Well let me introduce you to Detectives Lucy Harwin and Mattie Jackson, the dynamic duo in this gripping thriller.
Lucy has been on unwanted but forced leave for three months after her most recent case left its mark. On her first day back on duty the duo are called out to the Moore house after the body of an elderly gent is found. Moore house is the towns old asylum building which was closed and left to fall to wrack and ruin due to a scandal.
Whilst working this all consuming case Lucy is trying to negotiate the pitfalls of family life after her husband walked out on her for another woman, she has a teenage daughter Ellie with emotional issues as well as an attitude that makes you just long to shake her.
We get snippets of information in the manner of flashbacks as to the whys, wherefores and wotsits about the killer. The diabolical way the ‘Lost children’ were treated.
All I can really say is buckle up and get ready for the roller coaster ride called The Lost Children.

Read for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture

What goes around comes around. Sometimes it just takes a little longer than it should.

The Moore house once was a thriving asylum, filled with people who were not supposed to be part of society. In the end only ward number 13, the children's ward, remained. The Moore was a horrific place where lobotomies were given on a regular basis. The nurses were cruel and harsh, which made the children long for the day their parents would come back for them, but what if no one would ever come to pick them up? What kind of person will they become when all they've ever known is hate?

Lucy Harwin was forced to take time off when a case she was working on ended with a brutal murder. She needs to accept that what happened isn't her fault. She did everything she could, but it wasn't enough. On her first day back a body is found in the asylum that has been closed off for a long time. The dead body is mutilated in a way that is typical for the horrific lobotomies that they'd executed there in the past. A race against the clock begins and Lucy wants nothing more than to catch this killer. Will she be able to discover the person who's behind this on time? What if the killer might be closer than she thinks?

The children of The Moore were labeled as insane, while some of them just couldn't read or write. Most of these children should have stayed at home with their parents, but instead of helping their child the parents sent them off to an asylum, away from society. Most of the parents never looked back. Being a mother myself my heart broke when I read about these young kids who had no one to look out for them, nobody who loved them. This made me tear up more than once. I can't believe that someone would leave their child in such a bad place when things get a little rough. While I was reading I just wanted to hug the children and let them know that everything would be alright.

Lucy has been through a difficult time. Her husband left her, her daughter has chosen to live with her father and her boss forces her to attend therapy sessions. Lucy is a workaholic, she's a well respected officer and she'll work all hours if she has to and will do anything to catch a killer. Lucy doesn't have the best relationship with her daughter, but she's trying hard to get close to her again. Her daughter is a typical teenager, they don't always see eye to eye and this causes a lot of issues. I liked the fact that Lucy never gives up on her daughter, she loves her very much and she's doing everything she can to fix their bond. Lucy is smart and easily sees connections and patterns in the information she receives. She's a person every criminal would fear and I admired that about her.

The Lost Children is a gripping and dark story about how children can be changed through hate. I believe every person is born good and that it's the circumstances that form a person when they grow up. This made The Lost Children so much more intense for me. I loved how Helen Phifer goes back and forth between the asylum, to when it was still open, and the present day. While reading I think my heart actually skipped a beat a few times. The Lost Children has a lot of interesting twists and turns that made me want to keep reading. This was my first book by Helen Phifer, but one book was all it took to lure me in hook, line and sinker.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to have read this great book.   In this book we meet detectives Hardin and Jackson that has to deal with a crime scene at an old asylum.  While dealing with the investigation, Lucy has to cope with her daughter’s moods and issues.  This was a great read and really worth the effort!

A throughly enjoyed read. I just couldn't put this book down. Thank you for allowing me to read this

An absolutely gripping read. Really enjoyed reading this title and look forward to more in the series.

Thanks for the advanced copy

Unfortunately for some reason I struggled with this book I had such high hopes for it but there again it well may have been due to my frame of mind whilst reading it.

The Moore Asylum closed many years ago, but not before it abused countless children who disappeared without trace, Now it is to be sold but when the estate agent and a prospective buyer find a dead body strapped to a gurney it stops the sale in its tracks.

Lucy Harwin, recovering from a nasty case, is thrown in at the deep end especially as another death follows close on the first and they are both connected to The Moore.

This book captures the attention from the start. The setting of The Moore is suitably chilling and the events that occurred there, told in flashback are heartbreaking- it makes it difficult to have a lot of sympathy for the two murder victims! Things escalate rapidly and I was constantly guessing who was behind these gruesome murders.

Luck Harwin is an engaging character, as is Mattie, her friend and police sidekick. It felt as if these were characters who were already comfortably settled into a series of stories. I can't wait for the next in the series. This was a definite five star read and thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for introducing me to this author.

