ARC REVIEW: Hide – by Tracy Clark

Title: Hide
(Detective Harriet Foster #1)
Author: Tracy Clark
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Detective
First published: January 1st 2023
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Finished reading: January 13th 2023
Pages: 377

“It wasn’t the dead she feared but the memories they left in their wake.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

REVIEW

I always have a weak spot for a good serial killer, so it’s no surprise that I wasn’t able to resist getting a copy of Hide as soon as I read the blurb. It was both the promise of a serial killer thriller and the race/gender discrimination angle that had me immediately intrigued, and I was curious about the psychiatrist angle as well. I’ve been looking forward to pick up this story, and I have to say that it ended up being a more than solid start of a new detective series. Dark, gruesome and pretty action-packed once the ball starts rolling!

Hide uses a multiple POV structure, switching between a wide cast of characters including both police, suspects, the killer and victims. This is probably part of the reason why it took me a little while to get a proper feel for the story and the pace was a bit slow in the beginning, but thankfully things picked up soon enough. I do always love it when a serial killer thriller includes a glimpse instead of such a twisted individual, and I felt like I hit the jackpot here. I don’t want to reveal too much to avoid spoilers, but there are a couple twists included that were plenty shocking. True, I did guess some of it right, but the twists were still well handled.

Harriet Foster makes for an interesting main character, although things can be said about certain aspects of her history being a bit cliche. I liked how she represented the Black woman in the police department though, and how her character shows us the challenges female detectives in general still have to face. I wasn’t a fan of Jim Lonergan’s character at all though; he was too cliche and I really disliked having to deal with him especially in the first half of the story. I know what he represents, but still… Vera Li on the other hand I think I liked even more than our new lead character; a bonus that she complemented Foster well and they made for a great team.

The plot itself moves quickly despite the POV switches slowing down the pace, and body count goes up FAST. I do have to say that I wasn’t sure about the credibility of certain aspects of the investigation (for example the detectives touching the body/evidence at the first scene), but as soon as the pace picked up and the situation got more tense those niggles were mostly silenced. I also like it when a story provides us with plenty of possible suspects, twists and lies to explore, and Hide definitely offers that. True, I did see part of the big twist coming, but I never guessed most of that explosive ending and how everything was wrapped up afterwards. The final chapters left plenty open for a sequel as well, and I’m curious where certain storylines will go in the future.

All in all Hide turned out to be a solid start to a new detective series, and a serial killer thriller that is both gruesome and strangely entertaining once you get past the large cast of characters and slower start. Recommended if you enjoy the genre and don’t mind your thrillers on the dark side!