I am not sure what to think of these (so far) three books about Lottie Parker and the crimes she investigates in Ragmullin. After receiving the third, I bought the other two books, and throughout all three stories the main character is nothing but flat.

The same troubles keep haunting her and (the weirdest and most annoying) in all three books are the crimes, she is about to solve, linked to her past and her family. One time, sure, that I am willing to believe, but a second and a third time?!

That said, a fourth book seems to be on its way, and somehow I feel tempted to try again.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

I need to catch my breath, calm my heart and recover my senses, I think I have invested every emotion possible into The Lost Child, Patricia Gibney has floored me with the third book in Detective Inspector Lottie Parker series and all I want is more.

The Lost Child is a perfect example of the ultimate page-turner, building up the series of books which lead us to this point. The Missing Ones and The Stolen Girls have been parts of the puzzle linking up to The Lost child and it doesn’t disappoint.

Well where do I start, Patricia has pulled no punches in book three, I’m wound up tighter than a spinning top all due to the opening chapter. A historical crime depicting the horror of what one mother can do to her children left a taste in my mouth, a sourness, but it becomes apparent later why, a vital piece, a conundrum to solve.

DI Lottie is plunged deep into an investigation of an elderly woman, who was brutally attacked and murdered, the victims daughter is also missing, all clues start to point Lottie’s father who committed suicide years earlier, the death toll is rising can Lottie and her team prevent any more and the save this family.

The persona of Lottie manifests at lightning speed throughout the book, she’s a tough cookie especially at work. Nothing seems to phase Lottie until she falls of the wagon again, the crutch of alcohol and pills, are they muddying the water and affecting the investigation only time will tell. Oh Boy was I getting excited, Boyd seems to have ignited his candle for Lottie again, will it smoulder and extinguish or will Lottie reciprocate Boyd’s feelings, only time will tell.

The plotline in The Lost Child tumbles, twists, yanks you back and forth, it even screams at you I Know Who Committed The Crimes, before pummelling you into submission almost laughing You Are Wrong Again, a game of Tug of War With Words. I thoroughly enjoyed the games Patricia played with my mind, Touché Patricia I didn’t anticipate the end, the surprises just kept coming roll on book four.

Thank you to Bookouture, Patricia Gibney and Kim Nash for an advanced readers copy to read of The Lost Child in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Child is book three in the D. I. Lottie Parker series and oh boy have I been looking forward to it. The first two books The Missing Ones and The Stolen Girls were first class reads and I have to say I am absolutely loving this series. I honestly wouldn’t recommend reading The Lost Child without reading the other two first as there is a lot of character building through the books and to be fair you’d be really missing out by skipping them.
Lottie Parker is an incredible character that you can’t help getting attached too. She’s hard-working and determined, she’s also mum to 3 teenagers and a new Granny. Lottie has a lot of demons from her past haunting her and her life is a bit of a shambles trying to juggle home life and her work load but she wouldn’t be the same if she didn’t have the chaos which she seems to thrive on.
Lottie and her partner Detective Boyd are called in to investigate the murder of an elderly lady found in her daughter’s house, her daughter is missing and there seems to be only one suspect. What then follows is a mass of secrets and revelations. This book is action packed with many sub plots that actually made my head whirl with delight. You’d honestly have to read it to believe it, it totally blew my socks off.
Gibney has an incredible talent, every page held my attention and I couldn’t  turn them fast enough. It’s fast paced and I found myself holding my breath at some points and it’s fantastic to find out more about Lottie as the story continues, even if while I was reading my eyes were nearly popping out my head. Everything comes together so well and what an ending this book has, I sooooo can not wait for book four.
This is such a brilliant series with each book getting better and better if that’s at all possible and I will definitely be recommending it.

Another brilliant book by Patricia Gibney.
The Lottie Parker series just gets better and better.
This story is quite a complicated one about family lies and secrets but I wasn’t prepared for the big revelation at the end!
I always feel for Lottie’s family in these books as they must feel so helpless when she gets so drawn in to each case and they’ve been through so much too.
I can’t wait for the next book!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for sending me a copy to read and review.

