thanks to @netgalley @bookouture and the author for this advanced readers copy. 🥳🥳 (all opinions are mine).

𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: sigh. the plot seemed reasonable. however, the author did not do justice to the story’s intensity. there was no element of surprise or plot twist (despite the fact that it was meant to be a whodunnit plot). they made the murders appear so simple and basic, as if to say ‘well! it just another dead body.’ 🤷‍♀️

also, how do you make the first suspect (whom the author made apparent and everyone would literally guess) the murderer???? sigh. 🫤 i felt this book was overly long, and the descriptions were neither gripping nor intriguing. I felt lost much of the time. sigh. seemed like it could have been really good, but it definitely didn’t excite me. i really hope the next sequel is better.

The Flood introduces readers to PC Fiona MacLeish. Who is on a leave of absence from Scottish Police, visiting her Aunt Mary in the remote Scales Valley. When a storm hits and the Valley that houses her cottage and a few others becomes cut off as the river bursts its banks.

And as Fiona's Aunt tries to save what she can before heading to higher ground Fiona goes to check on Marys elderly neighbours George and Isla.

However, what Fiona doesn't expect to find amongst the rising water is George dead and all signs pointing to murder.

But there is no sign of Isla and as Fiona, Aunt Mary and the rest of the valleys inhabitants congregate at a farm house safe from storm Odin and the flooding river Fiona fears one of them could be a killer.

And she's soon proven right.

And as mother nature roars, and water levels rise. So does the danger. As more bodies appear.

But who amongst this group is the killer? And what will they do once they find out Fiona's a cop?

And with good pacing, suspense, an intriguing protagonist and a foreboding setting. This was an enjoyable introduction to PC Fiona MacLeish, and I'm excited to see what happens next.

Well what can i say ! A flood, murders and all keeping you guessing :) A new author for me and i totally enjoyed this book and what a disaster poor Fiona had on her hands. She worked it all out and got her man in the end. i will be reading her other books and look forward to reviewing the next one on netgalley.
My thanks as always to Netgalley and to Bookouture for the early read

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I did not enjoy this book. The premise was intriguing, but I felt the plot didn't live up to the promise. Fiona was one dimensional to me and I found myself bored whenever she was making her deductions.

I will say that the description of the flood and the surroundings were very well done.

This is the first book in the Fiona MacLeish series I couldn't wait to get my hands on. The title totally sold it to me. After reading it I then went on to listen to the audio book.

Smith sets the scene when we meet Police Officer Fiona MacLeish who has been ordered to step back from her role in Police Scotland. Fiona finds the body of a neighbour in their flooded house. With torrential rain cutting the farming village off completely. Then another body is found... It is a race against time can she catch the killer before another victim is found?

I loved the whole feeling and setting of this story and I will definitely be reading the next books in this series. Fiona is a character you cannot help but like we learn a lot about her childhood in this story but I feel there is more that we don't know yet.

This is an atmospheric who dun it read with the whole thing set with the backdrop of a storm. I must admit that I loved the audio. The narrator brought this story to life. From the Scottish accents to the feeling of being stuck in this terrifying situation.

The Flood is an engaging read and will have you guessing until the very end.

A great introduction to a new to me author.  Home grown murder mystery.

Fiona was hoping to relax with her auntie but it looks like they not only have to deal with a flood but also a killer!  This small valley in the Borders should be a haven of peace and tranquillity - not homicide central! Even with limited assistance and not a stab vest in sight, Fiona is on her own to solve her first murder.

I loved the compact geography of the setting of the story - it was like a locked room mystery but outside!  The geography is keeping all the major players in a small area, meaning Fiona has a great chance at unmasking them but only if they don't twig that she is a cop before she has some assistance.  The quick time frame also kept the story moving along.  The rising waters also played into the atmosphere of doom surrounding the murders and washing away Fiona's meagre evidence.

