“It’s a brutal winter in Des Moines, Iowa, and the city is gripped by fear. A serial attacker known as the Sin Eater is stalking women and has just struck again. It’s a tough time and a tough place for Riley Fisher, a former small-town sergeant, to be reporting for duty as an FBI agent on her first assignment.

Teamed with a man she’s not sure she can trust and struggling to prove herself – while fighting the pull of her old life and family dramas – Riley is tasked with investigating a vicious death threat against the newly elected female state governor. Gradually, she traces a disturbing connection between this case and the hunt for the Sin Eater. Through snow, ice, violence and lies, Riley Fisher is drawn towards a terrifying revelation.

Erin Young follows up her acclaimed crime debut, The Fields, which has drawn comparisons with Mare of Easttown, Silence of the Lambs and True Detective, with another stunning thriller full of dark menace and suspense.”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Original Sins by Erin Young. Original Sins is the second book in the Riley Fisher series and is published by Hodder & Stoughton today (that’s Thursday 7th March 2024) in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow in the Summer. I chose to read a free eARC of Original Sins but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Kate at Hodder & Stoughton for sending me a digital copy.

Since The Fields, the first book in the Riley Fisher series, a lot has changed for our lead protagonist. She’s still as strong, determined and out for justice as ever. She still has a hell of a lot on her plate. But Riley has left the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and moved to the big city. Having undergone rigorous training, Riley is now a Rookie FBI Agent based in Des Moines, the last place any new agent wants to be stationed. But it’s close enough – and far away enough – from her difficult family to just about work. But there’s no time for worrying about her family when there’s a serial attacker at large. Someone is terrorising the women of Des Moines, brutally attacking them and leaving them close to death’s door. The Press call him the Sin Eater and if Riley’s colleagues are correct, he’s been destroying the lives of local women for many years. Stuck with a colleague she doesn’t trust and tasked to ensure the safety of the Governor on top of everything else, can Riley put an end to the Sin Eater’s reign of terror…

Original Sins is a highly compelling, tense, literary crime thriller full of atmosphere and intrigue. Riley is back with a vengeance and I loved every minute I spent with this multi-layered character. But life has changed for Riley. Before, she was stuck in the small town where she grew up. I won’t say investigating small-town crimes because if you’ve read The Fields you’ll know that what plays out cannot be described as small-town in any way, shape or form! But her family, with all of their flaws and their relentless demands, were a stone’s throw away, sapping Riley’s energy. Piling on the pressure, distracting her in the middle of a case and adding to her worries. That’s not so much the case in this latest book. I loved how Riley’s attitude towards her family had changed. I felt she had come to terms with putting herself first. That it was okay to focus on herself and her career and leave her hopeless adult brother to make his own decisions. She didn’t seem to carry the burden of being the only responsible adult anymore. I liked the change in her.

Riley’s move to the FBI has clearly not been an easy one. The reader is given a glimpse into the training she’s undertaken in the last two years since we left Riley in book one. It sounds intense, to say the least! But she’s made it through and requested one of the least attractive field offices for her posting – Des Moines, Iowa. Partnered with an experienced agent, she is instructed to provide a security detail to the first female Governor of Iowa. But Riley is quickly pushed aside and told by her new partner that he works alone. However, similarities between the threat received by the Governor and the Sin Eater case cannot be ignored.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Original Sins is a superb thriller. Full of menace, anger and malevolence. The threat builds as the story unfolds revealing the dark, shocking reason behind the horrific attacks. The author has done a masterful job delivering the next instalment in Riley’s tale, building on the characters we got to know in the first book and lifting the bar even higher. I loved the setting, I could feel the chill in the air as the weather worsened, adding to the overall feel of mounting pressure. I thought the characters were superb. I’ve only really mentioned Riley but alongside her is a well-drawn cast of supporting characters. Riley’s niece, now two years older but still closer to her aunt than she is to her wayward father. Detective Julius ‘Fogg’ Verne of the DCI who I hope we get to see again in future books. Agent Peter Altman who is partnered with Riley to protect the Governor. But he’s having none of that! Noah Case, a young FBI agent and the only one in the Des Moines field office who seems to be on Riley’s side. All in all, Original Sins is a tense, thrilling, dark read with lots of beautifully penned suspense and lashings of well-written intrigue. I thoroughly enjoyed Young’s writing style, her characters and the way she tells a story. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Original Sins. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Original Sins by Erin Young was published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton on 7th March 2024 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

THE FIELDS was Erin’s debut crime thriller, featuring Sergeant Riley Fisher of Black Hawk County, in the first of a planned series.

THE FIELDS has been published in North America and Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Taiwan.

On publication in 2022, THE FIELDS was a Glamour book of the year, a Times thriller of the month, an Amazon USA pick of the month, and was shortlisted for hardcover of the year at the ITW thriller awards.

Erin was named in Oprah Daily as one of the best emerging female thriller writers of the year. THE FIELDS is in development for TV by the producers of Big Little Lies and City on a Hill.

Erin lives and writes in Brighton, England. She also writes historical fiction as Robyn Young.