TRIGGER WARNING: rape, racism
Ana has transferred to a new police team. Their first case is a vigilante taking on a group of racist teenagers. Then a troubled young woman dies and the vigilante is suspected of murder but Ana doesn’t think it fits his other behaviour…
The Girl in the Woods is described as a psychological thriller but also has strong police procedural/crime thriller elements.
A group of teenage boys is spoiling the tranquility of the quiet Oxfordshire village. One man is prepared to stand up to them but hides behind a masked persona known as The Vigilante. Then a troubled teenaged girl (related to one of the racist boys) is attacked and killed in the woods and The Vigilante is accused so the police hunt ramps up.
Ana is keen to prove herself in the new team but the police have a variety of personal and professional issues. Beth has a new superior officer and the pair have a ‘past’. The mentions of their backstory refer to events in The Lies She Told but there are no spoilers about the case. Elements of their personal lives which featured in the first book are developed in this one but it would still work perfectly well as a stand alone book.
Most of the book is written in the present day to show current events. There are also chapters set 7 years in the past, allowing us to guess at the link between the two timelines. Both timelines involve girls and young women being abused and raped which is very powerful and emotive but I felt it was handled sensitively. There is also racist language and violence featured prominently in the book and I thought this was also dealt with to show the unpleasantness and unacceptability of this behaviour.
The plot and writing style were wonderfully engaging. At first, I did find myself a little overwhelmed with the different timelines and wealth of characters. However, by the end I was utterly hooked and making connections between the plot threads.
The Girl in the Woods is an engaging and emotionally charged novel.
Book blurb:
Ana, who lives in a small Oxfordshire village, came from Liverpool carrying a secret. Her life is now on the straight and narrow, though, and she has a blossoming career as a policewoman.
But when a vigilante starts to practice their own kind of justice on her watch, and then a body is discovered in the woods, Ana’s contentment is shattered as the past comes flooding back to haunt her.
Soon Ana must make a choice—turn her back on the girl she used to be . . . or embrace the bitterness and rage she has buried for so long.
