Author: Patricia Gibney
Narrator: Michele Moran
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: March 2017
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.
The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. I wonder which one of us will be next?
When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how?
The trail leads Lottie to St. Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.
As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger?
Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice.
My Thoughts: First time reading this author and I feel like I’ve been tossed out of a window from a very tall building. There were so many twists and turns coming at me from every direction. The main character, Lottie Parker is a multi-layered character that even after reading this book and seeing what she has gone through in her life, it feels like we have barely scraped the surface, so this series should be read in order.
I really liked this character and empathized with the burden she is carrying and the challenges she is facing. I love that the author depicts this character carrying an immense amount of emotional baggage and struggles with guilt over her job taking her time and attention away from her kids. She also struggles with sobriety, and after witnessing what she is going through and the horrors of the job, who can blame her? I would be grabbing a bottle and joining her.
This story is very triggering, so prepare yourself as this book is filled with horrific episodes of murder, abuse and torture of children and the coverup by corrupt church officials. I paired the audiobook format with the book and it helped me maintain a bystander’s perspective of the events, though it was very dark and disturbing.
I enjoyed the interactions between Lottie and Boyd and hope the reader will be given more detail into their relationship. It’s obvious they care for one another but Lottie keeps him at arm’s reach, likely because of her status as a widow. I also enjoyed meeting Lottie’s children and her mother and hope they will continue to be present in future books.
My Final Verdict: The series is currently sitting at fifteen books so there is a lot to unpack. I highly recommend this book to readers who love thrillers and mysteries.
Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.
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