealing with ghosts of her own, Claire relentlessly searches for answers among the people she grew up with. The killer proves to be elusive, driving Claire to push harder to find him before he kills again, even if it puts her own life at risk.

Poitier's writing is image-inducing, creating the perfect picture in your mind of this small, island town with so many secrets to hide. I loved her ability to pace the story in such a way that you always felt the momentum was moving forward, never lagging or growing stale. It held my interest consistently through the whole novel. She developed the main characters well, making me feel as if I always knew them. I loved the addition of love interest, Noah. It made Claire more authentic and relatable. The ending was thrilling, leaving you to wonder, even until the last pages, if the killer would ever be caught.

I did, at times, find the secondary characters hard to keep up with. I had a difficult time making all the connections and keeping them straight in my mind.

The last chapter left us with a cliffhanger, and wanting more. I definitely look forward to Claire Calderwood's next case!!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer Publishing, and Dea Poirier for my ARC of Next Girl to Die.

This was a great story but not what we were looking for for our inventory! It kept me on the edge of my seat and I actually couldn't figure out the mystery before it was revealed to me!

The pages turned themselves here. Every chapter left me hanging, wondering what was coming next. I couldn't put this book down. The language is simple, no frills, letting the story speak for itself. This was a delicious ride, and I found my heart racing several times.

Fast-paced thriller + main character who's a strong woman + setting on a creepy island community. What's not to love?

A gripping psychological thriller, Dea Poirier's debut introduces us to Detective Claire Claderwood, the prodigal daughter of Vinalhaven, returning to town when the local police need her help investigating the murder of a young woman. Claire has her own sense of guilt and dark memories to combat, even as the death toll climbs.

Poirier's prose is terse and suspenseful, capturing the paradoxical claustrophobia of small-town island life. With no shortage of suspects, I was kept guessing about the killer's identity, turning pages as quickly as possible right up until the reveal. Watching the logic of the case weave together is darkly satisfying, and NEXT GIRL TO DIE is a strong recommend for any fans of intense procedural suspense.

I really enjoyed the Next Girl to Die. The mystery at the center was exciting and compelling. Claire made a wonderful detective and narrator. Her chemistry with Noah worked really well. The pacing was fast and tension filled and really excellent. I had to keep reading, had to know what would happen. I never once doubted Claire and her ability but was still scared for her (in a good-read way).

Claire coming to terms with her sister’s death and the redemptive qualities of work the new murders was really powerful but never seem contrived. It seemed real and honest and natural. The case as well really worked for me and I loved putting the pieces together as I read. I was totally there for the entire story.

This is a fabulous, suspenseful book and I’m so happy I got the chance to read it.