‘The Girl on the Train’ author Paula Hawkins returns with a new psychological thriller

When you write a runaway number one like The Girl on the Train which remained on top of the New York Times bestseller list for thirteen weeks, your next literary offering will need to be a winner.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins certainly is!

Although completely different in narrative style, content, and plot from her first psychological thriller, Into the Water does not disappoint. It is intense, frightening and the pace is taut – fraught with emotion and tension.

Set in the English town of Beckford, ‘The drowning pool’ is part of a local river which over the years has claimed many women, either by supposed drowning or suicide. Shrouded with mystique, the pool itself is the obsession of single parent Nel Abbot, who is writing and photographing research for a book she is planning to write about the bleak history of the drowning pool. However, there are some who are still living who do not want the story of their loved ones being scrutinised for public display.

Nel Abbot lives in a mill house on the river near the pool. She lives with her troubled teenage daughter Lena. When the body of Nel Abbot is found floating in the pool one cold morning she herself becomes part of her own story. Her younger sister Julia (Jules) arrives to take care of Lena, but she herself has her own memories which she would prefer to remain buried – memories of her own reasons why she had not spoken to her older sister for many years.

Paula Hawkins manages to skilfully tell the story by allowing each character to speak with their own voice. Lena herself and Jules both ask questions about Nel’s death. Did she jump or was she pushed? Who had a motive? Was it a suicide, an accident or a murder? Nel had been a strong swimmer who would swim every day in the drowning pool. So why and how had it happened? 

Local policeman DI Sean Townsend is in charge of the investigation but is he too close to the possible crime scene as his own mother died by drowning in the pool.  Erin is another police presence from outside of Beckford, and from her perspective, she is searching for the motive behind Nel’s death – something the locals seem unable to be objective about. 

Another strong voice is Josh, younger brother of Katie who was also Lena’s friend. However, Katie recently committed suicide by drowning herself in the drowning pool. Other voices are Nickie, the local clairvoyant, Mark Henderson the local school teacher and Helen, Sean Townsend’s wife.  Sean’s father Patrick also has a voice; although not major characters, their presence is needed to bring balance to the tale.

As the characters tell their own stories, the timeline is interspersed from the present back to 1993 and the summer that changed young Julia’s life forever.  This part of the narrative is pivotal in tying much of the following story together. With the strong inner voices of each character resonating from their own experience, this multi-layered patterning slowly brings clarity to what could have easily been a muddy and obscure plot. It is with the precision of a skilled surgeon that Paula Hawkins dissects darkly hidden secrets of violence, child sexual abuse, rape and murder.

There is a dark and brooding sense of place and time that envelops the whole book. The town of Beckford has a menacing presence, with so many memories, myths and unexplained deaths surrounding the river and the drowning pool. The climax when it comes is unexpected but works perfectly. 

Into the Water is a highly recommended by me as a near perfect second novel from Paula Hawkins. It is at times an uncomfortable read, but it is totally absorbing. Perfect for a chilly winter night, but make sure you have your light on and the door firmly locked.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins is available now from Dymocks. Click here to learn more.