2.5 stars

My favourite part of this book as the descriptions of the area and the farmhouse. It seems like such a comfortable and peaceful place to live!

It didn't really say who Beth was besides a childhood friend until the 21% mark, I feel like that relationship should have been clarified sooner. Also Rosalie's age - she was supposedly 26, but she acted so much older than that. It might just be how she lived in solitude and had her routines though.

The story was pretty slow up until the 80% mark or so. At 54% I considered adding it to the DNF pile, but I read some reviews that said it had a great ending so I kept going. I felt like the story was threatening to veer into a romance between Rosalie and Cora, but I'm glad that it was subtle and not the focus-point. The ending wasn't all that exciting, and there was one big plot hole, but not a bad read.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of “Little Girls Tell Tales” in exchange for my honest review.

So back in 2004 Rosalie gets lost in the curraghs ( totally looked it up- it’s a densely wooded wetland. Think boggy and swampy and woody to give you a mental picture) while going on a walk with her brother. During this time she was lost, she happened upon skeletal remains. When she was found, no one believed her. Searches were done and the bones were nowhere to be found. In present day-err, well, 2019, brother Dallin who is now estranged from Rosalie shows up with this chick named Cora. Wouldn’t you know, Cora is searching for her long lost sister Simone and she’s pretty sure that Rosalie’s skeleton is who Cora is looking for. But how did Rosalie’s story end up on the ol interwebs? Rosalie is a total introvert since her wife Beth died. She hasn’t charged her phone in Months or checked social media-she still talks on a landline for crying out loud, so she certainly hasn’t shared her little tale to the world. Ok, kind of got sidetracked there. Now-what did I think of the book? Solid 3 stars. Rosalie is an interesting character, Dallin makes you dislike him strongly, and Cora is hard to read. Rosalie’s neighbors are oddballs. The story itself was pretty good, although the ending felt a little far fetched. It starts off pretty slowly too, but definitely redeeming once you make it to the second half.

I thought this was a good book. I loved Beth’s character and her growth throughout the book. I wouldn’t like more closure at the end. Overall, it was a great book but definitely a long read.

A little girl comes across a skeleton after getting lost in a wooded bog. No one believes her and the skeleton can not be found once she has made her way out of the bog. Years later a stranger comes calling asking her about the skeleton, could it be this girls long lost sister? An unlikely trio begins to revisit a past 20 years old, trying to find clues. But when they get close to the truth will they be in danger?
A suspenseful tale start to finish!
My only critique was that the end felt a little rushed, however the book was beautifully written and the characters were delightful. Overall 4 solid stars

3.5* Surprisingly 'gelling' despite the many things that the author adds to the storyline.

This is my first read by this author and I'd certainly read more. She took a child's encounter that wasn't fully understood and made it into a murder-mystery tale with enough added in to strengthen the tale, and with (just a few more than needed, IMHO) characters that padded it out and added some 'hmmm, I wonder...'.

It had more darkness and more secrets than I expected and the eventual connection between the dead person and the current persons in the tale felt real, with a touch of the bunny boiler made famous by Glenn Close. I did wonder about the emotional stuff going on between 3 characters and how true or not the deceased's sister was, and not all of those aspects got fully clarified, which was a little irritating. But, in terms of the whodunnit, it was just on the right side of being over done, and the tale worked for me.

ARC courtesy of Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

In 2004, young Rosalie becomes separated from her brother, Dallin, and friend, Beth, while walking through the wetland on the isolated Isle of Man. Having strayed from the path, it’s hours before she’s discovered shaken and exhausted, and reporting she found a dead body. Rosalie is known for telling tales, so when the police are unable to locate the body most believe it's just another tall tale.

Fast forward to 2019. Over a year since Rosalie's wife, Beth, died, Rosalie is still struggling mightily with grief. She's shocked to find Dallin, who has long been estranged from their family, on her doorstep unannounced with a woman named Cora. Cora’s sister went missing many years ago and she believes Rosalie found her in the wetland all those years ago. Rosalie becomes wrapped up in Cora's plan to find the body and confirm it's Cora's sister. When disturbing things begin happening to Cora it seems someone doesn't want them to keep searching.

