I found this book quite disturbing and disliked most of the characters. The comparison between the rich and the poor population of Dupray is stark which serves to underline the corruption and unfairness present in the small community. Even Elven Hallie, who belongs to the rich class but decides to serve the county as a sheriff, comes across as insincere at times. The revelation of the killer and the twist at the end further highlighted the fact that the rich and corrupt always get away with everything.

I received an ALC by the author Drew Strickland and the publisher Dreamscape Select via NetGalley. The narration was done by Madison Niederhauser. This series already has around 6-7 books published in print form.

Read as Sheriff Elven Hallie tries to solve the murder of a young girl in his small town. I listened to this audiobook and enjoyed the narrators voice, but the story was not entirely engaging. I found myself tuning out at times. This book might be best read in print. I did appreciate the struggles the author displayed about living in a small town and the political pressure placed on law enforcement. I wasnt expecting the twist at the end, but still there was something missing that didn't draw me in and have me at the edge of my seat.

A little girl has been found dead in the swamp area. she is only 11 years old. Elvin and Mags is on the case.
Some girls at school do not like Sophia. She's rich and has things the other girls don't.
Elgin and Mags find out about the fight that has occurred with Sophia and the girls that do not like her
Are they her killers? Did the jealousy they have for Sophia cause her death, or is their another culprit in the mix

I would first like to say thank you to NetGalley, Drew Strickland, and to Dreamscape Select for providing me with an advanced copy of this publication.
I was immediately drawn to the title and description of the book. Who doesn’t love a small town mystery? As the story begins a young girl is murdered and her body is tossed into a river. The new sheriff, Elven Hallie, and the few deputy’s he has are left to solve the mystery within the rural West Virginian community. At the same a newcomer enters town looking to fill the vacant deputy position. Maddison Cook comes to town with baggage, but at a time when Elven needs the most help, so he gives her a chance. Elven teems up with Maddison to uncover why a young girl would be murdered and by whom. Elven and Maddison not only face a potential killer, but the whole community who would rather take justice into their own hands.
While I appreciated the plot, I just found it ok. The story did contain many humorous moments where I laughed out loud, but I found Elven to be a little over the top and full of himself. I felt the book to move slowly and it almost seemed that the main plot got lost a little along the way. I did appreciate the twist at the end however!

A chilling tale that will keep the pages turning at pace. Setting descriptive and carefully portrayed, with a wicked twist of the tail!

Narrated by Madison Niederhauser ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Madison Niederhauser has a beautiful soothing voice.

Buried in the Backwater by Drew Strickland
⭐⭐⭐
*I really like the MC. He's not your most original character (rich boy turns away from his family wealthy and takes a blue collar job)
*the author did a great job depicting the small town and the side characters
*the overall story was interesting enough to hold my attention.
*However in saying all that there was something missing from the overall story that made it stand out from the 100 of other books like this.

Would I recommend this book? - Yes. Even though I didn't love this book I would still recommend it.

Would I purchased this book for a friend or myself? - No, I didn't enjoy it enough to purchase for myself or a friend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to arc review this beauty.

Small town in West Virginia mystery that kept me reading non-stop and having me on the edge of my seat. There is a twist at the end I definitely did not expect! I can’t wait to read the second in the series. I would highly recommend this beauty to mystery lovers.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Select for an audio ARC of this book for an honest review.

I liked the story but despised some of the characters.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Drew Strickland, and Dreamscape Select for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

When I saw this series debut by Drew Strickland, I was eager to explore it. Always one who enjoys a good small-town mystery, I was curious to discover how the sheriff in a West Virginia county would handle the community and crimes that pop up. Elven Hallie runs a relaxed ship, but wants to keep everyone safe, using what few resources he has. When a young girl’s body is found tossed in the river, everyone is on guard and a killer is hiding amongst them all. Strickland dazzles in this series debut that has quite the twist at the end!

Sheriff Elven Hallie is the newly-elected authority around Dupray, West Virginia and surrounding county. He’s got a small staff, few issues, and a community that likes to keep the peace. All the same, he pines for a case to keep him occupied and to pass the time. When Maddison ‘Mads’ Cook arrives to fill the vacanct deputy position, Sheriff Hallie is leery, but finds that their interaction is such that he is willing to offer her a chance.

When the body of a young girl is discovered, Sheriff Hallie and his team jump into action. Everything points to a citizen of the community, though their identity remains unknown. While the other youths are prone to bullying, could a bunch of pre-teeens have taken things so far as to bludgeon and kill one of their own? Sheriff Hallie struggles, as the last time murder darkened the door of Dupray, he was but a deputy and had a well-established mentor to lead the way.

While the community is divided along social and economic lines, one thing unites them; they want nothing to do with helping find a killer. While a family mourns and a young girl grows cold in the morgue, Sheriff Elven Dupray will stop at nothing for answers, no matter who ends up being the guilty party. As Deputy Cook tries to ingratiate herself to her new boss, she makes quite the impact on the citizenry, showing that she is not only here to stay, but to make waves as she does so. Still, a killer lurks out there and there could be more bodies to come. A chilling opening novel in this series that has me ready to reach for the next book in the series.

