Edenscar, a small town in the Peak District is still grieving 17 years on for the lives lost when a school bus veered off the road into the local reservoir.

DS Joseph Ashe is the sole survivor, still with survivor's guilt. His best friend Sammi was lost that day, but Sammi's ghost follows him around.

Joe's new boss DI Laurie Bower, in town for a six month secondment for her husband to look after his ailing father. She's more used to city policing & doesn't know how she'll cope.

They're called to a triple murder which seems totally senseless & cruel. The investigation, while slow to begin with quickly picks up speed & the reader is in for a gripping (& sometimes scary ride).

I absolutely loved this first in a new series & especially the characters of Joe & Laurie. 5*. Can't wait for the next one.

4+
DI Laurie Bower and DS Joe Ashe #1

Nine children and three adults drown in the Ladybower reservoir in Derbyshire whilst on a school bus - Paige, Zoe, Ellie, Hayley, Molly, Tyler, Seth, Devin and Sammi. Joe Ashe’s survival is miraculous and he’s the only one to do so and it has haunted him ever since. Now he’s a grown man, a police officer and Sammi grows with Joe and he still sees him, his company almost a constant. DI Laurie Bower is a newcomer to the area, formerly with Salford police, she is reluctantly here for family reasons for the next six months. What has Laurie stepped into because something, a hidden danger is out there waiting, Joe just knows it and his intuition is proved right and how.

I love a setting in an area that I know and the Peak
District National Park of Derbyshire and its surroundings is one I visit growing up in the neighbouring county of Nottinghamshire. Although it centres around the fictional Edenscar (pronounced Enscar) many other places are genuine. This novel is beautifully written, as are all of Sarah Hilary‘s books and it’s absolutely full of atmosphere. The landscape of the Peaks, the moors, the forest crowding the cottages, the night time dark with the lack of light pollution and the weather, all evoke a changing backdrop to the plot which ranges from eerie and ghostly to secretive, dangerous and evil. The plot is as gritty as the Dark Peaks, it’s full of mystery and brooding with the dramatic events in and around Edenscar being a stark contrast to the formerly peaceful rural spot.

The central characters of the police team are well depicted with fluctuating dynamics and camaraderie, although the clever nickname of Lady Bower understandably rankles with Laurie. She is a tough cookie, strong, intuitive, a good leader, prickly at times but she has her fair share of struggles, not at least her current domestic situation. I like that she’s not too proud to apologise from time to time if she thinks she’s got it wrong. As for enigmatic Joe, he’s particularly fascinating as he puts a brave, bland, agreeable face on his past and his haunting guilt and how this deeply affects him day-to-day and in his interactions. I particularly enjoy his relationship with his grandmother who seems to completely understand and get him. Although they aren’t always on the same page there’s a good growing partnership between Joe and Laurie and I’m looking forward to seeing how this develops.

The plot builds slowly but carefully, it’s well paced, with tension and suspense and with the inevitable twists and turns. The different strands connect well and the ending is unexpected but not left field.

I’m glad this is to be a series as these characters are far too good to be one offs. It gets off to a cracking start and I can’t wait for number two.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to. Random House UK, Vintage for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

Publishing date - 16/4/26. Will post a social media nearer the time.

I understand that this is the first in a new crime series and I look forward to more. First of all this was definitely one of the more accurate and therefore better police procedural novels. When I first started reading and with the introduction into the story of 'ghosts' I was not confident or happy with what I thought would follow but luckily I was very pleased with the book which has a well paced, well written plot making it a book well worth reading.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for this arc in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

I enjoy a thriller, and will sometimes read a spooky tale - so this is a new genre - ghost detectives, which for me was a success. The stand alone police procedure novel was full of engaging characters, thrills and scares. The ghost sidekick and childhood trauma brought a new and interesting angle which made it stand out above the regular 'solve a crime' books.

A great new police procedural from Sarah Hilary. It's engaging, clever and will keep you hooked. I really enjoyed the twist with DS Ashe being able to see ghosts from his past. This isn't something I've come across in this genre before which was a really nice change and gave a fresh feel to the plot. The ending was also very well thought out and wasn't what I expected to happen which is always a plus!

After an accident involving a school bus nearly two decades ago left only one survivor, a town is left haunted in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The same is true of the single survivor, Joe, who finds himself investigating a murder alongside an outsider to their community, who refuses to be affected by local prejudices.

This teaming up of a duo consisting of an insider and an outsider - neither of whom has really found their place in the world - proves to be surprisingly effective.

This is an interesting and well written police procedural that will be enjoyed by those who like reading intelligent crime fiction. It gets 3.5 stars.

Sarah Hilary takes an unusual premise in ‘The Drowning Place’ – that of a detective, Joe Ashe, who sees ghosts, in particular, his best friend Sammi who drowned, along with several other class mates, on the day when the school bus plunged into a lake a couple of decades ago. Strangely, Sammi the ghost has aged alongside Joe and so the latter has plenty of conversations with him as the plot develops. It’s a way of the author allowing the reader to understand the inner workings of Joe’s mind as his vulnerabilities and concerns are exposed through these exchanges.