Lets give you a rough idea as to how addictive this book is, yes? Well, I started reading 'The Lost Child' late last night and within an hour and half (ish), I begrudgingly left the book sitting at 51% read. I am a fast reader, but it doesn't matter how fast someone reads if the book is just pants as you're not going to fly through the pages as quickly as if it was a good book, right? Luckily, Patricia Gibney's book was FAR from being pants. Put it this way...I quickly became a Rottweiler when disturbed whilst reading it. Bared my gnashers and everything...

We are catching up with Detective Lottie Parker as she begins to investigate a death. Of course an investigation into a death isn't as plain sailing as DI's would like, especially if the death was due to a murder and the culprit wasn't ready and waiting to be caught of course!

The storyline of 'The Lost Child' quite complex and every little detail is linked to another situation within the book. Obviously a lot of those situations don't become clear until later on, but I seemed to ponder every piece of information that was given, just in case it was somehow linked to the investigation. Because of that, I would hate to go too in-depth with my review in case I accidentally threw in a spoiler. All I will say is that you need to ignore everybody around you as soon as you start reading. Why? Because once you start, it will be a challenge to stop. Believe me.

Patricia Gibney has written an absolute corker of a novel where 'The Lost Child' is concerned. From start to finish I found myself completely engrossed in every situation I came up against. I attempted to sieve through the information to form my own conclusion and for the first time ever, I wasn't 100% wrong! To be fair, I wasn't 100% right either but y'know! Even though I had a hunch regarding the culprit, the author still managed to surprise me with the overall conclusion.

To say that this book is as simple as just finding a culprit would be an insult. To say that this book is a head funk, spine tingling, and severely addictive read, would be a complete understatement. In all honesty, I don't think I have enough words to do 'The Lost Child' justice. The storyline reeled me in, kept me in suspense, made me feel as though I was losing my mind, whilst also leaving me wanting more. I cannot wait to read the next instalment from Detective Lottie Parker, but due to how much of a cracking read this book was, the author certainly has raised the bar high for herself where the next book is concerned.

Cleverly written, more-ish, suspenseful and highly intense - 'The Lost Child' is a definite must read. Absolutely brilliant.

Thanks Bookouture.

This is the third book in a series that follows Lottie Parker, I absolutely loved The Missing Ones and The Stolen Girls and was eagerly awaiting the latest installment. I don’t recommend jumping in at this point in the series because the character development is SO great and each book reveals a little bit more about Lottie and her other team members. Also, it’s an awesome series so if you’re a fan of police procedurals and haven’t read this you are definitely missing out!

Lottie is still a lovable mess, she constantly has way too many plates spinning but she just cannot help herself, she thrives on chaos. Her kids are doing a bit better after the events of the last book but their house is still crazy and Lottie is struggling to maintain a balance between work and family life. Speaking of work, her caseload is bigger than ever, true to form there is a lot going on in this book and several interesting sub plots/cases are being investigated, there is always action and excitement in a Gibney book. Boyd is still around, much to my relief and once again, his and Lottie’s chemistry is amazing.

This is told mainly in the present but there are several chapters from The Child, a nameless person who appears to have been raised primarily in an asylum under horrific circumstances. I wondered so many times how this could possibly relate to any of the investigations and when things all came together I was definitely surprised.

Gibney has certainly found her stride with this series, she does a fantastic job weaving together an intricate plot with red herrings galore and excitement and tension to boot. It’s dark, gritty and intense with shocking developments and well executed twists. This case turns deeply personal for Lottie and provided more questions than answers in the end and I really cannot wait to see what happens next!

I've loved this series from the first book and could barely contain my excitement when I got my grabby hands on this new addition. The Lost Child is the third book in the DI Lottie Parker series and really, I don't know how Patricia Gibney does it, but she has once again raised the bar and delivered her best book yet!

