“Spellbinding. Another outstanding novel by Kimberly Belle, masterfully written to lure you in and never let go.” — Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author of My Lovely Wife When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. … marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned.
At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two.
As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust–her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water.
Don’t miss Kimberly Belle’s newest novel, My Darling Husband!
Look for these other pulse-pounding thrillers by Kimberly Belle:
Three Days Missing
The Marriage Lie
Dear Wife
more
A tense, gripping story filled with likeable characters you root for until the end.Kimberly Belle is a new author to me and this was her first book I read, butStranger in the Lake won’t be the last!
What would you do if a dead woman turned up floating off your dock? Freak out, right? But what if you saw your (new) husband talking to her the day before in town? And WHAT IF this is not the first woman to turn up like this on your property? Your husband’s first wife died the same way. Well, if you’re intrigued, you definitely want to read this book! A great, page-turner. Bravo.
STRANGER IN THE LAKE by Kimberly Belle is a suspense/thriller/mystery mash-up that kept me completely engrossed from start to finish. The majority of the story is told in the first person by the protagonist except for intermittent flashbacks that slowly reveal the mystery from the past that has been responsible for all the choices made by the other main characters into the present.
Charlotte “Charlie” grew up poor, raising her younger brother in a trailer park while their addicted mother continually abandoned them. While working as a gas station clerk, she falls in love with a wealthy widower, Paul Keller. Paul is the security and love she has always craved. She refuses to believe the rumors, but he has whispers that continually follow him. His first wife was found drowned in the lake that their property sits on while he was out jogging.
The suspicion increases when a young woman visiting Lake Crosby is found drowned on the lake exactly where his first wife was found four years previously. Paul lied to the police about talking to her the previous day and Charlotte covers for him, but suddenly the lies begin to multiply and Charlotte is even more suspicious of the stories her husband is telling her.
I loved how strong, determined and independent Charlotte “Charlie” was throughout the story. Even when in peril, she finds a way to help herself. Her whole journey she had dignity and morals that she was never willing to compromise. The intervals of the past where we learn of the families and friendships of Paul, Jax and Micah were compelling because you just knew that there was going to be a tragedy involved. Ms. Belle did an excellent job of smoothly intertwining the past and present throughout the story right up to the climax.
I can highly recommend this suspense/thriller/mystery mash-up. I will definitely be looking for more books by this new to me author.
When your history comes back to haunt you— what secrets are you keeping from yourself? Atmospheric and sinister, this unsettling and twisty story of a new marriage with old memories will yank the rug right out from under you. With a gorgeously evocative setting and a compelling cast of multi-motivated narrators, this terrific and cinematic thriller should be the big screen’s next big hit!
Kimberly Belle explores the shocking depths people will go to keep their secrets buried in her latest slow burn thriller Stranger in the Lake, before building to an explosive and unexpected finale. Belle delivers with lyric prose and an atmospheric, moody mystery that will have her fans begging for more. Must read!
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but I’ll definitely seek out others. Reminiscent of the style of Megan Miranda, another author I enjoy reading), this is a fast-paced read that takes a peek behind the curtain of Charlie, a newly married woman from the wrong side of the trailer park, and her wealthy husband, Paul, who has long been suspected of murdering his late wife.
Charlie (or Charlotte, depending on who is talking to her) has never believed the rumors, until dead reporter floats up under her dock. The same dock where Paul’s late wife was found.
Belle’s strength as a writer is her ability to peel away the layers of not just Charlie, but the other key characters in the story. Throughout it all, we’re left doubting Paul, but as readers, we know the answer can’t be that easy. It isn’t, but Belle does a fine job of weaving the story to a believable conclusion. An enjoyable read.
If I had to describe Kimberly Belle’s latest novel I would have to use: Captivating, Dark and Mesmerizing. And yet, even as I write them, they don’t reveal just how absolutely dark and intoxicating this book is.
