Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

Erin and Mark are about to embark on a whole new happy life together and it’s as they plan for their wedding that we first meet them. Erin is a documentary filmmaker and she’s so excited about the film she’s currently making. This is going to give her the break that she deserves. Mark is an investment banker and he’s good at it. They share a wonderful house and can afford to live in style. They are going to have the wedding and honeymoon of their lives. They travel to the idyllic islands of Bora Bora, a dream destination for most. Erin is even prepared to overcome her fear of diving and the sea to swim with Mark in these beautiful seas. And then one day, while they’re enjoying the water, they see something in it…

And that is all I have to say about the plot. I think with Something in the Water it’s important that you know as little as possible about the plot, or what is found in the water, when you dive into it. I didn’t know a thing except that it takes place on Bora Bora (and that really drew me to the book) and as a result I was turning those pages as fast as I could.

The opening is brilliant. It’s hard to catch our attention in psychological thrillers these days but I think Catherine Steadman pulls it off here. That’s also because the novel is narrated by Erin and she has such a distinctive and original voice. I’m not entirely sure that she’s likeable – she’s certainly frustrating and a little dim at times – but she’s fun to be around and she always seems real and believable.

I also enjoyed the documentary filmmaking element of the novel. It contributes to the fully rounded feel of the book and its characters. The descriptions of first class travel and Bora Bora are also eye wateringly lovely. I love novels set by the sea and this made Something in the Water particularly appealing to me.

I preferred the first third of the book to the rest but I think that’s because I worked out what was going to happen and then the plot became too predictable for me. I probably read far too many books of this type a year. Nevertheless, Catherine Steadman writes very well and I think Something in the Water is a very promising thriller debut.

Sorry but I really struggled with this book. I just found it a bit slow, confusing in parts and it just didn't grab me. Had to give up on it.

This was a bit of a bizarre book. At the beginning we were asked how long would it take to build a grave? So a deed had been done, then we went to what brought about the need for a grave.

The book is about a couple in love planning their wedding, they decide to go abroad and push the boat out for Bora Bora. Not long before the big day, Mark loses his job and decides they need to start cutting back on the spend for their wedding, not always consulting Erin.

While on their honeymoon they make a big discovery and a decision that changes the course of their lives and starts to drive the once happy couple apart.....can they heal the rift?

Really struggled with this book. The opening chapter was very promising but then it just seemed to drag. Far too detailed information about some things that just didn’t seem relevant. Very disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and Catherine Steadman for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

An absolutely stunning debut novel for Catherine Steadman leaving me excited for more.

The story jumps straight in with a jaw dropping start which leaves you wanting more, then slows down while you get to know the characters, I felt that I knew the characters well and it made me want to read more and more.

Erin, a documentary film maker and Mark an investment banker are on their honeymoon in the beautiful Bora Bora, while on a boat trip they stumble across something that could not only save their current problems but also put them into a lot of danger. An exciting, intriguing and terrifying story which is an edge of your seat page turner.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Something in the Water is the debut novel of actress Catherine Steadman, who starred in Downton Abbey.

The prologue started with protagonist Erin digging a grave for her dead husbands body.

Then the book went back to three months earlier went it all began. Documentary filmmaker Erin was excited to marry her fiancee Mark who was a successful stockbroker. Erin was in the process of making a documentary about long-term prisoners who were due to be released. Mark however was sacked when his bosses found out he was looking for a new job. Mark was the main bread winner but was finding it difficult to find another job. Money was so tight they were at risk of losing their home.

Erin and Mark got married and went on their honeymoon in Bora Bora. Erin and Mark had a wonderful time and Erin even tried to scuba diving after a previous bad experience. One morning Erin and Mark took out a boat after a vicious storm the night before. Mark went to a different spot then they intended go and they went scuba diving again. In the evening they were sailing back to the hotel when they saw a load of papers floating in the sea. When Erin checked one of the soaking papers they appeared to be in Russian. Then Erin and Mark heard something hitting the side of the boat....

