Still Water

Still #2

by Amy Stuart

From The Globe and Mail bestselling author of Still Mine comes a new thriller featuring Clare and Malcolm, this time on the hunt for a missing mother and son in a town that is drowning in deception—Clare may be in her gravest danger yet.HOW DO YOU FIND THE TRUTH IN A TOWN FULL OF SECRETS?Clare has to find them.Sally Proulx and her young boy have mysteriously disappeared in the stormy town of High River. Clare is hired to track them down, hoping against all odds to find them alive. But High River isn’t your typical town. It’s a place where women run to—women who want to escape their past. They run to Helen Haines, a matriarch who offers them safe haven and anonymity. Pretending to be Sally’s long-lost friend, Clare turns up and starts asking questions, but nothing prepares her for the swirl of deception and the depth of the lies.Did Sally drown? Did her son? Was it an accident, or is their disappearance part of something bigger?In a town where secrets are crucial to survival, everyone is hiding something. Detectives Somers and Rourke clearly have an ulterior motive beyond solving the case. Malcolm Boon, who hired Clare, knows more about her than he reveals. And Helen is concealing a tragic family history of her own. As the truth surges through High River, Clare must face the very thing she has so desperately been running from, even if it comes at a devastating cost. Compulsively gripping and twisty, Still Water is a deep dive of a thriller that will leave you breathless.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Canada, Suspense, Adult

326 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2018

About the author

Amy Stuart is the #1 bestselling author of three linked thriller novels, STILL MINE, STILL WATER and STILL HERE. These novels can be read in order or as standalones. Amy's 4th novel, A DEATH AT THE PARTY was released March 7 2023 in Canada and the US and is due August 2023 in the UK. ADATP is a new thriller set over the course of a single day.

In 2019, Amy founded Writerscape, an online community for hopeful and emerging writers. Amy was born in Toronto where she still lives with her husband and their three sons. Aside from writing, she loves hockey. Ice hockey.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The follow up to Amy Stuart's debut novel, Still Mine, this book shows a tremendous amount of growth in the author's writing and was a much more captivating storyline for our main protagonist, Clare. Taking place in High River, Alberta, Clare is masquerading as a missing woman's friend and is seeking to find out what happened to Sally and her son William. Did the local waters sweep them away ? Did they flee a domestic situation? Or were they both the victims of foul play?

The story did keep me hooked, but I felt I needed to suspend a certain level of disbelief at Clare's story and some other aspects of the storyline. However, I am even more intrigued as to what will happen next as more and more of both Clare and Malcolm's back stories were exposed in this installment.

Publication is set for May 8th

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Amy Stuart’s first book, and I think I liked Still Water even more. It features Clare again, who is helping mysterious Malcolm find missing women. This time, she goes to a safe house, from which a woman and her young son have recently disappeared, pretending to be a friend of the woman. Clare and Malcolm has their own histories that feature prominently in this one. I’m not sure how realistic these books are, but Stuart does a good job of telling a dark complex story with lots of atmosphere and interesting characters. Also, while the backdrop theme is domestic violence, Stuart manages to deal with this topic without explicit violence and without trivializing the issue. The end clearly signals that there will be another book featuring Clare in the future and I’ll gladly jump on a copy. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

[Berengaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 very bright stars

short review for busy readers: more a novel about a deeply-entrenched secret than a taunt, edgy thriller. Atmospheric, flowing prose. Gripping investigation and engaging drama. Series must be read in order to make sense. Recommended for fans of mystery-thrillers with a feminist slant and readers of Canadian lit.

in detail:
I cannot fathom the low ratings for this trilogy.

The prose is highly competent and enjoyable, the settings are deeply atmospheric, the missing-woman cases and Clare's story are highly engaging -- even if she's not always the most likeable of characters.

Nonetheless, there is a definite difference in tone between Still Mine and Still Water. While Still Mine took place in a creepy, dying mountain coal mining town, Still Water takes place on a country farm that is being rapidly encroached upon by an expanding city. It's far more hazy and dreamlike...as if Clare is investigating under water (title tie in!), and far more like a novel about a mystery than a taunt urban thriller.

