The Survivors by Jane Harper

Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his family to the coastal community he once called home. Kieran's parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.
When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. 

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This takes place in a small coastal community in Tasmania. Along the shore are caves with long tunnels running through them that can only be accessed when the tide is low. If you get caught inside these caves during high tide, you will never walk out again.
 
I’m not gonna lie, this setting made my gothic-loving heart sing! It’s the best thing about this book! The plotting and pacing are both also nearly perfect for a mystery, and the story held my attention fully from beginning to end.
 
I did wish for more specificity in the characters. They didn’t seem to have quite enough personality, and their dialogue and behaviors weren’t distinctive enough to stand apart from one another. I could certainly feel for them, and there were many evocative moments, but the people inhabiting this book seemed a bit more 2D than 3D. This became problematic because there are a large number of characters, in part to have a greater number of suspects, and I struggled to keep them all straight while reading. 
 
Despite this, I found Kieran’s relationship with his mother and father incredibly moving, and the depiction of them all dealing with his father’s dementia was both sad and haunting.
 
I found the end to be sort of mediocre. Kind of interesting, but not all that surprising.
 
This is a solid book, but not something I would call a stand-out. Still, it’s an enjoyable mystery to curl up with on a cold winter day.
 
It hits the shelves Feb 2!