I really enjoyed the book. Loved the story plot and twists. Approachable characters, realistic situations. Some descriptions or story „fillers” were tiny bit too long, but in overall - very good book and I’d read more by the author. Thank you, great job!

So, all right. Finally, I am here to write about this book.

I had requested this book from Netgalley and Bookouture when I was fascinated by Robert Bryndza and Angela Marsons books. I used to live and breathe thrillers and I still do but much less than in that period of my life.

And I guess I had to stop reading crime thrillers for some time has made me sort of fall into a loveless relationship with this book.

I heard a lot of praise for The Lost Child by Patricia Gibney and I asked for this book in exchange for an honest review. But when I started reading it I realised I have fallen out of love with murder mysteries solely because I did not feel well to read gruesome stories as much as I used to.

When I say gruesome it means gruesome all right. The writing is fine really. the author knows what she's doing with the plot but there are some things that might be sort of triggering depending on people.

It's a good thriller and I give 4 stars for the author's prowess.

The stolen girls by Patricia Gibney.
Detective Lottie Parker Book 2.
One Monday morning, the body of a young pregnant woman is found. The same day, a mother and her son visit the house of Detective Lottie Parker, begging for help to find a lost friend.Could this be the same girl?When a second victim is discovered by the same man, with the murder bearing all the same hallmarks as the first, Lottie needs to work fast to discover how else the two were linked. Then two more girls go missing.Detective Lottie Parker is a woman on the edge, haunted by her tragic past and struggling to keep her family together through difficult times. Can she fight her own demons and catch the killer before he claims another victim?
A brilliant read. Great story and characters. I love this series. One of my favourite authors. 5*.

Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat threw out I just couldn't put it down this writer keeps you hooked and once your hooked your not letting go I found this book thrilling the characters were fantastic and well thought out and the little clues all the way threw keep you guessing until the end this book stays with you long after you close the book this book is well worth the read I promise you wont be disappointed

I had no idea this book was the second in the series. I wouldn't have requested it then because that part left me a bit confused. Overall, it was still a decent book.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series so decided to go straight into book 2. The story kicks off with the discovery of the body of a young pregnant woman, followed by another body only this time it is found by the same man that found the first body. The storyline itself was certainly interesting, yet for some reason I found myself more drawn to the development of the characters.

Lottie as the main character isn’t actually that likeable but that just makes her so much more readable in this case. It sounds weird I know but having a character with SO many flaws actually makes this more of a hook for me. Seeing how badly she manages her personal life make me more and more intrigued. I also love her colleague Boyd.

You can probably read this as a standalone but I love seeing the characters lives unfold like this series seems to be doing. Lottie seems to be a car crash of a character, but it’s obvious she has her demons she is battling and it also seems to make her more determined to get each case right. I found this book flowed a lot easier than the first and it took me very little time to plough through it.

Although when finished I had to read a different genre, I am already well over halfway with book 3. I think this is a series I will quickly become very involved with and cannot wait to see what happens with Lottie and her friends and family.

I'm going to start with what I didn't like about the book, Chloe. Lottie is the mother to three teenagers (Katie, Chloe and Sean), her husband died of cancer four years prior, and Lottie's job is the family's only income. In the first book, Katie and Sean factored heavily into the story, having both been victims. It worked for the story, but to have it happen AGAIN, this time with Chloe, was too much. It's just too unbelievable to me. I like having Lottie's family part of the story, but please no more being involved somehow with her cases.

The story is gripping, though like the first book it is dark and depressing stuff. Murder, sex trafficking, organ theft, sexual assault...all this is interspersed with some scenes in 1999 Kosovo that all gets tied together in the end. If possible, Lottie is even more frazzled in this book than the first one. She's back on the job after an extended leave, and her case is the murder of a young pregnant girl. The case leads Lottie to a refugee camp run by a former military officer who knew Lottie's late husband. There are a lot of twists and turns in the book, it moved along at a quick pace and kept me guessing.

Boyd's character gets a little more depth in this book, he and Lottie have a very entertaining relationship, I look forward to seeing more of that in subsequent books.

