The Look-Alike by Erica Spindler

First Sentence:

Sienna Scott nearly tripped over the body.

Set in Tranquility Bluffs, Wisconsin, college student Sienna Scott stumbles across a murdered girl on campus while walking home late from a study group. The initial investigation never produces the murderer. Strangely enough, Sienna was wearing the same coat on the same night as the girl who was murdered on campus, ten years prior. Coincidence? This is the start of a downward spiral which ultimately leads to Sienna finishing her studies in London. Sienna resembles her mother, who has a serious and debilitating mental illness and Sienna has always felt that people were waiting for her to inherit more than just her mother’s good looks. In fact, for a long time, Sienna was waiting, too.

Ten years later, Sienna returns to Tranquility Bluffs just as the chief of police is reopening the investigation of the murdered girl, Madison. There are several suspects, all of which I was certain were guilty at some point in the book but I have to say that I was pretty surprised when the murderer was revealed.

Sienna is a perfect protagonist for this psychological thriller, she is at times fragile, filled with self-doubt, and fighting against her experiences with growing up with a mentally ill mother but she also shows courage and intelligence in the face of adversity.

The plot is well thought out, traverses seamlessly between the past and the present, and progresses at a quick pace. This is the first book I’ve read by Erica Spindler; I’ll definitely be picking up more of her books.

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

What an ending... This was a truly good psychological thriller. Spindler wove a tapestry of past and present and had me captivated from page one.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. How does the old quote go? Something like, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you". That is the idea behind this book. Daughter moves back to town to help her sick mother just as the cold case she moved to get away from is being reopened. With lots of twists and turns this one keeps you guessing and reading until the very end. A great book to curl up with on a bad weather day.

One cold winter evening after Sienna Scott leaves her college library , she walks her usual shortcut to her dorm room that’s when she finds a dead girl in a white parka and blood everywhere in the white snow. The campus cop escorts her to the police car and that’s where she learns the dead girl is another student named Madison Robie and she was wearing the same coat as Siennas. Maybe it was Sienna that was supposed to die? Fast forward ten years and never getting over the murder she stumbled on Sienna has been living in England. She decides to move back home to Tranquility Bluffs and help her mother who suffers from a mental illness. Vivienne Scott suffers from persecutory delusional disorder she sees the word as everyone is dangerous. Now back home Sienna begins to wonder if she suffers from the same illness after constantly worrying if it was suppose to be her murdered that cold night. She soon hears the police are reopening Madison’s cold case. Sienna decides to do her own investigating. Her delusional mothers keeps telling her a white van keeps driving by and soon Sienna sees the white van but is she falling for her mother’s delusions? But when the phone calls start with a voice telling her that she was supposed to die that night she gets scared. Sienna wonders if the murderer is someone she knows or is watching her? Is it the new neighbor across the street he keeps watching her from his window, or the white van that her mother claims driving by or is it someone she’s known her whole life? This book kept me guessing I give it four stars!

I wanted to like this book but it was poorly written. A lot of telling and not showing. I couldn't connect with it at all.

This book is about Sienna Scott, a young woman who returns to her hometown in Wisconsin after living in London for ten years. She left after a woman was murdered on her college campus. Sienna has always been sure that it was a case of mistaken identity, that she was the one who was meant to be murdered. As Sienna reconnects and connects with the locals, everyone is shady. This is a good book and a page turner. Recommended.

The Look-Alike is a fantastic thriller that has a few good twists and turns. The writing is wonderful and the characters are well developed. A good book to finish out the year.

A well-crafted mystery with romantic threads that furthered the tension - as it was unclear who was the murderer.

Excellent read. Erica Spindler tells a story that flows easily and keeps you interested. After discovering a body of a girl dressed in the same type coat as hers and on a path she travel often after her late class. Sienna is wondering if it was she the killer was after? She is bonding with the much older security officer who heard her screams and came to her aid. Her father feeling it's not appropriate sends her away. She is also too focused on the horrible image of the dead girl she literally tripped over. She returns to her home town ten years later to find the same questions once again raised in her mind. Was the killer after her? They had never found the killer and now the.person in charge of the cold case is none other than the very officer who worked for the campus where it all happened and came to her aid that awful night. He now is an officer in the police department. Sienna moves into her family home to take care of her mother who has battled mental health issues since the birth of Sienna. Her father passed away and her only other living relative is her brother. A married but recently separated successful land developer. The new neighbor across the street from her home has caught her eye. He is a handsome carpenter who bought the house to fix and flip. She soon begins a friendship she hopes will grow. Things start to go wrong when threatening phone calls start, white van drive-bys are reported by her unbalanced mother. Are these just symptoms of her illness or is someone after Sienna. I recommend this book. It has drama, deception, beginning love, murder and keeps a good pace. Thank you NetGalley, Erica Spindler and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is my honest opinion.

I was absolutely hooked in right from the start and it kept getting better with the development of other characters in the plot. I liked how Jonathan’s characters played out in the whole plot and also as a boyfriend/suspect, I kept looking for clues. The clues to the murderer were available as bread-crumbs in earlier portions of the book but it was interesting as everything comes together only at the end. I did feel Sienna made quite a few stupid choices but her difficult circumstances can be considered as a justification

I read this one in two sittings so I can assure it kept up the intrigue level for me. The whole angle of - whether Sienna inherited her mother’s mental illness brought in lot of twists and confusion to keep the reader guessing on how far was Sienna and her family was involved in the murder.

