Book Review: The Hunter by Jennifer Herrera

My Rating : 2.5⭐ 

NYPD Detective Leigh O’Donnell returns to her hometown of Copper Falls, Ohio with her daughter after being suspended from her job with the NYPD, which also puts a strain on her marriage (for reasons that are divulged later in the narrative). She joins her brother Ronan at the local PD investigating the mysterious death of three local men who apparently died from drowning in the Falls- suspected homicides, the cause of death being uncannily familiar to the death of three high school students years ago. As she progresses with the investigation it becomes evident that there are secrets in this small town that more than a few people would like to keep buried.

The Hunter by Jennifer Herrera has an intriguing plot, as far as the mystery element is concerned. I was impressed with the beginning of the novel and the build-up of the mystery, the historical context of the small town and the mysterious occurrences in its past. However, there are multiple threads to the narrative - the events leading to Leigh’s suspension from the NYPD, the troubles in her marriage, her relationship with Copper falls and her family history, the history of the town and its residents and of course, her new assignment investigating the murders in a small- town with a lot of secrets. I felt there was too much going on which distracted me from the actual mystery. I enjoyed how the mystery was developing (including the paranormal element) but with so much focus on the other aspects of her life, the pace slows down considerably after the halfway mark leading up to an ending that is a tad convoluted and not satisfying. The resolution of the mystery left me with a lot of questions and I felt that Leigh’s talents as a strong-willed, intuitive law enforcement officer took a backseat to her personal life. This is an ambitious debut and though I found some parts of the narrative engaging, overall, I wasn’t happy with how the story played out.

Many thanks to Penguin Group-Putnam and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in the review are my own.