I had found it difficult to engage with this novel because it is the second in a series, and I did not read the first one. I I think the relationship between the detectives is explored in depth in the first book so I found it difficult to understand the relationship. I also felt the setting was not well set out, however this be because I had not read the first one.

I struggled to relate or like the main character, at times I felt like I liked her but overall I am not a fan.

I do think had I read the first novel I would have enjoyed this one more.

A young woman's body is discovered by a road construction worker and Lottie Parker is tasked with finding the killer. When a second body is found by the same worker, Lottie knows that she's got a big problem. She needs to find out if this worker is coincidentally finding the bodies or if he's somehow involved with the killings.

When a girl comes to Lottie's house pleading for help with a vague story, Lottie temporarily puts her on the back burner but slowly begins to think this may be related to her murder cases. But how?

In the midst of attempting to keep her family together after the trauma they've suffered on a previous case, Lottie vows to save the life of a missing girl before she becomes the next victim.

This was a great read. It was fast moving and exciting. I recommend this book and look forward to the next book in the series.

I received this ARC from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley.com, to Bookouture, and to Patricia Gibney for this opportunity.

The Stolen Girls is book 2 in the Detective Lottie Parker sries and I enjoyed as much as book one, The Missing Girls.

One of the reasons I love Lottie Parker so much is the fact that she is flawed, she has her problems and her family have their problems, no-one is perfect. I love reading about the personal stories of lead characters and getting to know them better.

An excting read at a fast pace, highly recommended.

I loved the first book in this series which seems to have been the firm foundation for the second book. Patricia Gibney doesn't hold anything back with a horrendous scene set in a war-torn Afghanistan witnessed by a young boy in 1999.
It leaps forward then to 2015 where Lottie Parker's home life is still spiralling downhill. There are some real serious issues bubbling away within the four walls of her home, with her and her children busily facing their own inner demons. When a desperate woman literally comes knocking on the door for help then a couple of dead bodies are found with very unusual injuries, D.I. Lottie Parker has to put the family problems on a back burner again!
This is at times heart wrenching to read as it portrays criminals at their most despicable. There are scenes of rape, mutilation and murder which are realistically. That said this book is simply impossible to put down. My head was spinning with trying to solve who was behind it all and who could be trusted.
You know when a character makes a choice and the only way you can carry on reading is with a cuppa and chocolate well all I can say is this book is no good for dieting. Oh boy does this story take off when it all begins to come together and gets close up and personal all at once! I was in pieces at every revelation. A brilliant ending.
There are some excellent characters in this series, including those of Lottie's family. I really love that they are facing modern-day problems in an imperfect world. This D.I. often seems to throw herself into her work to escape things out of her control at home. Thank goodness for gran! I really need to catch up on the brilliant series.
I received this e-copy from NetGalley which I have honestly reviewed.

Those of you who haven’t yet made the acquaintance of Lottie Parker, I’ll recap.
Lottie Parker is a Garda Síochána detective inspector who lives and works in the fictional town of Ragmullin in the Irish Midlands.

Lottie is one of those wonderful ‘flawed’ protagonists. Four years after his death, she is still grieving for her late husband, Adam. Lottie throws herself into her work – often to the detriment of her home life with her three teenage children. In her early forties, Lottie has an addictive personality and she valiantly tries to stay away from booze and cigarettes. She doesn’t eat properly and she is always tired. Also, she is slightly OCD – she is constantly counting things.

“A town where no one saw anything, very few said anything and those who did never told the whole truth.”

This time around, Lottie is back at work after an extended leave which came as a result of the closing events of the first book. It is May in Ragmullin, yet the outside temperatures are more like mid July. Ireland is feeling the effects of a heat wave. Her first day back, she is tasked with a murder enquiry. A young girl’s body has been found by a road works crew in downtown Ragmullin. The girl had been shot in the back and buried in the recently dug-up road. Also, forensic reports say she was four months pregnant, AND has had surgery recently that removed one of her kidneys.

On the home front, Lottie is as out of her depth as ever. Two of her children, Katie and Sean, are still traumatized by events in the first novel, while the third child, sixteen-year-old Chloe, is increasingly secretive, sulky, or volatile.