As we find out more about Clare, her background and her confused relationship to her boss, Malcolm, in this installment, we are introduced to a fabulous new series character: Hollis Somers.

Somers is a black female police detective who is an honest-to-god good person. She's sharp, she's highly competent, and she knows where her heart is. None of that stupid "I eat concrete" tough bitch female cop here. Hollis is people-wise and she sees Clare for what she is: a damaged, but talented and worthwhile individual.

What I find so enjoyable about this series is that its set up is so natural and based on a real life difficulty.

Namely, that the police generally don't prioritise missing women cases very highly - esp of young, single missing women - due to the antiquated notion that most bad things which happen to women are related to their love or sex life.

Amy Stuart confronts these belittling, sexist notions through the characters of Clare O'Dey, and now Hollis Somers, in a captivating way that will have you reading long past bedtime.

I highly, highly recommend this trilogy. I found it simply awesome...but start with book 1, as there are virtually no breaks in time between the first and the last book. Jumping in in the middle will be very confusing.

[BookLover · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC requested through Netgalley, and kindly provided by Touchstone in exchange for an honest review.

This was a stellar follow-up to Amy Stuart’s Still Mine. She knocked this one out of the park. Still Water read like fiction but with so much mystery surrounding tortured soul, Clare.

This story picked up not long after Still Mine ended. We found Clare on a new case, still in her bizarre work arrangement with the frustratingly secretive Malcolm. I had to keep putting aside my annoyance on his evasive techniques and instead focus on Clare and her search for the missing Sally and son, William.

Sally and Clare’s stories intertwined so well together. The town of High River and all of the crazy secrets it held were the perfect backdrop for Clare’s investigation. So many twists and jaw-drops along the way. Each “guess” I had along the way ended up being wrong. In addition to Clare’s case, there were some very interesting developments around Malcolm and some breakthrough things that moved Clare’s story to such an interesting point.

"It suited you to disappear into thin air"

Through Clare’s steps to find Sally, the reader got to dive even further into her past and how she came to be in the situation she found herself in. I thought it was brilliant how the author was able to cast doubt in my mind over Clare’s memories and how reliable they actually were, mirroring Clare’s own doubts. So much that was left unanswered in the first book and for a good chunk of this book were revealed in a way that has me very hopeful that we will see another book in this series very soon. I won’t give away any spoiler but will just say that the ending had me smiling and very excited to see what might happen next. It just goes to show how changing the narrative in your head can completely transform how you approach life.

Fantastic read.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eons ago, my Mom went into Coles in our local mall and wanted to pick up books similar to V.C. Andrews. My Mom is OBSESSED with V.C. Andrews and for many decades she wouldn't read any other author (as if reading another author was cheating... I'd be screwed!). She was recommended two books, and Still Water by Amy Stuart was one of them. She was none too pleased with this book since it was not even close to V.C. Andrews, so she passed this book along to me so I could enjoy the thriller.

Well, I sure did enjoy it!

Clare, a young lady with a dark past, is hired to track down a woman named Sally Proulx and her son, who have disappeared in the town of High River. She ran away from her problems and took up housing in a local safe haven, but it appears it wasn't all that safe for her. Clare pretends to be her best friend, which brings up many questions among the locals, but lucky for her... the truth is just around the corner.

Clare's sequel story is interesting, that's for sure, but I found it oddly slow. I expected a fast paced thrill ride, and I got a moderate level of thrills. You need to extend your disbelief quite a bit to follow along with some of the plot lines of this novel, but regardless it's a good read that will make you think. Give me a story with a woman trying to seek other missing women when she's essentially lost herself, and you've got me hooked!

Dark trauma/drama, mysterious characters and back stories, and tough topics without the brutal narrative are pinnacles of this story. And, I'll be honest, you don't even need the first book to understand this sequel. I still haven't read the first book and I found this book to do quite well on it's own. I'm sure it would have made a lot more sense knowing everything that happened in book one, but as a standalone, Still Water works.