I listened to this one via Audible and it was probably the quickest listen I’ve done in a long time. Xe Sands southern drawl narration was spot on. This book was a bit of a slow burn mostly told by Charlotte (Charlie) and the various relationships with her husband and friends and mother in law and the suspicions of the lady she finds in the lake. The last few chapters are action packed but what I loved the most was at the end and the words “everyone is in charge of our own destiny”. Seems so relevant in our current times. Loved the location of this one; very familiar with the area and had a good visual of scenery.
I was lucky enough to get an early copy,, and I found this book riveting. I loved the main character, Charlotte, and could totally feel her fear as she desperately tried to determine what her husband knew about the body in the lake. Great characters, great setting, great twists.
Wow! I would love to see this novel as a movie!
This is a suspense, murder (more than one), thriller that I zoomed through to find out “who done it”!
I could not believe the ending and the entire story was amazing!
This book is told in a dual timelines to add more suspense and anxiety to the story.
I always enjoy Kimberly Belle’s books and have now read five. They just get better and better!
If you enjoy mystery, read it. You will not want to miss “Stranger in the Lake”!
What do you do when you find a dead woman in the water beneath your dock and your new husband lies to police about ever having met the woman before? Well, if your Charlotte, the heroine of The Stranger in the Lake, you lie to the police to cover for your husband and then start digging through the past to find out what was really going on. What you’re going to discover is that your husband has an old secret that he’s hidden from you and—strangely—that lie-by-omission is going to bother you much more than the long-ago crime he and his friends have spent years covering up.
And I guess that’s the heart of what I didn’t like about this novel—Charlotte’s reaction to the truth. The mystery itself is functional, but I found myself increasingly intensely disliking the heroine for standing by his then-teenaged friends and helping to cover an accidental crime that he himself really had no other part in. Yes, there has been fallout from that crime over the years, but again, that didn’t seem to me to be what bothered Charlotte. It was not fully sharing with her everything that happened, even though the only time he had done that in the past resulted in another death. There were other motivations that could have been cultivated to explain her actions that would have sat better with me.
Still, the mystery itself was interesting.
of her two books, I liked this one least. the ending didn’t satisfy me. 80% was good, the last 20%, not so much.
But I knew the author was sound enough to go ahead and read all her books I could find on Overdrive.
So many words to explain so little. And then I kept wondering why the two main characters got married as they didn’t seem to have much of a connection. And why did the group of friends do what they did that led to so much heartache? It made no sense at all. I mostly scanned the book to see what would happen in the end. And that was silly too. Oh well.
I only got through about 1/4 of this book and deleted it from my library…the writing was terrible and so was the plot..shocked it got so many favorable reviews!
Clear your calendar because once you’ve started Kimberly Belle’s utterly engrossing Stranger in the Lake, you won’t be able to tear yourself away! Old and new secrets abound in this tense and atmospheric thriller that will make you question how well we can really know anyone, and how much we might be willing to forgive for those we consider family.
Absolutely superb. Kimberly Belle is the queen of domestic suspense, and Stranger in the Lake is her darkest, most hypnotic work to date.
good book
Charlotte grew up in a trailer park on the tracks, raising her brother as her mother was an addict and wasn’t around. Charlotte ends up marrying a wealthy architect, Paul, and has everything she could possibly dream of. Paul is widowed! His wife was found drowned in the Lake at their home! But she was a champion swimmer?? Paul was accused of killing her, but ends up being ruled accidental! Then Charlotte sees Paul talking to a woman one day and she ends up being found in the Lake drowned, the next day!! Paul asks Charlotte to lie for him and takes off!! Paul, and his childhood friends Jax and Micah also have secrets from the past, but does that have anything to do with these drownings?!! There is more to the story but I don’t want to give it away. You’ll have to read it for yourself and see if you can figure it out! I did guess who the killer was, but I did get a good twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. Be sure to check this one out!.
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This is my first book written by Kimberly Bell. I love a good mystery and this fit the bill. I also love when you are reading a mystery and things seem to point one way but you think that’s too easy so you are not sure who is guilty until the end. Sometimes it is a surprise – sometimes your sleuthing is correct. I wont tell you which it was in this book, but I enjoyed it!!
A haunting tale of secrets. Kimberly Belle weaves a rich tapestry of flawed characters, challenging the reader to solve it.