Meanwhile the Garda have no leads on who the victim is, let alone leads on who might have killed her. When a second body of a young girl is found by Andri Petrovci, the very same road works worker, he becomes a prime suspect. The second girl also shows signs of having a kidney removed.

Lottie’s point of view is not the only one in the book. We come to learn about the desperate and dire experiences of a young boy in Kosov0 in 1999. His experiences were hard to read, and the author more than explicitly describes the atrocities that took place there during that time.

Also, we occasionally read the point of view of a captive young woman who is suffering a violent and heinous abduction.

Lottie Parker’s second in command, Mark Boyd is fighting his own demons, yet remains loyal to Lottie at all times.

“She wondered how she could juggle her day to fit in everything she had to do.”

Lottie is riddled with guilt and is constantly fighting a losing battle with the home/work balance. When she is home she feels she should be working, when she is working, she feels she should be at home. The proverbial ‘Catch-22’. In addition, her fatigue is palpable, as is her growing attraction to DS Mark Boyd.

“She felt her heart breaking for the frightfulness of the world and feared for the very soul of the human race.”

When a young woman, Mimoza Barbatovci, visits Lottie at her home accompanied by her young son, Lottie has one more worry added to the myriad she already has. Mimoza leaves Lottie a note written in Albanian. How did this young woman come to have Lottie’s dead husband’s uniform name badge?

Lottie and Boyd’s investigations take them to a ‘direct provision centre‘ run by a man named Dan Russell. He is an ex-army man who once worked in Kosovo with Lottie’s late husband, Adam.

“Daily routines continued while evil lurked behind closed doors”

When one of Chloe’s school friends goes missing, and another body is found, Lottie’s life spirals out of control. The final pages of the book fairly dripped with tension…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excellent characterization and a compelling plot are the highlights of this novel. With themes of rape, organized crime, human trafficking, illegal organ harvesting, and self-harm, it was an extremely difficult read at times. It certainly reinforced the idea of ‘mans inhumanity to man‘. I highly recommend this novel, and this series, to readers of crime fiction who are not deterred by graphic violence, and emotionally draining circumstances. I hope that not too much more time passes before I get the opportunity to read the 3rd novel in this stellar series.

I really enjoyed the other books in the series but found it very hard to get into this one. There are too many coincidences and needing suspend disbelief in the beginning of the book - how much more can happen to this character and her family???? It's one of my pet hates when a detective's family gets too much involvement in the cases, it just didn't ring true for me and I conceded that it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This was a great book! I was on the edge of my seat while reading this. I now have to go read the first book to see how this series started. I like Lottie, she was a great character, I cannot wait to follow her cases. Lots of thrills and suspense!

THE STOLEN GIRLS by Patricia Gibney is the second book in the Detective Lottie Parker Series. I was anxious to continue on with the series, as I loved her debut novel, “The Missing Ones”. These books continue to get better and better. I loved this one more than the first book.

I recommend reading the books in order in the series, as the novels pick-up where the last one finishes off. In this second novel, Lottie walks a fine line between work and family life. Detective Lottie Parker, our protagonist, is a widow, mother of three, drinks too much, has an estranged mum, and one horrible boss…in other words a totally believable flawed central character!

The subject matter is both graphic and disturbing in nature, and not for the faint-hearted. Some passages are hard to read, but are critical to the story. Please note that the themes in this dark novel includes rape, a serial killer and sex trafficking, and may be offensive to some.

The young woman standing on Lottie’s step was a stranger. She was clutching the hand of a young boy. ‘Help me,’ she said to Lottie. ‘Please help me.’

One Monday morning, the body of a young pregnant woman is found. The same day, a mother and her son visit the house of Detective Lottie Parker, begging for help to find a lost friend.

Could this be the same girl?

When a second victim is discovered by the same man, with the murder bearing all the same hallmarks as the first, Lottie needs to work fast to discover how else the two were linked. Then two more girls go missing.

Detective Lottie Parker is a woman on the edge, haunted by her tragic past and struggling to keep her family together through difficult times. Can she fight her own demons and catch the killer before he claims another victim?