Something in the Water is a perfect beach read. The scenarios Erin took such as wiping their hotels CCTV and smuggling things into the UK were farfetched in the extreme. I was aghast at Erin's stupidity and nearly gave up reading, however I wanted to know what was happening, and just decided to sit back and go with the flow.

I enjoyed reading about the prisoners from Erin's documentary. Holli who set fire to a bus during the London riots. Alexa who assisted the death of her terminally ill mother. Eddie who was a old fashioned gangster who worked for the Richardson firm. It was interesting that Erin was interviewing convicted prisoners when she was a criminal herself.

I liked Erin who was a risk taker but was ultimately acting in the best interests of their marriage and unborn child. I disliked Mark who worked behind the scenes and let Erin do the dirty work and incriminate herself. There were twists and turns a plenty, leaving Erin unsure who to trust.

The description of Bora Bora was excellent and I could imagine the secluded beaches and blue water. I enjoyed this debut by Catherine Steadman and look forward to her next book.

There’s a lot of hype around Something in the Water, which aroused my interest in wanting to read this. However I found this a very disappointing read.
The prologue opens with the protagonist digging a grave for her dead husband. A problem that I had with the prose early on was that the prose was inundated with too much description that was far too thorough, and made me internally scream ‘Get on with the story already. I don’t need the second by second miniature detail on how to dig a grave’, and unfortunately this clunky prose continued throughout the rest of the book. Also I found the characters selfish and narcissistic that I just didn’t care about them.
This had an intriguing set-up: a couple on a honeymoon find a bag of money that could solve their financial situation. However for me I found the execution tedious and cliched, with prose that didn’t quite pull me in.
Nonetheless I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for approving my request in exchange for an honest review.

What a dramatic paced debut
Completely captivates you from the start,
With convincing characters and unexpected twists this is an unquestionable winner.
Highly recommended

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Catherine Steadman for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book had the potential to be really good. Billed as a psychological thriller for readers of Paula Hawkins etc. But in truth after a very slow start it didn’t really live up to its promises.

I didn’t really like either Erin’s or Mark’s characters and found as the plot continued some bits just seemed totally unbelievable.

I would say if thrillers aren’t your main genre then you will probably enjoy this book but for those who love a good thriller, sorry but this falls short.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster and the author for the chance to review.

Here we follow Erin who is a documentary film maker and her partner Mark, who is a banker n the lead up to their amazing honeymoon in Bora Bora and what happens after when they discover something in the water. . .
The start of this was a bit confusing and not great for me; we follow Erin and Mark in the follow up to their wedding and we also start to learn about the current project that Erin is working on for her documentary as this comes into play later in the story. So, the first page we see Erin digging a grave to bury a body and from this, the story goes back in time to show the events that happened to lead to Erin burying a body. This, I have to admit, was a very gripping first scene and had me like wow, what on Earth has gone on here for this to happen but then it flicked to the past and I think it tried to fit too much stuff into too little chapters. We got snapshots of all her wedding planning and trying to deal with one of the twists that gets introduced early on in the book. I just felt like I couldn’t get properly interested in this part of their life because it went too quickly, and I didn’t feel like I couldn’t connect to either Mark or Erin as characters. I did, however, really enjoy learning about Erin’s documentary and the prisoners that she was interviewing, and I think that following the prisoners and what they do when they get out was one of my favourite parts of this story.
I think one of the main things that annoyed me here were the decisions that the characters made in the book. Some of them were really stupid and didn’t make sense and imply weren’t logical. The biggest part of it all was that Erin and Mark had just married yet they were arguing and not communicating at all, like literally, at all. Which was one of the biggest things that annoyed me. I know that it was all part of the story, but I do feel like maybe the story could have worked just as well if Mark and Erin had been more of the blissfully happy couple that you should be when you come back from your honeymoon when you discovered something that you maybe shouldn’t have.
I enjoyed that we got to see into Erin’s job as a documentary film maker and we got to see in depth the project she was working on. It flowed so well with the main plot and just the right amount of time was spent on it. It was fleetlingly mentioned so we wanted to know more, we actually got a look into the 3 prisoners that Erin was following and even got to follow what went on with them throughout the book which I thought was great.
I think it’s one of those that maybe I didn’t enjoy because I do like a lot of my book (unless fantasy /sci-fi etc; ) to be quite realistic and I understand that if characters actions were realistic then maybe they wouldn’t have gone the same way as the story plot, but there I felt this just didn’t have enough realism in the actions of characters for me. They should have talked to each other more and had more of the wedded bliss / honeymoon feel and I just didn’t feel ant of that. I did enjoy the documentary side of the story and thought it was well integrated into the plotline and overall I think it’s as good book and I as mentioned, I think it’s just my personal preference that made this less enjoyable for me.

