📖 Book Review ~ The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Mirror Books
21 January 3021

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

A true crime podcast host covering a controversial trial finds herself drawn deep into a small town's dark past and a brutal crime that took place there years before. Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name--and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she's used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The new season of Rachel's podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation - but the mysterious letters keep coming. Someone is following her, and she won't stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered - and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases - and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

📖 My thoughts..

Rachel Krall's true crime podcast, 'Guilty or Not Guilty, attracts much public attention especially when the case she covers is as controversial as the rape trial which is taking place in the small North Carolina town of Neapolis. Tensions are running high in this introverted place where old secrets run deep and generations of hurt lie dormant. Rachel rarely lets her public persona interfere with her personally but when she is targeted with a series of cryptic messages urging her to look into a twenty five year old mystery she becomes drawn into another Neapolis story which will have far reaching consequences.

The Night Swim is really two stories in one. In one thread we have the controversial courtroom drama in which the local golden boy is accused of raping a teenage girl who also happens to be the granddaughter of the chief of police. Media attention is high and Rachel's podcast is as popular as ever. And then, in the other thread, we have a twenty five year old mystery surrounding the death of another local teenager, one who was alleged drowned in a mysterious circumstances.

The two stories are drawn together very cleverly and the author has succeeded in making both threads equally compelling. Each story covers emotionally deep subjects which the author handles sensitively, but which highlights, especially in the courtroom sections, just how emotive and difficult a rape trial is  for victims who are subjected to even more violation by defence lawyers who seek to destroy them.

The Night Swim is a compelling crime drama by a talented author.

About the Author

Megan Goldin worked as a correspondent for Reuters and other media outlets where she covered war, peace, international terrorism and financial meltdowns in the Middle East and Asia. She is now based in Melbourne, Australia where she raises three sons and is a foster mum to Labrador puppies learning to be guide dogs. 

Website

Twitter @megangoldin #TheNightSwim

@TheMirrorBooks