This book was almost a 5 for me, so a 4.5 rounded up. It is the story of two sisters, one, a journalist with a strong personality, driven. who ends up killing herself. Her younger sister, doesn't believe it is suicide and sets out trying to find out who killed her sister. This leads her to a cold case about a child abduction and an isolated town. While I guessed one of the main twists very early on, it didn't take away from the story for me. It is also the story of the younger sister, who is without direction finding her path in life. I wonder about the title, wish it was explained somewhere more.

3.5 star
This is one of the books that have tricked me. At first, the book starts of slow then it transitions into fast paced and into a twist! There are a lot of TW involving this book such as suicide. I will say that the twist presented in this book was a 50-50 meaning that some were predictable while others were not because I was distracted by other aspects in the book. The flow in this book was well done in my opinion and it didn't keep me bored or dragging.

Thank you Net galley and crooked lane books in exhcnage for a honest review!

It started off a little slow, but the end made up for it. Some twists I guessed, but others I was blindsided by. I would recommend to any lovers of good twists. But trigger warning - there is a lot of talk about one character's suicide or not.

The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard - Kate Robards
When Willa is found dead in her apartment from apparent suicide, her sister Sawyer has trouble coming to terms with it, knowing deep down that Willa was too ambitious to just give up.
Sawyer takes it upon herself to question Willa's friends and ex-boyfriend, and scour Willa's apartment looking for clues that there was foul play at end.
While she doesn't find proof that Willa was possibly murdered, she does discover that Willa was writing a true crime book regarding the disappearance of a toddler. Sawyer tries to follow Willa's footsteps, interviewing the people from her book, trying to find a connection between Willa's death and the book she was writing.
Sawyer never could have guessed the truth that Willa had uncovered, changing everything she once knew.
I started this book with a bit of a meh attitude, not really having any expectations but ended up with my mind being absolutely blown. I adored the character of Sawyer and her resilience. She wanted to do her sister proud and she definitely did the unthinkable to do so. If you're looking for something to keep you on the edge of your seat, constantly going in circles to figure it out, keep an eye out for this on June 20th! ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5!
Thanks Netgalley for the amazing ARC!

This was absolutely amazing, a fast paced mystery thriller following Sawyer's investigation into her sister Willa's death. Classed as a suicide by the police Sawyer believes that there was more to her sisters death than meets the eye and we follow Sawyer down the rabbit hole as she investigates the past few years of her sisters life.

This was so incredibly interesting and unique, I read this in one sitting I could not put it down. I loved the writing style with a mix of POV's, police investigation transcript's and Willa's book it left me so intrigued. This was just a wild ride from start to finish, all of the twist and turns were unbelievable and I couldn't guess what would happen next. The ending had me on the edge of my seat and honestly I felt scared along with Sawyer, it was just that well written. I honestly have to say this is one of the best mysteries I have read, it is incredibly unique and detailed - I highly recommend.

2.5/3 stars

This was an interesting book for me. While it was quite the slow burn, I found myself intrigued from the get-go and engaged in the mystery. However, this just might be my interpretation, but the way different things were described sometimes felt icky to me. Mental illness/mental health issues, and eating disorders among other things were mentioned, and I mostly appreciated the discussions, but I also felt like they weren't represented as well as they could be. The eating disorder especially, was mentioned throughout the book, but there was never really any meat to it, making it not that relevant to the plot or character development.

I also found all of the characters to be unlikable and the repetition of the spin class girls tiring. However, the plot and writing were good enough for me to overlook those things and finish the book.

The story was good and a well-paced murder mystery. I loved the characters and found myself reading through this book quickly. It was short and it may have hurt the pacing overall. The characters' actions were a bit jarring at points which may have been fleshed out more if spaced out more across another 50 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Creepy, well-crafted and clever indie debut thriller. Small midwestern town, amateur sleuthing, missing girls, a suicide we know wasn’t, and the family ne’er-do-well stirring up good trouble. Satisfying ending. Will definitely look for this author’s next book.

