This was a great psychological thriller! Lots of crazy twists and turns. Wonderful character development! It made some easy to love and some easy to hate. Very well done. Highly recommend!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A woman who thought she had escaped her tragic past is compelled to return. She then finds herself torn between her new life or seizing the opportunity to right an old wrong. By doing the right thing, she stirs up old issues in the community, and risks exposing herself and others. Believable characters and strong plot

This is a great thriller.
I did not want to put it down. I loved the characters. The only one I did not fully understand was Darlene...did she know what was going on?
Its a quick, easy book to get lost in.
Plus I see that the author gave a nod to Ariel...from the Ohio case of kidnapping.
GREAT BOOK!

Ok, where to start... this was a good book but it just wasnt for me. As the story went on it started to sound like the movie Room that came out in 2015 and I just could get past that aspect. The beginning had me captivated on trying to figure out who killed Blairs best friend Molly when she was 13. And how Blair was going to get the man convicted of her murder released after being wrongfully sentenced 15 years ago but as soon as you find the killer and his secrets it seemed to follow the same story line of the movie Room and that bothered me. Like I said it's a great book if you've never seen the movie room or the similarities of plots doesnt bother you read this book

When a death bed confession is revealed the suspense and twists and turns begin. Gripping, thrilling, will keep readers racing on.

This was a very average psychological thriller in my opinion. The suspense was not there. it started out really good, but quickly lost my interest.

I give this book a 3.5.

Blair is running a successful and groundbreaking medical-related business in Philadelphia when she has to return to her small town roots because her older sister is dying and leaving behind her 10-year-old son. But her sister and nephew still live with Blair's unpleasant and horribly racist uncle, so she wants to make sure her son goes to live with her best friend instead of the uncle or Blair. But, that's really just a subplot. On her deathbed, Blair's sister confesses that years earlier, when Blair's best friend was murdered, she lied to everyone about who had done it. The wrong man has been in prison for 15 years. Now it's up to Blair to find the real killer.

This was a fast read. It drew me in, and I wanted to know what would happen next. But, without giving too much away, what did actually happen came out of left field and didn't really fit in with the rest of the story.

I did like that for once there wasn't a random love affair half way through the book. There was a love interest, but it was not a focus anywhere, so the focus stayed on the crime and the mystery the whole time, which was a nice change from most of these mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the arc of this book. It did not influence my review.

This book was every bit of watching the red shirt guy on star trek go around the corner first, seeing the kids go one by one into the basement to investigate the weird noise, watching the woman forget to tell anyone where she would be before heading to the remote and dilapidated home of the suspected killer. It wasn't a bad story, but how much credit can we still give the main character who is incapable of any kind of situational awareness?

This is the first crime/mystery/thriller that I’ve read in a very long time and WOW it was worth the wait!! This book had so many twists and turns throughout evoking many emotions within myself. It is a story of injustice, trust, despair, love, faith and sadness too. The characters were depicted so well that I feel that I have been on this journey of discovery, and search for the truth alongside them. I would highly recommend this book. 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Overall I thought that this one was ok. I did enjoy it but I didn’t find the storyline that original and I was slightly disappointed with the ending.

Blair's sister is dying. Blair thinks she is prepared for anything ...but she's wrong.

A gut-wrenching deathbed confession has Blair reliving a single night 15 years ago when her best friend, Molly, was brutally murdered and left in the woods.

But the confession means that the man who has been in prison for this murder may actually be innocent .. and the real killer is still out there.

This book reminded me of why I started reading this author many years ago. This is a well-written crime fiction .... the mystery itself is solid. There are no guns blazing, no high speed care chases, but the suspense is there all the same. The characters are finely drawn and memorable.

Many thanks to the author / Black Thorn Books / Netgalley for the freely given digital copy of this crime fiction, read and reviewed voluntarily. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I was given an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blair and her sister Celeste have had a less than ideal childhood after their mother dies and they end up living with their racist, alcoholic uncle. The one bright spot in Blair's bleak life is her best friend Molly. After Molly is found dead in the woods, the small town is torn apart.

As adults, Blair and Celeste still struggle with the effects of their horrible childhood in their own ways. As they come to terms with their issues, they each much face some dark truths and secrets that will leave everyone reeling.

This story is full of characters who are unlikeable. Some are redeemable and some are not. The story is gutwrenching at times and really draws you into the twisted story. I was unable to put this down once I started because I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I was not disappointed. Very good story, interesting characters, twists & turns, etc. This has it all.

This book didn’t have much going for it. Beside The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald being a quick read with a few twists and turns, I really can’t be more enthusiastic about it.

Blair Butler’s life is pretty great, she has a fantastic career, she’s successful and beyond canny. Her sister on the other hand has had her fair share of ups and downs. Still living under her uncle’s roof and under his control, Celeste and her son live a very unhappy life.

Fifteen years ago Molly Sinclair was murdered after leaving her best friend Blair’s house. Her body was found days later and Adrian Jones, a young black man, was convicted of her murder and has spent fifteen years in jail. At the time of the investigation, Celeste denied being with Adrian Jones during Molly’s murder. Blair is now forced to return to see her terminally ill sister one last time where she reveals a guilty secret on her deathbed. Celeste had been with Adrian but never gave him an alibi.