An elderly lady is found dead, her daughter has gone missing and a few days later, a cottage burns to the ground claiming more victims. Lottie Parker and her team are in for a very busy week. When it looks like the investigation is somehow connected to her father, things get pretty personal for Lottie. Will she finally be able to discover the truth about his death?

I have to say that Lottie got on my nerves quite a bit this time around and I often felt like slapping her. But most of the time, as I sat reading, the words coming out of my mouth were along the lines of "holy crap, what the hell is going on?!". I didn't have a clue because one thing Patricia Gibney does extremely well, is create an intriguing background story with its roots firmly in the past that seemed to grab me by the throat and not let go. Once again, it's the most heartbreaking story with devastating consequences and it had me utterly hooked!

The Lost Child is insanely gripping and compelling and I stayed up way too late in a desperate attempt to finish it. Absolutely worth the zombie look I'm displaying today. This series keeps going from strength to strength, as does the author's writing. With an intricate and complex plot and amazing character development, Patricia Gibney has delivered another absolute corker. 

If you're not reading this series, do yourself a favour and start right now! From the beginning, people, or you'll be missing out on a lot of important background information! In the meantime, I will sit here and impatiently await book number four.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

My thoughts: This is the third book in Patricia Gibney's Detective Lottie Parker series and this series just keeps getting better and better. This series is one dark, crazy crime thriller series that just pulls you in right from the start and doesn't let you until the very end!

I devoured this book and let me tell you, at close to 500 pages, that's quite a feat! This one is intense - between the dark story line and the fact that right away you know things aren't quite right with Lottie when you find out she's been drinking again! And the way the story just goes, goes, goes, never once letting up - you feel yourself holding you breath at times - it's that intense and non-stop.

I found the intro's to the chapters, those written in the "child's" voice to be utterly creepy and eery. That just sets the tone for the book. You are desperate to know who this child is and how it connects to the case - for if you know anything about Patricia Gibney and her books, you know that it does! And then there are the gruesome murders that Lottie and her team are called to investigate...and as the body count rises, it becomes clear that something quite sinister is going on, but is there more at play here than meets the eye?

On the side, Lottie is continuing to investigate the death of her father some forty years ago. She is like a dog with a bone and despite her mother begging her to let it go, she is determined to find out what really happened. Is she about to uncover something that is best left untouched?

The twists and turns that this book takes are enough to keep you glued to the pages, desperate to see how it all comes together in the end. And the character development in this book is excellent! There are quite a few developments and yet, while some are resolved, some are left open, having us wonder just where things will go in the next book.

This series is so good, so intense, and I love how once again the weather plays a role in the book - this time is was the pounding rain! It just adds another dimension to an already tense, dark book. I cannot wait to see what's next for Lottie and the gang - though I do hope she has her drinking under control.

I started this book as the ex-hurricane Ophelia was raging outside which gave the novel even more atmosphere. What appalling weather described in the book. This is the third book in the series and yippee there's going to be a 4th I discovered at the end. I loved the first two in the series and the momentum is carried through to this one so perfectly. Lottie and Boyd and their team are initially faced with finding Marion Russell. Then more bodies....no more spoilers but it put them to task to unravel it all. It put my brain into overdrive trying to figure it all out. Between the police investigations chapters were interspersed with ramblings from a confused, unhappy child through the decades. All very puzzling. As ever the characters are well defined and so human you feel you know them. Poor Lottie - a young widow and breadwinner in a stressful, unsociable job and running a home with three children. She deserves a medal. The only thing I didn't like was the swearing even though many would argue it was in keeping with the characters. I found it a bit irritating at times. Nevertheless there was a lot of humour to enjoy through some of it. Otherwise it was totally enthralling. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture. I shall post this amazon.co.uk, Facebook, GoodReads or Kobo and my blog.

Oh my goodness this book was fantastic!!  I started it late one afternoon and read it pretty much non stop, this is definitely a book that grabs you so much that you don't want to put it down!!  I loved the writing style and the plot was great and again tough subjects are dealt with really well which I think is one of the draws to me for this author.  She is one of my go-to authors as I know I'm guaranteed a gritty thriller.

