The Wilds by Sarah Pearse

 

DS Elin Warner is on a much-needed holiday in Portugal. Stumbling across a small encampment in the middle of a forest raises suspicions, particularly as there are possible links to a young woman who hasn’t been seen in over a year.

The Wilds by Sarah Pearse is the third book to feature DS Elin Warner, following on from The Sanatorium and The Retreat. Fans of these books will be aware of the atmospheric setting of each and The Wilds is no different. With the majority of the story set in a Portuguese national forest, the landscape itself is overbearing and oppressive, which adds to the sinister feeling you have as you read.

Elin has had a traumatic couple of years dealing with cases and hasn’t quite come to terms with them, she’s also recently split from her long-term boyfriend. Her brother, Isaac, has suggested a walking holiday in Portugal and it is only after they arrive that she discovers Isaac has an ulterior motive. The sister of a friend has gone missing and the last time she was seen was in the same forest in Portugal.

The last thing Elin needs is a missing persons case to investigate and you can feel her frustration at being blind-sided by Isaac. The encampment where Kier, the missing woman, was last seen makes Elin suspicious. She gets the feeling that something isn’t quite right and that they aren’t being entirely truthful.

Intertwined with Elin’s investigation is Kier’s story. We jump back three years and meet Kier as she returns to the town in which she was raised for her twin brother’s wedding. Kier finds it difficult to settle in one place, mainly because she’s running from the horrific events of her childhood, events which are slowly revealed to the reader. With Kier is her boyfriend, Zeph. Initially, we meet a couple who are ideally suited and very much in love. Gradually you begin to realise that things in the relationship aren’t right, and that what we are witnessing goes beyond jealousy.

As the two story-lines begin to converge you get an unsettling feeling that you are being watched and that not everything is as it seems. A shocking revelation has Elin reeling and she questions her own judgement. Elin’s professionalism wins out as she is able to gain the trust of members of the encampment and finds out the distressing truth of what happened to Kier.

The Wilds by Sarah Pearse will be published on 16^th July 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown UK for a review copy.

Author Details

Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and worked in Brand PR for a variety of household brands. After moving to Switzerland in her twenties, she spent every spare moment exploring the mountains in the Swiss Alpine town of Crans Montana, the dramatic setting that inspired her debut novel, The Sanatorium, which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick and became an instant New York Times bestseller and a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller. The Retreat was also a Sunday Times bestseller and No.1 Kindle bestseller. The Wilds is her third novel.