Three Drowned Girls (Detective Freya Sinclair Book 1) by Emily Shiner
Narrated by Amelia Sciandra
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers
Expected Publication Date: April 22, 2024

Three Drowned Girls is the first book in the new Detective Freya Sinclair series by Emily Shiner. This is the first book I’ve read by the author and I’m sure it won’t be the last!

I loved the narration by Amelia Sciandra. She did such a great job bringing this story to life!

I love Freya! She has gone through so much, and continues to go through so much, while she tries to be of service to her home town.

Following Freya while she tries to solve and stop future homicides of little girls was captivating! The author wrote this in such a way that I could not stop reading!!! I loved seeing how this mystery unraveled and how everything worked out.

I can’t wait to read the next book, I know it’ll be just as good!!!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Three Drowned Girls is the first book in the Detective Freda Sinclair series.
Freya comes back to her hometown after escaping several years earlier over her own past.
Girls start to come up missing/unaccounted for and some even drowned.

While the book room several turns and seem to have so many “hmm maybe he did it” scenarios, it always kept me on my toes. I really enjoyed it. I was completely clueless as to who dun it. I will 100% read the next in the series.

I just loved the narration by Amelia Sciandra. She really left me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for a chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's a book by Emily Shiner, I'm going to love it!! But I made the mistake this time of listening to the audiobook and I had to give up half way through. I really wasn't enjoying the narrator and because of that, I missed some of the story. So I read the last 40 % and yes, I missed some of the story but what I read I really liked.

It didn't feel like a first book in a sparkly series, but an already well established on. Freya has a dark backstory and I hope we see more about it in the future books, it sound so messed up and shocking! It got me intrigued. Brad, too, he has a story that needs to be told. The way he clammed up at the end, well colour me intrigued!! This is definitely a great start to a series, and I am excited by it, just a bit gutted I listened to it first and I'm NEVER like that! It might have been my concentration too.

This story was a hard one to digest, I couldn't believe, but at the same time I could, the way these mum's were behaving. My heart broke again and again. Having Freya on the case was the saving grace with her makeshift team of Candy and Brad. Whilst this was going on, we had a side story of a dodgy school principal. But the main focus was on Freya and how the town blamed her for her past, because of mis-judgement she made on an arrest but that said case wrapping up. I felt for her but she was so strong and she was focused and determined!

I am excited about this series and Freya and I can't wait to read more!

Emoji Book Review: 😯🥱😕

⏰Short Summary: Detective Freya Sinclar has gone home after being away for five years. Her first case involves the tragic drowning of a girl in the river. Then the bodies start to pile up. Freya races against time to solve this case and stop a killer, while encountering many challenges along the way.

⚡Thoughts: This is my first read by this author. Definitely a good read although a little slow paced for my liking. I dig a page turner through and through. I’d find myself reluctant to pick this one back up, which is never a great sign. There were also a lot of sub plots that oftentimes felt laborious and confusing.

The story was compelling - but the mystery aspects left me wanting. Don’t get me wrong there were some captivating parts for sure, but overall it just didn’t come across as fully believable for me and I struggled with those aspects.

Overall, I definitely say give it a try. There is a good story here, you just have to wade in a little further than I like to get to it.

📚Genre: Mystery

📅Publish Date: April 22, 2024

Big thank you to the author, NetGalley and Bookouture for my advanced copy. 🥰

The first installment in the Detective Freya Sinclair series is interesting. I'm immediately hooked from the grizzly discovery that was mead early on in the story. A very interesting take on a serial-killer thriller series, expertly narrated by Amelia Sciandra. Detective Freya Sinclair returns to her hometown to face suspicion and hostility as she investigates a chilling case involving drowned girls. I can't help myself but feel for Det. Freya. Her past is bad but I feel like she is doing the best that she can to correct her wrongs. Amelia Sciandra's narration captures the emotional depth of Freya's journey, drawing listeners into a captivating mystery filled with suspense and intrigue.

I enjoyed reading this book, and found the solution to be satisfying. It is personal preference, but I prefer to be kept guessing a bit more as the reveal for the killers was revealed earlier than I would have expected.

This is the first I’ve read by this author and will not be the last! This was insane and intense! I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one afternoon!! But it does have you wondering who is drinking the Kool-Aid!
Starting at the beginning of the book I was captivated by Freya's story. She made a mistake in a previous investigation resulting in her hurt in action and gained an unsavory attitude with the town. She then transferred to Texas and at the first chance she saw they were looking for a detective, she applied and got the job. On her first day back they found a deceased little girl in the water and then there were several other girls missing from the school as Freya and her partner are following all the leads she has a lot on her plate. She has to prove herself to the community, solve the cases of the missing girls, and find out what is happening in their community to all the girls while everyone gives her a hard time as she investigates. But once she finds out what's happening in her hometown, it is much more sinister than she ever imagined!
I was given the audiobook from Bookouture Audio and Netgalley to listen to and it was just an amazing treat! The narrarator fit the story and the characters, she was very engaging and kept my attention! Thank you for the opportunity and it is definitely a treat!

TW a lot of child death

This book was hard to read—well written but oh my god. I didn’t realise it was a sequel so I’ll be checking out the other book but I was unprepared for the reveal. If you aren’t able to stomach cult drama resulting in a lot of death this may not be for you. Like Jonestown preschool.

Thank you so much for the ARC! I enjoyed it. It was an interesting storyline. Audiobook narration was great. I felt the ending was predictable but still interesting. The moms were wack.. it was almost like a small town, mom cult horror story. I love serial killer stories. I do not read many police procedurals but Freya was an interesting MC, and is interesting enough I would pick up the next book easily. I think this will make a great series.