This is a fast-paced well-written action-packed police procedural. I frantically flipped the pages in the short chapters, to see what would happen next. I didn't realize who the killer was until the end and the last twist. Brilliant!

Looking forward to starting book three. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to my favourite publisher, Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy.

An absolute page turner! I haven't read something like this in a long time. This book was pretty long, but in this case its a good thing because I didn't want it to end. It picked up right where the last ended and it was even better than the first. Man, I am still feeling the thrill. So glad I was able to red this one, I'm telling everyone about it! What a great series so far, excited for more.

This is the highly anticipated follow-up to Patricia Gibney's outstanding debut, The Missing Ones. And it does not disappoint! Detective Lottie Parker is back with another horrific crime to solve. The story is fast paced with gripping plot lines which makes this a book that is very hard to put down.

This is the second book in the series and my first book by Patricia Gibney. I was in awe of the number of twists this book has. Patricia has outdone herself from her previous book (just read the book blurb of her previous book). She has brought in issues like sex trafficking and organ harvesting and weaved them in her story sensitively.
This is the first time I am reading about Detective Lottie Parker and her life in this book seems to be in a bit of mess (a hangover from the previous book), she is seen struggling to maintain a balance between both her personal and professional life. But Lottie still gives her all to solve the case. I love main characters who do what needs to be done to bring about justice.
I liked the fact that Patricia has made Lottie a great mother and a first class Detective. It is the camaraderie between Lottie and her partner Boyd which brought about easy lighter moments, especially when reading about the tougher issues.
The chapters are short and the book is fast paced, so it is an easy read. But there are darker issues which I found it difficult to read at times. It is just my own personal mental block.
On the whole, a great thriller and well recommended.

Small town Ireland wrestling with the issues of asylum, illegal immigration and abuse of the hidden vulnerable few. Detective Parker is trying to sort out her own life and deal with the case in hand. Great stuff.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

My thoughts: As soon as I had read the first book in Patricia Gibney's Detective Lottie Parker series, I knew I was going to be a fan - I was hooked right away and couldn't wait for the next book to come out. Well, here it is, the day before the 3rd book is due out, and I finally finished reading the 2nd one...not because I didn't like it, quite the contrary, but there are just too many good books out there! But let me tell you - if you like a good crime thriller with a kick-*ss detective, this series is for you!

Once again, I found myself completely engaged in this book and despite the length - this book is quite a chunkster, I found myself frantically flipping through the pages, eager to see what was going to happen next. I will say, this book deals with some pretty tough topics - sex trafficking and organ harvesting and self-harm, but it doesn't dwell on them, if you know what I mean. They are major parts of the story-line, and the self-harm part actually hits a bit close to home for Lottie, but they are well-balanced with everything else that is going on.

I am a huge fan of series, and I say this quite often, but I will say it again here - I really think it's important that you go into this story having read the first book. There are events that happened in that prior book whose threads are still being picked up in this current story. That's not to say that Patricia Gibney doesn't give a little background in this book to help you out or refresh your memory, but you don't get the full effect/impact unless you've read that book.

I really like how as much as this is a police procedural/crime fiction book, it has that human side to it where we see just how vulnerable Lottie is, how she is struggling as a single mom, how her kids are handling things, or not handling things, as the case may be. Lottie is doing her best to try to juggle all this and of course things slide, but at what cost? Who suffers the most - her kids or her job or herself?

This book pulls you in and you are not only swept up in the case and the action, but also into Lottie's family life. There are some big developments with Lottie's kids and I'm curious to see how that all plays out in the next book. These teenagers are sure giving Lottie a run for her money, that's for sure! And there's still Boyd, hanging in the wind. His wife/ex-wife (I wasn't exactly clear on this point!) shows up in this book and the jealousy in Lottie is quite humorous...she won't admit she wants anything with Boyd, yet she doesn't want him to have anyone else? Hmmm!

This series is so good and I cannot wait to pick up the next book to see not only what case Lottie will find herself and her team mixed up in, but also what happens with her family. This is the type of read that no matter how many pages there are in the book, you just can't help but fly through them...but then you are disappointed when you reach the end, because you have to wait until the next one releases. Hopefully, this is a long series!