I'm always a bit wary when reading murder mystery/thrillers set in Scotland and with a cop as the protagonist.  Working within the police myself I'm very picky about procedures and protocols.  Artistic licence is one thing but complete unbelievability is a no-no.  So this was really quite good in my humble opinion.  Fiona as the put-upon cop dealing with trauma from her own past and now in the thick of an investigation with little major crime experience and no back-up.

I now have another series to add to my automatically read list!! I love Fiona, she is a super smart, resilient kick-ass copper! She kicks ass, literally, and takes names in this book with the help of aunty and a couple of neighbors! This was my 1st book by G.N. Smith but is not my last, as I am adding all of their books to my TBR!

#TheFlood
#NetGalley

This was an enjoyable book. It takes place in the course of one day and during a flood. It’s very descriptive, I felt like was right there next to Fiona. I liked Fiona and how she had everything wrapped up in a neat bow. It certainly kept me guessing. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

The Flood is not what I would call a crime thriller, it was more of a locked room, a whodunnit mystery.
Set in a valley in the Scottish borders we meet Fiona MacLeish, the main character. She is on leave from being a police constable and decides to go to her Aunt Mary’s home the place she grew up.
Fiona tells the reader frequently how she wanted to be a detective so she can find out who murdered her parents. But she can’t do exams due to the trauma of being told her parents were dead when she was in an exam at school.

An epic storm is about to hit, and as the water is rising it starts to flood, Fiona decides to check on an elderly neighbour and finds him dead, with no sign of his wife either.

Trying to get out of the valley proves hard and she realises that they are trapped until the storm stops and the water levels start to drop. The safest place to go is the farmhouse which is a little higher than the other homes beginning to flood.

A group of people are already at the farmhouse, and they are all trapped together. It isn’t long before people start getting annoyed with being trapped arguments happen and then more people are murdered. Who is the murderer?
This is quite slow going throughout, it is very descriptive both inside the farmhouse and outside too which I would expect as it lays out just how flooded and trapped everyone is from the outside world. I did like Fiona, she is a great main character, not afraid to get her hands dirty and tell people a few home truths if needed and her Aunt Mary has a special place in my heart!

I switched to audio a third of the way through and I found that much better, the accents were fantastic, and I think it made the book so much better, a real feel of Scottish people.

Overall it was a good book, not as gripping as it could have been, but enough in there to keep you guessing throughout.

This is the first book in a new series and if the series continues like this one, it will be added to my must read list. I had barely started it when the first body was discovered, and from that moment on I was second guessing my suspects. There were a couple of sad moments, but then that's life. I found myself liking Fiona and hope she's as likeable in book 2. A great start to a new series

Fiona, an off-duty police officer, finds herself facing unexpected challenges when a flood hits her aunts' town. While her aunt prepares to evacuate Fiona takes it upon herself to check on her elderly neighbours, leading to a grim discovery of one neighbour's death and the other's disappearance. With communication lines down and the town's exit blocked, they seek refuge at a nearby farm, but Fiona harbours suspicions that a killer lurks among them.

My experience with this story was marked by an unexpected and prolonged focus on the flood, which I found overly detailed, to the point where my attention waned. I struggled to connect with a lot of the characters, who felt underdeveloped. Fionas back story was repeatedly mentioned leading me to believe it would become part of this one however nothing came of it. The story lacked the tension I expected given its premise. Furthermore, the excessive descriptive elements alternated between being fascinating and tedious. While I appreciated the insight into flood-related measures, it sometimes felt like every little detail was meticulously documented, leading to occasional boredom. Repetition was also a minor issue.

At times, I found it challenging to discern whether this book aimed to be a murder mystery or an exploration of the flood's impact, as both aspects were presented with equal importance, creating a distracting imbalance. However, after saying all that if you like a mystery and descriptive scenes are your thing then definitely give this one a go.

