I enjoyed this mystery. I loved the sarcasm of the main character Jess.

There are two reasons I only gave it four stars. One, there were several side stories. They were interesting but I started to lose track of the main mystery. Two, The conversation kept referring to past relationships and past events. I found that distracting and assumed there were previous books in the series I had not read. After I finished the book I looked up the series and this was the first book.

Other than those two small items I loved Black River.

I received this book for NetGalley.

Jess Bridges is a new heroine that I love in mystery/crime genre. She’s strong and resilient and her character driven kept me up for a few hours to devour this new series. Imagine the terror of finding a dead body while swimming. This book is addictive and the turns and twists kept coming with each page turned. As the body count starts to grow, so the uncertainy that something is not really right. But as a great heroine, even facing her terrible past and being on the spectrum of ADHD, Jess has become a woman that will always fight for what’s right and won’t step aside in front of any obstacle. Black River is a mystery story that many readers will enjoy as much as me for sure

Black River is the first of the Jess Bridges series. Jess is a part-time PI--part-time only because she's starting out and can't quite quit her day job--who has a knack for finding people. Her ADHD sometimes leads her to act before she thinks, like when she decides skinny-dipping would be fun only to had a dog run away with her clothes! Of course, she discovers a dead man in a row boat and has to answer questions clad only in a newspaper. While she might wish otherwise, this is fairly typical for Jess, and soon she's involved in tracking down a murdered who likes to impersonate his victims, trying to juggle several men who are interested in her romantically, and tracking down a runaway teenager.

Quick, enjoyable read, just right when you want to laugh.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

This was a fast-paced and fun read, with Jess Bridges, a Private Investigator, always full with her energy, had a complicated personal life, and eager to find the answers of any mysteries that she encountered, makes the story have a little bit of chick-lit with mystery touch.

Jess Bridges decide wants to go swimming after a book club meeting. She goes wild swimming in the Thames river, naked. Unfortunately a dog steals her clothes so she continues her swimming. And to her shocking moment, she finds a dead body in a punt.

This is book #1of a series, a type of whodunnit read, with humor and variety of characters. However, I got confused after a few chapters because there were too many characters besides the main one. I had to come back a few pages, only to find the connection and make sure that I was still stick to a certain character. Also, I felt this is more chick-lit mysteries, maybe because the main character, Jess Bridges, always sticks with her high energy, and is very entertaining.

Thank you to One More Chapter and Harper Collins for my ARC of this book

"I don't know what your book club is like, but mine is the sort that ends up with me stranded naked in the river with a dead man and a murderer on the loose”.

What a hilarious and unexpected opening to this captivating thriller Black River by Joss Sterling (this is literally the first sentence of Chapter One). I went into this read completely neutral and unsure of what to expect. If you asked me which genre of fiction, I would say it’s a character-driven crime thriller, however, it doesn’t neatly fit in the crime thriller box, there’s something extra in there. Almost like a Bridget Jones, Columbo, No1 Ladies Detective Agency mashup which is extremely refreshing.

It moves from lighter funnier moments, to chilling so jaw-droppingly quickly at points, it will make you do a double take. It scared me a few times as well which again, I wasn’t expecting. Suffice to say I’m not inclined to go wild swimming anytime soon!

The setting of Oxford works really well and is accurately portrayed – the author Jess Stirling lives there, and you can tell. If you’ve visited Oxford, you’ll really feel it pouring out from the pages and that just adds yet another great surprise to the overall atmosphere because you’re thinking what, in Oxford?
I’m a huge fan of a multi-perspective plot and this one does not disappoint. We hear from Jess, Michael, Leo, and there are many other characters learning quite a lot about them in a short space of time.

Let’s talk about our main protagonist Jess Bridges. She’s gutsy yet at times vulnerable, sharp, funny/sarcastic, impulsive, and a magnet for unusual situations. Weirdly very relatable. Given this is the first time we meet Jess I felt we really get to know her in this book, there’s more to come but you get a really good sense of who she is and what’s going on in her life. I also really enjoyed the fact that this book had some strong female characters in a non-cliched or forced way – Jess is good at what she does and thinking on her feet, she’s not just sitting around waiting to be rescued.

There are strong characters here regardless of gender – many different layers and examples of power struggles come into play, familial, in various professional settings, on set, in the force, between old colleagues. And considering there are so many things going on all the strands of the subplots are woven together well.

This is a tense and gripping whodunit of a tale, that had me suspicious of everyone at one point! I worked who the murderer was [no I’m not going to spoil it] but it wasn’t predictable and did make sense which is very satisfying.

