I went into this book without knowing anything about it! I was hooked from the first chapter! Loved the main character, had some funny remarks and a big twist that I did not see coming! Can’t wait to read more from this author!

This one starts a little slow, but ends strong. I really enjoyed it. It did keep me guessing until the last few chapters. It was well written. A great debut book, I look forward to reading more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Moorhead, and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Whew, this book is INTENSE. But while I'm catching my breath, it needs to be said: This is such an incredible debut for an author. The characters are nuanced and well-developed, the setting is so detailed, and the plot beautifully balanced quite a few stories. I don't want to say too much for risk of revealing spoilers, but if you're a fan of thrillers — especially those with a Southern gothic feel — you'll probably enjoy this one.

A terrific, well-written story by a debut author set in Louisiana. The plot is suspenseful with multiple unexpected twists.
Highly recommend to anyone who loves a good mystery thriller!!

In summary, “Broken Bayou” was a solid piece of writing along with great narration. There was a fine blending of times containing light-hearted moments, and these helped to offset the heaviness the overall story covered and the mystery which surrounded the location. I rather enjoyed listening and wonder what this newer author on the block has baking for a future release.

In this debut thriller, a troubled child psychologist returns to a small Louisiana town to protect her secrets but winds up having to protect her life!! Great read!! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery, a great who done it and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

📚 PUBLICATION WEEK BOOK REVIEW 📚

Broken Bayou By Jennifer Moorhead
Publication Date: July 1, 2024
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

What a thrilling read! Thomas & Mercer, I don't know how you do it, but you are absolutely KILLING IT with these 5-⭐ thrillers lately!

This debut novel from Moorhead was PHENOMENAL. Unputdownable. Gripping. Creepy. Nail-biting. Everything you want in a twisty thriller. If this is her debut book, consider me a lifelong fan! I started reading this book this morning, shortly after I poured my first cup of coffee. Two hours later, my coffee was cold and I hadn't moved from my seat on the couch because I was riveted that quickly to this story. Begrudgingly, I got up to warm my coffee -- but kept the book in my hand the entire walk to and from the kitchen because I just couldn't stop reading.

Set in a small town in Louisiana, this thriller is told from the perspective of a successful child psychologist who has deep traumas and family secrets she is desperate to keep hidden from the world. Every few chapters, the reader is given snippets into the terrifying work of a serial killer, set across multiple timelines... And these creepy chapters propelled my desire to binge this book as quickly as I could. I couldn't get enough.

The writing is brilliantly descriptive and suspenseful, both at once, leaving you feeling as if you're watching the chaos and terror unfold from your perch, hidden in the deep shadows of the Louisiana bayou. I loved the characters in this book and the different ways their lives were all impacted by different childhood traumas and toxic family environments.

I simply couldn't put this book down until I knew how it ended! The twists, the turns, and the uncertainties about how this one would ultimately turn out -- all of it made this debut novel an incredibly captivating thrill-ride. This bingeable book is one I highly recommend getting your hands on as soon as you can! If you enjoy reading gripping, edge-of-your-seat thrillers with small-town secrets and characters that make you question who to trust, I think you'll really love this book too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for gifting me this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

** And Thomas & Mercer, can you please just send me EVERY book you publish by a debut author?! I. Am. Obsessed. **

** For NetGalley members, Broken Bayou is currently a Read Now selection. Don't miss out. **

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This was a delightful edge-of-your-seat atmospheric thriller with plenty of plot twists and deep-rooted family secrets. This explores the bounds of family, healing, and just how close danger lies somewhere unbelieving.

Would you believe me if I told you this was a debt novel? I absolutely couldn’t believe the incredible writing as well as riveting story from start to finish. There are so many twists throughout the story, each complicating the timeline more than the last. Still everything felt concise and easy to follow. It can be hard to keep up when there are flashbacks spread throughout the story, but thankfully this wasn’t the case. In fact it kept me wanting to uncover more and more about the past and present.

