The Yorkshire Dipper By Maria Frankland

‘The Yorkshire Dipper’ is the latest book by Maria Frankland.

Lauren is fed up with covering local small-town news in Northern England. The bride-to-be and mother-of-one dreams of recognition and accolades as a national journalist. Yet, the reporting opportunity that lands on her doorstep is one she would never have invited. When it is thrust on her, she is duty bound, both professionally and personally to investigate. Lauren is the voice for the women whose lives have been cut short in the river Alder. She will not stop until she discovers the link that binds the deaths together and gets justice for them. But she is a lone voice, overpowered by the police and other officials. Lauren has to make herself heard, even when this compromises her own safety. Her police sergeant fiancé begs her to step away and leave it to the police. Seven drownings, she continues to argue, in three months, warrants blame. How can the deaths of these innocent women be deemed accidental?

I’ve read a few books by Maria and she has quite the skill of writing relatable characters and a storyline that makes for unsettling and creepy reading.

With a clever title, the story is based in Yorkshire where a spate of women are drowning on a weekly basis and the police are believing it’s all done to accidental deaths, falling into the river after falling drunken out of the pub. But investigative journalist, Lauren believes that something is more sinister at play and using her position voices her concerns as well as criticising the police work, which is awkward as her husband to be Mark is investigating the case.

The story is mostly seen through Lauren’s narrative as the death toll rises and she expresses her frustrations and fears into her articles as more women die from simply enjoying a night out, escaping from reality of broken relationships, bereavement only for their lives to be cruelly taken from them.

But the further that Lauren investigates the cases and questions how there is something else afoot, Lauren herself becomes the subject the unwanted attention, a mysterious presence watching over her that makes her fear for her own life and safety. The case is also coming between Mark and Lauren, as she reports them including details that are not made to public, taken from overheard conversations and police protocols.

Maria has also included narratives from the women leading up to their last moments and this was a clever addition to the story as it gave the women a proper presence in the story and were not just unknowns.

Lauren’s curiosity and determination to prove that there’s something sinister afoot and not just a case of drunken women falling over into a river makes for gripping reading, as the reader joins her on this woman crusade for justice and the safety for the women.

Intriguing and filled with suspense, ‘The Yorkshire Dipper’ is a great fast paced thriller that really pulled the reader in.

You can buy ‘The Yorkshire Dipper’ from Amazon.