I definitely want to continue with the next books in the series and can’t wait to see where Jess finds herself next…

Black River is the first in a series of Jess Bridges mystery novels written by Joss Stirling. The main character Jess, is good fun, she is a private investigator floating along with life not taking anything too seriously. Within minutes she has not only been skinny dipping, but her clothes have been stolen and she uncovers a dead body! Her erratic relationships with the other characters carry the plots very well;
Jago, the author of her book club read which, initiated the skinny dipping; Leo the detective who comes to her rescue with a jacket to cover her modesty and Michael her ex boyfriend who is at the receiving end of an internet troll and becomes a expert adviser for the police.
The plot of the book is fast paced, involving 3 main story lines, the criminal investigation into the murder on the river, the PI gig Jess is working on and Michael's mysterious stalker. With plenty of twists and red herrings it a good mystery, with the excellent characters it makes for a really good read.
It is written with a lot of humour, I really like Jess, envy her carefree attitude towards life. Her landlady is hilarious, constantly looking for excitement from Jess's life. I would recommend to those who like mysteries with a little humour.
Looking forward to the next in the series! Thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and OMC read along for the ARC.

THANK YOU TO "ONE MORE CHAPTER" FOR MY ARC COPY.

I enjoyed this so much more than I expected to - it is my first Joss Stirling book & SPOILER - it won't be the last. I loved Jess as the main character, she added some much needed humour to the story, which we don't often see in mystery/thriller books.

I did find the beginning a little slow but once it got going, I couldn't put it down.

I can't wait to see where Jess's story goes!!!!

Black river
By joss Stirling
Pub date Oct 30 202o
May contain spoilers
I don’t usually read crimes but lately I’ve been reading them allot and find myself enjoying them I like the suspense and the ideas of who done it. This is what you get from this book Jess find a body in the water and Leo the detective question here it not the first time she find a body though it’s a very good mystery crime thriller full of exciting plot and twist you think you get near two who done it then another plot happen. Plus there a missing person two find that Jess investigates with has well you definitely enjoy this book allot it’s part of a series the next book is the white horse two which il be looking forward two read x I gave it four stars

In University Park, Oxford, a book club of mum’s drinking wine, catching up with each other and pulling to pieces a book by Jago Jackson called Wild Swim, were sitting. The book included some lovely spots for swimming and had Parson’s Pleasure, where they were. Jess decided she was going for a swim, naked. The others left, so it was her and Cory. Jess entered the icy water and swam out, it was invigorating. She saw Cory chasing a dog that had stolen her clothes. Jess got out on the other riverbank where there was a punt tied up. She was looking for something to cover herself with but found a dead body instead!

Then, as the bushes rustled, a man appeared, coming her way. She screamed, loudly.
The police arrived and started investigating. Her saviour was Jago Jackson and the dead man was Kenneth Kingston, bursar at Linton College. SOCO were going over the punt and boathouse. DI Leo George was questioning Jess Bridges. She was working for a temping agency but, also, trying to build up her personal investigation business as well.

Ruby Lonsdale was out on her training run but she was running late. She’d arranged to meet her boyfriend, Danny, at the Perch. When she reached it, Danny wasn’t there. She checked Find Friends, he was close but not in sight. She rang him and could hear a vibration close by. She found his phone on the verge. A man said he may have seen a jogger further down the road, Ruby sets off.

DI George was called to the scene after Ruby and Danny had been found by a dog walker.
Ruby was naked and Danny was fully clothed but had been slung in the water. The killer had hit them on the head.

What were his motives for killing the victims? How did he pick his targets? Why the change to the method of killing? Was Jess Bridges or Jago Jackson linked to this?

I really enjoyed reading this book which is the start of a new series by Joss Stirling. Jess Bridges seems a very lively character and seems to have a lot to offer along with DI Leo George. I found it quite easy to read and it’s set in Oxford so it has a good setting.

I liked the character of Jess Bridges in this book. She is unlike any other private investigator you would ever meet and has a sunny, upbeat personality with a quirky sense of humor. Her personal life though is a bit of a question mark. Almost every man in this book is attracted to her, which is a bit difficult to digest. Still, the plot was well developed and kept me engaged throughout. I will look forward to reading what she is up to in the next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I liked this book- I really did- but I did have a couple issues. Firstly, the book was long, well over 400 pages, and had some unnecessary detail (and possibly even a couple unnecessary characters). Secondly, it's the first book in a series, but alluded to a previous case/situation without providing more info, which made it feel like I had missed a previous book. The story centers primarily around Jess, who is a private investigator (though you get the idea that she doesn't work as much as she could) who stumbles across a dead body when skinny-dipping in the river one night. There are also some chapters told from the POV of the detective, Leo, and a couple other tertiary characters tied to Jess in some way.