Discovering new authors in genres I enjoy is always a great accomplishment. While the digital dust grows on my pile of ‘to be read’ books, I like having more options, particularly when stories have great plots and strong characters. Drew Strickland makes a play for me to add him to my list of go-to authors with this wonderful opening salvo. This narrative foundation is strong and yet simple enough not to get lost along the way. He builds up a great protagonist in Elven Hallie, offering up some backstory and leaving room for strong development. Maddison Cook provides good contrast and could keep things on pace, for as long ad she calls Dupray home. A peppering of background characters around the county provide the flavouring to give the reader a sense of the setting. Plot twists are plentiful in this piece, as Strickland builds up the suspense before tossing something out there to turn the story on its head. I am eager to see where things are headed, especially since this book ended with such a great twist.

Kudos, Mr. Strickland, for making a great impact on me with this novel. I will be back to continue the series, for sure!

This was not what I expected it to be. It was really great in the premise and I did enjoy this overall but I really think this could have been more thought out and I wish there was more to the story. It was very basic murder mystery in the country type vibes and some of the characters fell flat for me. Now, what I did like about this is the writing style really was done well and the narrator was great! I’m not a fan of third person narration or in novels but this one along with Karin Slaughter is my usual go to’s for third person narration. The ending was also not expected either but I wish it was more of a bang at the ending but it was still enjoyable. Would I recommend this? Sure I would but it really isn’t my taste, it just ended so quick and not much to the story which sucked. 3 stars

When the body of a young girl is found in the river, the entire town is demanding answers. Sheriff Elven Hallie hands his hands full, trying to figure out who would have done such a thing, and why. As the investigation unfolds, he finds himself at odds with one of the towns leading families, and some not so subtle threats about his job are thrown in as well.
To solve the case, Elven is going to have to sift through the evidence, and look in some unlikely places, with some help from an unlikely source before all is said and done.

This was a great read! I really liked it, and look forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the free audio book in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Madison Niederhauser.

If you have a choice, choose to read this story over listening to the audio book. The narration is awful. It sounds like a 'auto-bot' which ruins the experience. I think Siri would have been a better reader.

Small town Sheriff Elven leaves his house one morning and immediately gets a call about a break-in at the local bar. Once he does arrive at the station, he finds a woman sitting in his office who is applying for the position that he is not quite ready to fill. Before he can settle the matter, he gets a call that no one wants to have. A child's body has washed up from the river. After a few days of investigating and tremendous pressure from the mayor, Sheriff Elven closes the case. But he isn't satisfied with the result and the more he looks, the more its seems he is right.

This was pretty good, excluding the narration. I figured out the murder , so the final twist was not that surprising. Overall an okay read.

I received an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are entirely my own.

This is a difficult review for me to write because I wanted to love this book but unfortunately I did not. I had to DNF 54% in. I tried pushing through but I just couldn't. All the female characters are extremely sexualized. The MMC is arrogant and full of himself. I didn't like Mads much either but I think it is the way she is written.

This book is clearly written by a male author who does not excel in writing female characters. The only character I did like was Meredith, the station manager, who had a bit of a sassy edge.

In terms of the mystery itself it is extremely slow. I feel like the book focuses more on Elven and how awesome he is than on the actual crime that had been committed.

The book also has a lot of vulgar langue. I don't mind swearing in a book but this was a bit too much for me. I understand that in a certain scene the author was trying to capture teenage boy behavior but I feel like he went to far.

So unfortunately I had to give this one, one star. I still recommend you give it a try if the above mentioned thoughts are not things that you mind. You might end up loving the book. This one just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the ARC.

All opinions in this review are my thoughts and feelings while reading the book your opinion may differ from mine and that is great, I hope this book finds it's way to people who will love it as much as I had wanted to.

Sherrif Elven has some surprises coming in the next book, I fear! This was a great ride and I was totally here for it! I can't wait to see what shenanigans the Dupray's get up to in the next book!! I think Sherrif Hallie is up for the challenge! This was my 1st book by Drew Strickland but is not my last!!

#BuriedintheBackwater
#NetGalley

I have mixed feelings on this one. I love the murder mystery since I had no idea whodunit, but there are so many problems I had with this book.

I think I liked the MC Sheriff Elven, but he is kind of a moron sheriff. There were so many errors within the police procedures that started to drive me crazy. I understand this is a work of fiction, but come on. If a deputy shoots someone, they don’t just walk away with their gun.

Then it drives me crazy when the secondary MC is a dumb female. It gets on my nerves when females look completely inferior.

I had no idea who the murderer was, but I knew right away what the “big twist” was going to be. It made the annoying elements less frustrating once the twist came to light, but it made me more bothered by Sheriff Elven for not seeing it coming.