The unsettling and Southern small-town vibes were strong but so incredibly well done. It felt memorizing but claustrophobic all in one, which added to the overall tension throughout the story. It was a true delight to walk with Willa through the turmoil of her family and career. You’ll quickly love her and root for her as she uncovers all the secrets.

This story is a wild ride. It’s creepy and twisted and sad and will blow your mind too. I thought I had figured it out but I was wrong and then it just got crazier. I read this in one sitting because I had to know what was going to happen! It was a good book!

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I had a hard time connecting with the main character and the story just dragged on for me. I just couldn’t get into it.

I hope others love it!

Readers who enjoy thrillers will love this debut book. Set in the Louisiana bayou, when Dr. Willa Watters goes back to retrieve her mother’s boxes, she will have to face her troubled childhood. Many twists will fool readers as they follow Willa along with Deputy Travis Arceneaux to solved the mystery of the bodies found in barrels in the bayou.. Loved that Willa was a vulnerable character even though she was a prominent psychologist. Intense, emotional and fast paced. Highly recommended!

Broken Bayou is a rather run down Louisiana town that holds special summer memories for Dr. Willa. It also possesses some of her worst nightmares.
There were so many broken threads to follow as I read and it wasn’t until a major clue was revealed halfway through that I figured out who the villain was.
Still, Moorhead tossed a few diversional clues to distract me but in the end my hunch was correct.
Willa is able to let go of the past and begin healing to forge a new path in the sunshine and leave the swamp behind.

Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead is a fast paced thriller about a woman who comes back to confront her past and ends up in the midst of the investigation into a serial killer.

This is a debut novel and I will definitely be looking forward to future books by Jennifer Moorhead. Good beach read with several unexpected twists!

This was a really good book. I enjoyed it very much from the very first page to the very last page. I recommended to all fiction lovers.

Broken Bayou
Jennifer Moorhead

Thank you @booksforward for the #gifted copy! These thoughts are my own.

One of my favorite things is to read a book that is set where I am. South Louisiana is so distinct it really could be a trope of its own, but Southern Gothic fits perfectly. The bayous, steamy days and nights, and all the lore that surrounds it make for a perfect thriller and this one did not disappoint. A serial killer is not something new here, Derrick Todd Lee and all the bodies that show up on the I10 corridor along the Atchafalaya Basin, help Broken Bayou fit in as a realistic piece of fiction.
I enjoyed this one. The premise was intriguing and the flawed characters were interesting. I did figure out who the killer was but I was still invested. Check this one out!

This is a great debut novel for this author! It was exciting from the very first page. So many twists & turns.

A serial murderer is on the loose and the FMC is at the center of it due to some mistakes made in her own life.

There were so many times I thought the murderer was one person, then I would think it was another, then go back to my first guess. There were so many well written characters in this book.

This book also had me fully creeped out and my adrenaline pumping at points worried about what was going to happen. While I find a lot of thrillers interesting, not all thrillers can have that effect where you are actually scared. That shows how well this one was written.

I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

This was a brilliant debut novel. The book was set in small bayou town in Louisiana and draws the reader into the dynamics of that from the very start. The main character is a disgraced child psychologist who returns to the the small town of her deceased aunts to tie up some loose ends whilst being dragged into an open serial murder investigation.
It's cosy in the way you expect from a small town thriller, with colourful locals and a great plot to match. I will definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Broken Bayou is author Jennifer Moorhead’s debut thriller. Protagonist Willa Watters, a child psychologist with a new book to promote, throws herself off the deep end during her first major television interview about the book. To escape the blowback, she returns to Broken Bayou, Louisiana where she spent many summers with her mother and sister in the home of a pair of now-dead aunts. Ostensibly, Watters is collecting a bunch of her mother’s memorabilia left the the aunts’ attic.

While there, as a drought drains the bayou, local police are finding oil barrels filled with the remains of women, the work of a serial killer. Almost daily, either barrels or old sunken vehicles are dredged up. Watters finds her past is dredged up as well.

The prose here is taut. Suspense and malevolence ooze from every page. Every time I thought I figured out whodunnit, Wham! Another suspect pops up. An amazing tense debut.