I do wonder though.... How did people fall for Clare being Sally's best friend when she knew basically nothing about her? She did change her story to just being a friend and not a best friend at one point, but still...

Enjoy a book where Helen's home is opened to women seeking refuge. Where her daughter and siblings are near by, causing trouble, acting suspicious, and potentially making trouble for the neighbours. This psychological thriller will have you guessing who done it... And do we even have a reliable narrator?

Four out of five stars.

[The Sassy Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐

This is a hard book for me to review. While I found myself super engaged in the story (finished it in 2 days), there were also so many things that were just...strange (for lack of a better word). First up, this book is melancholy on steroids. Reading it was like sitting under a wet wool blanket. On top of that, every single character was unlikable and an Eeyore. Last, and this one may be because I haven't read book one in this series, but Clare's relationship with Malcolm was just so weird and confusing. So yeah, a bit of a mixed bag. Clearly I enjoyed it enough to finish it in two days, and I will probably give the next book in the series a try. 🤷🏻‍♀️

**ARC Via NetGalley**

[Fictionophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two years ago I read and enjoyed a novel called "Still Mine" so I was pleased to be able to read the sequel, "Still Water".  If anything, I enjoyed it even more than the first novel - it's always great when that happens!  Don't worry though if you haven't read the first novel, as this could read very well as a stand-alone.  The author recaps the history of the characters just enough that you wouldn't feel you had missed out on something.  That being said, I'm glad I read "Still Mine" so as to better understand Clare's history and her life.

Now Clare works for the man called Malcolm Boon.  She is to work undercover to find a missing woman and her child.  The woman came from an abusive situation, so Clare is the perfect person to infiltrate the house where the woman last lived. It is a refuge for women escaping untenable domestic situations.  Clare is perfect for the job because she too is on the run from an abusive husband.  Not only can she relate to the women she meets, she is recovering from a gunshot wound she suffered at the end of the first book. Also, she is trying valiantly to stop taking the pain meds that she has become quite attached to.

"her hands shaking with pain or withdrawal or panic, she can never tell which anymore."

Thirty-year-old Clare moves into "High River", the house of Helen Haines which is located in a rural area that is accessed by a one-lane wooden bridge. Helen has harboured many women over the years. Helen's past too is a traumatic one.  Her mother was murdered by her father right in front of her eyes when she was a teenager. Now she holds on to the house and the acreage it sits on - despite property developers who covet it.

"If not for its tragedies both recent and old, Clare thinks, High River would be a beautiful place."

As Clare becomes enmeshed in the life at Helen's, she comes to know Helen's family. Her teenage daughter Ginny, her brothers Markus and Jordan. She also comes to know another runaway wife like herself, Raylene. Since Sally, the missing woman, was a friend of Raylene's, Clare tries to befriend her to learn more about her.

"There are three sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth."

The police detectives looking into the case are an interesting pair.  You never really know who is the good cop, and who is the bad cop...

"People will go to extreme lengths to absolve their loved ones of wrongdoing."

MY THOUGHTS

Like the first book, Still Water is an engrossing, character-driven psychological thriller. In my review of the first book, I wrote "Clare's character is mysterious throughout.  The reader keeps turning pages to discover little clues to her very damaged past."  Now, with "Still Water", we learn more about Clare, though she remains mysterious. We learn more about her past, yet there are enough gaps in her memory that there is surely fodder for more books in this excellent series.

With the first novel, I loved how the title fit the novel perfectly with the double meanings of the words 'still mine'.  Now, with Still Water, the same can be said.  Still Water is very much predominated by the river running through the property. Also, you can relate it to the old saying "Still waters run deep" when describing a person. Very clever!

Amy Stuart writes skillfully about women with horrendous stories of domestic and emotional abuse that could make you gasp. It was nice to read that her protagonist, Clare, is coming to consider this new job of hers more of a 'calling'. She becomes absorbed by the work of searching for the missing and those on the run.

I liked that the entire novel took place in the span of one week.

