First of all, thank you Netgalley for the ALC!

When I first started this novel I didn't know that this is the second book of a series. But it didn't matter, it is enjoyable as a standalone as well.
The narrators are excellent, doing a terrific job of bringing their characters to life. My favourite was obviously Esmé, but they both had outstanding performances.
The whole story has a suspenseful, dark and gloomy aura, which can be lively if someone is into this. I am, but I did have a problem with the pacing. For me, this book was too slow, and in places, I couldn't relate to the characters. Which was a tad disappointing, considering that the potential was in there.
The twist was unexpected, but I'm not sure, if it was a good kind of surprise for me, or if it was too out of the blue.
Enjoyable slow-burn mystery!

I very much enjoyed this book the narrators, Christina Moore and Leah Horowitz, did a wonderful job at helping to separate the dual POV chapters. The characters were great and the book had me wondering who could have done it the whole time. I was very wrong.

The audio narrators Christina Moore and Leah Horowitz are both terrific and make a very enjoyable listening experience. Thank you Terri Parlato, Recorded Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley & RB Media, Recorded Books for this Audiobooks.

I enjoyed the audiobook narration of this book with dual narration following Detective Rita Myers as well as Esmé Foster, who returned home from a failed dance career and failed relationship to return home to a childhood friend murdered in her back yard. This is a solid mystery but was more of a detective investigation than a thriller, but there were still enough exciting events to keep you interested in the story.

As things from the past begin to resurface while Esmé is trying to figure out her new place in the town after returning after so many years, and she begins to doubt even her own past as things change through the story as the story that progresses through solid twists and turns.

I was not aware that this was a second book in a series but it can absolutely be read as a stand alone. The world and character building was strong enough that I never felt like I was missing anything by not reading the first book.

What Waits in the Woods by Terri Parlato

Thank you to @netgalley and @recordedbooks for the #advancedlistenercopy in exchange for my #honestbookreview! This book is available now.

This was super spooky! I really liked the creepy vibe, which was a mix of Sharp Objects meets What Lies in the Woods. Lots of suspicious characters and a solid use of POV shift. I did have part of this figured out before the end but I did really love the satisfying wrap up! It definitely creeped me out and makes you second guess those close to you! I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend for all suspense lovers.

TWs: loss of a loved one, stalking, substance abuse, more

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ - 4.5/5

Esmé Foster can't dance anymore. Then, when she breaks up with her boyfriend, she decides it's time to come home. She couldn't have expected to be greeted by police on her family's doorstep - it turns out her old childhood friend was murdered in the woods behind the house the night before. Whilst a murderer is on the loose in Graybridge, Esmé tries to rekindle friendships and figure out who the man was that told her he'd kill her thirteen years ago - but is it all connected?
This was a well constructed mystery! Although it's dual POV (Esmé and the detective working the murder case) and had quite a few characters, following the story was easy enough and I feel like that's sometimes difficult to do if you have a big cast. The writing was slightly repetetive at times, but not to a level that bothered me. I liked the suspense and was not very surprised by the resolution, but it felt like a fitting ending. The narrators did a good job as well! I'd definitely pick up another book by the author.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

I enjoyed the narration on this audiobook, it easily kept me engaged and the pacing was perfect.

After a 6 year relationship ended and an injury derailed her career as a dancer, Esme Foster packs up and leaves New York to return to her hometown of Graybridge, MA. Unfortunately her return coincides with the murder of her childhood best friend, Kara Cunningham. Esme is convinced it was a case of mistaken identity and that it was a man from an accident 13 years that still haunts her to this day.

Detective Rita picks up the case of Kara’s murder and begins unraveling the mystery. Told in dual POV between Rita and Esme we see just how many secrets the sleep town of Graybridge has been hiding.

This was the 2bad novel in this series and while other reviews notes that it works as a standalone novel I am not sure I completely agree. While I didn’t feel like I was missing any key information there were a couple chapters that looked into Rita’s life. It was only a couple chapters though and felt very unnecessary because despite getting Rita’s POV throughout the book, 95% was about the crime and how she is solving it and 5% was about her personal life. It made the personal life chapters feel very out of place and didn’t add to the story at all for me but maybe had I read the first book I’d feel differently.

