The Woman in the Woods: From the bestselling author of gripping psychological thrillers comes a haunting new book about witchcraft

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I enjoyed the story and some of the character insights. I just felt the flow of the storytelling was a bit jarring - it changes POV frequently which is fine but I didn't feel we got an equal amount of insight into each character (too much Maisy, not enough Grace...and none of the Grandmother who was a bit of a puzzle). As Charlie begins following a trail of clues that lead to an underground network of people helping battered women escape their abusers, someone else is getting there before him and leaving dead bodies in their wake. There are some interesting themes that emerge from The Woman in the Wood. There are some dark topics covered within this novel. These include mental illness, loss, murder, abduction and cruelty. Although this novel is a crime based historical fiction story, there are some lighter moments. Friendship, first love, family bonds and belonging form the crux of Pearse’s latest book.

There are several series which I follow closely, and this is one of them! Stellar writing, great intricate plots, and suspense! Highly recommend! If this is not the typical type of book you read - challenge yourself and step out of your comfort zone! You might just be happy you did! Connolly seamlessly weaves together a complex plot, consisting of multiple storylines, numerous characters, and various genres. I don’t usually tolerate the supernatural, but for this series I make an exception because it’s so well integrated and Connolly somehow makes it feel plausible. He also adds in bits of humor that had me laughing out loud.

A mummified corpse is discovered in the woods. Charlie Parker is hired to investigate and identify the dead woman. Apparently the woman died soon after giving birth, but the infant's corpse is not present. It turns out the case is much more complicated than an unidentified dead woman. And dangerous. Themes expanded, emotions played upon, nightmares almost guaranteed or at the very least an odd look over your shoulder because you’ll be sure there is someone there, several reasons why the Charlie Parker series continues on as fresh and new as it ever was, because every time you think you’ve got a handle on it everything changes.

What an amazing author she is! The way she builds a story, laying all the of foundations, bit by bit, increasing the tension, mystery, emotion, all of these threads waving about and then weaving themselves together with precision. Combined with excellent character development, she really is a master story teller and her popularity comes as no great surprise to me at all. I plan like a lunatic! I find it very difficult to write without a plan, so I start with my “what if” question and go from there. I do a lot of reading and research, and slowly build up a bullet point plan, which is then expanded in to post it notes that I can shuffle around, which are then expanded into a chapter plan in a notebook…which then finally become the bones of my first draft. Connolly only gets better and better, the proof of this is not only in the longevity of the series, but the fact that his characters evolve naturally as time passes, growing older, but aging well. Being allowed to do as they wanted, Duncan and Maisy often went off on their own riding their bikes into the woods and enjoying their own adventures and meeting some of the local kids. Only one day Duncan goes off on his own and doesn't return for dinner that night. Their grandmother shows no care or worry, but as the days pass and then weeks, Maisy knows something isn't right, especially when the police have no clues as to where he might be. Maisy believes the only person who may know where her brother is could be Grace Deville. Grace lived in the woods on her own and despite the rumors about the woman she and Duncan had become rather friendly with one another. Did Grace know where or what had happened to Duncan? There is so much that happens in this installment of the series my desire to condense events kind of boggles the mind. So, to avoid any spoilers, this review will concentrate on one minor subplot and an overall summery in this, what may be the best book in the series so far.The bar was one of the more recent additions to Portland’s waterfront, although the term “recent” was relative given the rapid pace of development in the city. Parker wondered if at some point every person reached an age where he or she prayed for a pause to progress, although often it seemed to him that progress was just so much window dressing, because people tended to remain much as they had always been. Still, he wished folks would occasionally leave the windows as they were, for a while at least. After reading this book, it is clear Pearse has incredible talent – The Woman in the Wood is a wonderful mystery that is strong enough to engage you fully in the read without needing a lightening pace, it features some strong characters and character development with a firm conclusion to the novel. I highly recommended it!

Private detective Charlie Parker is hired by a lawyer to shadow the police investigation and find the infant but Parker is not the only one searching. Someone else is following the trail left by the woman, someone with an interest in much more than a missing child…someone prepared to leave bodies in his wake.The characters, for me, felt stiff and unrealistic, and the dialogue was so clunky! So stilted and proper. I didn’t like any of the characters I had read about that far into the story, so I couldn’t imagine liking any of them at any point! And that’s not a good thing when the main character is actually supposed to be likeable…

The Woman in the Wood is Lesley Pearse’ 25th book and what a great achievement. It is also the fifth book of hers that I’ve read; and Lesley is one of the few authors whose books I will always buy regardless. Her stories are family saga/drama based but with an added suspense/crime element and she doesn’t shy away from difficult or disturbing subjects, The Woman in the Wood being no exception. The storyline here is not a particularly pleasant one but despite it being set in the 1960’s it is still just as, if not more so, relevant today. I.L. Lawrence is one of the primary characters, an up and coming author who had recently been in a hit and run accident, suffering from amnesia afterwards. She can’t remember what her life had been like before the accident, particularly any of the memories from her childhood. It seems in some ways, what had happened to her lends into her ability to create unique stories, as though the plotlines could have come straight from her own past. It feels that way to her when she begins to see a random stranger show up to her book readings–a woman she doesn’t recognize but seems to know, all at once. This story is delivered on so many different levels and from so many different angles that you really get caught up. El cadáver de una mujer es encontrado en un bosque al lado de un árbol caído. La mujer dio a luz antes de morir, pero no hay rastro del recién nacido. Una estrella de David grabada en un árbol cercano hace que el abogado de Parker le encargue la investigación.With Lisa Hall’s distinctive flair for creating engaging, but flawed, characters combined with dynamic twists and turns and reveals, The Woman in the Woodswill keep readers hanging on every word, and waiting for the next chill to race down their spine. I’m not sure I can always tell the difference between dreams and reality. Waking sometimes seems as bad as sleeping.” Just in time for Halloween, but a creepy delight any time of the year, fans of psychological thrillers, supernatural stories, and domestic suspense are guaranteed to find The Woman in the Woods a hauntingly good read. Days earlier, Louis’s partner, Angel, had been relieved of a tumor the size of an egg in a New York hospital, along with a length of his large intestine. The procedure hadn’t gone entirely well, and the recuperation period would be difficult, involving chemotherapy sessions every three weeks for the next two years, while the threat of ancillary growths remained. The call to inform Parker of Louis’s presence in the city of Portland had therefore come as a surprise. Parker had intended to travel down to New York to visit Angel and offer Louis whatever support he could. Instead, Louis was sitting in a Portland bar while his partner lay in a hospital bed, medicated up to his eyeballs. No different with The Woman in the Woods which had the after effect just a little while ago of me rummaging through the toy box to throw far far away anything that might ring in the night – but that’s neither here nor there except to my children. The point is this is, as usual, beautifully creepy as well as being beautifully written and every time I go into one of these I think it can’t possibly up the ante or make me more desperate for the next than I always am and every time I am wrong.