"Masterfully draws us into a twisting, sordid tale" - review of NOTES ON A DROWING

NOTES ON A DROWNING by Anna Sharpe (Orion, 2025)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Alex knows she risks getting fired from her law firm if she takes on another unpaid case, but when she hears Rosa's desperate voice at the other end of the phone, she knows she has to the body of Rosa's shy teenage sister, Natalia, has been dragged, lifeless, from the Thames. Alex can't help but think of her own missing little sister. She knows how a lack of answers can eat you alive.

Kat has worked hard to become Special Adviser to the Home Secretary, and is eager to finally put the dark and tragic part of her past behind her. But when she discovers a series of cover-ups, she begins to wonder whether her seemingly perfect new boss could be involved. Then she she's shocked to discover a letter that raises worrying questions about a girl found drowned in London... Natalia.

There are complex and painful reasons for Alex and Kat not to work together, but when it becomes clear that there are powerful people involved in Natalia's death, and that other girls are at risk, Alex and Kat must overcome their differences to find answers. Will they save the girls and discover the truth? Or will the high-powered players in this game stop Alex and Kat for good? 

Readers looking for a superb thriller that offers characters that’ll make you care and a propulsive narrative threaded with some very disturbing real-life issues should rush to read Notes on a Drowning, the first contemporary tale from British lawyer and author Anna Sharpe, who’s previously written several excellent historical crime and Gothic novels as Anna Mazzola.

In Notes on a Drowning, ‘Sharpe’ masterfully draws us into a twisting, sordid tale of legal intrigue, power and corruption. Already starting to fray due to workplace and personal pressures, determined lawyer Alex is roped into more pro bono work – the bane of her boss’s life, who is trying to keep the firm afloat and needs fee-paying clients. It seems a simple if frustrating request from a pal: could Anna act for the family at an inquest into the drowning in London’s famed Thames River of Natalia, a teenage immigrant from Moldova. A tragic accident fuelled by partying, alcohol and drugs, say the police and others. But resolution isn’t so simple for Natalia’s family, and soon enough the facts and official story don’t add up for Alex, either. Or is she just projecting the trauma and suspicions raised by her own younger sister’s disappearance in Japan, many years ago? A mystery still unsolved.

Past and present collide when Kat, an ambitious special advisor to the British Home Secretary who is trying to forget her own history, becomes involved after stumbling across documents with troubling information that contradicts what she’s been told. But can Alex and Kat trust each other, let alone dig into the truth behind Natalia’s drowning, when many powerful people want the case closed.

While ‘Anna Sharpe’ may be a new name to crime readers, the author has already proven herself a strong storyteller with several terrific historical and Gothic tales, and Notes on a Drowning may take her to an even higher level. It’s an excellent modern-day thriller powered by taut storytelling, several fascinating characters, lots of intrigue, fears, and tough issues. A cracking, if disturbing, tale.

[This review was first written for Deadly Pleasures magazine in the United States]

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.