Review: Watcher in the Woods

Ｔｉｔｌｅ：Watcher in the Woods

Ａｕｔｈｏｒ：Kelley Armstrong

Ｓｅｒｉｅｓ：Book 4

Ｒａｔｉｎｇ：★ ★ ★ ★ ★

＊Ｎｏｔｅ：Reviews for Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3. I also received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The secret town of Rockton has seen some rocky times lately; understandable considering its mix of criminals and victims fleeing society for refuge within its Yukon borders. Casey Duncan, the town’s only detective on a police force of three, has already faced murder, arson and falling in love in less than the year that she’s lived there. Yet even she didn’t think it would be possible for an outsider to find and cause trouble in the town she’s come to call home.

When a US Marshal shows up in town demanding the release of one of the residents, Casey and her boyfriend, Sheriff Dalton, are skeptical. And yet only hours later, the marshal is shot dead and the only visible suspects are the townspeople and her estranged sister, in town for just the weekend. It’s up to Casey to figure out who murdered the marshal, and why they would kill to keep him quiet.

❝ “Feeling it’s not a bad thing, Casey. It just sucks that we have to. It really, really sucks.” ❞

Trouble finds its way to Rockton when a man claiming to be a marshal looking for a criminal arrives in town.

In the last book, Casey and Eric also had to deal with outsiders, but they were brought in with the council’s blessing. This is the first time in the series that someone has stumbled onto Rockton without being brought in according to the council’s protocol (well… one of two, but more about that later). It was a great twist from the usual trouble Casey and Eric face. I love that Armstrong can keep bringing fresh twists to her series.

Aside from this intruder, we also see another new face brought into Rockton. When I read the first novel in the series I was so unhappy with how Casey’s sister, April, had reacted and I was a bit let down that their relationship wasn’t explored further. In this book, we finally get that! I love that this angle was addressed as well as how April’s character was developed.

❝ There will always be a part of Dalton who is that boy taken from his parents. The boy who lost his family and came to Rockton, to a world where he loses everyone. ❞

April was a hard person to like in the beginning. She was far too serious and oblivious to others’ feelings. Most of the time it felt like she thought she was better than others. We learn more about her later on which helps put everything in context. What I liked was that it didn’t end there. I liked the honest effort April put into correcting her behavior, and I like that she and Casey started repairing the relationship.

I also enjoyed that we were able to know more about the hostiles in this book and that some of the mystery around them was unraveled. There are still some questions, but I’m glad we get to know more about Petra, the council, in the hostiles.

Hopefully, we get to see the hostiles play a bigger part in another book soon because I think that would be something interesting and new.

As for the plot and pacing, I think compared to other books in the series this one felt slower, but it was still very good. I would’ve liked the crime-solving and angle to be a bit smoother; it was a little like the last book where I felt like we got most of the answers towards the end and not enough earlier. Still, overall it was still good.

Watcher in the Woods may not have been as smooth as previous books in the series but I still thoroughly enjoyed continuing the series and I look forward to solving Rockton’s next crime!