The Girls She Left Behind by Sarah Graves

This is the second book in the Lizzie Snow series. I didn't realize that when I started reading, but I had no trouble reading it as a standalone. I will start by saying if you are looking for traditional romantic suspense, this is not it. This story is basically a police procedural with slight romantic elements. Honestly, it started off a bit slow for me, and the format was a bit of an adjustment too. Parts of the story were first person from the perspective of the "she" from the title ( You will have to read the story to find out if "she" turns out to be villain or hero.) The rest of the book is third person. I actually read the first twenty-five percent or so then left it and read two other books before coming back to it. Thankfully, the story picked up, and I ended up staying up past 2:00am to finish it.

Lizzie is a deputy in a very small town. She is relatively new to the area and appears to have been lured there by Dylan, a state policeman she unwittingly had an illicit affair with years prior. He lied to her about his marital status in the past, and I'm pretty convinced he's lying to her now in order to keep her near him (Time will tell.). Trey, a nice local vet ( who apparently lacks Dylan's physical attractiveness) is also interested in Lizzie, but keeps getting blown off in favor of Dylan and the case. In the event that you're wondering, I'm highly pro-Trey.

Basically, a young girl is missing, and a former collector and captor of young girls has escaped from his confinement at a criminal psychiatric facility. Add some out of control wildfires, possibly vengeful former victims, and a deceitful mother to the mix, and you have a good idea of the complicated plot of this story. I personally never could have predicted the way this book ended. It definitely had a nicely surprising twist to it ( which is how I ended up still reading at 2:00am).

The story had a good creepiness vibe to it without being too terribly gory, and though it was a bit of a departure from my usual norm in genres, I will probably check out the next book.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for review.