It is a great fast-paced whodunnit mystery with good plot-twists and a little romance!

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy!⁣

I enjoyed this thriller. My first book by this author. I thought i had it all figured out but no, It kept me guessing till the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All opinions are my own.

I’d like to thank NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book. This is my first time reading anything by Erica Spindler. I enjoyed her style of writing, and had to know what happened next. Every time I thought I had it figured out, a curveball threw me off again. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to #netgalley for this ARC!

In The Look-Alike, we first meet Sienna Scott after she discovers the body of Madison Robie, brutally murdered after a snowstorm. After realizing that Madison was wearing the same coat she was, and on the same path that she takes, Sienna starts to think that she was supposed to die. After living in London for ten years, Sienna comes back to Tranquility Bluffs to take care of her mother. Upon learning that the murder case had been reopened, she begins to search for the truth.

This book was one of the most intense psychological thrillers I’ve ever read. I couldn’t predict who Madison’s killer was, and it felt like the twists just kept coming. It was very interesting to see a mother-daughter relationship revolving around a mental illness, even though some parts were very disturbing. I would’ve liked to see Sienna explore her mental health more, especially as the plot begins to thicken and we learn more about her family and friends.

If you enjoy a suspenseful thriller, The Look-Alike is for you. Check this book out in January 2020 - you won’t want to miss it!

Ack! What a fast-paced ride in Tranquility Bluffs! An easy and enjoyable read with a questionable cast of characters, any one of whom could be Madison Robie's killer. Looking back I would have liked more character development for some of the peripheral characters (and even Jonathan). The epilogue, while satisfactory, left me with a couple questions about Sienna's family. Guess you should bring her back in a future novel! Thanks to #Netgalley for the opportunity to preview #TheLookAlike by @EricaSpindler

I have read every single one of Erica Spindler's books. I am a huge fan and I always get very excited to see a new release from her, especially since apart from those, I finished all her previous books years ago. As always she holds the title in a fast paced, yet slow burning, atmospheric thriller. Sienna returns home after many years away. She left because she found a dead body and her mental health was drifting down toward mirroring her mother's fragile psyche. Not much has changed with her mother's mental health, if anything things have gotten worse. The case into the murdered girl she found has been reopened. This takes us on a wild ride of trying to figure out if Sienna was the target of the original girl that was murdered or if she is going down the path of inheriting her mother's illness. A lot about mental health and being the caretaker or loved one of someone with this particular condition is discussed and plays a well thought out central role in the book. Let's see if you can guess the ending or if you were wrong like I was. Don't miss out on yet another thriller by the Queen of Suspense.

Ten years ago, Sienna Scott stumbled onto a gruesome crime scene -- the body of another college student, brutally stabbed to death. The scene alone would unnerve anyone. But when Sienna realizes that the dead girl was wearing the same coat, and walking the same path that Sienna takes every Wednesday night, she begins to wonder if SHE was actually the target of the violent attack? Ten years later, Sienna returns to her hometown and begins to search for the truth.

The Look-Alike was a captivating thriller. What I liked most about this book was the lack of predictability. Erica Spindler sprinkles countless red herrings throughout the book, making her reader second guess every move. This was a great read with lots of twists and turns!

I love a good mystery. I generally avoid books where mental illness is a big part (my mother suffered from mental illness). This book didn't bother me though. The storyline was good and I fell victim to guessing the killer and being wrong more than once. My only struggle was how quickly the main character fell in love.

Interesting read. It was dark and creepy! And full of twists and turns I never saw coming!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I have always been a huge fan of Erica's books so I requested this book without even reading the premise of it, and with that being said, you will not be disappointed! This is Erica at her finest, an interesting main character in Sienna, the unstable mother and caregiver brother that bring her back to her hometown after being away for a decade after witnessing a murder. The plot goes back and forth between present day and a decade earlier and they intertwine seemlessly with interesting characters that tie both timelines together. With Sienna back in town, the murder investigation is reopened and once again she wonders if she was the intended victim after all... definitely worth the read.

Hot Take:
The prologue was really, really good. Unfortunately the rest of the story failed to live up to that one masterful paragraph. It was short, well-written, and intense. Everything else was a little too trope-reliant for me. I don't know how much more "am I mentally ill because I look just like my mentally ill mother everyone says so" I could have handled. Probably none. I would have preferred several times fewer than I got, honestly. Look, I get that hereditary mental illness is a terrifying prospect - truly. But damn, Sienna! If you're really so worried that you might be suffering from a mental illness TALK TO THAT PSYCHIATRIST YOU KEEP SEEING ABOUT/WITH YOUR MOM. Mental health scares as plot devices are kind of frustrating, y'all.

That being said, outside of my misgivings about her another is she just imagining all the things mystery story, the writing is pretty solid. The story is well paced, and I never found myself bored. Although while I'm here, I did find the constant "bro," " sis," and "sib-" ing between Sienna and her brother really bizarre. Do people really do that? I have both a brother and a sister, and I have never even considered addressing either of them so...weirdly.

My Rating:
2.5 out of 5 arbitrary items of rating. it was ok, but ultimately relied on some plot devices that I find tiresome. If you like books about ladies who don't trust themselves because there's a possibility they might be mentally ill, but they would rather find out based on external validation by random happenstance than go to a mental health professional this might be the book for you. Ultimately, it just wasn't really for me.