I dont give out many 5 stars but I would have given this one 6 if possible. I am very thankful this is a series because I love Lucy Harwin.

I ended up listening to this book on audio. I LOVED the performance. I found the title didn't quite match up with the content of the book. I also would have loved more of a background of what the children went through at the mall. I felt like it was lacking some of the backbone to the story. However, I really enjoyed the side stories with the characters. It was a fast paced book with high tension.

This is a wonderful book by the fantastically talented Helen Phifer. I was hooked from the first page, the eeriness drew me in from the start and I was unable to tear myself away. Having read and loved Helen's previous offerings, I was keen to get my hands on The Lost Children. It did not disappoint. I recommend this to anyone interested in a good creepy thriller. It will have you transfixed.

A really strong series debut which has laid a solid foundation for the second book featuring DI Lucy Harwin. I'm excited for book two! Lucy is the perfect blend of vulnerability and independence. Her private life is a bit of a shambles - she's divorced, estranged from her teenage daughter and is rather too fond of wine. Her only real focus is her work and relying on good old-fashioned instinct.

The chemistry between herself and her partner Mattie is great and I can't wait to see how their relationship develops. Hopefully we will also learn a bit more about her previous operation that has left her so traumatised she was forced into taking a break from work. (I actually had to double check that I hadn't missed a previous book - I need to know more please!)

The plot is chilling. Actually, I'd goes as far as saying it's horrifying in places, especially knowing that these practices happened all too often. Ridiculously fast-paced, you won't want to put it down!

There are a lot of authors at the moment whose main character in a series is a strong, independent woman with skeletons in their closet and it runs the risk of coming across as repetitive/predictable but Helen Phifer has done a great job of creating a brilliant individual character that I want to follow.

Thanks once again to Bookouture for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow Wow Wow seriously in love with The Lost Children, Helen Phifer has had the ability to do what others have failed at, get me to give a five-star rating to a detective novel.
From the moment I picked up this story, I was transfixed.
There was no pussyfooting around with this it was BAM!!! straight into the fire & then the sparks were seriously burning & fizzling & popping The Lost Children was none stop action from start to finish and I adored it.
We start our story with the Estate Agent showing a prospective buyer around the Asylum, an old abandoned hospital that was home to many forgotten children that had basically been left there by their parents to rot, so awful and sad.
Upon stumbling across a body the shocked pair call in the local police.
Detective Lucy Harwin, just back from a suspension over a previous case is called into investigate this case. Lucy & her partner Mattie are now on the job and to solve this murder they must dig into the past, but as the bodies start piling up the sand in the hourglass is running out.
This is the first book of what I assume will be a series and it has me hooked.
What I especially loved was the human nature of our main character's, I adored looking through the window at their everyday trials and tribulations, In my opinion, it made them more relatable more solid.
I liked how everything was interwoven so nicely and how the language used was so easy to follow and not overdone.
Lucy and Mattie were adorable and I can definitely see the seeds of mutual friendship blossoming into something more with these two besties.
The flashbacks to the asylum where incredibly poignant, but were integral to the story, in short, This was such a page turner and a brilliant beginning to what I am confident will be a compelling new series. A job well done in my opinion.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free E-Copy of The Lost Children By Helen Phifer this is my own honest opinion after reading.

If you loved Helen Phifer's previous series you will love this one too. It had the same gripping suspense the author produced in the Annie Graham series. No ghosts this time, but eerie events from the past come to effect the horrors that Detective Lucy Hardin now must encounter. Full of twists and turns. Plenty of action and intrigue to keep you on the edge of your seat unable to put the book down.
I look forward to reading the next instalment in the Detective Lucy Hardin series. I throughly enjoyed the previous series by Helen Phifer and this series looks as if it's going to be just as good if not better!

great read and easy to follow story line. look forward to reading more from this author.

Pleasantly surprised with The Lost Children even though the novel was fairly predictable.

The novel revolves around the Moore Asylum. Back in the early 70's the asylum housed a lot of children who were "different" and used experimental treatments on them. In present day, the asylum has since been closed, but a man is found to be gruesomely murdered inside. The novel flips between the present day and the account of Lizzie, one of the child patients from 1975.

First of all, this novel isn't for the faint-hearted. The murder is pretty gruesome and even though I'm normally not too affected by gory novels, I was squeamish when the medical examiner was describing what had happened and how it was related to the asylum.

I found that it was pretty easy to guess what was going to happen and how the past and the present fit together. The novel was more about how is Detective Lucy going to figure it out and save the day.

I liked Lucy and her partner Mattie, however it was kind of weird how everyone wanted them to get together. They are police partners after all. I could of done without all the romance throughout.