This is a novel that describes how trust is very difficult for people who have been abused by the very people who are supposed to love them most. A novel of secrets kept, and secrets discovered. A novel of guilty people, whether or not they should feel guilty. A book of survival. Highly recommended!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada via NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this novel in the expectation of my honest review.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still Water is the second instalment in the Clare O'Dey Mystery trilogy and follows Clare O’Dey, a woman on the run from her past. In Still Mine, Clare is tasked by private investigator Malcolm Boone with uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of a woman in the small town of Blackmore, which is relevant to the case here. This episode, Clare arrives in a place called High River to search for a woman – Sally Proulx – and her son who’ve gone missing. Clare immerses herself in the town, posing as a friend of Sally’s, but what the people of High River don’t know is that Clare works for a man named Malcolm Boon and this is her missing person second case. What Clare doesn’t know is that Sally’s disappearance is tied to High River’s long and dark history and that everyone she’ll meet is somehow involved. It also delves further into Clare’s own past as she works to uncover the truth behind a missing woman and her son.

This is a compelling and thoroughly enjoyable mystery thriller, and I was instantly gripped by Amy’s writing and the atmospheric world she created. It is packed full of tension and suspense in beautiful and haunting settings and features twists that come at you out of nowhere. Clare is such an appealing, vulnerable yet resilient and strong protagonist, on the run from dark forces both inside and out and is someone readers will really root for. The plot involves drama, many secrets and women on the run from abusive pasts; it highlights the topic of domestic abuse against women sensitively but authentically. You can see the characters grow and change over the course of the book, but their growth always feels realistic and plausible, and I love that Stuart gives you the feeling that even the most flawed characters deserve redemption. You really become invested in the characters and their lives. Overall, this is a compulsive, intriguing read set in scenic surroundings.

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. It introduced me to a new author. I regret not being familair with the first book in the series which I intend to read very soon. Frequent mention was made to Clare's first case searching for a missing woman for Malcolm Boone. I want to learn more about the state of their relationship then and the circumstances where both sustained their wounds. I felt a disadvantage not reading Still Mine, but did enjoy this book.

Clare is in a small town where women have fled for refuge. This is a mystery story of a place where women in distress and danger go to hide in safety, and then hopefully move on with new identities. Sally and her young son, Matthew have vanished and Malcolm has sent Clare undercover to High River to investigate their disappearance.

Everyone has secrets or lies of commission or omission. No one fully trusts others, even family members and friends.I found the story suspenseful, but its so many unreliable characters the sense of urgency became diluted.

Am looking forward to the next book in the series as Clare seems to have found her life's work and am anxious to see what happens next.

[Staceywh_17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realise this was the second book in a series, I think it would have made things easier for me to understand the lead character's backstory a little more if I had read it. Very well written, albeit a little confusing in places. Strong female lead. I found the book fast paced in places & slower in others, but overall I did enjoy the story & will read the others in the series.

[Kristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Original review can be found at https://kristineandterri.blogspot.com...

** I received an advanced readers copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**

Still Water is the second book in the Still series but I believe it was meant to be able to be read as a stand alone. However, I struggled a bit with the story because I did not read the first book in the series. I found the back story and the relationship between Clare and Malcolm Boon to be confusing and not very clear. Intentional perhaps? I'm not sure.

The story showed great potential at the beginning. Clare went undercover as a friend to discover what happened to Sally who went missing with her son from a refuge for troubled women. When Clare arrived in High River it just fell flat. I couldn't connect with any of the characters (including Clare) and I found myself not overly interested or caring about what happened to Sally. It was really disappointing. The mystery was even less exciting. Instead of Clare following clues and discovering things it seemed that people just ended up confessing their stories to her right up until the end. She really didn't solve anything and when everything was uncovered it was very anti climatic.

I feel like I may have enjoyed the book more if I read the first in the series. Perhaps I would have been able to connect to Clare better and maybe I would have been a little more interested in the outcome. Also, there may have been a little more clarity about the relationship between her and Malcolm Boon. Then again, the book left off with the hint of a third book that might give the clarity needed for that part of the story.

