An investigative reporter returns to the scene of a decades old crime to put her own unsettled past to rest in this chilling suspense novel! Good book!! This book had great suspense, murder, mystery, intrigue, dark past secrets, gaslighting, a great who done it and a few crazy twists and turns! The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

This book is very well-written. I had to pay close attention due to the switching timelines and points of view, but that made it all the more interesting and mysterious. Sloan is a complex character and I was drawn into her eccentricities. This was a fabulous read by an amazing author.

Sloan Grayson, a writer specializing in cold cases, returns to Dawson—the site of a music festival 30 years ago where four women vanished without a trace. Although Rafe Colton was convicted of murder in connection with their disappearances, the bodies were never found. Now, with Colton facing parole due to a cancer diagnosis, Sloan is determined to uncover the truth and prevent his release.
Told in dual timelines, the story follows CJ Taggert, the newly appointed sheriff in 1994, as he investigates the original case, and Sloan in the present day, as she interviews townspeople with ties to the victims. Early on, we learn that one of the missing women was Sloan’s mother, Patty—giving her a deeply personal reason to leave no stone unturned.
As Sloan digs deeper, she rents Taggert’s old remote cabin and the site where he committed suicide, hoping to gain inspiration from the surroundings. Meanwhile, we see Taggert, an ex-military man, relentlessly chasing leads in the past to build a case against the charismatic and slippery Colton.
What makes this novel especially compelling is the depth of its two leads—Sloan, a flawed but determined investigator, and Taggert, a driven sheriff haunted by a case he couldn’t close. With a sprawling cast of characters, the narrative can be a bit dense at times, but it skillfully captures a town still scarred by a decades-old tragedy and reluctant to revisit the past.
Thanks to Montlake Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. The Festival Four is an engaging, twist-filled mystery—perfect for fans of Mary Burton or anyone looking for a suspenseful afternoon read.

Wow—what a ride! What She Saw had me hooked from the very first page. This is my first book by Mary Burton, but it definitely won’t be my last. Spanning over three decades, the story weaves seamlessly between past and present, unraveling a gripping mystery that kept me guessing the entire time.

I don’t typically gravitate toward novels that jump between timelines, but Mary Burton executed it flawlessly. Every twist took me by surprise—just when I thought I had it all figured out, I realized I didn’t! The suspense, the intricate storytelling, and the way everything came together in the end made this a phenomenal read.

If you love thrillers that keep you on your toes, What She Saw is a must-read. You won’t be disappointed!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Mary Burton, and Montlake for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely loved this book!

Great book! This story captured my attention and held my interest at the get-go! Plenty of action, puzzle pieces that would not fit easily, and one very determined case reporter makes a good story! Well developed characters and numerous false rabbit trails to keep you second guessing the culprit!

What She Saw is a great thriller but not an exceptional one. It kind of feel like an episode of Criminal Minds but without the FBI. The story jumps back and forth between the time of the murders in 1994 and Sloane’s investigation in 2025. I personally felt like there were too many chapters set in 1994 for my liking.
Sloane is an interesting character as she is presented as a sociopath whose main aim is to defend “team outcast”.
I felt compelled to read thanks to the writing style but I never felt emotionally attached to any of the character which was a bummer.
Unfortunately I guessed part of the plot twist but it was still good and entertaining!
Overall I really recommend this book for anyone who wants an easy fast paced thriller!

Thank you netgally and montlake for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

The beginning of the book had me a little bit confused. I thought we would start off with Sloane, it took me half of the first chapter to realize it was the killers pov. There were so many names that I had a little bit of trouble following the story the first 30 procent.
After that it got interesting, I really wanted to know what had happened to the four women after the festival. I didn’t like the switching time lines at first, it got me a little bit confused. But after a while I liked how the puzzle pieces started get together in the multiple time lines.
I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style. I know that’s more of a me issue because it was written very well but eventually it started reading a little boring to me. I really wanted to know what had happened to the women but I didn’t feel like we were getting closer to the answer.
I also could have done without the romance (if you can even call it that) between Sloane and Grant. I did really like her getting a dog.
The ending was very good. I finally got the tention I was waiting for for most of the book. Very glad everything worked out the way it did.

Fast paced and exciting thriller with an interesting main character. Good plot with plenty of twists

I just finished What She Saw by Mary Burton, and wow, what a thrilling ride! Set in a small town, this gripping mystery unravels around a music festival that promised security and peace—but instead, it became the backdrop for a nightmare. Four girls went missing, and 30 years later, their bodies still haven’t been found.

The story is told through two timelines, with Sloan (the daughter of one of the missing girls) and Taggart, the sheriff from 30 years ago, as the central characters. Sloan is tough, direct, and fiercely protective of the underdogs, while Taggart is a rule-follower who genuinely cares about finding the truth. The way their stories intertwine makes for an emotional and suspenseful journey as they work to uncover the secrets buried deep within their town.

The author does an amazing job of keeping readers on the edge of their seats, constantly questioning who can be trusted. Each twist makes you feel like you're part of the investigation, piecing the puzzle together. The character development is spot-on, with everyone feeling so real and layered.

If you love a good mystery with well-developed characters, suspense, and plenty of surprises, What She Saw is a must-read! Highly recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC review in exchange for an honest review.

#BookReview #WhatSheSaw #MaryBurton #Mystery #Thriller #Suspense #BookRecommendation #NetGalley

What a wild ride! Kept me guessing until the very end!

I loved how the author told the story through flashbacks as well as in present time. Made the mystery more intriguing.

I also liked the sub plot for romance and how it didn't overshadow the main story!

Well done!