The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard
A Thriller
by Kate Robards
It’s not that they’ve been all that close in the past few years, but sisters Willa and Sawyer Stannard are bonded by the ups and downs of the life they’ve lived with their mercurial single mother. When Willa is found dead in her apartment from an apparent suicide, Sawyer just knows it’s not possible. A cryptic note from the acclaimed broadcast journalist leads police to rule out foul play. Shattered by grief—and obsessed by the idea that her sister’s death was not a suicide—Sawyer plunges into a search for the truth.

Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Kate Robards for the opportunity to read an advance copy of THE THREE DEATHS OF WILLA STANNARD, to be published on 20 June 2023. A masterpiece of a novel written by Kate Robards debut. A DUBUT! What can Kate do for a second novel? She set the bar very high. I loved this so much. Not often does a book really grabs me and stays. Bravo!

I was expecting this to be good but it was beyond good. It blew my mind.
I had a few suspicions but in no way did it ruin anything for me. It was so creepy and wonderful.
I love protagonists who don't mind their own business. They just get out there and risk their own lives trying to figure things out and it is amazing.

Wow! Great debut. Kate Robards is one to watch.
Enjoyed this new psychological thriller packed with lots of herrings, twists and turns. Characters were fabulous. This one hooked me right away and kept me up way into the night.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

As a whole, I think The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard has a great premise - but needs a little work on the execution. Somehow I went from invested to not invested, excited about the plot to not existed about the plot, following easily - and then having trouble keeping a few things straight. But then back again in some of the later scenes.

I think it just didn't capture my interest enough to want to tear me away from starting another ARC, which is never a good sign.

An eerie dark story about a small town and all its hidden secrets and undiscovered lairs.
   Sisters, Willa and Sawyer, have drifted apart after growing up connected at the hip in this tiny town out in nowhere. Willa’s death by “suicide” was enough for Sawyer to end that distant relationship. Sawyer knew that her sister would not have ended her life that way and was committed to finding the real reason.
   Thus starts a probe into the fall of Willa’s career as a major TV journalist to an almost hermit. She was working on a project and Sawyer was sure this was the crux of her death.  A long “cold case” of a missing child caught her journalistic attention and this is where the story really gets dark and sinister.
   Sawyer finds herself in risky situations and unable to trust anyone in the town as they area ll interconnected in so many ways while trying to solve the murder of her sister..
   If this were a movie I’d have covered my eyes!

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. A sister is found dead. Yet her sister strongly believes she did not Jill herself and is adamant to find the truth about what happened. Her family however wants her to drop it - and believes that is what really happened. I couldn’t believe the twists and turns and what ends up being the truth. Crazy ride. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard.

This is a familiar premise where two not-so-close sisters are brought back into each other's lives when one of them dies suspiciously.

Convinced her smart, confident old sister Willa didn't kill herself, younger, wilder sister Sawyer takes it upon herself to find answers, discovering Willa was investigating the disappearance of a toddler from over two decades ago in rural Michigan.

Might this case be linked to Willa's unexpected death?

Willa and Sawyer are typical sisters in fiction and in real life; wildly different with opposite personalities. Willa is blunt, focused, and ambitious where as Sawyer is flighty, spontaneous, and less reliable.

But, a few years ago, a panic attack had turned Willa into somewhat of a recluse, working at a job below her standards and skill set and cutting herself off from friends and family.

Sawyer turns into Willa, or her version of Nancy Drew, as her investigation brings her into the orbit of some shady characters, and cliche thriller tropes; her car is tampered with, someone leaves a dead cat in her trunk, she thinks she's being followed.

All of this leads up to a twist I saw coming earlier, but the most frustrating aspect of the narrative is, as one reviewer pointed out, Sawyer just needs to speak to one person to sort all the clues out.

Her excuse for not speaking to this one person is because she's in denial or not easy to speak to.

That's why the narrative feels drawn out, especially at the end, when the truth is revealed.