I highly recommend the series and have given the previous 2 books 5 stars and I am delighted to say that I have given this one 5 stars too!!  You can easily read the book as a stand alone but the series is very, very good and I'd recommend that you read them in order to get the most out of the series!  We are left with quite a few questions that we need answers too so can't wait for the next book!!

I just love this series--it keeps getting better and better.

Dark, intense, and twisted, book 3 of the Detective Lottie Parker series takes an unexpected turn as Lottie’s murky past becomes the focus of the mystery.

The Lost Child is about a case in the 1970's in which an unstable mother tried to burn down her house with her twin children inside. Flash forward to the present moment, and Lottie and team are investigating a case in which Tessa Ball, a grandmother in her 70’s has been murdered in her daughter’s house. Her daughter Marian is missing, and her granddaughter Emma is keeping a huge secret.

Lottie’s personal life is still in a shambles. She has reverted back to her old ways, and is trying to deny the feelings she has for her partner, Boyd. Lottie also begins investigating her father's suicide, and the more she digs, the more she puts her life at risk.

Lottie’s character is the reason I am such a big fan of this series. I connect with the emotional rawness of her character, which keeps me rooting for her. Even though I was rather frustrated with Lottie’s character in the beginning of the book, I’ve come to realize she is who she is. Like the previous books, there are some gruesome scenes that made me nauseated. As always there’s a ton of action and the mystery kept me guessing. However, unlike the other two books in the series, there’s less drama surrounding her three children. I LOVED how her relationship with Boyd developed. I think that it sets up an interesting element for future books in the series. I hope we don’t have to wait too long to find out what happens next!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This is the third book in the DI Lottie Parker series. This book once again features a complex, multi-layered plot with twists and turns that keep you guessing. It seems that everyone is a suspect and everyone has a secret to hide.

The story begins with a sub-plot that is both ominous and obscure. Each time it pops up you will scour the text for clues as to how it relates to the main plotline. Other sub-plots run parallel to the main plotline and they are slowly woven together, creating a slow build of suspense that ratchets up throughout the whole book, culminating in a shocking twist that will leave you breathless.

Lottie has a house full of kids and a new grandchild. Her overbearing mother is showing signs of dementia. Trying to control and hide her out-of-control drinking and doing anything she can to keep her anxiety in check has Lottie on the brink of a self-destruction.

A series of murders has Lottie and her team on high alert, working long into the night and desperate for clues. Lottie is also privately investigating the circumstances surrounding her father's death that happened forty years ago. Little does she know what she uncovers in her investigations will forever change her life.

I would recommend this book to fans of thrillers and suspense. I received this as a free ARC from Bookotoure on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When an elderly woman is found murdered and her daughter cannot be found anywhere, Detective Lottie Parker begins to fear for the safety of the whole family. Then a nearby house is set on fire, exposing secrets that threaten the make this the biggest murder case Ragmullin has ever seen. For Lottie however, it proves to be much more personal, as there appears to be a connection to a case that her father was working on shortly before he took his own life. Could Lottie be finally about to discover the truth about her father's death?

The Lost Child is the third in Patricia Gibney's Lottie Parker series and, like the others, is a tale of murder and deeply buried secrets. Here, we find Lottie, once again, struggling with her past, relying upon the use of prescription drugs and alcohol just to get her through the day. Determined to find out the truth about her father's suicide, the strain on the relationship she has with her mother is becoming even more pronounced and the addition of a new baby to the household is doing nothing to help her stress levels.

What starts out as, potentially, a home invasion gone wrong, soon turns into a large-scale murder and missing person investigation when Tessa Ball is found killed in the home of her daughter who has subsequently gone missing. The name of the deceased soon strikes a chord with Lottie and leads her off into a dangerous investigation with links to her father and a cover-up of the highest level. As the death count rises, Lottie and her team have to try to piece together all the clues and link all the main players - of which there are many! With so many key characters, it could have been confusing to keep up with who they all were but Patricia Gibney's style of writing makes the plot easy to follow.