The conclusion was not completely predictable but I did guess the culprit prior to the reveal however the motive came completely out of left field. There were no clues or red herrings along the way which kind of takes the fun out of it.

Esmé has returned home after a failed ballet career and even worse relationship. She knows her father is in bad health and she needs to be there to help her brother. So, she is going to make the best of it. That is until her best friend from high school is murdered in the woods behind her home. This stirs up some memories of a past Esmé had hoped to forget.

I really enjoyed all these twists and turns. There are really two storylines moving throughout this novel…the murder and Esmé’s memory. I loved how the author wove these around each other. And NO, it does not turn out the way you think!

The narrators, Christina Moore and Leah Horowitz are wonderful together. I have said this before and I will say it again…I love a good tag team.

Need a good mystery with a kick…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Oh wow! What a brilliant police procedural this was!

In usual style, I found out this was the second book in a series - although I do believe this can be read as a stand alone as I have done.

Esmé Foster left her hometown to follow her dream of becoming a professional dancer. She wanted to leave her small town behind and never look back, but after a career ending injury, she is called back to care for her ailing father.

Upon arrival home, she is not only greeted with her long ago left family drama but also a murder that has been committed in her backyard - literally. Detective Rita Meyers, a local has been called in to investigate.

Told in dual narrative by Rita and Esmé we follow and uncover buried secrets, lies and betrayal. Full of gripping twists and turns, all leading to a dramatic conclusion that kept me turning the pages furiously right to the end!

Many thanks to @netgalley and #rbmedia for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounding down to 3 stars on Goodreads.

When I read the synopsis, I knew I had to read this book and while started out with a bang it quickly fizzled out. I found myself not connecting with any of the characters and perhaps that had to do with the narration in the audiobook. This was an intriguing police procedural but it seemed to drag and then when the murderer was revealed, I was left down since it felt like so far in left field.

I feel like I was getting into an audiobook slump so maybe it has nothing to do with this book and just poor timing.

****Many thanks to Kensington Books, RB Media, and NetGalley for my gifted copies in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for this ALC. This novel follows an ex-ballerina, Esme, as we see her grapple with her past, her dashed dreams, and the death of one of her childhood friends. This novel is a traditional whodunnit, with little fluff. This unfortunately makes it your run-of-the-mill mystery. There is definitely a lot of character development, however, there are many roads that lead to the end, and some are quite underdeveloped. For example, the plot with the costume designer...that had some potential to be really creepy, but falls flat.
As this was an audiobook, I would be remiss not to mention the peformance. The performer who narrated Rita's part had a voice, that was not pleasing to the ears. I do like that there were two different performers for each POV. But overall, this novel fell flat for me.

Thanks NetGalley! This book started off strong but seemed to lose energy towards the end. I loved our heroine’s dancer exploits and the many red herrings but I have to honestly say that the first 3/4 would be a 4 star read for me and the last 1/4 took a steep downhill slide.

Read this book if: you like mysteries, you like “coming back to my hometown” narratives, you like ballet.

Terri Parlato returns following All The Dark Places with her popular Detective Rita Myers series #2, WHAT WAITS IN THE WOODS —a dark and twisty tale that grips you from the beginning to the end. A young woman ballet dancer returns home to find another mystery in a town she swore she would never return.

DEADLY SECRETS TAKE CENTER STAGE.

With unexpected plot twists, atmospheric and psychologically rich, a mysterious dance between past and present.

Esmé Foster left the Boston suburbs to become a professional ballerina, leaving her hometown behind. Eleven years later, she returned to Graybridge due to an injury that halted her career.

She needs to help her brother take care of her dying father and reluctantly moves back. But she is not welcomed by some in the small town who still live as though they are back in high school.

