I LOVE stories like this one!! Kept you guessing the whole time. It had amazing suspense in it and I was so happy that I was able to read this one. Y'all need to definitely read this one, you won't regret it!

A fast-paced thriller. Readers who enjoyed Room will see some similarities, though this story is less complex. I struggled with the first half of the novel- lots of characters and subplots  ( was the Nazi stuff really needed?) and a lack of focus on the main story. But by the halfway mark, I was invested in Blair's journey to find out who killed her best friend. I would have liked more background on Joe and how he became the person he was, particularly from a psychological standpoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher and author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The story The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald is about a little girl who dies in the woods on her way home from her best friend Blair's house. Years later after leaving, the main character Blair comes back home to visit her dying sister Celeste. It was very hard for her to come back home as she didn't have a great relationship with her uncle and the fact its where her best friend was murdered 15 years ago. Just before her sister passes, she tells Blair a secret. Shocked with the secret, Blair tries to take matters into her own hands and tries to correct what has been done and find Molly's killer as she always blamed herself. 
I really enjoyed this book as it has been different from all the other thrillers I have read. This was definitely a fast read that I could not put down. The authors characters are complex and very interesting and had me guessing throughout the book. Ellis Dietz is the crotchety uncle and is very easy to dislike. The private investigator.  seems to not care about the case, but then does everything he can to help Blair and the newspaper reporter who leaves her high and dry.  The writing style was great as well. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers.

Thanks you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for the arc.

The Girl in the Woods is a run of the mill mystery which ticks a number of boxes without bringing anything new to the table.

The plot of a wrongly imprissoned man is nothing new and some of the characteristics of the main protagonists did not add much if anything to the story

Sorry but not one for me

This is a good quick read. The suspense increases as the story continues. The ending was a bit predictable but did not take away from my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

53//3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
•••••••
“I have to tell you something...I did something bad.”
•••••••
My very first NetGalley review! I was excited to have a fast thriller to read after reading a few longer books and I thought The Girl in the Woods sounded like it was right up my alley! Blair’s childhood best friend leaves her house after school and is never seen alive again. Fast forward to the moment Blair realizes her sister Celeste has information about Molly’s death that she never shared before. It’s up up Blair to see this new information through for the sake of her sister, her best friend and someone wrongly convicted of her murder. Something is amiss in their small Pocono mountain town and you can Blair will stumble right into the middle of trouble throughout this thriller.
•••••••
Highly recommend if you’re:
☝🏼 A fan of thrillers/mysteries
✌🏼 A fan of the book “Room” (it tended to remind me of it towards the end of the book)

Instagram.com/mamabearhayrereads

I want to thank NetGalley, Patricia MacDonald and Black Thorn for the Arc of the girl in the woods. I have heard good things about this authors book but had yet to read one so when I saw it on NetGalley I jumped at the chance to read this. This book was pretty good although I have to say it was not one of my absolute favorites. I enjoyed the story and then it took place in kind of a creepy wooded area part of the time but it just didn't thrill me as much as I wanted it to. 
Blair's friend Molly was murdered and her body was found in the woods behind her home 15 years ago. Fifteen years ago someone went to prison for this murder. Did they actually catch the killer or is the wrong person paying the price? Blair has avoided going back home but when her sister is on her deathbed she goes home to take care of her only to hear a shocking confession saying the wrong man went to prison 15 years ago and Blair's dying sister tells her to right the wrongs and find the real killer. Blair sets out to find the truth but the truth may not be safe for her.
Although it was a little bit predictable there were still a couple really good twists in this book and it was worth the read. Blair's background was particularly interesting to me and I really enjoyed that aspect. All in all a good read.

The Girl in the Woods is an intense, fast paced thriller with loads of twists! Will not disappoint! 

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Girl In the Woods is a fabulous read by Patricia MacDonald... she's one of my favorites! After a troubling childhood and loss of her best friend 15 years ago, Blair returns to her "home" to care for her dying sister. Celeste makes a death bed confession that relates to the loss of Blair's best-friend, Molly, years ago. With a promise to seek justice, Blair moves forward with an investigation with many twists and turns along the way. The relationship with her uncle, nephew, investigator, and more provide a great backstory. A quick, wonderful book!

The pacing of this book is terrific, however it would have benefited from a sensitivity reader. The plot is really white savior-ish. The wrongly incarcerated character is a Black man who converted to being a Muslim in prison (this is never explained, doesn’t drive the plot at all, and seems to be thrown in for diversity points), and one character actually admonishes her children for running around “like wild Indians.”

The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald is a taut thriller that engages the reader immediately.  I raced through this one in a desperate bid to unmask a killer.

Molly Sinclair is only thirteen years old when she is found murdered after leaving her best friend Blair's house to walk to her own home.  The killer is convicted and serves fifteen years for the crime.  But a deathbed confession after so many years asserts that the convicted man has been wrongfully accused.  A killer is still at large in the small community of Yorkville.  Will the right person be brought to justice before he or she can kill again?

This was a compelling read that propelled me through the narrative at breakneck speed.  I am anxious to read more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Black Thorn for this ARC.

Great storyline!  This book was very well written, this author is very talented!  Started this book and finished in one day!  Highly recommend

This book was very well written the author is very talented. However I think that she tried to throw a little bit too much at the book. Becuase I didn’t feel all the sun ploy were completely necessary. Other than that a very well written book.

After coming to visit Blair at her house, Molly is unceremoniously sent home alone by Blair's guardian, Uncle Ellis. Ellis is an unpleasant and bad-tempered character that clearly has issues showing just how hateful, uncaring and racist he is. Lumbered with two children to raise, he has become bitter and difficult, especially with his 13-year-old niece, Blair. That fateful night, Molly is murdered and her body dumped in the nearby woods before she ever reaches her own home. No-one knows for sure what happened, but a young black man, Adrian, is convicted of the murder based on the evidence that Molly’s phone was found in his car.  

Fifteen years’ later, Blair’s sister Celeste is dying of cancer and on her deathbed reveals that she was with Adrian that night and she could have provided an alibi, but didn't. She claims that she and Adrian gave Molly a lift home and drove off leaving her at the bottom of her path.  Celeste’s dying request of Blair is to put the record straight and help get Adrian (now Mohammad) released from jail. No-one has any interest in reopening the case, even if it means releasing an innocent man and finding the real killer. However, Blair made a promise to a dying sister and her conscience, sense of loyalty, family guilt and principles, all drive Blair forward to put the matter right.   

The characters and their interactions all felt very real as the unravelling of the events of that night and potential other suspects, slowly and gradually materialise. This is a well written, believable plot where the natural investigation line, although at times extremely daunting and challenging, eventually bears fruit. The best approach to freeing Mohammad and finding justice is to find the real killer – but with that comes danger and that person may be closer than you think.

This was a really enthralling and captivating read that enables the reader to feel the frustration, guilt and determination Blair needs to resolve this crime. The ending finished well and wasn’t dragged out providing a great finish to a great plot. 

I enjoyed this book and I'd recommend it. Many thanks to Black Thorn and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.

Blair Butler returns to her home town 15 years after the death of her best friend, Molly Sinclair. Molly was discourteously ejected from Blair's home all those years ago, by Blair's racist uncle, Ellis, and forced to walk home. She was murdered before she ever made it inside her house, but she was dropped at the end of her drive, or so Muhammed Yusef claimed at the time, so how and why was she murdered in the woods? With no witnesses, no alibi and Molly's phone found between the seats of his car, Yusef (then Adrian Jones) is convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison. But when Blair's sister, Celeste, confesses on her deathbed that she was Yusef's alibi but too scared to admit it, she entrusts Blair to set things straight and get justice for both Molly and the man wrongly imprisoned for her murder. 
This had the makings of a decent book but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. There were too many subplots that had no place in the narrative and made no difference to the outcome: Adrian Jones converting to Islam in prison; Blair having a very successful career in Philadelphia; Rebecca Moore taking an interest in the story only to move to Miami and drop it without a second thought. The fact Yusef was now Muslim was never really mentioned again; Blair's work was so vital and important that she didn't bother to return for the duration of the novel other than for a single meeting and Rebecca Moore didn't really find anything out about the case before she left it behind. A novel this short shouldn't need so much filler. That said, I was surprised to discover how short this actually was as it took me so long to wade through it. 
I suspected the real killer from the first mention and there were no real twists to this tale. Ultimately, it fell very flat for me and the ending was too neat and easy with plenty left unanswered; it was almost like the author realised themselves that it wasn't a great story and rushed to finish it so she could move on. And would someone really be so scared that their uncle, whom they despised anyway, would kick them out for fraternising with a black boy that they'd let their friend to to prison for life? Really?! I just didn't buy this whole thing.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. I thought this was awesome! I was on the edge of my seat several times throughout the book. The writing, the plot, the way the twists were thought out. Loved it and will be reading more from this author in the future!

Great story line! When Blair is barely a teenager her friend Molly is killed after leaving her house one day.  Everyone thought it was a cut & dry case until Blair goes home to visit and the truth finally comes out. 
Who did it, why was it done? 
A great summer beach read!

This is a story of a young girl who went missing.  A teenager was convicted and sent to prison.  Years later, a deathbed confession opens the door to a possible different story.

I thought this book was enjoyable, and had an interesting story line.  It almost followed the way of the podcast Serial, in the "did he, didn't he?" tale.  One character is a hateful racist and I despised him immediately.  Though, I think I was supposed to.

Overall, I thought this was a good, easy read.  There is a bit of a trigger warning for racism.  The story line was easy to follow.   Most of the characters aren't repellent.  And there is the small townishness to enjoy.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review 

 The first half of this book was so good, but that twist ending really went off the rails. I would give the first 2/3 of the book four stars and the last third two stars. So that average is down to 3.3 and I’m rounding down

I like murder mysteries even if they occurred 15 years ago. Blair came back home to be with her sister Celeste in her final days. She hated her home town for 2 reasons her racist uncle and murder of her best friend Molly 15 years ago. Just before her death, Celeste revealed a secret, which had caused an innocent man to be incarcerated. Shocked at the injustice done, Blair went about trying to get the wrong corrected and in the process, find Molly's murderer. 

My first book by Patricia MacDonald saw me cruising through my kindle at jet speed. The author's writing caused me to be immensely curious about the circumstances and what people remembered even after 15 years. Blair was a good amateur sleuth along with an ex-cop turned PI Tom who tried to get to the truth. 

A few niggles caught my eye, minor discrepancies in the subplots were present. But they didn't really hamper the main investigation. Much better character development would have helped me connect to Blair more. I hope this series would continue so that I get to know more about them. 

Overall, it was a gentle, fast read, just perfect for today when I am not well, and I needed something to distract my mind. It worked. On to my next book.