I read this book just before I was due to take a flight from Melbourne to LA, flying over Bora Bora and spent a large part of the flight thinking about the happenings in Something in the Water.

The book opens with an incredibly intriguing first chapter. You are thrown into the story and although you are presented with the ending, the book never feels tedious as we learn how Erin got there.

Catherine Steadman has come up with an interesting premise for a book. It is tightly plotted and holds the readers attention well. I found it well paced and difficult to put down. I finished it quickly, over the course of two days.

The only downside to this novel was Erin. I didn't dislike her but she was at times an incredibly frustrating protagonist. On a couple of occasions I wanted to shake her vigourously. I think that this was part of the author's plan, you don't have to like the main character in order to be absorbed. Despite my frustrations I really enjoyed the novel. It is a perfect summer beach read. It leaves you with an ending that I questioned whether I could have predicted. It seemed perfectly fitting. The moral dilemma it poses left me considering what I would do if I were ever to find myself in Erin's position.

I received a copy of Something In The Water through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the publishers and to Catherine Steadman.

Actually 3.5 stars but rounded down.
Although I don't need my books all tied up at the end with a pretty bow, I do prefer the fundamental questions I have whilst reading to have at least some kind of closure to them, at least heavily hinted at. this book just left too much too open for me and a fair too many things unresolved. Maybe I just missed a big hint that I should have pieced together more myself but, thinking back, probably not.
Anyway, the story itself was intriguing enough to keep my attention nicely throughout, despite not managing to leave me satisfied at its conclusion. Maybe there'll be a follow up? There's probably enough left open (to me) at the end of this volume to consider that a possibility.
Whilst I am on my negative Nelly note, there was also a bit too much that felt a bit contrived rather than just being coincidence. Too many things that "allowed" the characters to act out of character so to speak but which all together made the book, for me, not quite flow as well as I would have liked. It was also a little bit unbalance with regard to pacing.
We started off very well though with a really great opening chapter. Then things slowed down a bit as the main story started to get set up. Some of this set up did occasionally contain what I would consider superfluous information which, at a push, could have been cut out, but which was probably included to pad things out. Sorry but I do like my stories to get on with themselves. We then step back in time to see how main characters Mark and Erin met and follow their individual work stories, both of which play major parts in the plot of this book. The fact that I really didn't like either of them probably didn't help my overall enjoyment of the book. Liking or disliking characters isn't a deal breaker for me usually but I did find them both to be quite inconsistent and, as such, found it quite hard to connect to either of them, so that probably didn't help.
Characters and ending aside, the middle part of the book did hit the spot as the discovery and dealing with it did tick along nicely. I also enjoyed Erin's interviews and indeed the premise of her documentary in the first place. Handily two of her interviewees did facilitate many of the subsequent plot points and behavioural anomalies which is why sometimes it did feel a bit contrived, but I really enjoyed her third subject and her journey. I'm not going to put any more here for fear of spoilers though.