Rosalie is a fantastic character. The setting is intriguing and a character itself. I don't know if this book is intended to be the first in a series or a stand alone, but I look forward to reading whatever the author publishes next. Recommended for fans of character-driven mysteries. 4.5 Stars

Content Warnings: SPOILERS statutory rape (not on page); homophobia; child abuse END SPOILERS

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own.

Very slow book starts to get you gripped about three quarters of the way in. Got a bit confused at times who the story was about

The beginning starts out with Rosalie following her brother and friend into the Bogs, then she somehow gets turned around and lost. While she is trying to find her way out she stumbles across a skeleton. Scared she finally finds her way out but no matter how hard they look or how many people look they couldn't fine the bones. Many assume she made the whole thing up or imagined the bones bc she was scared.
Flash forward to twenty years later Rosalie still recovering after the death of her wife receives an unexpected visit from Her brother and Cora. Cora believes the bones Rosalie found are actually her sisters who went missing years ago. So trying to find the bones Rosalie and Cora open a huge can of worms and they do not know how far some people will go to keep things hidden! Great story. It was slow building but definitely hard to put down at the end of it! Definitely recommend!!

This book is slow, even more so in the beginning, but if you stick with it, leads to an exciting and satisfying ending. The story centers on Rosalie, who stumbled upon a skeleton in the curraghs (note, a curragh is a flat open plain in Ireland- I was unfamiliar with the word) behind her house as a 10-year old child, but it couldn't be found again and everyone determined she either made it up or had a wild imagination. Fast forward 20 years later, and Rosalie is living in isolation, mourning the death of her wife, Beth, when her estranged brother, Dallin, shows up with a woman who believes her sister is the body that Rosalie found all of those years ago. Cora has been searching for her sister Simone for 20 years now and has tracked her to that area. Rosalie tries to put her differences with Dallin behind to help Cora in her search of the curraghs.

Though the last quarter of the book makes it worth it, it is a really slow story to start- I kind of understood why Rosalie hid herself away from the world after Beth's death, but I had a little more trouble understanding the depth of the negative dynamic between her and Dallin, or really what made Dallin tick at all. There are a lot of really descriptive passages throughout the book that give the reader a good visual of the environment, but contribute to the overall slowness of the read,

I had a hunch as to who was hiding something, but I didn't know why and the reasons I came up with in my head differed from what I eventually found out. I thought that the mystery was twisty and well thought out, and it greatly improved my liking of the book which I had not been that excited about previously. I thought the loose ends were tied up well and what happened was believable.

All in all, I'd recommend this book who those who like mysteries, and suggest you stay with it if you think it starts out too slow. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Rosalie and her brother are out for a walk she gets lost and discovers a body. When she is found she tells the police she found a body but they don’t find it. 15 years later her brother returns with a lady who says the body Rosalie found was her sisters and they start to investigate what happened.
This was a dark twisty tale and the author built up the scenes well but it just felt a bit flat. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one started a little slow but picked up in the end. I loved the ending, especially the way it was spun out to be someone you wouldn't have expected it to be. I liked the way this author went about telling the story of Simone. Leaving things out until the end made for a good mystery.
I was kind of annoyed at Dallin, especially when he started questioning Cora and Rosalie's discoveries. Also not sure why Beth was such a huge part of the story other than the fact that her wife was stricken by anxiety (which didn't seem to hinder her helping a stranger at all).

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Slow burner but when it got going I found myself sucked in. Very likable female characters who are human and believable. Definitely an enjoyable thriller for what your craving

The bogs can be fun to walk in. If you know your way in them. If not you can be trapped in the mud, or lost and never be found.
Rosalie is ten years old when she gets separated from her friend Beth and her brother Dillan. She has herself turned around in the blogs and is lost.
Trying to find herself back out of the bogs and to safety she discovers a human skeleton.
Dillan has run help to find his sister. Neighbors from all around are trying to find Rosalie. She finally tumbles out of the bogs and is returned home safely. She tells everyone of her discovery of the skeleton. No matter how many searches they make, or how many dogs they use. The skeleton is never found. Some of the people think that Rosalie either made up the story or was so frightened at being lost that she imagined it.
Twenty years later Cora comes to town. She has heard of the skeleton and thinks it maybe her missing sister, Simone.
Cora doesn't know the can of worms she is opening. Or the extent that someone will go to to keep skeletons hidden away.
Intriguing, titillating! You never know what you may discover!.