[Candice Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

One amazing read that I devoured this past week is Still Water by Amy Stuart. It is one of the quickest paced psychological mystery thrillers that I’ve read recently.

This book is compelling as all get out - the story is based on Clare, who is hired to track down a missing woman and her son who mysteriously disappeared from a private home that’s run as a refuge for abused women. Clare has her own past demons that make the perfect cover for why she has shown up asking questions about where Sally and her son have gone. It doesn’t take long for Clare to realize that there are people besides her who are involved and also keeping secrets and that those secrets might be a lot darker than she ever expected.

This book is the perfect summer read - fast, absorbing and with characters who are impossible to figure out. I absolutely loved how Amy wove pieces of every characters individual backstory into the present events without ever losing focus from the mystery in the middle of the story. And I LOVED Clare, as I knew I would when I realized that we had a perfectly flawed lead character (my favorite).

While this is the second book featuring Clare, you definitely can read this as a stand alone, as it shares enough of Clare's back story to understand where she is currently.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Although - ⚠️ Trigger Warning - this book DOES deal with extreme domestic abuse, and if that is a trigger for you, I would recommend proceeding carefully. .

For those looking for a great mystery to add to your July TBR - give this one a go!

[jana marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5

[Cassie’s Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

First I want to thank the publisher simon and Schuster for my copy of still water! Since I didn’t read the first book of this series I had to learn about the characters as I went along! It was not at all difficult to keep up. The story begins with the disappearance of a mother named Helen and her young son whose name is William they are on the run from an abusive father and husband . They are taken in by a family who have there own set of problems and secrets. Claire who I gathered has a rocky history of her own is hired by Malcolm to investigate the disappearance of the mother in son. So she pretends to be helens friend and slowly enters the life of the family who had taken in Helen. As Claire digs into the past of the family she starts to realize maybe helens disappearance isn’t what it’s seems. Not only is she dealing with mystery that surrounds the mother and son but also she having to deal with her demons and maybe Malcolm isn’t who he says he is. Very quick read for me slow start but definitely picks up. Lots of twists and turns. 4/5 Stars!

[• readingincanada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Stuart's first thriller, and this one carries on with the same badass main character. It deals with abusive relationships, small towns, and the disappearance of a family, and it does it all SO well - I'm not sure I put it down once!! This is a total win for me.

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still Water by Amy Stuart is a recommended psychological thriller that continues the story found in her first book, Still Mine (2016).

Clare O’Dey is helping PI Malcolm Boon track down missing women. (There is a backstory from the first novel that is mostly explained, or at least enough to follow this second novel.) She travels to the town of High River to discover the truth behind the disappearance of Sally Proulx and her young son from the home of Helen Haines, a used-to-be secret refuge for abused women to hide. Now that Sally is missing, assumed to have jumped into the river, the police are there combing the area and the secret is out.

Clare shows up claiming to be an old friend of Sally's and begins to look into the investigation and disappearance. But Clare is highly suspicious of police detective Colin Rourke, who seems oddly obsessed with focusing on her personally. To complicate matters further, all the people Clare is running into at High River have secrets of their own and seem to be disconnected and hiding something.

There are some great qualities to the novel. Stuart captures the natural setting and the tense atmosphere quite well. The novel is well paced and will keep you reading. However, I think this second novel in the series might be better appreciated by those who enjoyed the first novel.

Clare is not particularly a likeable character, which means you may be struggling to like/trust her, especially because her relationship with Malcolm is weird and feels weird and weird is not always a good trait in your main protagonist. I really had a hard time believing that she would be a great choice to go undercover to find women who are trying to hide from exes. Perhaps the first book in the series would change my perception of her, but this second novel and the explanations it contains are all I have to go on. And her cover story to explain why she was there - laughable and wouldn't be believed for a second under the circumstances in the novel.

I can set aside misgivings if a plot is strong and compelling. Still Water starts out strong and Stuart had my attention (and a higher rating for the beginning). The writing is technically good, but, alas, the plot went downhill after the strong start and some eye-rolling began to happen as the novel progressed. Some of the things Clare said and did seemed peculiar or just plain wrong under the circumstances (which points back to questioning why she would be a good choice to do what she is doing). Rather than exciting unexpected twists, there were odd disclosures and new little developments that actually took away from the main narrative. 3 stars for the strong beginning and the potential

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/0...

