A good police procedural by Jennifer Chase. The book had me stuck to it literally all through the day in between my chores. The story was pretty much formulaic.
Little girls kidnapped and were never to be found. Till Katie was appointed. Katie as a war veteran and a cop was shown in a brilliant light. The entire book was from her POV. She was good in her work, she followed the clues diligently. She had great cop instincts, and she never gave up. All that made me admire her throughout the book. She managed to get to the graves of two kids. From that point on, investigation rolled on based on coroner’s report and the forensics.
The story and the writing was solid. It was swift paced and at no point, did I feel my concentration lagging. My niggles did buzz into my ear at times. Katie was told to be brilliant by everyone, even people who hardly knew her. Apparently, she had the gift. More characterization of Katie and detailed backstory and better reasons given by the killer would have uplifted the story for me.
Overall, a great read. Had fun trying to follow the clues. And yes, I was wrong about the identity of the killer. Eager to read book 2 by this author as I would like to know where Katie’s goes from here.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Bookouture, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!!
All my reviews can be read here
An eight-year-old girl, Chelsea Compton, is missing in Pine Valley, California and for Detective Katie Scott it’s a cruel reminder of the friend who disappeared from summer camp twenty years ago. Unable to shake the memories, Katie vows she won’t rest until she discovers what happened to Chelsea.
But as Katie starts to investigate, accompanied by her loyal ex-military dog, Cisco, the case reveals itself to be much bigger and more shocking than she feared. Hidden deep in the forest she unearths a makeshift cemetery: a row of graves, each with a brightly coloured teddy bear.
Katie links the graves to a stack of missing-persons cases involving young girls—finding a pattern no one else has managed to see. Someone in Pine Valley has been taking the town’s daughters for years, and Katie is the only one who can stop them.
And then another little girl goes missing, snatched from the park near her home.
Katie’ll do anything to stop the killer striking again—but can she find the little girl before it’s too late?
Publication Date: 31st May 2019
Publisher: Bookouture
25 Responses
Sounds thrilling! Great review, Shalini!
Thank you Yesha
Your review is great, and I think I would really like Katie. I need your opinion, however, before I decide to request it. If you put this book on the scales, would it be more of a police procedural or a thriller?
Police procedural, an okay read. Katie has great instincts, she is solid, but since this is a debut, the author too needs to be a bit more confident to explore and write more layers to the story. So it was a good read.
Thanks, I am going to request it.
I adore your reviews and am in awe!
Really????? I was blocked for this review. Just wanted to say good book… I had to force my brain to expand on it
WHAT???? What did you say that could possibly cause it to be blocked? I am a pretty conservative, straight arrow gal and your review made me want to read it. Crazy!
I love when a book is able to surprise me when I think I have everything figured out. Great review!
Thank you so much. I love the surprise shocker
I am always looking for a good police procedural, I seldom find one.
Carol Wyer writes good police procedural. This was also good
I will watch for her.
Lovely review Shalini ! It’s on my list
Thank you so much
I prefer to see the MC be brilliant than be told! Brilliant review x
Exactly… When unknown people said that, I kept wondering – how did they know?
I missed out on this ARC. Read some reviews and they weren’t so positive especially in describing Katie’s character, especially about the brilliance thing you mentioned. However, I wish I had read the book because it’s a debut and might get better plus I love that you couldn’t guess the baddies identity. Great review!
It was a fun read. I read those reviews too and I kept wondering if I have read the same book as them
This one is on sale at Amazon, so after reading Linda’s review, now yours, I am definitely getting this one. Great review Shalini. It sounds like one I will love.
It was a fun read. I hope you love it too