Meh. Felt like I was reading two different books that they tried to mash together. Interesting to focus on the grieving mother and not so much on the suspected murderer. Not sure it worked.

Thankyou to net galley and the publishers Midnight Ink for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a very middle of the road crime novel. The plot kept me reading, but it is a book that I will have forgotten about by this time next week.

There were a few things that stopped me really enjoying the book.

It seemed that the author tried to make the book all things.
At one point McIntyre notices the out of date pc's in the office "the police force, of all places, needed the most up to date equipment, but budgetary restraints had hit them hard over the past couple of years" This could have been explored further and with more nuance, but instead it is a comment thrown into the mix and left there.

The murderer is somehow presented as an intelligent, sex crazed, sociopath, who has managed to evade police capture for over a year, yet the crime she commits is so inexplicable the two sides to her character don't marry. This is ignoring the fact that the murder of a child would have been so quickly passed over by the police.

The women in the book could have been really interesting, and questions of motherhood, sexuality and career aspirations intertwined with the story, instead they are incredibly one dimensional.

The characters also behave in suddenly odd ways that don't fit with his or her previous actions in a way that is clearly only to move the plot along. Chapter 18 for example really had me scratching my head.

It would have been nice for the woods of the title to have featured prominently in the book as well.

I loved the characters in this one. They were rich and intricately drawn. I didn't think the logic of sequence was there at the end. It felt that in order for a big twist, facts were invented to help the twist rather than make for a tight story.

Very good mystery novel with likable characters and an intriguing plot line. I especially liked the characters of McIntyre and Iris. Iris is on a search to find her young daughters kidnapper/killer and DI McIntyre heads up the search. The relationship that develops between the two of them is interesting. I liked the way DI McIntyre's ex Allison was brought into the plot with a twist because of her relationship with another character Madeline. Their were a number of twists and turns that lead for enjoyable interesting reading.

Really enjoyed this book, it kept me interested the whole way through, I just wanted to keep reading rather than put it down. It was very well written, the story line was great and I liked the characters. A really good read.

Unusual and interesting characters,unexpected twists in the story line with a hint of a happy ending.

Penhale Wood

A grieving mother seeks help in finding the nanny who killed her youngest daughter and disappeared. The police investigation a year earlier had been unable to locate Karen Peterson, but Iris is determined to find the woman who killed three-year-old Sophie and pleads with Rob McIntyre to reopen the case.

McIntyre has his own demons and does not believe that he would do any better now in finding Karen Peterson that during the original investigation a year earlier. He agrees, reluctantly, to examine the case again, and the two discover a few more faint leads.

A number of too neat coincidences, but an entertaining mystery. I liked Thomas' The English Boys better, but Penhale Wood kept me engaged throughout.

Read in February; blog review scheduled for June 9, 2017.

NetGalley/Midnight Ink

Mystery/Suspense. July 8, 2017.

I did not finish this book. I could not engage with the story or the characters.

Penhale Wood was a solid middle of the road thriller. I was not blown away, but I was not struggling too much to get through it. The characters were all just a bit too blurry around the edges, the plot a little too predictable at times. Not terrible, as I said. A worthy airplane read, or a lounging on the beach book.

Great book! Looking forward to reading more by this author. Highly recommend!

Chilling! Every parent's worst nightmare has come true for Iris Flynn, Someone she trusted with her child's life, snuffed it out, and months later, the police are not even close to an arrest. Iris leaves her remaining two daughters in the care of her sister and sets out to help the police find her daughter's killer.

Hello! Just so you know, I WILL post a lengthy review on my Goodreads page (this is where I post all my detailed reviews on every book I read) some time during the upcoming months. When I do, I will update my review here as well. But, until then, I thought I could give you a general idea about the things I liked while reading this book.

I was extremely interested in reading this story, so thank you so much for allowing me to read it. I found it deeply original, alluring, interesting and thought-provoking and the characters were really well-developed. The plot twists weren't predictable at all and I was happy that I couldn't guess what was going on, until some revelations came. Also, some hidden life lessons were highly appreciated. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars and I'm deeply interested in reading more books by this amazing author!

I give this book three and a half stars. While it was well written with intriguing characters i found myself waiting for more to happen, for there to be a twist or something. One of the main aspects of the story i was interested in discovering wasn't explained at all which was frustrating after investing in the characters and their journey.

Police detective Rob McIntyre has journeyed from Cornwall to London to celebrate Christmas with his brother, but he’s not feeling the holiday spirit as he’s mourning the end of the marriage. He’s shocked when he answers a knock at the door only to find the mother of a murdered child on whose case he’d been lead detective. The family’s nanny disappeared with the child a year earlier, shortly after, the child’s body was found, but the nanny, Karen Peterson has never been caught. Now, the mother, Iris, has come to ask him help her solve the case and bring the killer to justice. Rob was a difficult character to warm up to, he seemed much more interested in wallowing in his broken marriage than helping Iris, at least initially. All in all, this is a well written British police procedural, even if the characters seemed a bit lacking in emotion