Thank you Libro.fm / Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Atria Books #partner, for the advanced copy of The Briars in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Atria Books / Simon & Schuster ALC
Published: January 13, 2026
Summary:
The USA TODAY bestselling author of Middletide returns with a lush and atmospheric novel of suspense following a young woman whose job as a game warden puts her in the path of a murderer in a small town eager to protect its own.
Desperate to escape a relationship gone bad, Annie Heston flees north to accept a job as a game warden in Lake Lumin, a picturesque town in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
A cougar has been spotted in the area, and as Annie warns the community of the threat, she quickly discovers that not everyone in the tight-knit town is welcoming of outsiders, except for Daniel Barela, a reclusive carpenter who lives in the shadow of the mountain. They form an instant bond, though Annie soon comes to realize there is more to his past than meets the eye.
When the body of a young woman is found in the briars that border Daniel’s property, the peace Annie has found in Lake Lumin shatters. As she assists the local sheriff with the investigation, Annie must rely on her wilderness training and intuition to find a murderer hiding in plain sight.
Urgent and emotionally complex, The Briars is a captivating literary thriller that marries an exploration of human nature with a plot as thorny and twisted as the brambles for which it is named.
My thoughts:
I absolutely loved Sarah Crouch’s debut novel, Middletide, so it was a no-brainer that I would want to read her sophomore novel, The Briars…and it absolutely delivers in every way! This is one author I whole-heartedly recommend – both books are fantastic and she is for sure on my must-read list!
I absolutely love when there is such a strong sense of place in a book and we absolutely have that here. This book totally transports us to the moody, isolated woods of the Pacific Northwest, and even though I have never been there, I felt the damp forest chill, the rural, small-town feel we get from the setting Crouch has created in this story, which serves as the perfect setting for this murder mystery. It’s so ideal for building suspense, adding that extra layer of tension and making the landscape feel as alive as the killer is. It is as atmospheric as one can get.
This book is so hard to classify, and I think that’s the beauty of it. It’s got a little bit of everything going for it and all-together it combines for one heck of an amazing story. If you like characters you can’t quite put your fingers on, small town secrets, murder, atmospheric settings and gorgeous writing, don’t miss out on this one!
Audio thoughts:
I loved that there were multiple narrators for the multiple POVs in this book. Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Helen Laser and Jonathan Todd Ross all do an amazing job to bring their respective parts to life, helping to keep the story moving, especially as the revelations start unfolding.
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