I really enjoyed The Echo Killing. I blasted through it over the weekend. I can't say I didn't have my suspicions with parts of it, but generally, I was hooked.
I really liked Harper as a character, and I can't wait to read more in the next book. I thought the plot was clever, the characters were good, but it left me with more questions that answers.
Still though, it sucked me in. Kept me up late reading and I couldn't tear myself away until the end!

This book took a very long time to get going and I normally give up but I kept reading and I am glad I did.
Although some of the story seems a bit far fetched and I was not sure about Harper being a journalist and working out who the murderer is.
It is a different kind of detective book which I did eventually enjoy.
I am giving it 3 stars because of the book taking so long to get going. Not a bad book just needs things happening a bit quicker.

I loved it, right until the very end when I felt that it was rushed and not particularly well explained why it had to have been an "echo" killing. Overall though it was well constructed and you felt really engaged with Harper. There is a love interest who appears and disappears into the ether only to return like a modern day John Wayne and a truly bizarre (and downright creepy) section where Harper dresses up as a child phycologist to get her mits on a traumatised child - made my flesh crawl !

Looking forward to seeing what happens next as there is clearly a follow up - if there isn't then the ending just fails . Worth a read

After Harper's mother is murdered and a copy cat murder happens, Harper becomes focused on connecting and solving both crimes. She gets herself into difficult situations. What a brilliant read, compelling story but easy to read and keeps you guessing, one for the book shelf.

What a brilliant start to the Harper McClain series - I loved it!
This book had me hooked from the start and I raced through it, desperate to know if Harper was right about the killer.
Part of the blurb says:
“As top Savannah crime reporter Harper McClain stares at the horrific scene before her, one thought screams through her mind. This murder is identical to another murder she has witnessed. Her mother’s murder…”
I loved the relationship Harper has built with the local detectives and as she was a child when her mother was murdered, she’s grown up as part of the Police as the Lieutenant took her under his wing.
Harper is not shy when it comes to taking risks but it’s always for the right reason, however, others don’t always see it that way.
I really liked the character of Harper and can’t wait to read more of this series - just a shame we have to wait until 2019.
I give this book five HUGE stars and would highly recommend this for all crime fiction fans.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this fantastic book.

Fifteen years ago, twelve-year-old Harper McClain came home from school to find her mother brutally murdered.

Now, Harper is the top crime reporter of Savannah’s newspaper and she spends her nights chasing crimes along with her photographer friend Miles. One afternoon, the body of a woman is found in her home by her young daughter and when Harper arrives on the crime scene she can’t help but notice the many similarities to her mother’s murder. Harper quickly becomes obsessed with this murder and, as the police seems to get nowhere, she starts investigating on her own. The more she investigates, the more she finds obstacles along the way, even from people very close to her. As the obsession takes over her life and threatens to destroy everything she’s worked for, Harper needs to find the killer before it is too late.

I was first drawn to THE ECHO KILLING from the blurb, which I found intriguing and captivating, and then when I read the first page I was completely hooked. I liked the character of Harper, she is smart, sharp, and determined. I liked the setting of Savannah, in Georgia, which is very well described with its evocative streets and tourist areas. I loved the plot which is dark, twisty, and fast-paced. And I liked that there is some romance as Harper starts a relationship with her long-time friend, detective Luke Walker, which is complicated by the fact that police and journalists shouldn’t be personally involved.

If all of the above isn’t enough, I will add that the author’s writing is brilliant and absorbing.

THE ECHO KILLING novel ends with a few unanswered questions but it is the first book in a series, so I am really looking forward to reading more about Harper.

Excellent story line and great main characters. I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Harper Collins UK, HarperFiction for a review copy of The Echo Killing, the first novel in what I imagine will be a series of novels featuring reporter Harper McClain, set in Savannah.

When Marie Whitney is murdered star crime reporter, Harper McClain, is determined to solve the crime because it seems to be an exact replica of her mother's unsolved murder 15 years earlier. With the police not making much progress Harper becomes obsessed with investigating it.

The Echo Killing has a great premise but the execution doesn't match its promise and I found that it didn't hold my attention. I had no urge to return to Harper McClain and her investigation. Mostly this is due to Harper's personality which is disorganised, impulsive and reckless. She jumps to conclusions based on her feelings and acts on them to get proof, unfortunately most of them are incorrect and it gets tiresome reading about her flights of fancy, stupid actions and people telling her to think before she acts. I can understand her need to solve her mother's murder but a bit of logic and organisation in her thinking would have made for a much better read.

I said at the beginning of the review that I imagine this is the first in a series of novels. I arrived at this conclusion because the novel has a series of unresolved loose ends, one of which has no direct relevance to the plot and is obviously inserted as a teaser, just before the very unlikely conclusion.

The synopsis of The Echo Killing appealed to me but it's not for me.

This story follows Savannah Crime Reporter, Harper McClain who is determined to discover the truth about the ties between a cold case, and a new murder. With one distinction, the cold case was her own mother's murder. Her obsession with her mother's killer, who was never found, has led to her becoming one of Georgia's best crime reporters, as she spends all of her free time searching for criminals.

The highlights of this book for me were definitely the rich backstory, the description of the setting and the strong characterisation. The pacing was also fantastic. For a debut author, this is a fantastic novel.

The character of Harper, is a strong female-lead, ambitious and fearless - the perfect character depicting a journalist, probably due to Daugherty's own experience in the field. However, strong male characters are also present in Luke and Miles, love-interest and camera-man respectively. That being said, although hints of romance are present, this is far from the focus. All of Daugherty's characters are intertwined into the plot expertly, they are likeable, but are also interesting and well fleshed out.

Overall, I really enjoyed the first in the series of Harper McClain, and I will definitely be picking up the next one! This was just the right focus on characterisation vs plot for a well-paced thriller, with a captivating plot! The suspense was kept throughout, although it was definitely built-upon throughout the book, with a FANTASTIC ending, which actually wrapped up the plot, unlike a lot of current thrillers - which hold a good story, but a quick, unclear ending - Daugherty wrote a well thought-through thrilling ending, which posed many a moral dilemma. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a suspenseful read, from the perspective of a detective or journalist, I'm sure you'll be hooked by this page-turner.