Don’t Talk to Strangers sang Rick Springfield! 

It’s Valentine’s Day 2020 in Ebbing, and Karen Simmons is looking for love on a night reserved for couples. But it’s slim pickings at her local pub that night, so a depressed and lonely Karen heads home alone. 

The next day, Karen’s body is found in Ebbing Woods – still wearing her red dress from the night before – suffocated, propped up against a tree. Why did Karen go out again after she got home? Who was she meeting? Most importantly, who killed her, and why? And Karen’s isn’t the first murder to occur in those woods… 

The second book in the series is set a year after the events of the first and can be enjoyed as a standalone. I feel horrible saying this because #1, Local Gone Missing, was one of my top reads in 2022, but unfortunately, Talking to Strangers was average by comparison. The first half moved at a snail's pace, and even though the plot did pick up after that, it wasn’t by much. I kept finding other things to occupy my time, and it's never a good sign when you’d rather do the vacuuming over reading a book. I think two POVs investigating/researching Karen’s murder was one too many, as things tended to get repetitive. Annie’s POV was the most intriguing. My second complaint is that the mystery was pretty predictable, and the epilogue came as no surprise – the myriad of subtly placed clues that the first book contained were absent from this one. I preferred the secondary crime involving online dating apps and misogynous men. That plot was tense, emotive, informative, and disturbing – several times I wanted to punch my kindle screen imagining it was these disgusting men’s faces. If I didn’t already loathe dating apps, I would now. Also, I’d never heard of cyber flashing and immediately checked my Apple AirPlay privacy settings – so thanks for the info, Fiona Barton. 

I enjoyed spending time with Elise, Kiki and company; just wish the main crime and pacing had been more to my liking. I will continue to read the series because I loved the first book, this author, and the recurring characters. 

I want to thank NetGalley UK, Random House UK Transworld Publishers, and Fiona Barton for the e-ARC. 

UK Release Date: 15 August 2024.