Ever since discovering the cause of death of Lottie's father, it was inevitable to the reader that she would not give up her search for the truth. There was always going to be more to the story but I was not prepared for what was about to come! The circumstances surrounding his life and death have made a particular relationship in the series more understandable and certainly makes any future books interesting! A very clever twist!

The Lost Child is a great addition to the Lottie Parker series and I look forward to the next one!

Lottie Parker is drinking again. And the hangovers aren't helping with her ability to manage her latest case. She is damaged goods, when she's not searching out a drink, she's looking for pills. She's barely holding her personal and professional lives together. Even her team is noticing. The current case starts to have links to her father's death. A police officer, he committed suicide when Lottie was young.

Nice short punchy chapters keep the pace flowing briskly. The narrative goes back and forth between the past and the present. It's not exactly easy to piece everything together. But it's partially this confusion that keeps you interested, wondering how it will all come together. And I will be the first to admit I didn't see this ending at all. At first I had problems believing one of the premises of the book. But research about how long the Magdalene Laundries operated made me a more willing believer.

Mother Nature plays a significant role in this book. The weather really sets the mood, dark and brooding.

As much as I liked this, one thing bothered me. It seems every other book I read lately has to do with abused or abandoned children. Not sure if it's just a current trend, but it's getting a bit old for me. Luckily, this is only one part of the story.

This book is not for the squeamish. I can't tell you how many times I groaned Ewww while reading.

My thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book.

This is the third in the series and, although the story is self-contained within this book, usual series rules apply. To get the best from the main characters with regard to development and backstory, it is best to start from book one and read in order. All three books have been cracking reads for me so why not?!
Oh Lottie, you do make things hard on yourself don't you love? Ok so you've been through quite a bit in your relatively short life but you really don't help yourself. To be completely honest, even I, one of your biggest fans, nearly gave up on you in this book as your behaviour did really start to grate on me. But I didn't and, once I got to the end, I'm really rather glad I persevered. Mostly, if truth be told, cos I really like Boyd and I trust him to get you straight!
Ok so our two amigos (Lottie and Boyd if you're in doubt) are called to the scene of a brutal murder. An old woman has been killed and her daughter is now missing. Initially a suspect, the police are forced to rethink when her body is found dumped at the local hospital. Emma, grand daughter and daughter of our two victims respectively isn't saying much and her behaviour leaves a lot to be desired. Yes I know that people grieve in different ways but there's just something off about the way that Emma is behaving. And then she herself goes missing. Lottie and Boyd are left chasing their tails as they try and unravel exactly what is going on. Then it transpires that Emma has a boyfriend but he too is caught up in crime, this time drugs, possibly the same drugs that are found at the scene of the first crime. Convoluted...? We haven't started yet! Throw into the mix flashbacks from the past from an unknown girl who is incarcerated with her mother in an insane asylum. Who is she and how does she connect with what is going on in the now? With drugs involved, the drug squad is called in to "assist" Lottie. Red rag to a bull, fuel to the fire, that! Finally, and I don't really mean finally cos there is still much much more going on that I could ever mention here, Lottie is still looking into the death of her father. So many questions, so many balls in the air, no wonder she turns to the bottle and the pillbox. But can she keep it together long enough to get to the bottom of things before they spiral way more out of control?
There is so much going on in this book. But, before you all start thinking it'll overwhelm you, you can relax. Yes, it'll probably confuse the heck out of you for most of the time, it did me, but believe me, just sit with the confusion and possible discomfort cos it does all work out nicely in the end. Talk about well plotted. It's also quite long for a book of its genre, bucking the current trend by weighing in at a whopping 480 odd pages, but at no time did the book ever feel that long; it definitely did not drag one bit. It's action packed right from the off, not letting up until the very last page.
I already mentioned that Lottie was really starting to annoy me. During the book, I sat back and tried to find some redeeming quality in her and I have to admit that at times I couldn't. She was that bad for me. But, as I really loved the previous books in this series, I couldn't abandon it just cos I hated the main character. I mean, hating is betting that feeling nothing, right? So I read through my anger and pain at what she was doing to herself and those who care about her. I mean, she was just about holding on, that glimmer of hope not yet extinguished. And anyway, I might just have a bit more than a soft spot for Boyd and he hasn't given up on her yet. If I have to trust someone's judgement, why not his?
I'm not a big fan of cliffhangers and, although I wouldn't necessarily class the ending of this book as such, it does hint at certain things that really leave me eager for book four. A few threads that are left a bit loose, just waiting to be tugged on until they unravel. I for one really really need to know what happens next.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This review is written with thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my copy of The Lost Child.
Detective Inspector (DI) Lottie Parker and her team are back! In the third novel in the series, they are called to the house of an elderly woman who has been brutally murdered. The woman's daughter is also missing, and this gives Lottie reason to believe that her granddaughter, Emma, may also be in danger.
Meanwhile, a nearby house goes up in flames and Lottie believes the fire is connected to the murder. As she begins to dig deeper, she discovers some shocking truths that suggest the investigation could be linked to her own family history. Can Lottie and her team find the truth before the death count rises?
I am pleased that Lottie has returned for a third instalment of the series. She continues to battle with alcohol and prescription drugs and struggles to maintain a healthy work/life balance, making time for her three teenage children and baby grandson. Whilst this means that Lottie is often an infuriating character (and I felt that these aspects of her personality came across more in The Lost Child than in previous novels), her flaws make her human, and this guides her work and makes her relatable to the reader.
Some of the descriptions in The Lost Child are very gruesome - more so than in earlier instalments - and at one point I could feel my stomach churning in disgust. I appreciated that the novel was not sanitised in any way, as this helped me to understand the danger that threatened the victims and made me root for Lottie to find the perpetrator before the situation became worse.
Interspersed between the main chapters of The Lost Child are accounts written from the perspective of a young child in the 1970s. These sections added intrigue to the novel as they added an extra layer to the investigation: Who is the child? Where are they now? What do they know about the current investigation? The link between these accounts and the main body of the novel does become clear as it progresses, but I found some of the relationships between the characters a little difficult to follow at times.
The cover in the above picture warns the reader of a heart-stopping twist. I often make light of these claims, but the twist at the end of The Lost Child doesn't disappoint. I tried to fathom it out as I went along, but I did not see this coming! I cannot wait to see how the fall out from the twist carries forward into the fourth novel in the series.