Blair promises her sister she’ll right this wrong and find the real killer. In an attempt to find the truth Blair faces many difficulties. As Blair begins to investigate what really happened, some aren’t too happy to stir up what happened all those years ago. Can the murderer still be out there and does he know Blair was told the truth about an innocent man sitting in prison?

So, let’s just say this was a decent page-turner that went pretty quick. By the time I was finished, I didn’t really feel anything for it. The characters weren’t interesting and the plot was pretty easy to figure out early on. I think having read so many fantastic mysteries and thrillers lately, this felt rather flat. That doesn’t mean other people wouldn’t enjoy this book, I just feel I’m clouded by really great books before this one.

Putting this all aside, there were some positives. The creepy wooded setting was intriguing and made me think of where I grew up, and how when I was little we always played there. I can’t deny there were some really good twists that I didn’t see coming either. Blair’s background was very fascinating too and I’m grateful MacDonald gave us that aspect.

Patricia MacDonald’s The Girl in the Woods is a quick thriller, but it is very predictable with unlikeable characters. While I found it to be decent, it didn’t stick with me and I honestly wouldn’t read it again. All things considered, if you’re looking for a very fast read, with some twists thrown at you, this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Black Thorn and Patricia MacDonald for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Fifteen years ago Molly Sinclair was murdered after leaving her best friend Blair Butler’s house. Now Blair is forced to return to see her terminally ill sister one last time – only for Celeste to make a shocking deathbed confession. At the time of the investigation she denied being in the company of a young, black man (Adrian Jones) due to the attitude of her bigoted Uncle and an innocent man was sent to the jail. Blair promises her sister she will try to solve this injustice and begins her own investigations into the shocking events of the past. Things are not made easy for her along the way; as far as the police are concerned they have the right man and Celeste’s confession does not hold much power. They are loathe to admit any wrong doing was done by them in the first place. Blair also faces the fact that the murderer is still out there and does not want to be discovered.

It was interesting to see how Blair had to readjust to the small town mentality and fight to have the truth heard and her ability to now tell her Uncle Ellis a few home truths that were long overdue. In my opinion there were a few threads within the story that seemed to peter out with no explanation but if you’re looking for a quick read you’d do no wrong with this one.

All it takes is one lie and your whole life can change. This story explores some race issues and how that can affect lives in a ripple effect. Ms. MacDonald wrote characters that were able to draw out the emotions needed to take you on the roller coaster ride of a story that she has created. You see that every person can be more than what you see on the surface as well as can change if they choose to do so. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reading copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Blackthorn Publishers.

Blair's BFF, Molly was killed fifteen years ago at the age of thirteen. The man put in prison for it has maintained his innocence, and Blair is aghast when her sister confesses that she lied about being with him on the night of Molly's murder. Determined to get an innocent man out of prison, Blair begins to investigate what happened, but in doing so she stirs up things which were considered buried years ago.

I thought this was an enjoyable read. It started off well, although it lost it a little towards the end, and Blair was a fairly sympathetic character. Too often female main characters are obnoxious rather than 'strong' but that wasn't the case here. The plot itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary but it worked rather well. Overall verdict: enjoyable read but probably wouldn't read it again. 3.5 stars

TWs mention of domestic violence, & brief sexual assault scene.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Black Thorn, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I really enjoyed this! I got very invested in the characters & almost didn’t want it to end, I wanted to follow these people to new adventures & see where they end up. I’ll admit that I did figure out who the culprit was fairly early on, but I didn’t figure out why or what else was going on which was revealed as we got through the book. I’ll definitely be recommending this one to a lot of my regular customers who enjoy a good thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A 13-yr-old girl is murdered after being unceremoniously kicked out of her best friend's house by a m drunken uncle with whom she lived. Blair leaves her cruel uncle's home as soon as she is able but returns 15 years later when her older sister is dying. Before she passes, the sister asks Blair to promise her something. When Blair agrees, the sister confesses to being an alibi for someone who's been imprisoned all this time for 13-yr-old Molly's death.

Blair tries to keep her promise, although she has no support. It's an interesting tale with a few twists to hold one's interest.

I started off liking this book. I liked the premise--Blair hears her sister's deathbed confession that the man arrested for Blair's best friend's murder has been wrongly convicted and imprisoned for the past 15 years. Blair decides that it is her duty to get the man freed, but it isn't as easy as she thinks at first.

The narrative of this book is very uneven. Lots of stops and starts, although Blair is super smart and owns her own company she makes MANY terrible decisions that seem contrary to her purported intelligence.

And let me just mention that the book totally jumps the shark toward the end: Spoiler: [ The blatant rip-off of the book/movie Room is just unforgivable. And Blair is a total idiot when she walks right into the situation. Although she makes poor choices throughout the book, this one was so stupid it just made me roll my eyes. An entire star off for the rip off plot and Blair's stupidity)]

There were so many plot holes--how this guy got convicted with no evidence was one of them. And so many non-issues just absolutely harped on--the uncle's Nazi collection, the fact that the convicted guy converted to become a Muslim and changed his name--totally no relevance yet mentioned over and over and over and over again.

This one just did not work for me at all. I have liked other books by this author so maybe this is a fluke.

This book was just okay for me. This is one of my favorite authors. I have read just about everything that she has written. Somewhere along the line the story fell flat and it was a struggle to even connect with the characters. it was a bit predictable also. I’m not hard to please with my literary taste but I found myself struggling to get through this book. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book for my honest opinion..I give this book 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️