Told in alternative timelines, The Lake of Lost Girls, follows sisters Lindsey and Jessica. It’s been 24 years since Jessica went missing, and Lindsey who was only a child at the time, has let her disappearance control her life since then. Lindsey along with a reporter start to dive deeper into the events that lead to Jessica’s disappearance, including investigating a string of other missing girls from the local college. With the discovery of a young girl’s remains are found though, what was once a cold case is heating up, as a popular true crime podcasts chronicles in real time what the police are finding.
I love a good mixed media book, and especially when a podcast is involved. Which is strange considering I hardly ever listen to podcasts, but I digress. Greene was able to sprinkle in podcast episodes and social media posts, that enhanced the story perfectly. I enjoyed the podcast commentary, and the fact that Greene is drawing attention to societies morbid fascination with True Crime, and how it’s all too easy to forget that these were real people’s lives being impacted. Reading the way Lindsey let this impact her life really reminds us to be mindful when consuming True Crime.
Character depth and development is where I took a star away though. Each of our characters lacked any emotional awareness and all of them tended to share similar traits. It was hard to distinguish our characters from each other, as they all tended to fall into the same ‘stereotypes’. While this made guessing the murderer more difficult, it did make the characters seem a bit flat for me. However, with the alternating POVs and timelines, Greene was still able to generate an atmosphere of suspense that had me staying up late to finish this book.
With a gripping story line, a claustrophobic small-town feel, and plenty of red herrings, Greene will keep you guessing until the final pages. If you enjoy thrillers and true crime podcasts, then this book is perfect for you.
The Lake of Lost Girls comes out November 5, 2024. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books
