Woman in the Water by Katerina Diamond

Woman in the Water by Katerina Diamond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 432

Publisher - Avon Books

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

I’m alive. But I can’t be saved . . .

When a woman’s body is found submerged in icy water, police are shocked to find she is alive. But she won’t disclose her name, or what happened to her – even when a second body is discovered. And then she disappears from her hospital bed.

Detectives Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey follow their only lead to the home of Reece Corrigan, and when his wife Angela walks in, they immediately recognise her. She’s the woman from the river, with her injuries carefully masked.

The more they dig into the couple, the less they understand about them.

Why have people in their past been hurt, or vanished?

And why doesn’t Angela want to be saved?

Smart, shocking and twisty – perfect for fans of Cara Hunter and Karin Slaughter.



My Review

Guys I read this book I think 3 or 4 books ago and it has taken me til now (and a few re writes) to get my review down. If you haven't read the previous books in the series please do as 1. you are missing out on great books and 2. the back story and character(s) I think are more meaningful if you have been through the previous books with them.

Detective Adrian Miles comes across a body in the water, a crowd are gawking and he calls it in only to discover the body is actually still alive, barely. The woman is beaten, has no recollection of what happened or how she got there and Adrian is really affected by this woman's plight. He and his partner (in more sense than one) Imogen Grey are on the case investigating. With reluctant witnesses and leads drying up, folk would rather go to unthinkable extremes than cooperate with the police.

Oh guys this is a hard one to review without going into spoilers which I never do. The story has multi dimensions to it, Adrian and Imogen's relationship, the investigation such as it is, their mystery woman, what happened to her and everything that follows once they pull her from the river. We also hear from the woman herself, her thoughts, revealing snippets as the book goes on, adding to the mystery.

The case has a huge impact on Adrian, domestic violence is something he grew up with and survived so something about this case, this woman, gets under his skin. Adrian has been known to react on emotions, behaving recklessly but he is a good cop and until now has always came out on top, his hunches pay off. The problem with things like this, the more you play with fire the likelier you are to be burned.

The case proves to be their hardest yet and has ramifications for both Miles and Grey, will Adrian's past spill into the present and can his and Grey's relationship survive this case? There are quite a few harrowing scenes in the book, domestic abuse is a huge part of it, violence, sexual abuse, coercion, murder and it is really hard hitting. If you have ever been in a domestic abuse relationship or loved anyone who has, the book evokes raw emotions, hence still thinking about it X amount of books later. Manipulation, power, the darker side of humanity - it is hard going and I think the reason it packs such a powerful punch is because we all know just how real this kind of "power" and abuse is. I don't think there will be one reader who hasn't been touched by some of these issues, either personally or by someone close to them. Hearing from the victim, seeing the actions and consequences it really makes you think about what exactly people go through and the long reaching impact traumas/experiences can have on us. Compelling, dark, emotive are just a few of the words to describe this roller coaster of a book, 4.5/5 for me this time.

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