A review by cj_mo_2222
What Waits in the Woods by Terri Parlato

adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

This book features the same detective as in the author's first book, All the Dark Places. I loved that book, so I enjoyed catching up with Detective Rita Myers. However, this new book also works perfectly as a standalone. Rita is leading the investigation of the death of a young woman found murdered at the edge of a wooded area. The crime scene is in the backyard of former ballerina, Esme Foster. Esme is one of the victim's high school friends who has just returned to Graybridge, Massachusetts after a career-ending injury. Esme had moved away years ago thinking she was in danger in her hometown and now fears she may be a target once again. 

Rita and her team have many suspects to question, including Esme's brother Byron, which makes things complicated. There is more than one sketchy character in the book who is easy to picture as a potential killer. I enjoy the character of Rita and find her very relatable. I admire her intelligence and her determination to find the killer. She is an experienced detective who has a complicated personal life and I warmed to her right away. 

I was sympathetic to Esme who has both current problems and past traumas to deal with, but she is a harder character to connect with. Part of that could be that we hear a lot about her past when she lived in New York with her now ex-boyfriend, but we don't see it. For this reason, I didn't feel I fully got to know her even though I liked her. 

The book alternates between Rita and Esme's points-of-view, giving us a police procedural in Rita's chapters and a bit more of a thriller in Esme's. Together, seeing the case from both sides makes this an engaging, well-rounded crime fiction novel. I had a few suspects in mind, but wasn't able to anticipate the solution and was surprised when everything was revealed. I hope to see Rita Myers again in future books. 

I received an advance copy of this ebook from NetGalley and Kensington Books at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.