What a start to a new crime detective series! Detective Freya Sinclair comes back to her home town after leaving under a cloud when her parents were discovered to be serial killers. Now back, she is all guns blazing when the body of a girl is discovered in a river, but when trying to identify her, finds there are a number of local girls missing. Soon another body is found and the race is on to find our what is happening to these girls and who is behind it.
A powerful pinch of a book that I devoured in one sitting. Slowly the background of Freya revealed the details of her past and reluctance of the town to welcome her back. She makes some allies on the team and together they bring justice to the town. You are never let down with a Emily Shiner book and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.

Thanks Bookouture, NetGalley, and Emily Shiner for the opportunity to read and listen to this amazing book. Freya Sinclair has returned to her hometown after five years away. Unfortunately, as a child she had the bad luck to be raised by parents that turned out to be serial killers. Ultimately she was responsible for the arrest of her parents but even so it made life hard on her in her town. Now she has come home to take on a position in the police department with her first case covering some missing girls. Soon the bodies of two little girls are found and another is reported missing. Freyra is desperate to find her before it’s too late.
Excellent book and I look forward to more in this upcoming series. This was book 1 and I look forward to reading book 2

1 star may seem a bit harsh for what is a well written book with a reasonable mystery. However, I got to the 90% mark and felt that I was unable to continue. This is purely personal preference, but I did not like the ending just purely on the content and the level of detail that was provided. It is a hard read and I was not in the right headspace for this content. I also found the behavior of the Police, particularly when constructing Facebook posts in one scene particularly unbelievable.

That being said, I would try from this author again as it was the content that caused me problems rather than the actual book not being well written, the content was just not something I could read about.

Narrated by Amelia Sciandra ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Story by Emily Shiner ⭐⭐⭐
This is a solid start to hopefully a really good series. The author was definitely cleaver with giving the reader little pockets of information about Freya and her childhood. Please tell me that story is going to be happening because I'm all here for it.

As for the premise of this book, it was pretty good.

This was my first experience with an audiobook (that I actually could listen to all the way through) and I ended up really enjoying it! Usually I find myself drifting off and completely missing parts of the story but the narrator kept me locked into the story as much as the plot did. I'm still amazed one person could make so many unique voices for each character we met.

While I really enjoyed the plot and loved guessing/investigating alongside Freya and Candy, I felt that at some points the characters explained their emotions a little too well. It didn't take away from the story by any means, it just felt a little unrealistic that they could say the things out loud the way they did especially when Freya seemed pretty private throughout the story.

I also hated Cinnamon (IYKYK, lol)

Once again, Emily Shiner hits it out of the park! I now have a new series I can't wait to read the next book! This was a great read and I couldn't stop listening once I started! I love that Det. Freya is not a withering violet and gets shit done. I can sense that she and her chief are going to eventually have a come to Jesus moment...can't wait to see what happens then!

#ThreeDrownedGirls
#NetGalley

I feel like there was a lot of stories in which we have a detective coming back to their home town where they have some dark past in. Of course we have some mysterious disappearance happened so our protagonists jump right away to solve it. I would say that it was a good companion audiobook, meaning I liked having it on while completing my chores rather than being invested so much, I couldn't put it back. And in that manner I would recommend it. As something to keep you company and being interesting enough to keep your attention divided. The narration itself was pleasurable and I have no objections to it.

A really enjoyable police procedural with a female detective.
an ARC via Netgalley. Audiobook version.

I really enjoyed this story, I enjoyed reading about Freya Sinclair, the protagonist, on her return to her hometown. There is a lot of dripfed information about her history (both from childhood and more recently) which I hope will be expanded upon in the next book in the series... it's enough to leave you wanting more and I completely understand why some of the story is left unfinished... I want to join her in the next book to find out more. Her boss is a 'love to hate, but does he really have a soft side' character, but I did enjoy the police-procedural themes, even though some days seemed to have more hours than possible in them judging by how much was fit in to them - and only a few 'I'm not sure that's how that would have really happened moments'.

The storyline is pretty harrowing, but not graphically or unnecessarily detailed, but without spoiling too much expect a cultish sort of behaviour. Let's just say you wouldn't want to join this group of 'soccer moms' for playdates anytime soon...

The pace was great, and listening via audiobook meant I often sat in the car at the end of a drive to finish off a chapter. Loved the narrators accent and voice too.

3.25 Stars

Detective Freya Sinclair has returned to her hometown after being away for five years, and her first case involves the tragic drowning of a little girl in a river. The situation becomes even more devastating when another young girl's body is discovered. As Freya races against time to solve the case and prevent further loss of innocent lives, she encounters several challenges that test her skills and determination.

While this novel didn't capture my attention as much as the author's previous work, You Can't Hide, I still found it to be a decent read. The ending was satisfying, and I found Freya's personal history quite intriguing. I wish there was a novel dedicated to exploring her relationship with her parents.

This book might be a great fit for those who enjoy dabbling in mystery and police procedural novels. However, it may not offer anything groundbreaking for avid readers.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Shiner, and Bookouture Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

Emily Shiner's "Three Drowned Girls" is a fast-paced who done it mystery. I really liked the well rounded female lead characters, and the narrator did a wonderful job bring them all to life. I look forward to reading the next installment of this great new series.

😮‍💨😮‍💨
This book was a great listen. Hands down one of my top 5 thrillers! The narrator was phenomenal as well!