This book had the potential to be different and interesting but it just fell short. It was so slow paced that I struggled to keep interested and the supposed twist was so obvious. The book also constantly hints to the event that made Clara leave her family behind but never actually reveals what it was. I struggled to get attached to the main detectives. The Polygamous Mormon community was a different take to the usual crime thrillers though.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I liked this book, I thought it was a strong start to the series. The main character was interesting and she had a complex past. The case ended up surprising me and the polygamous town was an interesting addition. I hate when the personal life of the detective overshadows the case they are working on. I found this book had a good balance of that, but I am worried with the way that it ended that in the next book the personal lives of the detectives with overshadow the detective work. That being said I will be reading the next book. More like a 4.4 star.

Detective Clara Jeffries has not been near her polygamist family in close to a decade. She returns to her hometown after being contacted by a community member that asks for her help after her half-sister goes missing. This isn’t the first girl to go missing in this town. I enjoyed Clara as a strong female character, a detective who was relentless in finding evidence that these girls were safe.

Really enjoyed this page turner, lots of twists and a likeable main character. Was a quick read and would recommend

This is the first book in a series featuring Detective Clara Jeffries. We learn that Clara left her family in Utah after a troubled childhood growing up in a Mormon type sect where polygamy was still practiced. She has made a new life for herself but she. She receives a call from an old friend there to say that one of her younger sisters, Delilah, has gone missing but she doesn’t hesitate to return and investigate. Her homecoming isn’t welcomed by everyone and her mother refuses to speak to her and insists that Delilah has gone away with friends. But when Clara finds two other girls are missing she realises that she must find Delilah before it’s too late. She has to dig deep into the town’s secrets and finds that there are hidden police files from previous cases that weren’t investigated and so she must try and solve where these missing girls could be. I found this a very good read and look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Awesome book! I was hooked from the very beginning. I finished it in one night! I have always loved true crime. I have watched all the shows and read all of the books. I cannot wait for the next week to be released. Great job Kathryn Casey!

Kathryn Casey’s The Fallen Girls is a heart-pounding page-turner packed with chills, intrigue and suspense perfect for fans of Lisa Jackson and Melinda Leigh.

Detective Clara Jefferies might have spent her childhood in Alber, Utah, but she certainly does not have fond memories of her hometown. Clara has spent her adult life trying to outrun the past, but when hears that her baby sister Delilah disappeared, she realises that the peaceful community will be devastated and that her family will be completely distraught. If somebody is going to find Delilah, then it’s going to be Clara and she will leave no stone unturned until her baby sister is back where she belongs. Going back home and returning to Alber is going to be anything but easy, but Clara needs to put her feelings on the backburner if she wants to find her sister.

On her return to Alber, Clara discovers that her mother Ardeth has moved the family to the edge of town in the shadows of the mountains – and she absolutely refuses to see her detective daughter. Ardeth also baulks at the thought of speaking to the police, believing that she can look after her family herself – something which Clara knows couldn’t be further from the truth. Ardeth prefers to turn to her fellow sister-wives for support rather than her own daughter, but when two other girls go missing, Clara realises that it’s just not just Delilah who is in danger and she must move fast before other girls end up vanishing into thin air.

When another body is found, Clara realises that she doesn’t have much time. If she wants to find Delilah, she needs to face old ghosts from the past and vanquish them once and for all – even if it means coming up close and personal with some uncomfortable home truths. As Clara continues to get ever closer to discovering where Delilah is, the stakes have never been higher and the danger never more imminent. Somebody doesn’t want Clara to find her sister and they will stop at nothing to keep her from finding out the truth…even cold-blooded murder…

Will Clara ever be reunited with her sister? Will justice ever be served? Or is Clara already far too late?

A twisted thriller that is so addictive readers will be unable to stop themselves from turning the pages late into the night, The Fallen Girls is a creepy and sinister tale of small town menace, devastating lies, powerful secret and heart-thumping danger that is tense, taut and so terrifying it will send shiver after shiver of apprehension racing down readers’ spine.

Kathryn Casey’s The Fallen Girls is a brilliantly plotted and chillingly brilliant crime thriller featuring a fabulous detective I hope to read more about in the not too distant future: Detective Clara Jeffries.
Gutsy, captivating and guaranteed to leave readers breathless, Kathryn Casey’s The Fallen Girls is a superb crime thriller that is impossible to put down.