The synopsis of this was really intriguing, however, it fell a bit flat for me in execution.
Fiona is a police officer and while off duty there is a flood, while her aunt gets ready to evacuate Fiona goes to check on some elderly neighbors and finds one of them dead, the other missing. Phones are down, and the way out of town is closed off. They take safe harbour at a nearby farm, and Fiona knows the killer may be among them.
I didn't realize the flood would be lasting the entirety of the story and I felt like that part was really drawn out. It was also really descriptive, to the point where I started zoning out a bit. I really liked Fiona and her aunt, but the other characters didn't seem really fleshed out, and I had a hard time caring what happened to them.

Absolutely gripping book, beautiful detail interspersed between gritty scenes.
Didn't guess whodunit going to search for all by this author now!

THANK YOU Netgalley and Bookouture for this opportunity to ARC review this book!
Fiona is a police detective taking a break from work by staying in her childhood home with her aunt. This small village/farm is getting flooded and they all seek safety in one of the neighbours house that’s at a safe high level. This is when Fiona finds out along the way another neighbour is murdered. So now In that safe house, who did it???

For a plot like this, I didn’t really feel much tension. And also, this book was too descriptive that it was both amusing and boring sometimes. Like I understood more about the flood measures but really, every thing they did was there in the book. Also this book was slightly too repetitive.

However, I loved the dynamics of these characters
And how it was a one-night locked house setting. Written in just one POV, I had fun reading the journey of these characters in the flood and uncovering the mystery behind the murder.

I'm always intrigued by a new crime thriller series, and this one sounded right up my street - a remote and atmospheric setting, a weather hazard causing in a locked-room-type situation. Give me all the tension!

And The Flood certainly lives up to its promise. The atmosphere is great, the flood helps build the mystery up at a steady pace, and the characters are easy to engage with. Fiona is a strong lead, too, so it was great to get to know her and see how she would unravel this investigation.

It's more of a cosy mystery than an intense thriller with too many twists and turns, but there was still a lot that I was interested to find out and a few surprises thrown in along the way, too, so I enjoyed it all the same.

And although I did find the story a little repetitive at times, I think this is the case for many debut authors who soon learn to condense their ideas, so I definitely look forward to moving on to book two!

I'm on the blog tour for this on 23rd Sep so my reviews will be live then!

Thank you to #NetGalley, #Bookouture and G. N. Smith for the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Flood, (A Fiona MacLeigh Thriller Book 1) to be published 22 September 2023. The synopsis of this book made it sound very intriguing; however, the most lively section of the book was contained therein. It was somewhat repetitive and I kept expecting the resolution of their lives being tormented by the flood to be resolved. It wasn’t. I sincerely hope the follow on book will carry the story further and develop more of a plot. 3/5 Stars. #NetGalley #Bookouture #G.N.Smith #TheFlood

A very atmospheric thriller/mystery loved the characters. A few twists along the way, you get a very enjoyable read.. I was given this book from Bookoutre for a review thank you Netgalley I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Can't say I am keen on books where all the action happens in the same place in one night. It was overly descriptive in parts which just made it boring at times. I like the main character and would be interested in finding out about her parents. Thank you netgalley for the advance copy

I did not really like this one. I feel like it was very repetitive, the story was a bit boring, the characters lacked depth, it just wasn’t pulling me in at any point. I probably wouldn’t have finished it if I wasn’t going to write a review.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in return for my review.

REVIEW: THE FLOOD BY G.N SMITH
I liked the beginning and the middle, but the ending was boring and I struggled to finish it. I don't even understand the perp's motive for murdering the people, so it was kinda confusing
👮🏼‍♀️👮🏼‍♀️
However I liked the dynamics of the characters (except the perp ). Although there was only one POV, I was still able to know and understand most of them.
I enjoyed learning Fiona's past and I hope she finds her parents' murderer
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The flood was described to a tee.I felt like I was in the flood with Fiona and the rest. I didn't really understand all they were doing with the preventive measures.
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This is the first in a series, and I can only hope it gets better