Erin has everything going for her. She's about to get married to a gorgeous, successful banker named Mark. She has great friends and mentors who have helped open doors for her in her burgeoning career as a documentarian. And after months of planning, research, and drowning in red tape. she's about to start her first solo documentary about three prisoners who are about to be released. Life is good for Erin and Mark.

Until the honeymoon.

While in Bora Bora, they encounter temptation in the form of unclaimed treasure, and then they are forced to make a series of decisions of what to do. They had to decide how many risks to take. They had to decide how many secrets to keep. They had to decide how many lies to tell. And of course, all those risks, all those secrets, all those lies have consequences.

Something in the Water is Catherine Steadman's first novel, but if her name seems familiar, it might be because you've seen it in the credits for Downton Abbey. As an actress and a writer, she knows storytelling, she knows how to build suspense, and she knows how to hold something back for a very special ending.

I really liked Something in the Water. I loved that Steadman could craft such a good thriller without the usual tropes. I like how smart she makes Erin, someone who knows how to research hard even though she has no real experience in the world she gets thrown into. I like the story tension Steadman builds by telling you the end (or part of it anyway) right up front. Part of the story here is hiding in plain sight, and all I could do was to follow the breadcrumbs until I was too deep in the story to turn back. Not that I wanted to. Something in the Water is a great thriller, and I can't wait to read Steadman's next novel.

Galleys for Something in the Water were provided by Ballentine Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.