In this new series by Kathryn Casey, we are introduced to Detective Clara Jefferies, a very gifted detective living in Dallas, who was raised by a polygamous family in a small town where polygamy was the norm. Having escaped that life (along with a violent relationship), she is now a heretic and an outsider, but that doesn't seem like a great loss, until her high school crush calls and asks her to return home and help him with a missing girl case that involves one of her many sisters. Ignoring her Pledge to never return to Alber, UT, Clara drives to her old stomping' grounds. What she finds there is a mystery wrapped in lies and cover-up. Even her own family will not talk to her and argue that Delilah is not missing. With force of will and persistence, Clara will get to the bottom of the case and hope to finder her sister alive. The storyline takes unexpected curves and bends; we are left wondering what's next for Clara.

Clara Jefferies escaped from the polygamous Mormon community she grew up in. But now she is called in to help search for her missing sister. Her personal feelings threaten to get in the way of her professional behaviour: she is now a detective, but her estranged family see only a fallen girl who has rejected their way of life. Can Clara find Delilah...?
The Fallen Girls deals with strong themes of faith and family alongside the main plot of the abduction of young girls.I felt that there was a sensitivity and careful balance in the attitudes presented towards Mormons and their religion as portrayed in the book.
Clara is a likeable lead character and I hope we see her again in her home environment as we caught glimpses of her professional dedication in the opening chapter. However, I wonder if she willl return to her old community to rebuild relationships especially with her siblings. She also has a history with Max that could lead to a romantic thread for future books.
Much of The Fallen Girls is told through Clara's first person narrative so we see and feel the events as she does. Other viewpoints are provided in the third person including Max and Delilah. Seeing Delilah's experience increases the tension in the book as we urge Clara to keep investigating despite the lack of local police support.
This is the first of Kathryn Casey's books that I have read and I certainly plan to change that! The Fallen Girls is an interesting police thriller and the family dynamic gives us a great introduction to a new lead detective.

Love a police procedural - especially with a strong female lead and this certainly ticked my boxes!
It is a gripping story that centres around the setting of a polygamist community.

Detective Clara Jefferies has spent years running from her childhood, but when her half sister disappears, Clara knows that the time has finally come to face her past and go home. On arrival, she finds no one wants to talk to her and the secretive nature of the townsfolk put barriers in her way. Her own mother has isolated herself, reliant on her sister wives, but then we discover 2 more missing girls!
A great introduction to a great new character, who I am hoping will make many more appearances!
Well written and sensitive, while giving me some shocking moments too, this was a fantastic read from start to finish!

Detective Clara Jefferies has worked for the Dallas PD for 3 years and is assigned to the Crimes Against Persons division. She's 34 and a total workaholic with no social life. After a particularly grueling day, she gets an unexpected call from her past. Chief Deputy Max Anderson in Smith County, Utah -- where Clara grew up -- is calling her home to Alber. It seems that a 12-year-old girl has gone missing and it happens to be Delilah, Clara's younger half-sister. Estranged from her family after leaving behind the polygamous religious sect in which she grew up, Clara is not welcome there; she's an outsider. Max is calling because Delilah's family won't talk to the police and he hopes that Clara might have more luck. She heads off immediately. NO SPOILERS.

It must be difficult to write a new series featuring a unique female detective with the glut of them on the market. I must admit that the sister wives thing and learning about Clara's childhood appealed to me when I read a few blurbs about the book. Unfortunately, we really don't learn too much about Clara's tortured past as she gets quite busy hunting a serial killer as soon as she gets to Alber. Of course the local constabulary is not very helpful and they're not thrilled she's there. The characters were quite stereotypical and the outcome of the case was predictable. The last part of the story seemed to take forever, but overall it was a quick read. I'm hoping for more development in Clara's character in future books and I'd read the second one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This was a pretty good book. I really loved the main story and characters. Only problem, for me, felt a little repetitive in places. It was definitely still a pretty good thriller that will keep you on the edge.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.75 Hearts So here is the deal. I will admit I hate when a book that is first in a series takes forever to tell you who the characters are and the book seems to take forever. And then we have books that do not tell you much about the characters at all. This was one that told us a lot. And while it wasn’t my favorite part it was very thorough. And Detective Jeffries has had a lot of backstory for us to get to know. Maybe even a bit too much but it was fine.

