Stranger in the Lake Blog Tour

TITLE: Stranger in the Lake
AUTHOR: Kimberly Belle
PUBLISHER: Park Row
PUBLISHING DATE: June 9, 20202

FROM GOODREADS: 

When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned. 

At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two. 

As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust—her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water. 

MY THOUGHTS: Stranger in the Lake was such a great summer read and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to pick up a thriller this summer.  Charlotte, or Charlie in her childhood, grew up in lower income session of a Lake Crosby.  She ends up marrying Paul, a wealthy architect and widower.  Many in the small town believes Charlie married for money but her and Paul really are in love.  However, one snowy morning Charlie finds a female body floating in the lake by their dock, the same lake Paul's wife died in four years ago.  What makes the scene even more terrifying is that the day before, Charlie saw Paul talking to the lady in town.

I have to admit that about half-way through the book I began to have my suspicions about who was actually responsible for the woman's death.  However, I had no idea how it all fell into place and I couldn't read fast enough to find out what happened.  And that doesn't mean that Belle didn't blindside me with a few things.  The story alternates between current time and Paul's high school days when he and his two best friends would run the town with nothing to worry about other than who they would party with on the weekends.  His life was much different than Charlie, who grew up with a father in prison and an addict mother.  She spent her days struggling to take care of her younger brother.  And the differences between Charlie and Paul's childhood become more evident as the plot progresses.

And speaking of Charlie's brother, the relationship between Charlie and Chet is probably one of my favorite things about the book.  Chet is the typical younger brother who jumps from job to job and seems to wander aimlessly through life. Yet Chet is utterly devoted to his sister and his devotion shows in the support and assistance he provides his sister throughout the book.  I can't help but compare them to Sookie and her brother Jason from the HBO series True Blood - minus the supernatural elements of course.

I'm so glad I picked up this book and I really thing it will be one of the big hits of the summer.  Other than being a tad predictable, I have no real complaints with Stranger in the Lake and I will definitely pick up more from Belle in the future.

RATING: 4 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of six novels, including the forthcoming Stranger in the Lake (June 2020). Her third novel, The Marriage Lie, was a semifinalist in the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery & Thriller, and a #1 e-book bestseller in the UK and Italy. She’s sold rights to her books in a dozen languages as well as film and television options. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, Belle divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam.

Social Links:

Author website: https://www.kimberlybellebooks.com/

Facebook: @KimberlyBelleBooks

Twitter: @KimberlySBelle

Instagram: @kimberlysbelle

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kimberlybelle