I really wanted to love this book. From the synopsis it had all the elements that I typically love: small Scottish community setting, a strong female main character, and a locked door murder mystery. Unfortunately, this story just did not come together for me. The pacing was too slow and some of the story felt repetitive. This would have been a DNF for me if it was the book. However, the bright spot was the narration! I loved the narrator and would listen to anything that she narrates. Her Scottish accent was perfect for the setting and she did a great job of giving the individual characters their own voice without being cheesy.

Narration I give 5 stars, no complaints at all about that
Story I give 3 stars and that’s being generous

The Flood (A Fiona MacLeish Crime Thriller Book 1) by G.N. Smith
(Narrated by Helen McAlpine)

A crime fiction set in a valley in Scotland. PC Fiona MacLeish visited her aunt and she was trapped there because of the storm. Result in flooding. When she’s checking with her old neighbors, the old man was killed and the wife was disappeared.

Not the main road in and out to the valley was blocked, which meant the murderer was there. Everyone was a suspect….

A slow-burnt crime fiction with lovely twists. It’s was fun to guess who was the murderer in this trapped place.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and GN Smith for this audiobook. Look forward to read the Book 2)


Pub date: Sep 22, 2023

Book Title: The Flood
Series: A Fiona MacLeish Crime Thriller
Author: G. N. Smith
Narrator: Helen McAlpine
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: September 22, 2023
My Rating: 3.4 Stars
Pages 318

Fiona MacLeish is a police office in Scotland and is still suffering from grief over the murder of her parents. She is being forced by her superiors to take a break. So she’s returns to her childhood home to stay with her aunt. However, there is serious storm that may result is being trapped by a flood; so they know they must evacuate. They first need to check on elderly neighbors only to find a gruesome scene - who would kill and lovely old man and where is his wife Isla?

The story definitely lives up to the title. As I read on, the fear and danger of the flood became more real.

The ending is a bit of teaser for "The Island" which is the next in the Fiona MacLeish Crime Thriller

Helen McAlpine, the audiobook narrator did a great job performing the characters. Her Scottish accent definitely added to the story.

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 22, 2023.

I listened to the audiobook so this is a two part review.

The narrator did a great job. I enjoyed listening to the audio book and she did a nice job voicing the many characters. She was easy to listen to her I would listen to more books read by her.

The book was mediocre. I really liked the strong female lead. This book was so slow, I kept finding myself thinking ok move along. If I had checked this book out at the library I would have just DNF'ed it, but instead I forced myself to finish it. It had a really interesting premise, a murder during a horrible storm. This kind of story line would be something I typically would enjoy reading, however it was just so slow and drug on.

THE FLOOD by G N Smith
AUDIBLE BOOK - NARRATOR - Helen McAlpine
LISTENING TIME: 9 hours 34 minutes
Published date: 22 September 2023
Publisher: Bookouture

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity of listening to an advanced listening copy of this book for an honest review.

This is my first book by this author. This book is 1 of 3 in the Fiona Macleish series. The plot is a little weak and disappointing. Some characters were strong and other unbelievable. The protagonist, Fiona Macleish, a police constable, was a strong character. Fiona's Aunt Mary's character was a fiesty, outspoken lady and I liked her. The story concerns a storm which causes flooding and chaos and a murder is committed. Fiona is trying to find the killer among the people trappedin a farm by the storm and the flood. The story is set in Scotland.

The narration was, for me, the star of the audible book. The narrator, Helen McAlipine was excellent, with changing voices, instantly recognisable and creating a wonderful atmosphere. Sadly, the plot and my focus wandered and I struggled to finish. I was disappointed in the plot and sadly the book was not for me.

I give a 4 star rating for the narration alone.

This book is a tense blend of locked room style whodunnit and a survival thriller. Police officer Fiona MacLeish is on leave and helping her aunt pack up to escape an impending flood. While checking on a neighbour she finds he's been murdered. As the flood levels rise and their only bridge to escape is blocked off a race against time to find the murderer before they can strike again is underway.

This was one of those books that kept me up late to listen and the audiobook version is amazing, the narrator perfectly captures the tension while making all of the characters distinct.

The downside of the book was the repetitiveness, it seemed like every other chapter was either a handful of the characters attempting some dangerous, and occasionally foolish, plan in the perilous flood or an argument over blame that always ends up in Fiona screaming "enough" and giving them a lecture with the help of her aunt.

Fiona needs a break from Police Scotland so she returns to the Borders where she was raised by her Aunt. A storms arrives threatening to flood her aunt’s cottage and so they must evacuate. But while checking the neighbours are safe Fiona discovers a body. A neighbour has been murdered and the storm is so bad no one can escape the area. They are trapped with a killer who may decide to kill again.

This is a well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). Fast paced and full of peril, not only from the storm but also the people trapped by it. Really enjoyed and highly recommend.

Unfortunately this one didn't work for me.
I didnt feel any tension, in what should have been a very tense situation.
A small cast of characters and a growing body count.
It has to be one of our characters doing the deed.....
Mainly though, I was distracted by the constantly repeating lines in the story.