Jess was really likeable- a mix of confident and self-deprecating, I got the idea that she was authentic and didn't take herself too seriously. It did feel like everyone she came across was attracted to her, and that got to be a little much, but then it again it showed her likeability. The storyline was clever, with the mystery based around a recent book that was published about swimming spots- was someone using the books to plan the killings, or was the author himself, who Jessica gets to know, the actual killer? There were plenty of twists and turns and I changed my mind multiple times about who I thought the villain was. There were also a couple side stories going on that intertwined well with the primary narrative.

Definitely an interesting premise and an interesting story if you can prepare yourself for the length- I think I finished the book in 6 days when I normally finish a book in 1-2. I would be interested in reading more about Jess, though, and plan on picking up the next installment. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this first dip in the water for this author.
I like Jess very much, with her ADHD I think that the author has portrayed her very well, quick witted and difficult for her to relax and always on the go.
The story was a bit all over the place, but for me it kept it interesting.
I liked the men in Jess's life and felt that they all had meaning to her.
A good book all around and I am looking forward to reading her next one.

Black River is the first book in an intriguing new series featuring Jess Bridges. Her chaotic lifestyle means that nothing is ever dull around her, so I wanted to know where her investigation would take her next. Despite the chaos, she's incredibly intelligent and I warmed to her reasonably quickly and trusted her to get the job done. 

The novel is written from the perspective of several different characters. This is unusual for a novel that is part of a series so I was interested to see how it would work. It added to the story in the sense that the reader could look at the investigation from many different angles: however, I did feel that changing viewpoints so regularly prevented the author from building the characters in detail and allowing us to get to know them well.

There are several different strands to this story and I was keen to see how they would come together and what the outcome of each one would be. The plot was easy to follow, but I felt that with so many things to cram into it, there was not as much detail as there could have been and this meant that some of the developments seemed a little unlikely.

Thanks to #NetGalley, the publisher Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and the author @JossStirling for providing me with a digital ARC of Black River #JessBridges in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way. This book was such a fun read, and I did not want to put it down. This is the first book in the Jess Bridges Series and my goodness it is fast paced. I look forward to reading more by this author - this book comes highly recommended.

After a girls book club meeting out in the local park, Private investigator Jess took an independent skinny dip as night started to roll in. However she encountered much more than she bargained for as she finds a naked dead body.
Jago, a local author, is out for a jog when he is alerted to the situation.
DI Leo George is leading the investigation, which is further complicated as more bodies are found. Jago and Jess s friendship develops, however the dead bodies seem to always be linked to places they have or were going to go.
Psychologist Matthew, is called in to help profile the killer. Jess and Matthew have history and become the victims of a stalker.

I enjoyed this book but didn't keep me totally gripped. I felt I wanted more information about Jesse's past, how did Michael sustain his injury, what was their history.
Found the plot confusing at times with a lot of characters that didn't always link.

Black River Joss Stirling
This book is bit of a slow burning mystery. There is a lot going on at times and it took me a while to get into the storyline. It did all come together in the end and did keep me guessing.
There is a second book in this series, with both books released on the same day, so I will be reading the second book soon.

This was a fantastic crime drama with added humour.

I loved our main character Jess. She had bags of energy, wasn't afraid to get stuck in. And, her humour was a great added light relief to the darker side of the storyline.

I enjoyed how the storyline developed, enough mystery and intrigue to keep us guessing and on our toes.

I will definitely be reading the rest of this series, just to see what kind of scrapes Jess will get herself into next

Black River was light and hardboiled opening book of Jess Bridges Mystery series that revolved around the murder cases in Oxford’s wild swimming spots and main characters Jess and Leo involved with the cases. It was about difficult family relationship, abusive childhood, friendship, online trolling and abuse, ADHD, manipulation, and obsessive disorder.

Writing was engaging, descriptive, and entertaining in multiple first person narrative mainly from Jess, Leo and Michael’s perspective. Setting of North Oxford, Linton college with film shooting going on, wild Swimming Spots around river Thames and Cherwell was vivid and atmospheric. It added extra touch to story making it more mysterious. I could imagine how the wild swimming spots could attract all kind of danger. Plot was interesting with not only murder mystery but few other mysteries and layers.

It started with Jess, single and definitely not mom, attending her third mom’s book club at Parson’s Pleasure with her best friend and tenant Cory that turned into hilarious event with a dare of naked wild swimming in river, clothes taken by a dog, Cory running after dog to fetch clothes, and Jess hiding in bush, naked. But soon the fun wild swimming spot turned into more serious crime scene when Jess found another naked body, but dead.

