The first installment in the Detective Katie Scott series will have readers racing through!  This will be on everyone's to be read pile.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.

I am not usually the biggest fan of police procedurals but I couldn't help but be intrigued by one with a premise as creepy as this. Our protagonist Katie Scott has just returned from serving in the army when she stumbles into a missing-girls case in her home town. Someone has been putting the girls into glass coffins and preserving their bodies for years. With the help of her support dog Cisco, Katie is determined to find out who is responsible.

Straight off the bat, I really liked Katie. There is occasionally the odd clumsy line which is designed to hype her up as a character which was somewhat annoying, but overall she was a brilliant protagonist. The other characters are sadly a lot more basic and there are very clear standard roles here. You have the persistent newcomer in Katie herself, you have the derisive detective who hates her inexplicably, you have the hesitant partner who learns to have her back...there's not really anything new here. Having said that, these features are common of most police procedurals so that's not necessarily a negative.

The plot itself was very well-paced and I felt like the book was just the right length. There was no padding or pointless story threads and this created a very tight narrative which kept you reading through it quickly. The solution to the whole plot was satisfying and didn't have the usual problem of it just being some random, fairly obscure character. Perhaps some readers will find it a bit basic but it was done well so it didn't bother me in the slightest.

Overall, I think people who love police procedurals will probably enjoy this a lot more than I did. This is a strong example of the genre with a likeable detective and a decent hook. I would definitely consider reading more in the series, especially if a more complex plot was incorporated.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Absolutely brilliant!! The first in what promises to be a fantastic police series!
Gripping and edge of the seat stuff!! I would highly recommend it. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this Arc.

Little Girls Sleeping by Jennifer Chase...........Just Brilliant throughout! 

A great new start to a brand new series of Detective Katie Scott Book 1. 

An eight-year-old girl, called Chelsea Compton, goes missing in Pine Valley, California. For Detective Katie Scott it’s a very cruel reminder of a friend who disappeared from summer camp twenty years ago. Lots of memories come flooding back and Kate is unable to shake those memories off. She failed to protect her friend many years ago. 
Kate will do anything to stop the killer to strike again...........Is she too late to find the Chelsea? 
Before it's too late?
But, Katie won’t rest until she discovers what happened to Chelsea.

I loved the new Detective Kate Scott she was a strong character and had a lot to offer in this new series and looking forward to read more of her.  This book has a lot of twists and turns that will have you gripped throughout this brilliant book! 

Highly Recommend this new series..... Looking forward to read more of Detective Kate Scott's books

Big thank you yo the author "Jennifer Chase", the publisher "Bookouture" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel and have given my own unbiased review.

This book was interesting but it wasn't a standout. With the blurb I expected something thrilling yet it was so meh. I enjoyed the protagonist and feel she was well written.

Really enjoyed reading this, it was exciting and thrilling. I warmed to Katie immediately and I love Cisco. I'll look forward to reading any future books in the series

Unfortunately this book fell short for me. It’s very similar to other thriller novels and I felt nothing set it apart. The main character was ok but the development fell short.

Just finished Little Girls Sleeping  and wow, I LOVED it. Talk about a page turner, and tight, smart writing that never lets you rest. Super twisty, clever plot with a few shockers I never saw coming. GREAT characters, even when I didn’t like them, I loved them as a reader. This book will stick in my head for a while, like all book hangovers should!

This wasn't a bad book, but to be completely honest, this wasn't a good one, either. It's not that it's boring or else, it's just that it wasn't so captivating as I was expecting. And I had a lot of problems with the MC. It's not that Katie is bad, it's just that we didn't click at all. I have tried, because she is a strong female lead, and usually they are my favorite but... not this time. I appreciate that she is strong, she knows what she wants and she is really determined, but I couldn't connect with her, and I found her, from time to time, irritating. 
And then we have Cisco. I appreciated him, to a point. I am always happy when there is a dog (or an animal companion, whichever animal it is) but the author forces the story to let him in and... this wasn't so good. I know that it's not so clear what I am meaning, but... let's try with an example! She is overjoyed to have him with her again, and she really cares for him. She's always taking him to walk and all, but one morning she just went running around without him. The thing doesn't make sense at first, but then something bad happens and if the dog was with her... well, he would have died. So yeah... now it makes sense. From our point of view. But it doesn't make sense for the story. And this is not the only case in which the author forces her way around. It wasn't bad but, again, it wasn't good either.
I enjoyed the reading, to a point, but I won't read the next ones.

A serial killer is targeting the young girls in the town of Pine Valley, Ca.    Newly minted Detective Katie Scott and her military working dog, Cisco, have made it their mission to catch The Toymaker.  When another girl is taken, Katie is up against numerous obstacles including backlash from her own department.
I really wanted to love this book as it had the makings of a great read.  Unfortunately,  I just could not connect with the main character.  
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

Enjoyed this book. Kept me interested all the way through. Would recommend to a fellow reader.  Love the cover.

Katie has just arrived home in California after leaving the Army. She is suffering from anxiety and PTSD but is working through her problems with the help of her trusted service dog Cisco.  After returning home Katie goes to work for the local police department and stumbles upon a 5-year-old cold case that she is drawn to look into and solve. 

