#BlogTour: Down By The Water by Elle Connel @Wildfirebks @RandomTTours #DownByTheWater #ElleConnel #RandomThingsTours

Book Synopsis:

They wanted to get away. But now they can’t get out.

Seven friends gather at a castle in the Scottish Borders. One last weekend before Georgie’s wedding. Near the castle, through a path in the woods, is a loch. After a few drinks, they head down to the water to take photos. The loch is wild, lonely, and stunningly beautiful. They set their camera to self-timer and take some group shots. Later, looking back at the pictures, they see something impossible.

Behind them, eyes wide, a small, drenched boy emerges from the water.

But none of them saw him, and nobody knows where he went. They’re miles from the nearest town. How did he get there? Where did he go?

As the weekend unravels and terrible secrets come to light, it soon becomes clear that their perfect weekend is turning into a perfect nightmare. They’re desperate to leave – but someone won’t let them.

Down By The Water is available in ebook now and in hardback on the 8th July 2021. You can purchase or pre-order your copy using the links below.

My Review:

Down By The Water is a creepy, atmospheric thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed. This book wasn’t what I was expecting but in a good way! I thought going in that it would be a ghost story but it’s actually more of a psychological thriller.

As I might have mentioned before I love books featuring a group of old friends as there is always so much potential there. This book was no exception as we join a group of old university friends on a hen trip. It quickly becomes clear that there is a lot of tension and secrets in the group which I found very intriguing. I enjoyed unpicking their complicated relationships and learning more about them as the book went on. I had to find out what they were all hiding so found I had to keep reading to find out what was going on.

The setting in this book is superb with the isolated Scottish island helping to create lots of atmosphere so I could well imagine the creepy events happening there. I had to admit it got in my head a bit and I found I couldn’t move around at night without putting a light on as I was wondering if something would appear. A few of the plot twists give the characters plenty of opportunity to explore the island and I felt the hairs stand up on the back of my neck as I read wondering what would happen.

I thought this book was a bit of a slow burn at the beginning as we are introduced to the setting and all the characters. There are quite a few of them so it did take me a little while to get to know them all. The second half is much faster with the author slowly increasing the feeling of menace until I found it hard to put the book down. None of the characters were particularly likeable and I hoped that a few of them would get their just desserts at the end.

This is the author’s first psychological thriller and I would definitely be interested in reading more from her in the future.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Wildfire for my copy of this book via netgalley.

About The Author:

Elle Connel is the pseudonym of Lucy Ribchester, whose previous novels, The Hourglass Factory and The Amber Shadows, were historical thrillers. She has a first class degree in English from the University of St Andrews and a Masters in Shakespeare Studies from Kings College London. Her previous work has won her a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award, a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, and short-listings for the Costa Short Story Award and Manchester Fiction Prize. She lives in Edinburgh with her partner and two sons. Down by the Water is her first book as Elle Connel.