This was such a great and emotional read. It covered so many topics such as attempted rape, murder, mental healing, the death of a loved one, and fixing friendships.
This book has an element supernatural in it. Sarah identifies her “visitor” from an old picture she finds in one of her ancestor's photo albums, As she finally begins to talk about the visitations, she learns that she is not the only one who has seen the mysterious young woman. Anja was an employee of the lodge many, many years earlier. She died under somewhat mysterious circumstances.
An intriguing spin on the "I know what you did" story entwined with a multitude of suspects and suspicion due to an abundance of secrets between the main characters leads to a plot that will keep you turning pages and trying to figure out who the real villain is. Well-written and great characters with strengths, weaknesses, and flaws that make them all the more real.

Bitterroot Lake is intriguing and a page turner. The characters will take you on a journey through their family history. You'll enjoy learning about their ancestors. There's also a modern murder to solve. It will keep you guessing.

Bitterroot Lake , even the name of the lake is eerie, is book that contains rape, mystery, murder, grieving, secrets and revenge.

Twenty -five years ago at the lake, Sarah and her friends were at a party that went horribly wrong and two of them died.

Sarah has returned to Whitetail Lodge to heal after the passing of her husband only to learn that driver responsible twenty-five years ago has been murdered.

Whitetail Lodge itself is in bad shape and the house holds many secrets .

These secrets seem somehow to be tied to the murder or are they?

Can they save the Lodge and clear their friends name who is a person of interest.

I don't want to say much more and give things away but a lot happens at Whitetail Lodge.

The pages flew by as the suspense grew.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an intriguing read.

A great thriller with well-developed characters and lots of twists and turns with a tinge of supernatural in it as well. It's a slow burn so if you're looking for a fast-paced edge of your seat type of thriller, this one might not be the one for you.

A story of mystery, murder, and mourning.

After losing her husband, Sarah McCaskill returns back to the family's Whitetail Lodge on the shores of Bitterroot Lake. Her mother wants her to experience healing, but instead, Sarah is confronted with bad memories of the past. 25 years prior, during a weekend of fun on the lake, Sarah and her friends lost one of their own in a tragic car accident. Now, the person responsible for the death is dead himself, and no one knows who did it.

Ultimately, this book is chock full of secrets unknown to the other characters and you, the reader. I loved the atmosphere of Whitetail Lodge and the town of Deer Park, along with the many members of the town. This novel kept my attention, mainly because I had absolutely no idea where the book was going and what all of the hints at secrets meant. The murder is kept on the back burner, not something I was really expecting, but not something I completely disliked either. It added to the intrigue for me because I was left wondering.

Overall, this is a novel of love, loss, and tragedy, and how to cope with all of these things. Sarah has so much pain from losing her husband, and I think this is something so many could relate to. Additionally, we experience what it does to others when we keep secrets from our friends and family.

The ending was abrupt and not my favorite, but this novel kept my attention through and through, even if it was because I was confused and wondering how it was going to tie together.

Trigger Warnings: Rape, death of loved ones, potential suicide reference

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I felt that this was hard to get invested it. I enjoyed it, but it moved slowly in places, and also seemed to move too fast in other places, leaving me confused as to what was happening. I liked the revelations about Sarah's family history & the history of the lodge. I liked the mystery aspect of the book, and did not pick who the murderer was.

An intriguing spin on the "I know what you did" story entwined with a multitude of suspects and suspicion due to an abundance of secrets between the main characters leads to a plot that will keep you turning pages and trying to figure out who the real villain is. Well written and great characters with strengths, weaknesses and flaws that make them all the more real. I absolutely can't wait to read more of this authors books as this one was a first for me.

After the death of her husband Sarah McCaskill returns to Whitehill Lodge, the family's summer home. Twenty-five years prior, another tragic accident claimed the life of one of Sarah's friends and injured two others. Now one of those men has been found murdered and all the bad vibes flood back to Sarah's mind. She begins having dreams about the night and worries they are an indicator of things to come. An interesting mystery.

I found this to be an interesting story and I liked the supernatural element. I liked learning the history of the lodge and thought that it added to the story. The writing was good and kept me engaged throughout.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Here’s what worked for me: the setting! I loved the strong sense of place...and I loved the “coming back home” narrative.

Here’s what didn’t work so well: I found the pacing of this book to be off...too much happened “off screen” at the very start of the novel, and I felt adrift (perhaps intentionally so, I acknowledge). I wanted to care more about the characters than I did.

I deeply appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book - I am looking forward to more of Ms. Beckman’s work.

