Set in evocative Loch Aven, Scotland, The Loch is a tense thriller involving three close friends who escape city life for a few days in nature. Eleanor, Clio and Michaela are in their 20s and have busy occupations and reasons to welcome a getaway, though they are not all fond of the outdoors. The house they stay in has obviously not been occupied for ages and the locals in the village look upon the girls with suspicion. When one of the three girls disappears the police do not seem to take it seriously so the two remaining investigate. And then there is Rebecca from the past enshrouded with secrets. Everyone seems to have something to hide.

Though the atmosphere was captivating (how I adore Scotland!), the story did not draw me in as I had hoped. The thrillery aspects were not strong enough to engage me and the immature characters did not redeem it. In my mind something is missing, some key element impossible to pinpoint. However, author Fran Dorricott seamlessly blended the two timelines and multiple points of view beautifully. Bits of folklore are scattered here and there which add a layer of interest.

My sincere thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this atmospheric novel.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

When Eleanor and her friends go on a much needed vacation, she doesn't expect to get embroiled in the fraught history of the tiny Scottish town they're in. But from the beginning, the locals act strange around the three girls, the loch they're staying on is a bit unsettling... and then Michaela, who planned the trip, goes missing. Suddenly, Eleanor and Clio find themselves talking to the locals and trying to figure out what, exactly, happened here that has them all on edge--and if it might have anything to do with Michaela's disappearance.

The book mostly follows Eleanor in the present day, but there are a few chapters set "Then" that give us some insight into the history of the town, and the disappearance that started it all.

The Loch is beautifully atmospheric, with an undercurrent of something just unsettling enough to make you sit up and take notice--that raising the hair on the back of your neck feeling that isn't quite grounded in any one thing, but rather built from a series of unsettling descriptions and events. For me, it struck the perfect balance of unsettling but not terrifying, and I loved every minute of it.

Friends Eleanor, Clio and Michaela have taken a trip. Not the original camping trip they’d planned, thanks to the weather. Instead they’re at a big cozy house on Loch Aven. With doors leading out to the Loch and a log fire they’re hoping to have a great weekend, even if they do have to go hiking for Michaela.

But when the locals start acting strange towards them, the three girls begin to feel uncomfortable, more so when they hear the stories about the three young women who went missing twenty five years ago.

So when Eleanor and Clio wake from a nap to find Michaela missing, they are understandably worried. With stories and myths whirling through the girls minds the loch turns from beautiful scenery to a threatening body of water. But is Michaela lost or has the loch taken her?

This book was a bit of a slow burner. For the first 25% I felt like I was getting to know the characters and their backgrounds and finding the flow of the different perspectives. From that point though the whole plot began to move really quickly with lots going on and chapters taking you between characters and putting you into a time twenty five years ago when the first person disappeared. I thought I had an inkling what was going to happen but I was completely wrong and loved the twists that wound their way through the storyline.

A really great mysterious thriller.

Thank you Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my approval to read and review this book.

The three friends book into the Loch House after rain spoils their camping trip! The book is told over two different time lines - Rebecca from the past and Eleanor in the present. Eleanor's friend, Michaela disappears before she could reveal some things to her. Eleanor knows she was adopted but never had any real details of her birth family. I don't want to say any more as it will spoil the book. I found it to be an entertaing read and love the characters and the descriptions of the locality and Loch House. I will recommend this book.

From the synopsis, The Loch appears to be an eerie and atmospheric thriller where twenty years ago, three young women disappeared. The rumours are their bodies are still at the bottom of Loch Aven but the locals remain tight lipped. When Eleanor, Clio and Michaela check into the Loch House out of necessity, they have no idea that history is repeating itself when one of them goes missing. The novel started off well and before I knew it I was half way through, although I felt the pace dropped off somewhat during the second half however I was intrigued to find out how the book ended. I would rate this 3.5 stars thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review. Absolutely loved this book, read in one day, just had to find out what happened to the women, totally engaged. This is the second book I have read from this author, I'm looking forward to reading more.

After rain spoils their camping trip, three friends find themselves staying in a rental house at the edge of Loch Aven. The last signatures in the guest book are from before they were born. The local residents of the small town aren't welcoming. Michaela, who made the arrangements for their trip, says she has a surprise for Eleanor, dropping some vague hints about a podcast she'd listened to. Then Michaela vanishes. The premise had me intrigued, but the plot moves very slowly and it feels like it would be almost impossible not to guess where things are going to end up. There was a small twist I didn't expect, but the important details are mentioned over and over again.

I think that I am in the minority as other readers are raving about this book. But unfortunately for me it just another mediocre domestic thriller and I have read so many. No surprises and so predictable and nothing new to bring to this genre. I really wish I had given this book a miss.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

To be honest, the book was very predictable. The reveal was obvious way before the author actually tells us the truth of the matter and the overall mystery is less menacing and mysterious than you hope.

What kept me reading were our main character and her two friends. While one says ‘Dude’ way too much (seriously, way, way too much!), I liked all three of them and mostly kept reading to find out what would happen to them.

Despite the predictability of the book, I was engaged enough to keep reading and I wasn’t disappointed that I’d read it.

I’ll give the author another try in the future.

• ARC via Publisher

I am sorry to say that I didn't really connect with this book. I found it to be a bit dull and draggy, it sounded great so I am really disappointed.

I loved the setting. I love creepy houses and small villages. I loved the loch.