[Reading is my Escape · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clare jolts upright, her hand at her mouth to stifle a scream.
- first sentence

Clare goes undercover at a home that provides shelter to women who are trying to escape domestic violence to help find a missing mother and her son. Clare escaped her own abusive husband in Still Mine (the first book by author Amy Stuart). I didn't read Still Mine, and I only picked up this book because I was stuck going to a water park with no physical book to read (I was afraid to get my iPad wet or not be able to see the screen in the sun). Anyway, I grabbed this book at Target because the cover was pretty and it wasn't too long.

The book was just meh. I didn't connect with any of the characters, including Clare. Everyone is hiding something, but Clare never seems to figure much out - people just end up confessing or revealing each other's secrets. When the final reveal came, I was unimpressed. Maybe I would have liked it better if I read the first book...

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still Water is the next book by Amy Stuart after Still Mine. Malcolm has sent Clare on another mission to find a missing woman named Sally and her son. Once again the book could be slow at times, so it wasn’t my favourite read; however, I do think it was well written. I really like how Amy Stuart connects Clare’s old life with her new life running away from Jason. I was happy that Clare confronted her old life by talking to Grace and calling Jason. And I was definitely shocked at the ending of this one! It kind of left a cliffhanger about what was going to happen with Clare, so I’m thinking a third book will be coming soon!

[Syeda Sumayya Tariq · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a woman and her infant son mysteriously disappear from a shelter home, it's upto one woman to find the truth behind it all while she runs from her own past. But how do you find out the truth in a town where secrets are crucial to life and even the detectives have something to hide.
.
Set in a town near a lake (aptly titled), it did quite a job at being atmospheric. A bit slow in the start, but gripping as things start to unfold. A bunch of unreliable characters with an air of mystery around them and an end that I did not see coming. The end was pretty satisfying but I felt just a little bit left out on a few things and I was left wanting for more like any other book in a series.

[Jay G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfer...

The second book in the Still Series, featuring Clare and a town called High River. This time, a woman named Sally and her young son have gone missing and Clare is determined to find out what happened to them. She infiltrates the shelter that Sally was staying at, pretending to be a friend, looking for answers.

This book picks up right where the first left off, but just like Still Mine, this was BORING. I will say, this one was at least more engaging than the first book, but I didn't care about the characters or the story that much more. I was more invested in Malcolm Boon, the man who hired Clare and his story, rather than anything else that was happening. I wish it was more about him, honestly. What I don't understand about this story is that it seemed that people were spilling their guts to Clare, with barely any prodding. If these are woman who are from abusive situations, I really don't think that they would be so trusting of Clare in a matter of days. Just seems a bit unrealistic, in my opinion.

[Karen Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

The follow up to Still Mine (which I haven't read, so it took me a little time to work out clearly the relationship between certain characters) and thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Clare finds herself on her second job in her new role as a PI. This time round she is asked to go to a refuge and find out what has happened to a young woman and her son who have gone missing. She pretends to be a friend of Sally, the young woman concerned, and it's certainly a strange set-up that she finds.
The story is quite a straightforward account of the investigation, but I liked the way it linked to Clare's past and other details that probably were set-up in the first book. Clare is a heroine with flaws, but it was interesting to follow her thought process as she tries to overcome her instincts and plan a course of action that will establish what happened.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things first, this can be read as a standalone like I did but I definitely think my enjoyment and anyone else’s would be much improved by reading the first book beforehand. That being said, I did still very much enjoy this story! It kept me guessing from page one and just when I thought I had things figured out, a new revelation would come along and mix things up. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns, it really kept the story exciting and had me turning the pages faster and faster to find out how it would all play out!

[Tina Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping page-turner, haunting and compelling!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you loved Still Mine, you’ll definitely be turning pages with Still Water. I could not put this down, I repeat… I could not put this down. I’ve been anxiously waiting the sequel to Still Mine since I finished its last page and gave it a preferred spot on my book shelf.