Upon her return, there is a murder of Kara Cunningham, one of Esme's high school friends, found dead in the woods behind their family home.

There has been much grief in Esme's life from one of her childhood friends, her mom killed in a car accident, a grief-stricken (alcoholic) father, and now this.

Esme still sees someone in her dreams from the night of the car accident, warning they would kill her, too. She and Kara looked alike. Could she have been the intended target?

Years ago, a young girl (her friend) drowned in a pond in the woods. These girls, a close circle of friends, were connected. Secrets, lies, betrayal, and deception emerge from the past in this chilling suburban domestic thriller where nothing is as it appears.

Detective Rita Myers is on the case. Who is the murderer, what is the motive, and will Esmé be next? Will Detective Rita Myers be able to save her before it is too late?

Atmospheric, the author sets the mood for this multi-layered cop procedural where the past collides with the present. #CoverLove A whodunit and whydunit.

WHAT WAITS IN THE WOODS can be read as a standalone; however, I recommend you read both books. I enjoyed the wrap-up, Esmé's character, and Detective Rita!

There are a lot of red herrings, suspects, and dysfunctional characters keeping you guessing. Told from alternating POV: Rita and Esmé and lots of jealousy by the local townspeople in this small town. I look forward to seeing what comes next from this talented author.

In addition to the e-book, I also had the privilege of listening to the audiobook narrated by the talented Christina Moore and Leah Horowitz as the story and characters come alive for an engaging listening experience!

For fans of Kate Alice Marshall's What Lies in the Woods and No One Can Know.

Thanks to Kensington Books, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

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@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Dec 26, 2023
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Good story and character development. Deals with left behind high school friends, the loss of a dream, and where that leaves the trajectory of the rest of your life. Narrators were good.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I highly enjoyed the dual female narrators of this book! They both really made the story come to life and they both sound so different that it was easy to know what character was speaking! The story is about a girls who returns back home only to find her old best friend murdered in her backyard, right up against some woods. It all seemed pretty predictable to me until it got to the end and the twists made my head spin! I would definitely recommend if you like psychological thrillers!

What Waits in the Woods is the 2nd-book in Terri Parlato's <i>Detective Rita Myers</i> series. This is an Adult Police Procedural Mystery following, you guessed it, Detective Rita Myers. I actually didn't read the 1st-book, All the Dark Places, prior to reading this one, but I enjoyed this so much, I started the 1st-book immediately after and have already finished it.

It's fair to say, I will continue to pick up each book in this series as they're released. Keep 'em coming, Parlato!

This is a dual perspective story following Detective Myers and Esmé Foster, a young woman directly connected to the mystery investigated in this book. I listened to the audiobook and the dual narrators truly brought these two perspectives to life.

Esmé left her small hometown of Graybridge, 11-years ago to pursue her ballet career. After an injury and a recent break-up though, she decides it's finally time to return after she gets a call from her brother stating their father isn't well.

The day that Esmé returns, a body is discovered on her family property. She arrives home to police cars and questions, not exactly the homecoming she was expecting. Making matters worse is the fact that the dead body isn't just some stranger, it's Kara Cunningham, one of Esmé's closest childhood friends.

Esmé is devastated by the loss of her friend, but there's something else needling her as well. Esmé and Kara looked a lot alike, what if she was actually the intended target? Esmé has her reasons for believing this could be the case, but it's going to take her processing a lot of old baggage to actually figure it out.

Detective Rita Myers gets called to the Foster property after the discovery of Kara's body and immediately digs in to her investigation. Detective Myers has a lot of experience and genuine care in her work. There's no doubt she is going to get to the bottom of this grisly crime, no matter what it takes.

I had so much fun reading this. The mystery was intriguing, the plot was fast-paced and the reveals were exciting and more often than not, unexpected.

I think Detective Myers is a fabulous main character and I know I am just going to become more and more attached to her as the series continues. She's a seasoned detective, no-nonsense and smart. She works with a lot of younger detectives and cops and you can tell that they look up to her as a leader.