Whilst Joe is Edenscar born and bred, his boss has been drafted in from Salford on a six month secondment so that she can support her husband as he cares for his elderly father who has dementia. DI Laurie Bower is not thrilled to be working in a rural community and, when a triple murder happens on her patch, she can’t help but feel that her talents and experience may come in to play. However, she certainly needs Joe’s local knowledge to fully understand the crime.

I am assuming that ‘The Drowning Place’ has been written as the first of a series. Sarah Hilary gives us plenty of background on both of the central characters, not all of which seems particularly relevant. Possibly this will be developed further in Book 2. Hilary captures both the close-knit community feel and the dull routines and petty grudges arising from a rural life where money is tight and change eyed with suspicion. Whilst I wasn’t wholeheartedly engaged with the characters and the crime to be solved, Hilary’s plot is tight; she builds tension successfully and there are some effective narrative twists. Give it a go if the ghost treatment appeals.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

This was a little weird for me. The writing was good, and the actual police mystery felt pretty tight and interesting. I can safely say I didn't see the villain coming, so it was nice to be constantly surprised about what's happening. Unfortunately, I felt unfulfilled regarding where the story went and the characters themselves.

This is the start of a series, and I wouldn't mind, but it felt like I was missing half a book. The characters all felt like they hadn't been fully fleshed out, and the mystery itself felt like it had been half uncovered. Without spoiling anything (obviously), I got to the end and was like '...how is it over?'. We never really get a solid conclusion about what's happening with a big part of the mystery, and I felt like I was missing an extra quarter of the book. Nothing was properly explained to me, and I feel like I got to touch the answer, but nothing more.

In terms of the characters themselves, Joe was the most interesting. He was in a severe accident as a child, which resulted in him being the only survivor with some unusual aftereffects. Given that he lives in a small town, everyone knows his background, and plenty of people are not entirely happy with his presence. Despite that, he's a sturdy figure who doesn't let things get to him, something he's embraced after years of being bullied and ostracised by others. I liked Joe, even if I didn't understand why his backstory was important or his whole 'thing' was happening.

Laurie...I didn't care for her. She's moved to Edenscar from Salford for six months with her husband to help take care of her father-in-law, who has dementia. She's got a lot of negative stereotypes and notions about the place she's moving to, and she lets it show. It makes her a hard character to enjoy, as she seems snobby. Not only that, but her relationship with her husband was poor, and there were repeated mentions of her dead sister. I didn't particularly understand why any of this existed, as none proved important or interesting.

Overall, it was fine, and I'm sure the author can work on something more solid in the future books. But for a first book, this didn't really entice me into wanting to read more. For now, I was just left wondering what the point of most things was.

Yes. Just yes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sarah Hilary, and Penguin Random House Vintage for sending me this ARC!

I loved this book! If I weren’t swamped, I would have read The Drowning Place in one sitting. The story's pacing keeps the momentum going from start to finish despite the slow-starting police investigation. Once we reach about 70% through the book, we start doing a mad dash to the end, where there are many convincing theories about what happened and who was responsible for the incident. It felt like it was just revelation after revelation, plot twist after plot twist. In the end, I was completely star-struck by what was revealed! I was not expecting anything, so I sat jaw on the floor speeding through the end.

Let’s talk about the characters:
Joe was almost like an enigma when we saw Laurie’s point of view. It completely contrasted the Joe we knew through his point of view, and I loved that. He was an intricate character riddled with trauma and guilt. Ultimately, we didn’t learn much about Joe, his incidents, or his paranormal situation (seeing ghosts). At first, I was a bit disappointed until I realised Hilary was setting up perfectly for the next book. While there wasn’t much paranormal activity in this story, I can see that the sequel will be focused more on Joe and the ghosts.

Laurie was a strong-minded, intelligent character who was always expected to be perfect—the perfect wife and ideal detective inspector. We catch glimpses of her struggles and exhaustion from balancing her expectations in her personal and work life. I hope we also delve more into that in the next book! With Laurie being a new addition to Edenscar and the detective team, it was lovely to see her slowly get more comfortable with everyone. While the events of this story only occur within 6 days, it feels like she’s lived in Edenscar for months. All in all, I loved her!

I would 100% recommend this to anyone who would listen, and I cannot wait to read the sequel! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be approved for the next book's ARC.

Cracking read that adds that little bit of extra to a police thriller.
We've got some run of the mill stuff, a newcomer to the station, a murder or two, secrets revealed .
You know how it is.
Then we have a sole survivor of a bus crash and the ghosts that follow him around.
I really enjoyed that extra element to the story.
Pacing was great, tension at the right time and a few surprises along the way.
This ticks a lot of boxes for me.

Review of ‘The Drowning Place’ by Sarah Hilary, due to be published on 16 April 2026 by Random House UK, Vintage.

Joe Ashe, sole survivor of a bus crash 17 years ago that killed his school friends, now a DS for the Edenscar Police, trying to make a difference and ease his guilt that he did not drown with his friends.

DI Laurie Bower, on a six month secondment to Edenscar to help her husband with his ailing father.

When the village is rocked by a triple murder, Ashe and Bower must work together to find the culprit, the motive and face a race against time before someone else is fatally injured.

This is a fast paced, gripping thriller, that sets up many possible suspects. It has twists you don’t see coming, touches of humour in the darkest of times and emotional reflections of the past and present. A highly recommended read, heres hoping for more DS Ashe and DI Bower in the future!