I love Amy Stuart’s writing. I can’t put my finger on why exactly but perhaps it is the fluidity and the flow that make her books so enjoyable to read. Still Water has many twists and turns, great backstories and tackles some serious subject matter along the way.

Now, let’s to those twists ! Throughout the book, I was constantly trying to figure out what exactly happened, who was involved and why. Since pretty much all the characters are unreliable, it was frustrating (in a good way) to try and solve this before it ended. I’m not going to give anything away but do expect some unexpected. And for me, the unexpected came in the way one mystery was solved and another one begins.

Stuart is a queen of backstories. She really gave every character something I could hang on to. Even if I didn’t identify with some of them, at least I could understand where they were coming from.

Abuse does not go unnoticed in Still Water. It’s not done lightly either – abuse of power, mental, physical – Amy Stuart tackles the subtleties. I enjoyed the parts where her characters talk about how they remember things and the fragility of those memories. How each person involved has their own interpretation of events; their own truth. Actually, truth and lies have a major role in this book. Stuart explores the gamut; the untold truth, the half-truth, the white lie…. We wade through it all in Still Water. Did you see what I did there 😉

Ultimately I felt that Still Water was setting the stage for something more. There is a shift towards the end of the novel where the focus swings to Malcom and Clare. The ending is definitely where fresh pieces are put on the board, setting the stage perfectly for book three. I can’t wait !!

[Calista Andrechek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clare travels to High River to look into the disappearance of Sally and her young son from the home of Helen Haines who takes in those women who need a place to hideaway unknown. The police assume that Sally went into the rushing river behind the house late at night and have been looking for bodies. Pretending to be a long lost friend of Sally, Clare starts asking questions and makes a few unlikely allies. This town thrives on secrets and Clare knows that the two detectives have an ulterior motive beyond solving the crime. Clare must face exactly what she was running from in this second Still novel.

This novel was just as good, if not better than the first Still novel. I am absolutely intrigued by Clare and her life. I totally enjoy that she admits that she isn’t a professional and she makes mistakes. I did like seeing another side to Malcolm in this novel too, but now I need another novel and to know what else is going on now that we know more about his life. I love that the missing women are always in small towns where everyone is hiding something. I loved the imagery of the book, I could really picture where the house on the water was and could really picture a lot of the characters.

I loved the twist in this novel and the little surprised sprinkled throughout the novel to keep you on your toes. Clare is such a spunky and relatable character that you can’t help but enjoy her and be thoroughly amused by her. I like how in each novel, we find out a bit more about the life she left behind and how people feel about her leaving. The ending to this novel was just perfect, I didn’t really see it coming and the unlikable characters in the novel get what they had coming to them. I can’t wait to read more about Clare and Malcolm; I hope there is a third book coming soon!

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks (?) to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC copy. It was the first and possibly the last that I will get to review.

I was bored stupid by this book and had to push my way through to finish it in order to give it an "unbiased" review. I could have given up mid-way and I don't think anything would be different.

Cardboard cut-out characters that never interested me. A plot that was, at the same time, incomprehensible and unbelievable. And no one of interest to carry me through. I almost considered giving this one star but I thought that might be cruel.

And the inconsistencies! My lord. She's supposed to be "undercover" yet she goes unquestioned to meet a friend in town and gets a phone call on her cell from another friend? Please. One of her friends/readers should have pointed out the illogic of it all. And who cares anyway?

Sorry, but I haven't hated a book I've read to completion like this in a number of years.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a difficult book to get into. I felt like I kept chipping away at it each page and I wasn’t fully invested in the plot. There didn’t feel like any real mystery-just a lot of explanations of the main character Clare’s day to day activities, or lack there of. The characters seemed flat and the plot line boring to be honest. I really, really tried to like this one, but it really fell short for me. The ending wrapped everything up but it was a bit blah as well. I’m disappointed I didn’t enjoy this one.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an accidental book club pick: it was supposed to be a book of the same title by a different author, and by accident this one (the middle book of a series) was selected. I didn't know this until a chapter into the book when it became evident this was #2 of a series, but it's OK. I enjoyed the book, even though it IS the second in a series and not a genre I typically enjoy.