The suspense part was finding Delilah. The suspense part was very well written. I enjoyed the mystery. However I will say that I figured it out, actually I think one of the characters gave it away or maybe I am just that lucky. But even knowing I still enjoyed the story.

I will certainly pick up the next in the series.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars
This is what I hope will be first in a new series. Detective Clara Jefferies has a past snd she is called back to the town she grew up in to search for her missing half sister. Clara fled town years before to escape. Her family is part of a group that practice polygamy. She connects with a friend from the past who has his own sad back story. The descriptions of the dynamics of the town where these families live was devastating. But also humanizing to the women and children that were part of the community. It will be interesting to see the next steps in Clara’s journey.

I was given a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review..

The Fallen Girls by Kathryn Casey is the brilliant first book in the Detective Clara Jefferies series. It’s a unique and gripping story that centres around the unusual setting of a polygamist community. Capturing my imagination from the very first page, The Fallen Girls is a book that skilfully combines a spine chilling police procedural thriller with the fascinating and often frowned upon issue of polygamy.

Detective Clara Jefferies has spent years running from her childhood in Alber, Utah. But when her younger sister disappears, Clara knows that the time has finally come to face her past and go home. On arrival, she finds the town mistrustful and unwilling to talk to her. Her mother, Ardeth, has isolated herself on the edge of town and is determined to only rely on the help of her sister wives. But then it comes to light that two more girls have disappeared, all last seen around the cornfields near where they live, leaving Clara no other choice than to dig deeper into the town’s secrets. And then a body is found…

Oh my goodness, what a fabulous, unique and gripping read this is! Unlike anything I’ve ever read before, this is a book that drew me into the lives of these fascinating characters from the outset. Clara Jefferies is a wonderful character with an unusual past, and I can’t wait to learn even more about her in future installments of this brilliant series!

With twists and turns to keep you on your toes throughout, The Fallen Girls is a spine chilling thriller that also gives a thought provoking insight into the often taboo issue of polygamy. Kathryn Casey’s writing is superb and, once started, I found it very difficult to put this gripping rollercoaster of a read down.

Highly recommended.

The Fallen Girls is one of those books that seems perfect for me on paper. A missing girl, a mysterious kidnapper and a female detective determined to get to the bottom of whatever is going on in a town that doesn’t want her help. For some reason, though, I just couldn’t get away with it – and I’m not sure why.
Clara is an interesting character, one with a wonderfully complicated background that I feel could be unpicked in future books in the series. And the setting, a small Mormon community in a small American town is ideal for revealing secrets and throwing up red herrings.
My problem was, I didn’t warm to either. I wanted to like Clara, but I didn’t, and I wanted to get drawn into Alber, but I couldn’t. Neither were richly enough drawn for me. Which meant I didn’t get drawn into the story. I didn’t believe in it. That’s something I really need in the books I read. And it’s why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I should. Sorry!

I absolutely loved everything about this book, especially the characters and the small town vibe which came with it. This book introduces you to Houston cop Clara, formerly of Mormon faith and a polygamist community, as she is called back home to help her former flame Max figure out what happened to her half sister. Her family and other members of the community refuse to help her and consider her a traitor and the police department want her to leave town, but she is more determined than ever to solve the mystery, especially after she discovers other young girls from the community are missing, but everyone else seems to think they have all ran away.

Clara was a likeable character, determined and sufficient, just as you would expect a big town cop to be, although realistically, I could not see any police department involving her in this case in real life due to personal interests/conflicts. It also doesn't take long for the reader to determine that some people are not who they seem, as the whole community fights her to leave. I liked that her and Max still had chemistry, and it left the ending completely open for a sequel. I cannot wait to see how Clara's story continues in this new series. Thank you NetGalley for another good book. I really enjoyed this one!

This book is so much more than a mystery, a police procedural, a suspense novel, or a story centered around Mormon fundamentalists, For me, this was a book about family, and belonging, and the journeys we take to discover who we are and what’s important to us.

Some of my favorite quotes:
“For the first time in a very long time, I wasn’t an outsider, but someone remembered: I was their teacher, their sister.”