I have read and enjoyed several books by this author before, but I struggled a bit with this one. I thought the storyline was intriguing, but the switching back and forth between the present and past was off-putting to me personally. I don't like it in movies, and I didn't like it here. That's just a personal preference, and if that style of storytelling does not bother you, then you are likely to enjoy this suspenseful tale that keeps you guessing until the end. The female lead, Sloane, is not your cookie-cutter lead character, and her uniqueness alone makes this story worth reading. I liked that aspect and the suspense enough to keep reading, but I found myself often skimming the chapters told in the past.

What She Saw was fun and mysterious thriller that kept the reader on their toes as they looked for answers along with Sloane. I loved the shifting perspectives and shifts in time between the past and present. I found Sloane to be a mostly likeable FMC and while she definitely had some flaws it is easy to try and tie those to aspects of her character. I do wish the end had been a little different- it felt like there was a rush at the end to wrap up the story and I would have loved to see it drawn out just a little more. Overall it was a fun read.

4* My first, but definitely not last, read by this author. 

I'm normally a reader of tales that have a solid start of a romance to them as an added bonus to the police procedurals/murder-mysteries that I've moved to in the last year, since full-on romance novels got too eye-rollingly twee for me. This tale doesn't have any of this, nor did it have a likeable or sympathetic female lead (the male one felt superfluous to both the tale and the female lead's requirements), but it was very well done in the investigation aspects, with Sloane being enough of a sociopath to make her believable and effective in her frankly 'who does that as an adult?' behaviours. I think that that she bonded with and took in an old dog that'd have ended up in a pound, showed that she wasn't entirely without feelings. She definitely doesn't think about or care about consequences, which worked for the work she does. She's a skilled liar, as she doesn't have a moral compass to measure things against. It made for a pretty unique and strong female lead, though not a likable or nice one. But, she's not here to make friends, though she lies to influence others to achieve her aims, which are kind of noble, if you can do shades of grey in your reading material choice.

So in this tale, she outs the bad guys but potentially is the cause of someone's death, which only very fleetingly bothered her. She finds out what happened to her mother and justice gets done, but it felt a bit too little, too late, as it didn't change her, or sound as if it might change her. This isn't really a criticism of her, as she's what her childhood and genetics made her, and I thought she was one of the most unique leads I've read about.

The feels-forced, a-bit-desperate-guy would-be romantic aspect didn't work at all for me, as it seemingly didn't work for Sloane. Not even the sex, which she did seem to want, had more than a moment's meaning to her, which again added to her uniqueness. I can't see her becoming a favourite character of mine, but is definitely read more about her and her career.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Montlake for my reading pleasure.

This story spans three decades and is complete with hope, depravity, mystery, danger, and the possibility of maybe something similar to love. Sloane isn’t just a writer. She’s on a mission to find missing women—girls, really—from 1994. And not just any women. You see, Sloane has a specific, valid interest in the truth. But getting to the truth is going to take a whole lot of twisting and turning and unraveling of lies.

While this has time jumps, it’s seamlessly woven together so we get the feeling of the here and now meshing with the past to give just as many clues and it does questions. And even though I figured on one thing happening, I was a little surprised by the other thing that clearly went bump in the night to snip off any loose ends. And if this feels a little hopeless with the desperation of people trying to touch some success, well, that’s by design. This one is meant to mess with you a little. It’s supposed to leave you a tad edgy and uneasy until we get to the true answer. Trust me, though. We do get there. Then all is answered, some old wrongs are made right, and Sloane just might have some positive changes coming her way also.

I could not put this book down! The story pulled me in and was such a wild ride. The story was well written and the characters were all interesting. 5 stars!


Thank you to Netgally, the publisher and author for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A really suspenseful mystery. We follow the stories of the murder of four women during a music festival, from the point of view of the sheriff during the festival and investigation and then thirty years later with the true crime writing daughter of a victim who was an infant at the time. Slowly we follow the evidence to see if the man in jail committed the crimes and also to try and locate the full story and the bodies of the women. Really enjoyed this one!!

I was surprised that I did think about this book when I put it down, but is was easy to put down and pick up…my guess is because the cadence is a bit slower.

I don’t know if I’ll remember the name of this book in a year, but I will remember that four girls disappeared during a music festival. I liked the parallelism between Taggart’s and Sloane’s investigations. I wasn’t sure what to do with Grant. It was his farm, but so what? I feel like he was just used to give Sloane some human qualities as the story progressed. I wish he had more of a connection to one of the disappeared or if he had seen something, even as a child.

I’ve never read a Mary Burton novel before, but I found myself looking her up in Goodreads. I’d recommend this book for someone that is just getting into thrillers or someone that also likes Megan Miranda.

Burton always delivers! Twisty and complex mystery weaving between past and present with interesting characters and plenty or red herrings to keep you guessing. You will want to get comfy, you won't put this down until the last page.

A great mystery story. I was instantly hooked.

Sloane was a great lead. I really admired her determination and strength. She was easy to root for.

The writing itself is addictive. I couldn't put this down. I had to know whodunnit. Plus this has plenty was red herrings and twists to keep the mystery intriguing.

Very enjoyable!

This book had me hooked from the first page. Sloane Grayson’s relentless search for the truth is layered with so much grit and heart that I couldn’t help but root for her every step of the way. The atmosphere is deliciously tense, plus, Burton’s writing makes every shadow feel like a threat and every silence scream with unanswered questions. What I loved most was the emotional pull, the way Sloane’s past clings to her, driving her forward even when the stakes grow terrifyingly high. The mystery kept me guessing, but it was the deeply personal journey that made this story unforgettable. It’s the kind of suspense that leaves you breathless, with characters you’ll be thinking about for days!