I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Crying Girls by Wendy Dranfield Also by this author: Shadow Falls, Cry for Help, Little Girl Taken, The Birthday Party
Series: Detective Madison Harper #8
Also in this series: Shadow Falls, Cry for Help, Little Girl Taken, Gone to Her Grave
Published by Bookouture on 7th October 2024
Genres: Crime, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 396
Format: eARC
Source: from Netgalley
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Dawn breaks over the mountains. Not a single part of the girl’s once-beautiful body is free from pain. She prays she’ll slip into a blissful unconsciousness, but the sound of an engine rouses her. Her swollen eyes struggle to focus as she raises a bruised arm and waves from the long grass. A decision that will cost her much more than her innocent little life…
With her partner missing, Detective Madison Harper has her work cut out for her juggling the discovery of a body in the murky shallows of Lost Creek and a distraught mother searching for her missing baby boy. She barely has time to eat or sleep. But someone in this small town has lost a loved one, and a child’s life could be in danger. Madison’s sense of duty drives her on, poring over cold case files and interviewing inhabitants of the trailer park near where the headless body was found.
Without a face to identify, or teeth to match to dental records, the decapitated victim is almost impossible to name. Then the postmortem reveals a single red rose stem forced down his throat. What monster would do such a thing? What message were they trying to send? It feels like a dead end until Madison returns home to find the photo of a distressed-looking girl on her windshield. Written on the back is a message that grips her with ice-cold fear: Sofia. Day 1.
Now hunting for a missing child, a murderer and a missing girl, Madison is pushed to her limit. As terror chokes the close-knit community, she vows that no more innocent lives will be lost on her watch. But as these cases connect, and she comes face to face with the twisted individual at the heart of it all, will there be anyone left to save?
Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley. This is the 8th book in the series but could be read as a standalone.
This case was equally disturbing and fascinating. I was drawn in from the very first line. Wendy knows exactly how to make you invested in a story from the very beginning. The Prologue was so intriguing that I just had to keep reading.
This book was fast paced and never let up. There were many threads in this book that all seemed unrelated which meant we were jumping from one element to the next with barely a breath. It was exciting and thrilling.
Maddison has been through the mill in he roast and things are still far from rosy now. She is resilient, determined and brave. She is also very caring. If I had a case Maddison would be one of the top detectives that I would like to solve my case as she refuses to give up even when all the odds are stacked against her.
As well as the case we get an update on the characters lives which I love. It makes the characters much more rounded rather than robot detectives. Wendy deals with some tricky subjects with these characters but they are handled very delicately.
Another excellent addition to the series and perfect for lovers of police procedurals and psychological thrillers.
About Wendy Dranfield
Wendy is a former coroner’s assistant turned crime writer who lives in the UK with her husband and 3 cats.
As well as her two crime series and the YA crime novel – The Girl Who Died – Wendy has several short stories published in UK and US anthologies. She has also been shortlisted and longlisted for various competitions, including the Mslexia Novel Competition
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2024 Goodreads Challenge
- 2024 Netgalley Challenge
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