It is rare that I would start off a book review with a trigger warning, but this book really needs it. Please be aware that 16 dead horses are discovered immediately at the beginning of this book. The horses were found dismembered and mutilated.

Sixteen Horses is set in the English seaside town of IImarsh. Ilmarsh is a small, dreary town that has been all but forgotten in England. After the discovery of the sixteen horses by a farmer and his daughter, Detective Alec Nichols and Veterinary Forensics expert Cooper Allen are called in to investigate.

Sixteen Horses is very atmospheric and I can picture a person reading it on a dark and rainy day in the Fall. However, the story felt disjointed to me. And the characters are a bit predictable.

This is Greg Buchanan's debut novel and I plan on reading his future writing.

I included this title as part what's new in suspense, mystery, and thrillers in the month of July. I promoted on Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram. https://www.bethfishreads.com/2021/07/22-mysteries-thrillers-suspense-novels.html

Nothing will be the same for the town of Ilmarsh, England after the heads of sixteen horses are found buried, with little more than one eye showing, on a local farm. Detective Alec Nichols and Cooper Allen, an expert in Veterinary Forensics, are determined to solve the mystery surrounding the buried heads, as well as the subsequent crimes uncovered during their investigation, an investigation that threatens their very health and safety.

The basic premise of Sixteen Horses sounded absolutely fascinating, and it started out great, but then it just seemed to take a strange and confusing turn. There are a lot of chapters, and while at times it added a level of suspense and mystery to the story, the narrative seemed to become fragmented about half way through, and at times I became perplexed about what was happening. I did like the inclusion of the text messages and the insights they provided about Alec’s thoughts and feelings, but other things included outside of the individual narrative seemed confusing; it wasn't always clear why they were there. There were also things that seemed unresolved or unexplained. I did like the main characters--their development and individual motivations--as well as the mystery surrounding the main events of the novel. There seems to be a great story buried within the pages of Sixteen Horses, I just found it difficult to weed through the second half of the novel.

Sixteen Horses goes on sale on July 20th. Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron for gifting me an advanced electronic copy of Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan, given in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.

While I was very excited about the premise of this book, and I was really enjoying it until I had gotten to about 30%. The story was taking a really long time to build, and then when there started being time hops back “1 month” and then the next one would be “day 3”. I felt like there were too many characters and not enough straight forward story.

Debut author, so I thought why not give it a try, this is one crazy book! It is so creepy right from the start, then you have the cop who has serious issues but tries to do the right thing, and ends up a mess. So many different angles to keep you trying to figure out who and why. I never saw the ending coming and the "WHY" is explained in detail.. I read this one in a day, I would definetly recommend if you like trying to figure out the big secret !!! Thank you to Netgalley for this one, for my honest review!!