Hard to get started and ok after that... but I would try another from the author so giving 3 ( )

The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald is a gripping mystery about a young woman's attempt to exonerate a man wrongly convicted of murder.

Blair Butler has come a long way from her small home town where she lived with her older sister Celeste and their bigoted uncle who raised them after their mom's death. Blair went on to college and owns a thriving business with two college friends. Celeste became a single mother and still lives with their Uncle Ellis Dietz. Blair has no choice but to return the small town where Celeste's battle with cancer is about to come to its sad conclusion. However, before she dies, Celeste makes a stunning confession to her about the murder of Blair's childhood friend, Molly Sinclair, who died fifteen years earlier. Now Blair feels like she has no choice but to act on this new information, but local police are in no hurry to re-open the case in which the killer has already been convicted and is serving out his prison sentence. Blair wants justice for her friend and she enlists the aid of private investigator Tom Olson to help her uncover the truth. However, a killer who has gotten away with murder for the past fifteen years will go to any lengths to stop Blair and Tom from unmasking his or her identity.

Blair has always blamed herself for the circumstances that led to Molly's death. Her business needs her attention but despite her best efforts, she cannot walk away from this new information. She does not waste any time informing the police about the details Celeste disclosed to her right before her death. When they refuse to re-open the case, Blair feels duty bound to investigate the case herself and she first teams up with a local news reporter to search for answers. When this arrangement quickly falls through, Blair is ready to concede defeat, but she cannot in good conscience leave town without trying one last time to find someone who can look into the case for her.

With no one else to turn to, Blair hires former cop and current private investigator Tom Olson to help her find Molly's killer. Tom is not exactly hopeful he can unearth the truth, but he nonetheless agrees to take the case. Blair's plans to leave town are once again scuttled when she does not trust Tom to follow through with his end of their bargain. With the new lead that Blair has uncovered, she and Tom resume their investigation and she notices a puzzling detail that takes the case in a very unexpected and shocking direction. Blair's curiosity then puts her harm's way and she is uncertain whether or not she can escape from an increasingly dangerous situation.

The Girl in the Woods is a fast-paced and absorbing mystery. Blair is a likeable and sympathetic protagonist who learns and grows from her unexpected experiences in her hometown. Savvy readers will most likely figure out the perpetrator's identity but Patricia MacDonald has a few surprises as the novel comes to an action-filled conclusion. A nice amateur sleuth mystery than fans of the genre will enjoy.
( )

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blair Butler receives a phone call she was dreading. Her sister Celeste has just about lost her battle with cancer. She is now on hospice and Blair must travel to help settle her affairs, and that includes sorting out Celeste's young son's future. Blair barely makes it home in time. When she approaaches Celeste's bed, she hears a deathbed confession that rocks her to her very core.

When Blair was 13 years old, her best friend Molly was murdered and a man named Adrian Jones was convicted and has been in prison for years. Celeste tells Blair that Adrian is innocent and that another man has literally gotten away with murder.

Blair sets out to do two things. She desperately strives to exonerate Adrian, and she also tries to find the killer. Blair has no idea what secrets are about to be exposed and what danger she will soon be facing. For starters, the police do not take much stock in what Blair has to say, nor does Adrian or her mother. It appears to be a lost cause, but Blair is relentless.

So. Blair goes around the police by seeking the aid of a reporter named Rebecca Moore and even gets the help of a private investigator, Tom Olson. As a former police officer, Tom might really be able to help Blair. She wants justice served, not only for Molly's murder, but for the innocent man behind bars.

This was a fairly good story, and it went back and forth between the past and present. The history Blair and Celeste had, and how they came to live with their uncle was explored. However, when it came to getting close to discovering Molly's killer, there was an entirely different atmosphere and level of danger. This is my first read by Patricia MacDonald. I will definitely try another one of her books in the future.

Many thanks to Black Thorn and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald is a so-so/recommended mystery surrounding a murder that occurred fifteen years previously.

Blair Butler has returned to the small town where she and her sister, Celeste, grew up with their Uncle Ellis after their mother died. Blair left as soon as she was able and never looked back, especially after her best friend, Molly, was murdered there fifteen years ago when the girls were thirteen. Now Celeste is dying and Blair returns to her bedside, only to have her sister tell her a shocking secret that means the man convicted of killing Molly is not guilty and the real killer is still out there. Molly begins to investigate and let people know about her sister's secret, but this only seems to stir up more secrets and resentment.

This is all in all, an okay mystery/thriller, with nothing to really set it apart or make it stand out. Blair is an annoying character/caricature, but she is set in a novel full of annoying characters/caricatures who all are representative of a certain type of person. Descriptions of characters are simply a repeated rehashing of their negative personality traits and actions. The narrative itself is very derivative and takes huge plot elements from several other novels (two novels in particular) so there is no real original story telling here. You will likely know where the story is going. It is, however, a fast and quick read.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Severn House Publishers.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/07/the-girl-in-woods.html ( )

The Girl in the Woods by author Patricia MacDonald was a very twisty story. It is the story of Blair both before and after her move from home. At the age of 13, Blair's best friend Molly is murdered after her Uncle Ellis sends her home alone in the rain. Blair has always felt guilty about this situation. Uncle Ellis took the girls in after their mother died and he was not a very good guardian. he was bigoted, cheap, mean, and more. The only thing he did not seem to do was sexually or physically assault the girls. When Blair got the opportunity, she left, got a great education and started her own business. When she gets the call that her sister is now in hospice, she returns home to spend time with her in her last few days or weeks. Shortly before Celeste dies she whispers a confession to Blair that reveals that the man who has been in prison for 15 years for killing Molly is innocent. Blair is shocked and promises Celeste that she will do everything she can to free him. It is not easy to get those in authority to listen, believe, and become involved in freeing a convicted man. Blair realizes that it is up to her to find the real killer in order to keep her promise to Celeste. There are a lot of clues still out there and as Blair finds more and more information, the story takes several turns.

The characters in the story are all fascinating. Ellis Dietz, the crotchety uncle, is easy to dislike, until he does something that makes you think, maybe he is not all bad. The P.I. that Blair hires seems to not care about the case, but then does everything he can to help Blair. The newspaper reporter who starts off helping Blair, leaves her high and dry when it benefits her. Even Blair's young nephew has to make some pretty heavy decisions and as young people often do, takes a misstep along the way that could be very dangerous.

The Girl in the Woods by author Patricia MacDonald was a good story. I enjoyed the book not only for the psychological suspense but also for the questions it brought to my mind about the whole plot of the story. What would you do in this situation? The thing I did not like was that there were several themes that seemed to be taken from various stories and lumped together in this book. I did figure out who the murderer was early in the story, but not why. I liked this book and once I started reading I finished it quickly as I wanted to see what would happen next. Those who enjoy thriller/suspense stories, will enjoy this one. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

( )