All in all, this probably wasn't the book for me although, I will say, that at no point did I actually consider putting it down. That's one thing right? Sadly though, it didn't leave me satisfied at the end. Maybe I'm just too hard to please? Would I read a follow up to this or a new story by the author? Maybe, but I would definitely wait and see what my peers thought of it first.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for this book, in exchange for my honest review. I am giving this book 3.5/5.
Something in the water is a debut novel from Catherine Steadman, an actress most famous for her role on the hit tv-series Downton Abbey, where she played the heiress Mabel Lane Fox. The book made the best-seller lists, and it was probably due to the fact that it was Reese Witherspoon's June pick for her famous book club. That is how I heard about the book and decided to give it a go.
The opening of the book is amazing. It starts with Erin Locke, our main character, digging a grave. I had no idea it was so difficult to dig a grave; the movies always make it look a lot easier. However, the obvious question is: Whose grave is she digging? After that great opening scene, we go back to the beginning. We have an amazing, head-over-heels couple who are planning their dream wedding. Erin is a documentary filmmaker, who just started her first major documentary about convicts and their transition to the outside life after being released from prison. Mark is a banker, who just unexpectedly lost his job, and they have to scale down on their wedding plans. However, the honeymoon in still on, a perfect Bora Bora getaway. When they finally reach Bora Bora and start their honeymoon, they find something in the water. Since I don't want to spoil anything, let's just say this is when the trouble starts.
The thing that I loved about the book, was that it is full of interesting, everyday facts, like how difficult it is to dig a grave, or tidbits about the prison system in the UK. Also, I loved that it made me question a lot what I would do if I were to find myself in a similar situation. Hypothetically, I hope I would do the right thing, but I think that you can never know until or if you find yourself in that position. But I liked that the book challenged me in that way.
However, there were things that bugged me. First of all, Erin. She was just so naive and at times annoying. I couldn't connect with her in any way. Also, I expected much more of the story to be happening in Bora Bora, on their honeymoon, but that part was over relatively quickly, in regards to what I expected. I felt like some of the things that were introduced were a good direction, like with the convicts that Erin was interviewing for her documentary but it felt unfinished. And the ending just didn't work for me. I needed a better explanation.
All in all, it was a solid effort. I will admit that maybe a part of the problem was me and my high expectations. I liked it, it was ok, but it didn't wow me.

What an attention grabbing opener!!! How on earth has Erin got herself into the mess that she is now clearing up?! Thankfully the next chapter rewinds back three months to start the story at the beginning!

Sometimes you’re the lamppost; sometimes you’re the dog.

We kick off with a couple's worst nightmare a few months before their marriage when the high flying hubby is sacked with limited prospects and a blinkered view on job hunting. Somehow and with a lot of changes, they make it to the honeymoon. In the idyllic Bora Bora, they go diving and what they find in the water is life changing...

I really liked Erin and I loved her documentary idea, it's the sort of thing I'd watch, probably on Channel 4. Erin's a very creative woman, both professionally and in this predicament she finds herself and Mark in. As for Mark, I wasn't that keen on him, he gives the impression from the start he's rather self centred and he doesn't do much to prove me wrong!

As things spiral out of the couple's control, I can hear the fear in Erin's voice as she tells me what's happening. I really didn't know how Erin was going do next or what twist in the plot would come next.

Ms Steadman has written a fabulous debut. I found Something In The Water a thoroughly addictive read. I'll be watching for what she writes next!