“What this trip has taught me is that you can leave home, but you can’t ever truly leave it behind. No matter where you end up, where you started haunts you. And the people you love? You carry them with you, whether you realize it or not.”

“Perhaps it was more a testament to my journey, and that the pain and disappointments of my past had made me stronger.”


“Despite all we had been through together, despite all I’d done, the distance between me and my mothers persisted, a canyon that separated me from those who were mine.”

“I gave her a last hard look and considered the beauty of a woman content in her world, someone who understood where she belonged. That would never be me. For the rest of my life, I would be an outsider.”

It’s no secret I’m a huge Kathryn Casey fan but that’s because every single one of her books knocks it out of the park. “Fallen Girls” is her latest home run.

Favorite Quotes:

Guns don’t mix well with stupid. Guns and stupid are even more dangerous when paired with crazy drunk.

For the most part, I was in good shape, and I was too young for aches and pains. I considered the fine wrinkles webbing my eyes. One of my fellow detectives described them as laugh lines, but then noted that he’d never actually seen me crack a smile.

Mother methodically inspected me, looking at my face and hair, my clothes, and my dust-covered shoes. She examined me as if I were a specimen on a glass slide.

What this trip has taught me is that you can leave home, but you can’t ever truly leave it behind. No matter where you end up, where you started haunts you.

In the margins she’d drawn playful caricatures of our family. My tension eased enough that I chuckled at one of my mother. It bore a striking resemblance to the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz.

They looked as tense as I felt. Even my teeth were nervous.

My Review:

While perusing this craftily written tale, I was well aware that I over-identified with the protagonist of Clara. Although I did not grow up in a cult, my parents were weirdly and stridently religious. Even as a child I knew it was strange and deeply resented the vile coercion, bombastic oratory, and blatant hypocrisy. I rarely read books with a religious theme as I find most religious dogma and rhetoric deeply annoying and tiresome with the essence of most being that everything is a sin that will be severely punished and anyone who does not follow their faith is doomed to an eternity of teeth gnashing. I’d rather be an altruistic, kind, and nonjudgmental person; believe as I please, and be proactive by obtaining dental implants.

Ms. Casey’s writing was emotive and atmospheric yet easy to follow and her storylines were well-plotted, shrewdly paced, taut with tension, maddeningly intriguing, loathsomely realistic, and sneakily unpredictable. I remain deeply curious about the details of Clara’s personal escape eight years prior. The Mormon sect that Clara’s family adhered to is a prime example of the idiocy of the devout who blindly follow teachings that allow and condone child abuse. Deplorable cretins such as this cause me to grind my teeth in the here and now, making those planned dental implants a probable need.

The Fallen Girl by Kathryn Casey
Detective Clara Jeffries #1

Twisted tortured tale of crime in a closed community with polygamous families, lost boys and secrets hidden behind walls of the stalwart believers leads one outsider, once a member, to return in search of her missing sister. As an introduction to a new series the story was superb, well-crafted and filled with interesting characters that I can see in future books of the series. That said, where Clara will be in the second book of the series is left up in the air at the end of the book.

What I liked:
* Clara: forced to make a difficult choice when young then forging ahead alone after having left her close huge family behind. She has found her niche in serving the Dallas community as a police detective. I found her an intriguing person that I would like to learn more about.
* Max: a “lost boy” that was sent away from Alber, Utah. He had a tough time and found his way on the outside only to have it fall apart and then return to Alber. He is a man willing to do whatever is necessary to keep his daughter safe. I wonder what his part will be, if any, in the future.
* The glimpse into what it might be like to live in a fundamentalist polygamous sect – not one I believe I would be comfortable in but I do understand the indoctrination from childhood and how it would impact this story and the lives of the characters within it.
* The twists, turns and red herrings
* The plot and pace of the story
* That the community beliefs and behaviors were well explained for reader understanding
* That the mystery and the baddies finally were dealt with
* The ending…and wondering what will happen next
* That there will be more books to look forward to.

What I didn’t like:
* Being reminded of just how twisted and evil some people can be
* Knowing that though this is fiction there are innocents that suffer and die due to the twisted evil people they sometimes encounter
* Having to wait to read book two in the series

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more books in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars