An excellent book if only for the sad, violent (well described) act involving DS Adrian Miles. The main story concerns Adrian and his fellow detective DS Imogen Grey trying to solve the mystery of a woman's body found in a river, and another body of a man found downstream.

It is difficult now to explain too much more as this will spoil the story. Suffice it to say the detectives chase the woman's control freak husband, with Adrian not functioning at 100%.

Superb twist at the end.

There are more in the series? Well I'm off to see what other delights there are in Devon from this author!

Thanks to Avon Books and Net Galley for the chance to read and review.

The book covers a police investigation into human behaviour. Don't expect any action, this is the dragging process of finding the master manipulator who's got everyone trapped.
A good story with ordinary characters, just a bit too slow for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book but did find it hard to get into in parts. The overall book is well written with some bits that maybe a trigger for some people so maybe a little warning would be a good idea.
I would like to read more of these as I'm interested to see how she moves the story on without dragging it too much.

A DS when driving to work one morning is alerted by people seeing something in the river. He stops and sees a body and when he goes to investigate he pulls out a young woman that is barely alive. Then later another body of a dead young man is also found in the river. It transpires that he was brutally tortured before being killed. The woman recovering in hospital is found to have been physically abused and won’t tell or reveal her name seemingly terrified of who did it. Later she manages to escape from the hospital leaving no clues. So begins a fascinating story of the police investigation of who were they and why they ended up where they were. Slowly the truth is pieced together and a monster is identified who is fire proof and how he gets his just deserts is a page turning and tense read with many twists before justice is done at a price. The DS involves is left traumatised brutally damaged both physically and mentally a shameful experience that he cannot face that causes him to resign as a policeman. What will happen next will he remain broken or will he recover?

Review** spoiler alert ** I found this slow to start,probably as I hadn't read the previous 5 books,ad so wasn't too bothered about how the relationship was going with our main characters.
What kept me reading though,was the bad guy. The police knew he'd committed the crime,but nobody was willing to talk out against him.. what exactly was he doing to scare them into silence?
When it was revealed,it added a new element to the book....it's always good to have something completely new thrown in.
I'd guessed the reason Angela didn't feel she could escape before we got to the end,it tied the whole story up nicely though.
I don't think I'll go look for the other 5 books,but I would read no 7.

A compulsive, if violent storyline but, again as with The Promise, I found I didn't really like any of the characters. Not that it detracted from my enjoyment (if "enjoyment" is the right word) of the book.

She's done it again!! another amazing installment in the Imogen Grey series.

This novel blew me away!

Katrina highlighted a crime which is often unreported and not spoken about within society despite more awareness being needed around the subject. Its clear to see that she did her research on the topic by the way she has written about it and for that I'd give her five stars alone!

At times is was difficult and emotional to read.

This was a powerful read that kept me gripped till the end.

Woweeeee I love Detective Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey and there dynamic in Katerina Diamonds crime thriller series. This book however much I loved it was not my favourite.

Don’t get me wrong the relationship and characters were amazing as the previous books I have read however the storyline for me even though was well written wasn’t what I was expecting.

To start there are some serious hard subjects in this book and this wasn’t what made me score this less than the previous read. Katerina Diamond wrote the hard hitting subjects so well it had me cry and get seriously angry too. She had definitely done her research and my heart when you to Detective Adrian Miles.

The book followed the duo on the trail of a horrible and sadistic man. Adrian at the beginning of the book found a woman left for dead in a river and that’s where everything started. The book was full of suspense, heartache, anger and terrible tragedies.

To say I was gobsmacked with this book would be an understatement and I would need to shout TRIGGER WARNING to everyone that reads it. It was hard to read at times but Diamond wrote it in a way that made me want to find out the rest and if the culprit was caught and dealt with.

I would say an enjoyable read but at times the horrific scenes were even a little too much for me. I just felt that this was not the way I was thinking this series to go.

I’ve always enjoyed Katerina Diamond’s books but in my opinion, Woman in the Water is her best yet.

From the first chapter I was totally hooked. The plot line flows well and gradually builds as the story progresses. It covers some highly emotional subjects and these are dealt with sensitivity. Not only do you have the main storyline but there are also Imogen and Adrian facing their own battles.

The book has some fantastic twists and turns that will keep you entertained to the very end. One of my favourite books this year and a very worthy five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books and the author for the chance to review.

I loved this book, it captured me from the very beginning and I didn’t want to put it down. I haven’t read the other books in this series, but I definitely will be after this book. Can’t wait to read more by this author.

Take a dark subject and add some sadistic sexual violence and domestic abuse at its most brutal. Not to say it is not the life of many women and as such deserves a light being shone on it.

Not for the faint hearted but a worthwhile read nonetheless

Woman in the Water is the first book I have read in this series it is a good standalone .I found the story quite dark but very compelling .Detective Adrian Miles rescues a woman for the river who has been badly beaten and is barely alive and so begins a story of domestic abuse ,corruption and rape .The story is fast paced and definitely a page turner though at times it is a bit of a hard read and it is very dark .I loved the twists and turns and the ending was a surprise .I am now going to try and read all the books in this series that I have missed ! Many thanks to the Publishers the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return for an honest review .

This is the first book I have read by Katerina Diamond and I found that the subject matter was a very dark one. The story forced you to confront issues that you would not normally think about. The story did move at a pace and although the story was grim I did enjoy it.

I’ve not read Katarina Diamond before and although Woman in the Water is the latest in the series, it does not rely on knowledge of the previous books to read this one.
The book trips along nicely until midway, when there is an extremely disturbing scene that is out of proportion to the violence that has gone before. I felt that Diamond overstepped the mark with this and although it was dealt with in a realistically way regarding the emotions of the victim, I felt that it was too graphic and wondered why the author had felt the need to include such a violent crime when something less would have sufficed.
The main title character has her own voice, but I didn’t feel we got to know her well enough to sympathise with her. She was elusive, gave little away to the detectives and her commentary which could have let us in more did not elaborate on this. Instead, the two detectives were the ones who took centre stage. Their relationship dominated the story and it feels like Diamond will continue with their lives into the next novel.

This was a fast pacer thriller/mystery that I enjoyed. I have not read the others in this series and didn’t realize it was part of one. But it can read as a stand alone book and I didn’t feel like I am missing out on anything. But I probably will read the others now. I will warn people it was pretty violent in a few scenes, and this is coming from someone who often reads crime fiction.

To begin I must say that Katerina is a great writer with a good understanding of characterisation. The way she deals with the emotional side of this story is mature and with an obvious need for care and compassion. However this is a brutal read! It is not a book i would recommend for recreational pleasure unless you have sadistic tenancies! Be warned and be aware - I certainly would not have this in a school library for example!

For the writing and story line I would have given this novel 4-5 stars but with the explicit content, I cannot recommend it so highly.

This book was phenomenal! I have read all of Katerina Diamond's books and absolutely love her as an author - she is so engaging and I am always hooked. This book was no exception. I was hooked from the start and read this book in one sitting. I can't wait for it to come out so that I can recommend it to my friends and family!

Detectives Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey are back! This time, investigating an assault and a murder that are most likely related. But how can they solve both crimes when their only witness and victim disappears? This is also a hard case for Adrian, since it involves domestic violence and reminds him of his own mother. I loved the first part and I couldn’t stop reading but then… something happens to someone and the effects take over the rest of the novel. Now, I understand how such an event would change a person’s life forever and it’s hard not to sympathize with the character in question. I wanted the culprit to pay and yet this whole subplot seemed a little too long. I should probably add the disclaimer that I like action over character development, so all this talking about someone’s feelings eventually became tedious. I hate saying this because when something like that happens in real life it must be devastating, but I just wanted to know what was going to happen with the investigation and this got in the way. I can’t be more specific and I hope I’m not veering into spoiler territory. Anyway, back to the plot, it’s actually very interesting in that you know whodunit, but it seems impossible to prove. The final twist left me speechless so, overall, this was a solid read for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ Avon!

Although this is the sixth book in the Detectives Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey series this is the first that I have read, although whilst reading the characters of Adrian and Imogen did feel somewhat familiar – or perhaps their relationship was a bit clichéd. Adrian is hailed as a hero when he discovers the body of a woman in the water, when he tries to pull her out of the water he discovers she is still alive, barely, she has been severely beaten. Emergency services are called and he accompanies her to the hospital. Meanwhile, the police searching the river discover the dead body of a man, also severely beaten. Adrian feels compelled to stay with the woman as though he is responsible for her life. Then she disappears. Adrian and Imogen are tasked with discovering who she is, and what happened.

This is a fascinating read but not without shocks. The subject matter includes domestic violence, abuse, incest, rape and PTSD and of course murder. I was thoroughly shocked when I read about the attack and the consequences of the attack which led me to tears on several occasions. What powerful and emotive writing and how sensitively handled was the subject matter – incredible. A well-written book with good characters and certainly good plot structure and surprising twists.

Any negatives? Well I did find Imogen a bit irritating. Clearly she is a good detective but just get on with it, stop pussy footing around about your career and Adrian’s mood. Actually is she a good detective? Just think of Adrian’s flu – I hope I would be a bit more perceptive than her – but then again, I’m not tracking down a murderer.

Would I recommend it? You bet your life on it, but be prepared for some very nasty episodes which I can imagine will offend many people. You have been warned – but it is an excellent book.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I always struggle to write reviews for books like this, they're so twisted and dark and sooo hard to read that I shouldn't love them but I seriously cannot stop reading them. This series has had me hooked from the start. I became obsessed with Katerina's writing from the very first book and I have not been able to shake them since. I'm dying to get my hands on the next one already. I NEED Imogen and Adrian's story to carry on, especially after this one, that is for sure. I am way too attached to these characters now, it cannot end.

The series as a whole has been pretty violent and very dark but this book was on a whole other level. I definitely struggled to get through some bits simply because it was so hard to read, especially after growing so connected to the characters throughout the series. But I won't mention what because I don't want to spoil anything, but I definitely don't recommend this series to everyone, and would really suggest looking into the series before starting them if you're a bit worried about it.

But aside from that, everything else about this book was incredible. The plot line seriously surprised me, it was super fast paced as always but it was so different to the other 5 books. It seems too straight forward for a Katerina Diamond book, but of course it's not. The twist is huge and I did not expect it at all. Perfectly sick and twisted for this series.
The characters were of course amazingly done. The progression for the main characters is brilliant throughout each book, but it delves much much deeper in this one. Again I can't say much more without giving anything away. But TRUST ME.
If this sounds like you're thing, READ IT.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC copy to review.