Warning: This review contains spoilers.
Very disappointed with this book.
I must admit, the first pages were intriguing. The book opens with a woman digging a grave to bury her husband. Why wouldn’t it be intriguing! She gave a loooong narrative of how to dig a grave, obstacles, bla bla. But, I thought it was to pull the reader in by making it interesting at the beginning.
This looooong and unnecessary narratives continued with our couple choosing the wedding menu (yes, you read right, the wedding menu! with all the details of it! different options! all of it!). Further down, we go into their honeymoon travel, all the first class details, which doors to pass through, bla bla. Then, a description of a gun, for many, MANY pages. A pregnancy test, etc.
THE PLOT: We open with Erin, our protagonist, digging this grave for her husband. Then we flash back to the past to come to that point. They prepare for their wedding. Mark is an investment banker, Erin is a documentary producer. We are already 30% in before the big twist happens in the book, which is finding SOMETHING in the water. Mark loses his job. Erin proves a moron early on as she has no idea of their financial situation if Mark won’t work. Erin is also making a documentary with some prisoners, and we get to know them very well as well, ALL 3 of them. At this point, I’m innocently thinking these guys will connect to the story in a logical way.
Then finally, at their honeymoon in Bora Bora, they find a plane wreck and a bag full of money and diamonds, a USB and a phone. Honestly, after this point, there are no words enough to tell how silly it gets. Erin makes many stupid mistakes like opening the phone. They smuggle the money and diamonds in the country like it’s a normal thing. All 2 million pounds! Dear UK Border Force, I would take it as an offence. Then of course the owners of these (The dangerous Russians) come on board. Erin asks help from Eddie (one of the prisoners) for help. (I don’t know even where that came from, since when they were friends). Also, Eddie helps with all the diamond selling, hiding the money, in return if Erin speaks to his daughter which he want to win over again.
Then all of a sudden, Mark decides to be the bad guy. He cooperates with Russians, tries to get all the money for himself. In the middle, we learn Erin is pregnant. Some Patrick guy appears out of the blue! Don’t ask people! It even hurts to write this.
I'm also particularly disappointed with lack of attention and research for detail:
1. Apparently Ashar Farooq is a Turkish name according to the book. Interesting. I’m Turkish and I never heard of that. Of course it’s an Arabic name, and he’s going to Syria. But, for Steadman, what’s the difference apparently. Turkish, Arab, all the same. Well, NOT AT ALL. I’d expect her to do some research on Google at least to differentiate ethnicities properly.
2. Again, apparently, Gaziantep is a small village in Turkey. It’s a city with 2 million population! It annoyed the hell out of me. Writing a book and not looking up even this!

I don’t know even where to begin with the writing. It was a complete mish-mash of whatever. It was like somebody wrote the beginning, another the middle, then another finished the book. And all those f…ing details that don’t add ANYTHING to the plot. I could easily cut half of the book without losing anything of the plot.
I'm very surprised with the buzz and to me it's a very low quality book both with its writing and plot.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This might seem harsh but I really don't understand how this book got published in the way it is.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

STYLE AND WRITING
Steadman’s writing, is not steady. Well. There is A LOT in this book. A LOT. In the beginning I thought: hey, she must be going into these details for a reason. Then the more I read, the more I became sure: there is no reason for us reading a wedding reception 3 course menu, and prices, for pages, OR how our character interprets a pregnancy test for at least a few page (I mean not emotionally but literally with the blue crosses and a lot of ‘fuck’ and ‘shits’),OR how do we learn about Glock’s for at least 5 pages – at that point I asked myself, I can read this in Wikipedia-Honestly, as far as I know it’s better to tell something with less words. I can edit this book and cut it to half of it’s size, EASILY without losing anything in the plot at all. Steadman literally talks about everything in this book. The character boards onto a plane and we have a lecture about first classes. The character dives into sea and we have a lecture and description about different types of sharks. There is a lot more. Just asking: WHY? WHAT THE HELL? Do people really enjoy reading these, hence so many 5 stars?

