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.
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The Hiding Place by Helen Phifer Also by this author: Last Light, One Left Alive, The Killer's Girl , First Girl to Die
Series: Detective Morgan Brookes #3
Also in this series: One Left Alive, The Killer's Girl , First Girl to Die, Find the Girl
Published by Bookouture on 1st June 2021
Genres: Crime, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 289
Format: eARC
Source: from Netgalley
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle
The little girl peered down the dark alleyway. She knew she wasn’t supposed to take this shortcut and her mother would kill her if she found out, but it was raining and all she wanted was to get home quickly. She stepped forward, not seeing the silent figure following her into the dark passageway…
When nine-year-old Charlotte Standish goes missing from her street in the small town of Rydale Falls, it sparks a media frenzy. Detective Morgan Brookes leads a frantic hunt for the girl, but little Charlie seems to have vanished into thin air.
Chasing up a lead at Charlie’s school, Morgan is chilled to learn that this isn’t the first time a child has gone missing on this street. Another girl disappeared fifteen years ago, and Morgan is the only one who thinks the cases could be related. But in the moment that she takes her eye off Charlie’s case to investigate the link between the two girls, another child, Macy, goes missing.
Then Morgan gets the call she was dreading, Charlie’s lifeless body has been found in a local park, lying in the shadow of a large tree. Morgan has let one girl down, but she refuses to give up on Macy. Determined to find an overlooked clue, she retraces Macy’s last steps. She’s getting close to the truth when her partner, Detective Ben Matthews, is attacked outside Morgan’s home. Is a twisted killer isolating Morgan from her team? And how long does Macy have left to live? Morgan must solve the case before more innocent lives are taken…
A nail-biting, unputdownable crime thriller that will keep you up all night, for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Patricia Gibney.
Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley and for letting me take part in this tour. I LOVE Morgan Brookes so I was interested to see what scrapes she got herself into this time.
Morgan Brookes is still a relatively new detective but she’s already been through quite a lot. This is her third big case within a year. She’s not afraid to break the rules or put herself in danger if it means getting a result. She has good gut instincts but she tends to get herself in a lot of danger. I really like Morgan. She is one of those people that will always have your back and go to the ends of the earth to protect people.
Helen did a really good job of showing how the officers feel about the case, the toll it takes when children are missing. Missing children is something that always evokes strong emotions. Children are so innocent and you immediately want to protect them.
My favourite character by far is still Amy. You didn’t see as much of her as in the previous books but she has all the sass with the right work ethic. I’d love for her to be my friend.
The book had a few POVs which I really liked. It was good to see things from the other side and not just the detectives. It really adds to the suspense and the creepiness of the story.
Helen’s writing style is very easy to read. I read this in two big sittings as I just did not want to put it down. It’s very fast paced. I thought oh I’ll just read a few chapters and before I knew it I was over halfway through the book.
The last chapter has left a nice little clue about what the next book could be about and I can’t wait to read it.
About Helen Phifer
Helen Phifer lives in a small town called Barrow-in-Furness with her husband and five children.
Helen has always loved writing and reading. Her love of horror films and novels is legendary. Helen adores reading books which make the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Unable to find enough scary stories to read she decided to write her own.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
@helenphifer1 Thank you!