I also enjoyed getting to know her more on a personal side outside of work. She has some interesting neighbors and even a potential love interest that I am hoping to learn more about in subsequent books.

As with many Mystery series, I don't feel like you need to necessarily read these books in order. I didn't feel like I was missing anything going into this because I hadn't read the 1st-book yet. It's a complete story unto itself.
I do feel, though, that this is the type of series where the longer you stay involved with this group of characters, the more attached you become, and the higher your enjoyment level will ultimately be.

I knew right away that I would continue on with this series. The writing is compelling, the mystery is well-formatted and the characters are likable. This is a very solid Police Procedural Mystery. I would recommend it for fans of Caz Frear's Cat Kinsella series, or Gytha Lodge's DCI Jonah Sheens series, as I feel like the tone here and quality of the mystery are very similar to those.

Thank you to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm so excited to have a new Mystery author to follow. I hope this series keeps going for a long, long time!

Thirteen years ago a car accident killed Esme’s mother and sent her father spiraling into alcoholism. Left with nightmares of the man who threatened to kill her - a man no one else saw - Esme left town for a career as a ballerina. Returning to her childhood home after a career-ending injury, she’s shocked to find police cars surrounding the house and devastated to learn her former BFF was killed in the edge of the woods behind the home. Detective Rita Myers heads the investigation in the community where connections and secrets are everywhere. Could this possibly be connected to Esme’s phantom man?

Parlato’s writing has the creepy factor of fright movies. Neighbors and friends have secrets. There is a well-used path through the woods. Esme goes into dangerous situations alone. Plenty of twists keep things going to the surprising end. Dual narrators do a great job with pacing and voicing the multiple characters as well as making a clear distinction between Esme and Rita. Although this is the second appearance of Detective Myers it can easily stand alone. Recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Ahhhh I hate that I am giving this a lower rating but I was not into this first book? And if this was the continuation then it probably just wasn't for me.

3.5 stars.

This is a twisty thriller with a lot of characters that are easy to dislike as red herrings, and a surprising ending. The pace was good, the protagonist was likable, and the setting on the edge of the woods was ominous.

I was caught completely off guard with the ending, both with the "phantom" being revealed and the killer, but the latter felt totally implausible, like the author chose one of the characters no one would suspect and rewrote the history to accommodate. It just got to be too many reveals. I'd have been content if it had been the creepy dress designer for the while shebang, but there were so many more secrets to unearth. It was a little much.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
What Waits in the Woods by Terri Parlato, an audiobook narrated by Christina Moore and Leah Horowitz is the second book in the Detective Rita Myers series. This book can be read/listened to as stand-alone!
This book is full of actions that are replaced one by one not leaving any empty spot! For me, it didn't feel that this was Rita's story it was more like Esmé's story and Rita was there as one of the characters.
In this book, we will meet many secrets and ghosts behind closed doors that will come out one by one. The end comes with an unexpected twist but the reasons behind this twist are even more unexpected!

After time away Esmé returns to childhood town to help her brother to look after their father. Unfortunitelly her return is not all happy and bright as one of Esme’s high school friends is dead.

Detective Rita Myers knows that small towns hide a lot of secrets but this case is not so straightforward as there are too many suspects but no one has real motives.

This book is read by two narrators and from two points of view Esmes and Ritas and it's always easy to follow where there is dual narration. Both narrators were great but Esme one was excellent. I loved how she did the intense scenes, my heart started to race in line with Esmes :)

It's not 5 stars from me as I felt that some stories weren't relevant so they just dragged the book longer without benefit to the main storyline.

Thank you, NetGalley and RB Media for this amazing book!

This was one that I truly didn’t see the ending coming. I did enjoy the dual POV and the audiobook has dual narration which was great in knowing which character was which without having the book open! Set in Massachusetts which made it really relatable for this New England girl! I liked Esme a lot and she really has been through a lot in her life. This was a book full of loss and despair in this small town but when the twists are revealed there is no way you saw it coming. The short chapters were definitely a bonus. I binged this audiobook in one day!