DI Leo George was tasked to lead the investigation and that’s how he met Jess and another witness the passer by jogger, Jago Jackson, who helped Jess on the scene and happened to be the same author Jess’ book club was discussing. But soon there are more murders that made Leo bring in forensic psychologist, Michael Harrison who was Jess’ ex. At the same time Michael was being trolled and threatened on social media and Jess received her private investigator case that doesn’t look as simple as it seems.

Looks like so much was going on, right? I was curious to find out who was the killer, who was trolling Michael and who was to blame in the case Jess was following, and how they were going to solve all these mysteries. Jess’ voice refreshing and brought book to life. Her fun, sassy and lively nature gave this murder mystery a cozy feel which was surprising. I was expecting a serious mystery/thriller but it turned out fun and entertaining making me smile and laugh often.

There were many characters but best thing was I could keep the track of them without having to keep notes. Most of characters were likable, fun to read and quirky but some were unreliable and I didn’t trust easily.

Jess was the best character in the book. She was impulsive, reckless, unpredictable, funny, lively, hyperactive with ADHD, and had a knack to get in trouble and find herself in weird and funny situation. She was going through emotional phase. She worked as undertaker at her boyfriend’s parent’ funeral firm. But the blunder she made and her boyfriend leaving her to pursue another career keeping their relationship ‘on hiatus’, made her find her own accommodation and a new job. Luckily, she found Cory who needed unofficial lodger and soon became best friend. Jess also had a business of private investigator specialising in lost-and-found person service. She was really good at it than any other job she took.

She was charming person even though she had abusive and troubled childhood making her run away from her father. She hid the panic, anxiety and worry world threw at her well behind her always happy and chirpy nature. She was amazing friend and weirdly loyal to her exes. The way she helped Michael and handled her tentative ex, in presence of Jago with whom she was now sleeping was amazing. I bet only she can do this and come out without any judgement, with nobody getting hurt or harbouring ill feelings, and still can attract virtually every man she come across.

Leo was second favourite character. He was Jess’ polar opposite- serious, organised, calm, and steady. He was amazing in his detective work and also had similar troubled and tough childhood that hid well from the world. I liked him the way he handled case, and his departments’ view towards him.

I loved Cory and how she helped Jess and stayed with her even after knowing she and her kids might be in danger. I agreed with her when she said life with Jess never can be boring. I didn’t like Drew for leaving Jess hanging with uncertain relationship. I didn’t like Jago, he was too self-absorbed and I didn’t trust him most of the time. Jonah was great. He too loved fame and was a little self-absorbed but there was more to him and loved him for helping Jess. Michael was my third favourite. His struggle with injury, loneliness and regrets were well written. The case gave his life purpose and I like how it helped his mental health and developed his character.

Now you could figure out Jess’ relationships were complicated and yet I could see something happening between Jess and Leo. It didn’t happen in this one but I was enjoying Leo’s attraction towards Jess and how Jess could turn his ever neutral face into relaxing and smiling. I can’t wait to see how their relationship will progresses in next books.

All twist and turns were amazing. It was action packed and hardly gave time to predict anything. I had few theories for all three cases but they all turned out wrong but my second guess was right in one case. Climax was tense with a twist in the case Jess was following that got involved with serial killer, and then Michael figuring out who was sending him threat with unexpected visit. It was amazing to see all three cases coming together and the way they were wrapped up. End was perfect and lovely.

Overall, Black River was fun, entertaining, action-packed and well written mystery with interesting characters and atmospheric setting.

This is a great start to a new series, and one that I will definitely be following.
Jess finds the dead body of a man while out swimming in the Thames, following a discussion about wild swimming with some friends.
She meets Jago at the crime scene as he’s out jogging and he helps her keep her modesty as she’d been swimming naked.
Jess has a great sense of humour and I loved her character in this book.
Another body is soon found and it’s at a place where Jess and Jago have been swimming so DI George warns them to be careful.
Strange packages are also being left for Jess and her ex Michael but what do they mean?
Jess is trying to get her private detective business off the ground so helps a woman try to get her daughter back, but the two cases cross over and soon lives are in danger.
This is a refreshing change to police procedurals as it has plenty of humour running through it and I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A great start to a new series. An private investigator known for her unusual habits and approach to investigations finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation when she finds a body while out swimming. The unusual habit...she was swimming naked when a dog stole her clothes and she found the body. An entertaining introduction to Jess Bridges. A book that lists many locations where people might wild swim has drawn the attention of many. As it becomes more popular, it seems there are more than swimmers using the maps and locations. One body, then another show up with the victims being out for a swim.

I had not read any Joss Stirling books before. She definitely writes the kind of books that find themselves to my TBR pile. An entertaining crime thriller is as unusual as our main character. She made for a very good read.