Bitterroot Lake sounded like it would be an interesting mystery, and it was. Lots to keep the reader interested in way of a murder, suspense, unsolved family drama, etc. My only issue was that it did seem to take a bit longer to wrap up than necessary, but still worth reading. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this advanced readers copy.

Four college friends unexpectedly reunite at a Montana lake house 25 years after an event rocked their lives. The carnage from this event lives on as a recent murder occurs and one of the friends stands accused. The four women try to forge together to put the past behind them and help their friend, despite ghostly dreams portending trouble.

This book was atmospheric and suspenseful.

This is one of those books that has all the ingredients I love in a book (a murder, a ghost, a creepy old lodge!) but I just couldn't connect with it and I can't put my finger on why. It centers on Sarah and is told primarily from her point of view. Sarah lost touch with her group of friends after an incident in their early 20s and returned to her family's Montana lodge 20+ years later after her husband dies from cancer, only to be faced with the murder of the guy who caused all the fallout all those years ago.

The author spent more time developing Sarah's character than the other characters and I thought she was likeable, but just didn't really connect with her. There was a lot of time and words spent on the history of the lodge and the old owners, and I wish that there would have been less of that and more of getting to know the current characters.

When the mystery between both the murder and the history of the lodge were solved, they were unexpectedly, but honestly I just wasn't that invested.

Overall, I really can't decide why I wasn't into this book- the only thing I can put it down to is just too much bland detail and not enough action, even though all the pieces were there. I don't know that I will read another book from this author. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh, why is 2021 ruining me for books!? Not a single A grade yet and I'm into February already!

This was a book I really wasn't sure if I would like or not, but it sounded relatively interesting, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Although it started off decent enough, I got bored quickly. There's way too much description in this book, and it ended up evolving into this weird story. I loved the idea of something happening years ago and then friends coming back together years later when another tragedy strikes.

However, what I don't like is when a simple mystery turns into a history and ghost story. I wanted this to be one story and it morphed into other stories that just did not meld together for me.

The only reason this book didn't complete fail for me is that I did still have to know what happened at the end, but I skimmed through about the last quarter of it to get there. Definitely not worth the time.

Intriguing mystery that keeps you guessing with characters who feel real. Plenty of twists throughout keep the ending a surprise.

Bitterroot Lake by Alicia Beckman

When four women, separated, by tragedy, reunite at a Montana lake lodge, murder forces them to think about everything they knew about the accident that tore them apart.

The book was okay. I thought the author spent too much time on the history off the lodge, and its former owners. There were many interesting characters and suspects. Surprised to read who the killer was. Very sad parts of the book.

Bitterroot Lake by Alicia Beckman was a well crafted story of four women united by a long ago tragedy and reunited by a mystery linked to that event. The characters were well written and personable and their entwined stories kept me interested to the end.

I enjoyed the book but it took me awhile to finish it. Although I liked the storyline, it seemed to go back and forth between past and present. The 4 main characters were friends 25 years ago and reunite at the lake to solve the mystery of the tragic event that killed a friend. I felt like I was always trying to piece things together and to remember what happened in the past. Thank you for the ARC.

Twenty-five years ago four friends and roommates (Sarah, her sister Holly, Nicole and Janine) vacation at Whitetail Lodge. One of the girls was assaulted by one of the young men in their group. The other guys come to her defense and chased the guilty guy by jumping in a car and then there is a terrible accident that left one dead.

Now: Sarah McCaskill Carter is 47 and a young widow, he husband Jeremy recently died of cancer. Although Sarah is still grieving she returns to her family’s summer home Whitetail Lodge in Montana near Bitterroot Lake to help prepare for the summer guests. She finds Janine in one of the cabins and she is terrified as she received a letter undated and unsigned.
“Only you know the truth of what happened twenty-five years ago.
Only you can decide what to do.”
Lucas who was driving the car twenty-five years, and is found shot! Janine is assumed to be guilt. She was the one who was assaulted years ago and blamed for the death as most feel she was a tease.
Hmm so she was asking for it?????

Story is told mainly from Sarah POV; it deals with secrets and is slow burn suspense. I did love the description of this small Montana village so it kept me reading. Always like twists and turns.
Love the Author’s note and Acknowledgements. Mrs. Beckman tells us that beautiful Bitterroot Lake, Deer Park, and Whitetail Lodge are from her imagination. However, in her research she was drawn to the historic lodges

Want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled April 13, 2021

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the relationships, past and present, of the heroines in this novel.