CW: Intimate-partner abuse is central to this plot, so readers should be aware of this.

Still Water (and presumably, Still Mine before it) is somewhere between a straightforward mystery/thriller and one of those woman-protagonist "psychological thrillers" that I usually hate unless it's written by Gillian Flynn. I don't have a deep well of comparisons to draw from, but this was much more similar to Sharp Objects than The Girl on the Train or the Woman in the Window or the Female on the Boat. (I made that last one up. Does it exist yet? It will soon.) The protagonist, like apparently every single female protagonist in a thriller-type novel, has a substance abuse problem, what is going on with that. Can we find another trope, please. But at least the plot here does not revolve around the substance abuse. Key things don't happen while the protag, Clare, is blackout drunk: in fact, Clare has got things pretty well under control by this novel, don't know about the previous one.

In fact, I think my favorite thing about this novel, relative to the others I have read in this genre, is that Clare is not a total wreck. She certainly has her issues, but she’s not waiting for any man to rescue her from them. In fact, the author resists the urge to create a romance to carry the plot forward: Clare is deeply suspicious of all the men who cross her path. She barely trusts the women, but she definitely doesn’t trust the men. A more typical writer of this genre might make it a plot point for the right man to be the knight in shining armor she always needed—the one who could break through her prickly shell!—but Stuart avoids that here.

And, the plot itself is fast-paced and satisfying. There is some serious implausibility at the end, but I had a good enough time to let that slide.

[Melly Mel - Shelf_ishly_lit · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW:
Still Water by Amy Stuart - 4 riverbeds out of 5!
The story is gripping, twisty and speeds along at a dizzying pace taking readers with it.
Hold on tight!

Still Water takes readers on a journey with its protagonist Clare, who acts as a PI of sorts helping to find missing women who, like herself, have struggled with gender-based violence as part of controlling and abusive relationships. Clare falls upon her newfound path by accident when paid investigator, Malcom is hired to find and return her to her abusive husband but go on to forge a bond and work together to find missing women. With scant details and an anonymous employer, they soon find themselves wading in the murky waters of High River to find missing mother Sally and her son who may have drowned without a trace. The story is set in High River and at the Haines’ family home where women like Sally go when they run out of options. What Clare finds is a place where secrets and lies run deep and finding the truth is like fighting against an undertow. Fighting her own trauma, Clare struggles to remain afloat or risk being swept away by her past.

Admittedly I read Still Water out of sequence as I wasn’t aware that this was book 2 of a series. Even still, I found that while I was unclear about the details of Claire’s tortured past with her estranged husband Jason and what brought her to a life on the run, I was able to fully submerge into this second instalment. I was particularly impressed by how Stuart was able to keep me up to speed without overdoing it and craft this book with a standalone feel making it highly readable.

I am really looking forward to the third instalment out in July 2020!

[Linda McCutcheon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Clare jolts upright, her hand at her mouth to stifle a scream."

Such a great first line to completely capture my attention and keep me fully immersed in the psychological thriller Still Water by Amy Stuart. Fast paced and twisty it checks all the boxes for this genre.

Clare is a private investigator hired to find Sally and her missing son who were last seen living in a refuge home for abused women. Going under cover as a victim of domestic violence is easier than it should be but Clare is actually one of many in this sad statistic.

During her investigation of this supposed safe house it becomes clear that their are many secrets from those running the house and even those escaping and hiding out there.

There are many questionable characters throughout the story including the two police detectives looking into the case. There are many secondary characters but they add to the underlying themes of never ending gender inequalities and violence in our society.

This book is the second in a series about Clare who is a fascinating character study. The first book is Still Mine and though Still Water can be read as a stand alone its predecessor is just as fulfilling a thriller.

This is not always an easy book to read and if you have experience with domestic violence please proceed with caution.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Love Books Tour for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.