Patrica Gibney keeps getting better. I really love this series and can’t wait for the next one!

Since the first book in this series, The Missing Ones, was published in March this year, I have steadily been growing to like Patricia Gibney's terribly flawed protagonist Lottie Parker more and more. There are so many things wrong with her and yet she is so undeniably human, that it is hard not to. I have to say though that as stories go, I think that this one is most definitely the best one yet and it had me suckered in and hooked from start to finish.

Faced with investigating a brutal murder, Lottie and her team first have to ascertain whether or not it was a case of mistaken identity. The victim is not the person they first suspect and when the links to the actual home owner become clear they begin to fear for the other woman's safety. When the missing woman turns up outside the hospital, injured in a most brutal and potentially fatal manner, and a third member of the same family disappears it becomes a race against time to find her before she too is killed. In a case that brings Lottie's own past right into the spotlight, can she maintain a level head and solve this most heinous of murders before any more bodies are found?

Patricia Gibney has done an excellent job of creating suspense in this book. From the identity of the first victim to the exact whereabouts of the second, everything feels like it is balance on a knife-edge, a growing sense of unease permeating every page. There are so many questions unanswered. Where is the missing woman? Is she victim or perpetrator? Could she be the cause of the untold rage which has destroyed her home? And what is the secret that this woman's daughter is keeping, for she surely is keeping one and it is up to Lottie to find out just what it is before it is all too late.

None of the characters in this book are what or who they appear to be, but the exact level of deception is kept cleverly hidden until the end. It is evident though the stress that the case puts Lottie under and it pushes her closer to her old addiction of alcohol and drugs to get through the day. Couple in with this an uneasy reconciliation with her friend, Annabelle, a woman who is managing her own demons and secrets, and you really feel the tension growing. 