Willa is the most interesting character; not surprisingly, sometimes the deceased in a novel is the most intriguing.

We get brief flashbacks into her life, what she was doing earlier, but we still don't know her.

Why was she suddenly compelled to investigate the disappearance of this toddler?

Sawyer isn't unlikable, nor did I find her likable.

It was hard to take her seriously considering her character; she mentions she was the good daughter, quick to do whatever her mom said, since Willa liked to push people's buttons, including their mom's.

Sawyer's also sheltered, lacking street smarts, and I found her personality annoying, as well as some of the choices she made.

It was as if the author wanted to communicate she wasn't dumb, just naive, but it came off as really dumb.

The narrative wasn't bad, decent writing, and I enjoyed the procedural aspects of the story; Sawyer following in Willa's footsteps, interviewing the victim's family and potential suspects.

Also, I'm still not sure what the title means.

What are Willa's three deaths?

Willa and Sawyer aren’t close. But then Willa commits suicide and Sawyer struggles to find out what Willa was working on before her death. Will Sawyer be able to figure it out before she gets caught up in the mystery and puts herself in danger?

This book was an amazing wild ride! I absolutely loved every minute of this one. I did figure out the big twist before it was revealed, when normally I don’t, but it’s okay, it totally worked here and I just kept wanting more! I loved how the book was mainly written in Sawyers perspective but some of Willa’s was also included. It really kept me engaged and interesting! This one reminded me of stories I’ve read before but not in a negative way, in a way that made me want to know more. Even though I had to split this one between two reading sessions, I didn’t want to! I just had to due to time constraints. I couldn’t believe that this was a debut novel and I can’t wait to read more from this author going forward. The only thing I didn’t quite understand with this one was the title…I couldn’t figure out how she died three times.

If you are looking for an exciting thriller than check this one out June 20th of next year. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, @crookedlanebooks, and @netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC copy. Child abduction and suicide trigger warnings. However, the author does not write explicit detail if these events in the story they just serve as the plot premise. It was a slow start as Sawyer is looking into the death of her sister and a cold case for a book she had been working on right before her death. The story moves more quickly about half way through and the twists keep it quite engaging.

Willa, a hotshot journalist, is found dead in her home. The circumstances of the death are clear to everyone - suicide - except for her younger sister, Sawyer, who is convinced that someone as tough as Willa could never have committed suicide. So she decides that she, whose character is as different from her sister as a tiger is from a hare, will find out what really happened. Sawyer is clumsy by nature, and clumsy are her investigations, yet she will manage to discover the truth, not only about her sister's death, but about a series of events in the past that have to do with pathological interpersonal relationships and a guilt that is now impossible to bear. Full of twists and turns and with a very peculiar protagonist (so clumsy that at times you want to kick her ass), the novel is anything but predictable, and it is hard to stop thinking about it once you have finished it.

This read like a thriller within a thriller and it was amazing. The “true crime” part of the book reads like a real crime you’re learning about that happened from years past. The current part of the thriller was just as good but I enjoyed the back case more. This will make a perfect beach read this summer for someone

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Sawyer Stannard’s sister Willa is found dead in her apartment of an apparent suicide, Sawyer refuses to believe her sister would have killed herself. When Sawyer discovers Willa was writing a true crime book about the disappearance of a toddler twenty six years before, Sawyer wonders if Willa discovers something that lead to her death, and begins looking into the case herself.

I had a very enjoyable time reading this book. I was immediately hooked from the beginning of the book, as the action starts from the beginning and doesn’t stop. I really enjoyed the flow of the story, it felt like something was always happening, and there was never a lull. I also thought the plot twist was pretty good, it was nothing groundbreaking, but it was a solid choice and added another layer to the story.

One thing that did bother me was how disjointed Sawyer’s actions could sometimes be. Sometimes the things she said and did came seemingly out of nowhere, with no real motive or purpose, and it took me out of the story. Overall though, I did really enjoy this one, and will be interested to see what the author writes next.