I will be looking out for any future novels in this series!

Wow!! A fantastic start to a new police procedural series. Not only do you get so involved with the case Lucy and Mattie are investigating you also grow to love their character and family life. This is the first book by Helen I have read but will certainly not be the last. I would highly recommend this book for all thriller,mystery and police procedural fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars.

This is a great book. It was very interesting. Detective Lucy is quite a quirky character and I found myself laughing at some of her antics.

This book had a good story line. Some of the descriptions were rather gory. That is my favourite kind of book though. I would have awarded it more stars, but just felt that the ending was a bit abrupt. I read a lot of these kind of books, so maybe I am just used to all the drama. Other than this though, it was a good read and I would most definitely recommend this book.

I hope there will be many more books in the series.

This is my third or fourth Bookouture book and I can't wait to read more.

The present time of this book follows DI Lucy Harwin and her partner Mattie, while they investigate the murder of a 70-something year old man inside an old, shut down asylum.

The flashbacks take place in 1975, on Ward 13 of "the hospital", which is the children's ward of the asylum. In particular, you learn about Alice, Lizzy and Tommy.

I always enjoy books that bring past and present together, and this book does it well. It's not as twisty, turny as I'd like, but it still moves along at a fast pace and I was interested the whole time.

As I neared the end, I was sort of bummed at first that the author revealed "whodunit" so soon, however, it worked out well, as I was still on the edge of my seat (er, bed) dying to see what was going to happen.

Thank you netgalley, bookouture and Helen Phifer for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lizzy pulled the covers over her head. Then she realised what was being dragged behind the person with the torch. She rammed her fist into her mouth to stop herself from screaming…

For decades, The Moore Asylum was home to the forgotten children of Brooklyn Bay. But ever since a scandal forced its closure, the abandoned building has cast an imposing shadow. Until now – when an elderly man is found dead, his body strapped to a gurney...

Detective Lucy Harwin, still reeling from a previous case that ended in the devastating murder of a mother and her child, finds herself on the trail of a killer ruthlessly fixated on avenging wrongs.

What disturbing secrets lie within the asylum’s walls? Together with her partner Detective Mattie Jackson, Lucy begins to unearth its terrible history, and the horrors endured by the vulnerable children.

As the attacks escalate and a woman is murdered on her own doorstep, Lucy is forced into a terrifying game of cat and mouse with a twisted individual. But can Lucy stop a murderer with nothing left to lose?

An absolutely terrifying and gripping thriller that will chill readers of MJ Arlidge, Angela Marsons and Rachel Abbott to the bone.

Published by: Bookouture (21 March 2017)

ISBN: 978-1786811752

My rating: 5*

My review:
There are a lot of fantastic female crime writers around at the moment, and Helen Phifer proves she is no exception with this compelling introduction to Detective Lucy Harwin, who I absolutely LOVED from the outset! With her bright red hair, no-nonsense attitude and tattoos, I get the feeling we'd get on like a house on fire! I really like the way we get glimpses of her personal life and past as well as her work life. The same goes for her sergeant, Mattie Jackson. Lucy's personality shines through, and her relationship with Mattie, is brilliantly written. Their are comical moments that are a welcome relief among the chilling terror of the case they are working on. As for Lucy and Mattie...I think they are my new favourite police twosome.

The case itself is horrific and told both in the present time and from the perspective of a child in the asylum in 1975. It is completely gripping and I simply couldn't put it down. There are lots of twists and turns, it felt like I was on a rollercoaster! I was utterly mesmerised by the plot and the amazing attention to detail. I can't wait to read the next book in the series and find out what is in store next for Lucy and Mattie.


Buy The Lost Children:

UK: http://amzn.to/2moFflc
US: http://amzn.to/2m6VFOH

About Helen Phifer

Helen Phifer’s love of reading began with Enid Blyton, before progressing on to Laura Ingals Wilder and scaring herself with Steven King. If she can’t write for any particular reason she finds herself getting itchy fingers and really irritable. She loves reading as much as writing and is also very fond of chocolate, Prosecco, The Lake District, New York, white Zinfandel wine, my children and grandchildren, my friends, porn star martini cocktails, Stephen King, watching scary films, Marilyn Monroe, Melissa McCarthy, Idris Elba, Simon Baker, Spandau Ballet, The Munsters and coffee. In no particular order.

An exciting thriller with an interesting pairing of detectives in Lucy Harwin and Mattie Jackson, set in the fictional coastal town of Brooklyn Bay, and dealing with the consequences of historic treatment of child patients in the local psychiatric asylum. It's an interesting angle and well handled. There are twists, surprises, threats and dire danger, making for compulsive, gripping reading.