In amongst the main narrative are passages from 'The Child'. Some of these are quite harrowing in their retelling and you come to understand quickly the pain that neglect causes and the impact it has upon this poor child's life. this is definitely a case of lack of nurture rather than nature creating a set of circumstances that bring the case to an almost inevitable conclusion. The only question is - who is the child? Discovering the answer to this is not something the reader will do until the end and that revelation and the twist that comes with it will likely shock you to the core. It certainly leaves Lottie with an interesting dilemma which I can only hope will be resolved in future books.

One of the key draws of this series has to be the relationship between Lottie and her Sergeant, Mark Boyd. There is an undeniable chemistry between the two, with Boyd often covering for his boss. Lottie is still too drawn into her grief over the loss of her husband to give him much thought, but something in this case sees her heart start to soften. How far this leads ... You'll have to read to find out and quite probably wait for future books too. But whether personally or professionally, they do make a really good pairing, at least when Lottie opens up enough to let Boyd in.

There are some decidedly unsavoury moments in this book but none of them are gratuitous in their execution. That said there is no getting away from the horror of the murders or the things that the perpetrator does to their victims. It is heartless and cold and at times made my skin crawl. So did the underlying reasons and what can only be called callousness which brought the situation about to begin with. the whole case started back in 1970's Ireland, and that has to be borne in mind when considering how things play out. The level of lies and corruption is heartbreaking and you can almost feel sorry for the killer. Almost...

Fast paced, gripping and set in the midst of one of the worst storms Ragmullin had faced (and yes I was reading this just as Ophelia hit Ireland's shores - you couldn't make it up), much like the winds, this story will pick you up, throw you about without a care and drop you back down so shell-shocked, so completely stunned that you will be clamouring for book four. I know that I am.

Both shocking and strangely compelling, this is an absolutely cracking read in a series which is going from strength to strength. Loved it

I really enjoyed the first 2 Lottie Parker books, and was delighted to be approved for an ARC from netgally for this eagerly awaited 3rd book.

Lottie has a problem with drink and prescription medication and with her busy career often neglects the pastoral care of her 3 children and grand child. Her mother pops in to clean up but they have a strained relationship and she always gives Lottie a hard time.

The book starts with the murder of an older lady, her daughter is missing and her grand daughter is evasive with the facts. More bodies pile up in this fast paced book and at times it was difficult to keep track of all the characters and there are a lot of different things happening in the story line. I was guessing throughout the whole book and it really was a great read.

This is the third book in Patricia Gibney’s Lottie Parker series and we are getting to know Lottie well. Widowed a few years before, she is a detective in the Irish Garda, living in the town of Ragmullin with her three children and baby grandson. Her life is not in the least bit under control, she drinks too much, takes too many tranquilisers and never seems to be at home to look after or feed her kids, two of who must still be overcoming trauma suffered during previous episodes. She also can’t decide whether to let her long suffering partner DI Boyd into her life and is still coming to terms with her police father’s suicide many years before. But she is a great detective and is nothing short of tenacious in getting the job done, to the point of ignoring orders and putting herself into dangerous situations.

The story is a convoluted one starting with the murder of an old woman, the torture and maiming of her daughter and then the disappearance of her granddaughter under Lottie’s nose. Lottie struggles to work out why this family has been targeted and no one is telling her anything. There also seems to be a drug gang in the area as a nearby drug shack is burnt down with two young men inside, but Lottie doesn't see how this could be related to the dead woman and her family. Moreover there is a link to her father’s suicide that she can’t understand. Throughout the novel there are flashbacks relating to a child’s memories of her early life and of her mother but who is that child now and how does she fit into this plot?

So, a gripping story, a complex plot that comes together towards the end, great characters (even if you don’t like Lottie’s lack of responsible parenting) and a terrific ending setting up the next book in the series. Generally, I get annoyed with series where all the bad stuff keeps happening to the detective and her friends and family but in the case I’ll be looking out for the next instalment to find out what Lottie does next.