I can’t wait for the release date so all my friends can enjoy it as well!

Very well-done book! I now feel like I’ve visited the Isle of Man thanks to the details... I also always appreciate books with twists and turns.

when Rosalie goes to stay at her movers when she is a child she goes out walking and gets lost and finds a skeleton no one belives her years later her brother turns up on the doorstep with a young woman named Cora who belives the skeleton is her sister who went missing how this story unfold is brilliant a must read

This was a good book that had an English mystery sort of feel. The characters were like likable and the way the mystery linked to the past was intriguing. Looking forward to reading more books.

This one took me a bit to get into. There was a lot of descriptive passages at the beginning that made it hard to delve right in and get hooked onto the story. Even the description of Rosalie finding the skeleton didn't stand out too much and I thought it would have held a greater impact. That happens at the very beginning before the main story takes place in the present day, 15 years later.

We find that Rosalie is still grieving the death of her wife Beth, who was the childhood best friend of her brother, Dallin. He moved away and left Rosalie and her mother alone during hard times, so Rosalie is shocked when he just turns up one day with a woman named Cora, who believes the lost body in the marsh could be her sister, Simone, who disappeared 20 years ago. As no one really believed her story, Rosalie is surprised and thankful that someone feels she was telling the truth. She lives in her childhood home, right by the curraghs where the body was found and still thinks about it from time to time.

Rosalie helps Cora as much as she can, giving her all the details she remembers, visiting neighbors who lived in the area back then, and searching through the curraghs. Her relationship with Dallin is strained and even though he accompanied Cora on the journey, he gives Rosalie reason to doubt why Cora is only now searching for a sister that disappeared 20 years ago. And are a series of mishaps that occur just bad luck or does someone want to keep these three off of the case?

It's an enjoyable story that I feel could do with a bit more action and less introspection. There are many loose ends that aren't tied up at the conclusion, which I don't quite understand. Is it to leave way for a sequel or could the author not figure out how to bring closure so she just left it up for interpretation? Had there been greater resolution, I would have been better satisfied and inclined to read more of this author's work.

Great crime novel with lots of twists and turns! Honestly did not predict what would happen next, which is rare since I read so many mysteries. I will say the exposition was a bit too much at times (it could’ve easily been trimmed by about 50 pages) but I’d still recommend this to crime fans.

I have never heard of Rachel Bennett before this book, and I am looking forward to reading more of her thriller books.
This review contains slight spoilers.
This book is about a young girl who seen a dead body/skeleton when she was younger and no one believed her. Fast forward 15 years and she’s reliving these memories as Cora follows a lead on her missing sister.
There were parts of this book I was confused about, back story parts that I thought should have been mentioned earlier in my opinion. Unless it was intentional to make the reader on edge and guessing about was happening, as I was. I wasn’t sure Beth was even dead until a while in where they finally confirm that she had passed away, I was making assumptions based on the little parts of speech beforehand. As well as Beth and Rosalie actually being married, this was something that there were hints of but not fully mentioned until 50/60 pages in. Another thing I think could have been mentioned earlier was what was wrong with her mother, fair enough leave the part out about what happened until later. But I wasn’t even sure if her mum had dementia, cancer, crippled or if she was actually just fine.
Again I am not sure if this was left until later in the book intentionally but just some input.
I did really love this book and all the twists and turns in it made me keep guessing and sitting up to read towards the end.
Well done Rachel.

SO I requested this book because it sounded really intriguing. Unfortunately, for me, it wasn't. ALthough well written, I found the endless descriptions and exposition too much. Not one of my favorites so far this year.