Title:The Lost Child
Author:Patricia Gibney
Series:Detective Lottie Parker, #3
Published:October 2017, Bookouture
Format:ARC E-copy, 483 pages
Source:Netgalley via Publisher
They placed me in
here and threw away the key. I look down at the gown they’ve put on me. I
want my own clothes. I don’t know how long I’ve been here.An elderly woman is found murdered in her own home, and Detective Lottie Parker and her partner Detective Boyd are called in to investigate. When they discover that the victim’s daughter is missing as well, they start to fear for the safety of the whole family…
Two days later as a nearby house is set on fire and with the body count rising, Lottie and her team begin to unpick a web of secrets and lies, as the murders seem to link back to a case investigated by Lottie’s father before he took his own life.
With
little knowledge of what really happened to her father, Lottie knows
this is a case that could give her some answers. But how much does she
want to know? And how far is Lottie prepared to dig to uncover the
truth?The Lost Child is a thrilling page-turner from the bestselling author of The Missing Ones and The Stolen Girls that will have you guessing right to the very last page. Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Angela Marsons and Robert Dugoni.
My thoughts:This is the third book in Patricia Gibney’s Detective Lottie Parker series and this series just keeps getting better and better. This series is one dark, crazy crime thriller series that just pulls you in right from the start and doesn’t let you until the very end!
I devoured this book and let me tell you, at close to 500 pages, that’s quite a feat! This one is intense – between the dark story line and the fact that right away you know things aren’t quite right with Lottie when you find out she’s been drinking again! And the way the story just goes, goes, goes, never once letting up – you feel yourself holding you breath at times – it’s that intense and non-stop.
I found the intro’s to the chapters, those written in the “child’s” voice to be utterly creepy and eery. That just sets the tone for the book. You are desperate to know who this child is and how it connects to the case – for if you know anything about Patricia Gibney and her books, you know that it does! And then there are the gruesome murders that Lottie and her team are called to investigate…and as the body count rises, it becomes clear that something quite sinister is going on, but is there more at play here than meets the eye?
On the side, Lottie is continuing to investigate the death of her father some forty years ago. She is like a dog with a bone and despite her mother begging her to let it go, she is determined to find out what really happened. Is she about to uncover something that is best left untouched?
The twists and turns that this book takes are enough to keep you glued to the pages, desperate to see how it all comes together in the end. And the character development in this book is excellent! There are quite a few developments and yet, while some are resolved, some are left open, having us wonder just where things will go in the next book.
This series is so good, so intense, and I love how once again the weather plays a role in the book – this time is was the pounding rain! It just adds another dimension to an already tense, dark book. I cannot wait to see what’s next for Lottie and the gang – though I do hope she has her drinking under control.
Books in this series:
- The Missing Ones
- The Stolen Girls
- The Lost Child
