The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas

☆☆☆☆1/2
.ePUB, 317 pages
Expected Publication: February 18th 2021 by Boldwood Books

About the Book:
When a tragedy forces the family Amy works for as a nanny to retreat to a small lakeside cottage, she realises they desperately need her help and support, so she agrees to go with them. But Amy finds the cottage by the lake unsettling, even sinister. The house is where the children’s mother spent her childhood – and the place where her seventeen-year-old sister disappeared mysteriously. Before long, ominous truths begin rising to the surface, and Amy becomes bewitched by the missing sister’s story. Can Amy unlock the secrets of the past before they repeat themselves?

My Review:

Making someone keep a secret is the same as building a wall around them.

I’d seen some quite mixed reviews for this book and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Being a new  Louise Douglas fan, I went with my gut and I’m glad I did. Although it starts out at a slow burn the more you read the better it gets.

Whilst The Secret by the Lake is pure Louise Douglas and the Gothic genre at its finest, it’s still a love story at heart, albeit with a twist that adds to the suspense. There were parts that kept me guessing and I wasn’t quite sure where it was going at times but this kept me racing through the pages.

Overall, I can see why some people didn’t like it, it was a little odd in parts and the female lead is hard to connect with but if you keep at it you will find that it is a gripping read that really amps up the pace with plenty of intrigue, so much so that I read it in a day.

Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, Louise Douglas, Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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