THE PLOT
I won’t lie. The first 30% wasn’t that bad. Then it just started tumbling down to the cliff into the water!
The plot is absurd. Our protagonist, Erin is engaged with an investment banker, Mark, who mysteriously gets fired from his high-paying job days before their wedding. They go to honeymoon. They find SOMETHING in the water. Then hell breaks lose. It’s alright. Erin is an idiot, I understand. Mark is as flat as an A4 paper but he does the job. Then there is a whole storyline of 3 prisoners, Holli, Eddie and Alexa. Erin meets and interviews them to make a documentary and it looks like they’re just thrown in to spice it up. Oh wait, one of the prisoners, Eddie the dangerous criminal, becomes Erin’s fairy-gangsta-mother, so that must be why they’re in. Every time Erin has a criminal problem, she rings Eddie. Uh, oh, I think HMP Pentonville must be operating as a call center. I can’t see how else Eddie can take so many calls from Erin. So here is a tip, if you have a body to dispose, some illegal diamonds to sell, you ever need a gun, or encrypt some illegal documents, I don’t know, just ring HMP Pentonville and I am sure they can put in contact with the right sort of criminal.There are so many silly things about the plot that makes your eyes roll : like Mark and Erin smuggling loads of diamonds and millions of dollars to the UK without any problems in their luggage- which I honestly think British Border Force should take as a wake up call if this is the case with first class passengers never being searched-, or Erin trying to sell the diamonds almost in the open market next to vegetables and the criminals still can’t spot them, silly criminals…Did I mention Holli suddenly running wild to Isis- what the heck was this for we’ll never know) It felt like Steadman had a wild dream and decided to write this into a novel.

THE INATTENTION TO DETAIL
I am very frustrated to the fact that Steadman (and the editor ) never realised these mistakes about Turkey / Turkish in the book. First Gaziantep, a big city in Turkey with nearly 2 million inhabitants is told as : "a small village". Yes, with this exact words.
Also Steadman invents a Turkish guy called Ashar Farooq. Which is CLEARLY Arabic. I found this very offensive, to be honest. Turks and Arabs don't share a language and a culture. They share a religion in a way Catholics and Protestants share theirs. This is a bit like saying: Oh well, if these countries are next to each other, why not. Who cares it's a Turkish or Arabic name/man, they're all the same.

Verdict:

1 star. Will I read again from Steadman? No. #SorryNotSorry

Thanks for Netgalley and publisher for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Erin and Mark have a perfect life and are the perfect couple. They honeymoon in Bora Bora where they find a bag that changes their life.

This has been done before but this time the plot was done well. Erin and Mark are professional people with careers, they make good decision sensible decisions, so how do they get to the beginning of the book where Erin is digging Marks grave.

For me I came away questioning would I have done anything any different, and in their situation am I completely sure I could trust my husband, or if he could trust me……

I'm sorry, I know I might be in the minority on this but I just couldn't get on board with this book. I requested to download it after seeing that it had been chosen for the Reese Witherspoon book club and I usually love those recommendations, unfortunately not this time.
I found the plot to be overly-complicated and highly implausible. I felt unsatisfied by the end of the book, nothing felt like it was cleanly tied up and I still had so many questions. Sorry, it just wasn't for me.

Erin and Mark are the perfect coup e. She is a documentary maker and he is an investment banker. Just before their wedding however, he loses his job. Instead of the large, planned wedding they have a smaller affaire but fly off to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. Out scuba diving one day they find something. Something that will change their lives forever. They decide to keep it a secret and start to cover their tracks. One thing leads to another but, how secret is a secret and are they still a team or is one of them after something else.
I loved the pace of this book although I did arrive at the conclusion just before it was revealed. Well written and holds the attention to the last page.

There were several things that initially drew me to this book, but what I got in return, was much more than I expected!

This story revolves around Erin and Mark, a happy and in-love couple, whose lives are turned upside-down when Mark loses his job mere weeks from their wedding, compounded by the discovery of a mysterious package while on their honeymoon.

What starts as a straightforward mystery/thriller then turns into a sinister tale of cat and mouse, emotional manipulation, crosses, double-crosses, and triple-crosses. You think you know which characters have been laid out as the goodies and the baddies, but life is never that black and white. There are layers in between, encompassing all the different shades of grey.

I liked the writing, albeit for a few too many introspective questions, but there was a good use of first person narrative and breaking the 4th wall. And no matter how I feel about certain characters, their creation was excellent. 4 stars, for this gripping and exciting book. It’s an admirable effort and commendable achievement for a debut novel.

Thank you to Catherine Steadman, Simon and Schuster UK, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.