This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic 
 I love a good mystery. But I often have a hard time with the genre because of how it treats its female characters. Women in mysteries and thrillers are often caricatures of real people. They're either extremely uptight and controlling, or they're "sluts." They're rarely fully realized characters, in the end they seem to primarily exist to be difficult. I makes me nervous to try out new authors, if I don't know whether or not they subscribe to these particular tropes. 
 Which was why I originally hesitated when considering Where They Found Her. I hadn't read Kimberly McCreight 's earlier work. But I had heard amazing things about her novel, Reconstructing Amelia. So I decided to give her a shot - and I am so glad I did. Where They Found Her is a dark, compelling mystery that will grab you from the first page. But it is also a story of complicated, layered women. 
 This novel is filled to the brim with different kinds of women. Including three point-of-view characters. There's Molly Sanderson, just getting back on her feet after her baby was stillborn. There's Sandy Mendelson, who lives in the run down part of town and is trying to both pay bills and get her GED. There's Barbara, an over protective mother who is constantly worrying about the fate of her children. And they're only the tip of the iceberg. From point of view characters, to secondary characters, this book is just as much about the experiences of women - particularly mothers and daughters - as it is about the mystery of who left the baby down by the stream. 
 I'm not going to say much else about the story - I don't want to risk giving anything away. I will admit that I guessed pretty early on who the mother of the baby was, but in no way did that detract for my enjoyment of the book as a whole. There is just so much going on and so many complicated relationships to distract yourself with, the mother of the baby feels like only one piece in a larger puzzle. 
 I highly recommend this book to those looking for a new mystery to consume. But be careful. Once you start reading you're going to have a very hard time putting the book down again. Probably best if you don't make any plans until you're done reading.