It took me a long time to catch onto the story though. It has multiple perspectives and the entire book is basically all dialogue and memories.
One character is worrying about her adoption, which took place when she was a baby and doesn't seem to have anything to do with this trip the gals are on, one is from the past but you never get a feel for when or how she is connected, not for a while, another is her friend who might maybe be in love with her, and there are others too.
Also there are some missing campers somewhere and the village is cranky about it but no one says why exactly they feel cranky about these campers except that at some time long ago three people went missing.
I spent way to long trying to put these pieces together.
Oh and no one ever rents this fabulous vacation house and it is yet another unexplained mystery no one cares to dive into,
It all comes together in the last 100 pages and then it gets really good. I just am not smart enough to put it all together like maybe other people are.
The end is really good if you can keep up. It is really good.

Three friends in their twenties Eleanor, Michaela and Clio who met at college decide to spend a weekend camping in Scotland. However, when the weather turns bad they rent a house on the shores of Loch Aven instead, even though it’s well off the popular tourist track. The house is spacious and comfortable but seems to have been unoccupied for the last twenty years. People in the local village also seem strange and unfriendly, even in the local pub where the three have dinner and join in the pub quiz night. They discover that their dislike of visitors stems to back to an unsolved case of three young women who disappeared two decades ago, which attracted a lot of unwanted attention and voyeurs to the village.

The premise of this book looked promising with the isolated house on a dark and gloomy loch providing a creepy and suspenseful location. However, despite Clio’s love of relating myths and fairy tales, the atmosphere disappointingly never became particularly creepy or unsettling. The book is narrated in dual time lines, in the past by Rebecca, one of the women who later disappeared, and by Eleanor in the present day. Unknown to Eleanor, her friend Michaela has a specific reason that she chose to stay at Loch Aven. This is something the reader is able to work out early in the novel, but Eleanor has no idea. Although the novel started well, it dragged in the middle, particularly as Eleanor spent a lot of time going over the same issues and anxieties in her head and not getting anywhere. It did pick up again towards the final section when Eleanor worked out why Michaela had brought them here and culminated with a twist and suspenseful scene.

Another mid-tier, easily to figure out domestic thriller.

These are getting rather predictable and yet......I continue to read them and somewhat enjoy them.

However, this one should be skipped. Nothing original or new.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

Secrets Will Out..
What secrets does Loch Aven hold? When three friends travel to the Scottish countryside and unexpectedly need to find lodgings the little house nestled near the loch seems heaven sent, albeit a little sinister. What they didn’t know then was that twenty years ago three women went missing at the loch and were never seen again. Does the water hold the clues? Secrets have a way of surfacing. A deftly crafted cast of characters and a firm and atmospheric sense of place populate an immersive plot with an underlying sense of menace.

An OK thriller. I found it hard to get engaged and took some time to read this book.
Some good characters.

I find the setting in a thriller essential to me as a reader. And Scotland's rugged and haunting beauty was a perfect backdrop in which to set this novel. When an author can evoke the setting itself as if it is an actual character within the story marks not only skilled writing but makes for an even more suspenseful atmosphere. And Fran Dorricott does this and more with Loch House at Loch Aven.

From the sleepily little village which is in the middle of searching for some lost hikers to the wariness of the few villagers the three women encounter, the reader is left feeling as though something isn't quite right in this quaint little Scottish village. And as the story evolves and we are taken between the panic of the present and discover more about the past from the perspective of the very first missing girl, we discover bit by tantalizing bit why the past and present are linked. Fran Dorricott's ability to evoke empathy for the all characters (well nearly all - I will admit that two of the characters I could not find a lot of sympathy for in the end...) had me sad for what not only occurred in the past, but what currently happening in the present.

The only drawback I felt within such a well written novel was how the end did not feel as though it gave me enough of a resolution to the story. Although I did like how the story ended, that there were some answers, but it left me wishing for a bit more of a look into the immediate aftermath of what the characters had experienced. Perhaps I have been reading too many romances but I did wish for a few paragraphs more or even a sparse epilogue. Beyond this I felt The Loch was well written and encapsulated all the elements that I enjoy within its genre.

When three friends travel to Loch Aven, El doesn’t expect her unknown pst to come to light or to learn the truth of the secret haunting the town.

This book is an easy ready that is both tense and predictable at points. The characters are all developed enough that you can empathise with them while being frustrated with them. I loved the twists and turns. It was both emotive and intriguing while leaving you questioning what happened right until the very end.

The mental health representation in this was the first time that I could understand a characters experiences the same as my own. “Now it feels like my anxiety, once pushed down to a deep dark cave in my chest, is back and in overdrive.”

This was a cozy but tense mystery with plenty of thrill which I absolutely loved.

Wow, what a compelling thriller. Three college friends take what seems like a random trip to an isolated Scottish town for what they expect to be a quiet weekend but circumstances soon go awry as one and then another of the friends goes missing, The remaining girl has to sift through clues from the past and contend with locals who do not seem to want to help her. When the mystery finally makes it to the dramatic climax, I was thoroughly thrilled to found out who or what was responsible.

When a group of three friends go on a weekend trip to a secluded area called Loch Aven, things are off right from the start. There is a group of tourists missing and the locals don’t want to give much information. When one of the friends goes missing, the police don’t seem too interested so it’s up to the other two to find out what’s going on and to see if it ties in with the three missing girls from 25 years ago

Woah!

I really enjoyed this book so much because it is well paced and engaging. The setting is perfectly imaginable and the way author described the village was so amazing. The characters are very likeable and relatable.

Even though I guessed the ending of the plot, it doesn't detract massively from my overall opinion and even then there was a twist that I didn't see coming, which was great. I would definitely recommend this book!