In the vicinity of a river in a small English village there have been quite a number of violent deaths of women. In the last year two have died, and in both cases they have been ruled suicides. One of the latest deceased, Nel Abbot, was writing a book about some of the historical accounts of the deaths of these women. The police begin to investigate.
Paula Hawkins once again presents us with a partly deconstructed detective novel, in which she has the first-person accounts of several of the main characters (Jules, Nel's sister; Lena, daughter of the deceased; Erin, the rookie policewoman leading the investigation; Nickie, the old woman who claims to be a medium and to talk to the dead...). It's hard to follow the narrative at first, until you get used to it. From then on, the novel is very entertaining. The story discusses a rape (without describing it) and various sexual misbehaviors. It is not explicit but it can be unpleasant.