The Drowning Pool is a part of Beckford. Everyone in the town knows of it and knows of the women who are dragged out of it. This year two women were found, one a teenager named Katie, and months later, a woman named Nel. Nel’s death leaves her daughter, Lena, alone and it also brings back Nel’s estranged sister, Jules.
Paula Hawkins follows her debut novel, The Girl on the Train, with Into the Water. The thrilling novel centers itself around the investigation of Nel’s death. In the process, it connects her death to the other women who were found in the pool and the other citizens of Beckford.
As it turns out, Nel was writing a book about the women of the Drowning Pool, writing stories that many people in Beckford didn’t want unearthed. She wasn’t loved in the town, so when the police say initial reports seem like Nel jumped into the pool on her own, Lena doesn’t believe it and pushes the police to dig deeper. But with so many people angry at Nel and her digging around what happened to the women who died, no one can seem to figure out the truth.
Hawkins weaves in different perspectives each chapter, giving the reader deeper glimpses into the lives, motives, and histories of the people most connected to Nel, and she even includes the stories Nel wrote of the women who have died in the pool. Hawkins successfully creates a compelling mystery and throughout the book makes the reader question every character and the wonder what is really happening in this small town. Hawkins’ book reminds readers that nothing is ever as it appears.
Whether it is the people in a seemingly normal town, or a lake that the town is built on, everything has secrets.
Hawkins successfully creates a compelling mystery and throughout the book makes the reader question every character and the wonder what is really happening in this small town. Hawkins’ book reminds readers that nothing is ever as it appears. Whether it is the people in a seemingly normal town, or a lake that the town is built on, everything has secrets.
Buy the book here.
About the Author: Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and moved to London for higher education and she currently resides there. She was a journalist for 15 years, reporting on business for The Times. Her most famous book is The Girl on the Train, which was a best-selling novel and was also turned into a film in 2016. Into the Water is Hawkins’ second mystery novel.