In some moments Katie is portrayed as this bad-ass, take-no-crap female veteran but then in other moments, she is allowing herself to be walked all over by a jerk misogynistic detective. Also, some of her thought processes just didn't make sense.

This book is said to be in the thriller/mystery/crime genres and while the plot definitely fits those descriptions, I just wasn’t all that blown away by the mystery aspect of it. 

I found a lot of it to be predictable and not very “thriller” like. After having read Karin Slaughter thrillers, this one just couldn’t hang, 

This book wasn’t necessarily bad. I just didn’t think that it held up very well compared to other books in this genre that I have read.

I enjoyed this book! It's definitely more of a police procedural than a thriller but it's well written and I can't wait to find out more about Katie in the coming books!

This is a great start to a new series.  The author’s plotting skills are extraordinary and I look forward to the next installment.  Detective Katie Scott is a lively, original heroine and a pleasure to read.  
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for a review. Wow, what a thriller! This was my first Jennifer Chase book but definitely not my last! Little girls sleeping kept me turning pages! Katie came home from military duties with her canine partner Cisco, and took up working in Sherriff’s office. Her natural abilities soon had her working on a 4 year old cold case of a missing little girl. Can’t wait for book two!

Little Girls Sleeping – Jennifer Chase

I was fortunate to receive this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review.

Katie Scott is fresh off the plane from deployment in Afghanistan and undecided as to what she’ll do now. On a leave of absence from Sacramento PD, she is unsure if she wants to return to police work, especially after the atrocities she saw as part of the K9 explosives team. As a result, her Uncle Wayne, Sheriff of Pine Valley, offers her a temporary job clerking in the department, which she readily accepts. He also surprises her with her K9 partner, Cisco, who, for me, is the complete star of this book.

While dropping off some documents to his office on day, she notices a case file he left out – that of a child who’s been missing for a few months. She immediately is drawn to the file – as a child she had a friend that suddenly disappeared, never to be found. She peruses, then copies the file to study.  On her off time, she starts searching remote areas for signs of a dumping site, and inadvertently finds two small depressions in the ground, that resemble graves. 

When the site is excavated, and the children’s bodies are recovered, the search for the killer commences in full swing.  The lead Detective on the case is now openly hostile to Katie, who has unexpectedly been promoted to Detective by her uncle and several others share his contempt. While assisting the task force, Katie quietly investigates on her own, and in doing so, she unknowingly angers a killer. Then, another child goes missing…

I loved this book!! I’m always looking for a new series, and this series is most promising! Katie and her partner Cisco, are very likeable, and there are a lot of potential characters and storylines left open for further development as the series continues. Full of suspense and hard for me to put down! I highly recommend! If you enjoy the Creed series by Alex Kava, you’ll love Katie & Cisco!

First book in a new series by Jennifer Chase.  This book started out well, but i didn't connect well with the main character Katie.  I found that she did get on my nerves quite a bit.  There wasn't much charterer development in this book for me either. As the book went on i found it was all becoming a bit disjointed. I didn't read the book till the end, but this book wasn't really for me.

Little Girls Sleeping is the first novel in a new detective series by Jennifer Chase. The main character, Katie Scott, is a newly returned army veteran. After time working K9 bomb detection she has gone home to Pine Valley, California where she has her family home  and her uncle is the sheriff. Katie is a trained cop who starts searching for the missing girl in a local cold case. When Katie finds the missing girls she not only pisses off the original detective on the cases but the murderer. 

I found the story well paced and the characters interesting. The character development in the book was just enough for the first book of a series. I will definitely be picking up the next book in this series to see what else Katie gets up to in Pine Valley.

I absolutely loved this book. There were characters to love, some to hate and a few to be very suspicious of. Katie Scott is easy to like, even her bad points are understandable. She hasn't had an easy life and this has turned her into a feisty, determined woman who lets no-one put her down. At the same time she has nightmares and panic attacks and just silently screams for someone to look after her.
There were several suspects here and although I read a lot of crime fiction, and think of myself as pretty instinctive, until the final denouement I was unsure just who the killer was.
I had never heard of the author and as the title described this as Katie Scott book 1 I assumed this was her first book. I was delighted therefore to discover that she has written several series featuring other protagonists. I will be checking them out sooner rather than later. 
Review will be posted to Goodreads.com and Amazon.co.uk

Little Girls Sleeping 
(Detective Katie Scott Book 1)
by Jennifer Chase

4 stars

A gripping murder mystery detective story, featuring new detective Katie Scott.

When Katie starts digging through some cold cases, she stumbles on some over looked clues that lead to the discovery of two bodies on young girls. 

An eight-year-old girl, Chelsea Compton, is missing in Pine Valley, California and for Detective Katie Scott it’s a cruel reminder of the friend who disappeared from summer camp twenty years ago. Unable to shake the memories, Katie vows she won’t rest until she discovers what happened to Chelsea.

The story catches you from the first to the last page, drawing the reader in.

Well written and authentic storyline. 

#LittleGirlsSleeping #NetGalley