Trigger warning: this book goes into pretty rough parent emotions on their child’s murder. It lasts longer than it needed to.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I almost DNF'd this in the first few chapters. I really did not like Elven - he was too cocky and not what I hoped for in a MMC. The storyline for how Mads came in also seemed very unrealistic. If you bring a new deputy on - no matter how much background work is done, you still can't just take them out to a crime scene hour one. In my eyes there were quite a few pieces of the book that just seemed too far or unrealistic. There were twists and turns and although I didn't always enjoy how those came to be it was overall a decent storyline and an enjoyable book. I don't see myself rushing to pick up book 2 though.

The unusually named Elven Hallie is an unexperienced sheriff when the body of a young girl washes up in the river. He’s investigated murders before, but not when he was in charge and not when the perpetrator was a local. With the help of his deputy, Maddison, has to find the killer, while simultaneously navigating a line between the wealthy residents of his community, and the poor ones. Most of the mysteries I read have female protagonists, this made a nice change, and I found the sheriff, both credible and likable

Buried in the Backwater by Drew Strickland
Narrated by Madison Niederhauser

This story is all over the place for me. Despite the seriousness of the setting and situations, it can be pretty funny at times. Sheriff Elven (chuckle) Hallie is one handsome hunk, always has been and he knows it, uses it, and has never had to struggle when it comes to getting attention. He's financially well off, too. You can see why he can strut around good naturedly, with not much of a care in the world. He's got his steady "not" girlfriend who is as pretty as he is handsome although now he also has a new woman deputy who is beautiful even without any makeup on. Other than these three, everyone else seems to have been hit with an ugly stick in one manner or another. Oh, and Elven never cusses which is in great contrast to the unwashed masses of those he "sheriffs" over. So this part of the story, the super attractive (and they know it) characters vs the imperfect common folk almost comes across as a comedy to me, as often as looks and cussing come up in the story.

This one is hard for me to rate because some things are 3 stars for me and others are 4 star. In the end, I do want to continue on with the next book and maybe the entire series. It looks like six books in this series are already out and one is coming out next year. The audiobook I just listened to labeled as number one in the series.

But that first book seems to be referring to so many things that make me think there was a book or two before this one and I'm missing out on things big time. I don't mind characters having a past at all but I would like that past, even if we don't know what it is, to be presented in a way that doesn't make me think I should know things I don't know. Of course, with six more books after this one, there is a good chance I'll find out a few past things but I don't want to go through an entire series if I'm not going to ever learn about the events that are referred to in this book.

I also wish this story wasn't so in my face with all the filthy mouthed people (all ages, including possible preteens) throwing out what seems like a dictionary of filthy words. Especially with an audiobook, the language is hard to take. And then there is the teenage boys smoking and drinking in the woods scene. I really didn't need to hear their "mine's bigger than yours" type of foul talk. Sometimes less is better when trying to show us how life is in a backwater, small town, struggling community.

What will have me coming back one more time is the very last chapter of the book, where we learn something that I consider very interesting, indeed. I'll have to see how far I want to go with the series after that since I pretty much hit my cuss word limit for this year and next year combined, with this one book. Also, if the next book leaves me feeling like there are some missing books I should have read, I won't want to hang on to find out if I'll ever know what I'm missing. The audiobook narrator has just the right voice for this story, his voice fits Sheriff Elven Hallie, all smooth, cool, and oozing handsomeness.

Thank you to Dreamscape Select and NetGalley for this ARC.

Sheriff Elven Hallie knows it's going to be a bad day. Leaving his house with his girlfriend, he receives a call from the office about a break-in at the local bar. Upon entering, he finds a local drunk and said drunk's cousin, who promptly pulls a gun on him. After taking the pair into the station, he is still hoping for a quiet day when he sees a woman sitting in his office. She's there for the job that he isn't ready yet to fill (but his staff is pushing him to). After giving her the brush-off and scolding his staff, the station gets another call that seals the bad day - a child's body has washed up from the river. With his meager staff spread around, he grabs the new girl - that apparently they do need - and takes her to the scene.

After a few days of investigating and loads of pressure from the locals and the mayor, Elven closes the case. But he isn't satisfied. And it's starting to look like he may be right.

This was pretty good. Near the end, I had an inkling of what was going on, so the final twist was no surprise. But overall it was enjoyable.

I enjoyed this venture into Dupray, West Virginia. The town dynamics are interesting. Sheriff Elven Hallie is cocky, but it works. Probably because he is a good guy, despite his arrogance, and truly cares about the town. In the future of the series, I hope we get to know Tank a bit better. I am also curious about the Hallie family and their connections to the town.

The first three books in the series are about to be released as audiobooks. They are narrated by Madison Niederhauser. The narration is good- my only complaint is the pauses are long at times. That is probably the most frustrating thing to me in terms of pacing, because you can't really fix it. They are not long enough to skip, and speeding it up any more would make the speech fast.

Anyway, I was given an advance audio copy of book 1 in exchange for an honest review. I am definitely looking forward to audio versions of books 2 and 3 to also release at the end of the month.
Hoping my library picks them up, but the development in the last chapter has me curious enough to use an Audible credit on book two if need be.