Abby Wakeland has had a secret for 14 years. She's finally brave enough to tell her mother... Detective Kate Wakeland ... about what happened to her.

All her mother knows is that something changed in Abby when she was a young teenager. She became moody, didn't talk to mom anymore, was angry or extremely happy.

But Abby finds that looking into her mother's eyes is not working. As Abby has been seeing a therapist, she recommends tht Abby talk to him while Kate listens.

What Abby reveals sets the wheels turning on a case of accidental drowning that might well have been murder. And when the body of one of Abby's friends is found ... they discover she has been dead for 10 years. So who had been texting her mother?

This is a well written story with an intricate plot that holds your attention from start to finish. It's a page-turner with suspense starting with the first page. The characters are carefully drawn and will not easily be forgotten. Told in part by Kate ... in the present, and by Abby, through her memories of the past, and finally through a long-forgotten journal, it's a riveting read.

Although second in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. I read the first book and wasn't all that enthusiastic about it. I am so glad I decided to take a chance on book 2. I understand that Book 3 will be out in 2021 .... and I'm looking forward to see what happens next for the Wakeland family.

Many thanks to the author / Bookish Coast / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

This is the second book in the Tallman's Valley Detective series by author Anni Taylor. I haven't read the first book and although it didn't stop my enjoyment I realised that there was certain information available from the first book that may have been useful. It was an interesting plot and the characters were very good and made the book an enjoyable read. Not quite a page turner for me but certainly a good solid read.

The Lullaby Man preyed upon young girls in Tallman's Valley, he spoke of love but only the girls themselves ever knew about him. Ten years later one of his victims Abby Wakeland who is now twenty four has discovered the courage to tell her mother. Her mother is Senior Detective Kate Wakeland who now plans to uncover the secrets that have remained untold for ten years.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and ARC for supplying this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this second book in the series featuring Senior Detective Kate Wakeland and her partner Franco. They make a good team. She works on hunches and has a very energetic approach to solving crimes. He is much cooler and likes hard facts. Plus they always have each other's back.

In The Lullaby Man we discover that Kate's daughter (also mother to Ivy who was taken in Book 1) has been living for more than a decade with a shocking secret. Having discovered some of the facts Kate is obliged to report them and an old case of apparent suicide in the community has to be reopened.

I liked everything about this book! The story was intriguing, the characters well written and the police work was thorough and realistic. It was a page turner and very difficult to put down at any point. There were twists and turns all the way through especially at the end and I got a couple of big surprises. No way I came close to guessing the culprit!

Best of all it opened the way for Book 3 which I am very much looking forward to. An excellent read and I recommend it highly.

I absolutely loved this new book by Anni Taylor! A continuation of her Tallman's Valley series, this one is about Detective Kate Wakeland's daughter, Abby, and some secrets from the past that she's now ready to confront. She was groomed and abused by The Lullaby Man, a teacher who had a secret dark side that he drew her into at fourteen years old. His body was found in the lake one morning and the secret of The Lullaby Man died with him. Until now.

Kate reopens his case with new evidence that Abby supplies, and has to balance digging into those crimes with helping her daughter heal. Re-investigating the man's death means Kate must pry uncomfortably into the lives of his family and neighbors. Their pain is brought back to the surface and more than one person is very unhappy about this. They wanted the past to stay buried. Because maybe The Lullaby Man wasn't alone in his twisted beliefs. And maybe Kate and Abby will discover more depravity than they ever imagined.

Reading this book made me remember how much I wanted to move to the setting of these stories! The way the author describes the scenery just draws me in, picturing the idyllic town and the beauty of the encompassing nature. The crimes almost pale in comparison! And like the previous story in this series, this one ends with a little teaser as to the next installment. You can read them as standalone books, but I definitely recommend reading each one because they are just too good not to!

After having read and loved the first book One Last Child, I was excited to dive into this one. Whilst I wasn't as gripped as the previous offering, I enjoyed this nonetheless. Kate is a strong likeable character and it was great to see the development in her and Abby since the first book.
The time frames were useful to understand the characters' history how they were affected by past events.
Will continue to look out for Taylor's next novels.

Normally I love Anni Taylor's books, but this one didn't do it for me. From the beginning, the writing just didn't grab me. I tend to love about every other book by her. Maybe it's because there is so much sex trafficking going on, but the plot wasn't super interesting either. I requested it because I LOVED the first book in this series, but this one fell short for me. I didn't even finish it.

A decade ago, The Lullaby Man preyed upon young girls in Tallman's Valley. He stole into their lives, whispered in their ears, spoke of love...

But only the girls themselves ever knew about him.

This was a pretty intense book.
I really love serial killers. Something about them intrigues me.
This is book 2 in a series. So before I read this one I've got to find book one.
I'm looking forward to reading this one.
And once I've finished with book one and this one..... I will update.

Thank You NetGalley, Publisher & Author for this gifted eBook
Looking forward to reading it. .

This is the third book I've read by Anni Taylor and she is now officially one of my favourite authors!!

Wow! WHAT a book! A decade ago, young girls were taken advantage of by The Lullaby Man and his strange desires. Abby Wakeland was just 14 then and one of the victims, and she is finally ready to tell the story to her therapist with her mum, Detective Kate Wakeland, listening in. This opens up an old investigation of the death of Abby's teacher, who she explains was The Lullaby Man. Kate and her colleague begin to unlock secrets from long ago and race against time to find the truth. I don't want to say any more as you really have to read the story and get enthralled in its fantastic and exciting plot. The twists and turns were just fantastic, you will never see what's coming! I absolutely loved this book and thought it was a brilliant follow on from the first book in the series, One Last Child. I can't recommend the series enough. Amazing characters and thrilling stories. Thanks so much to the fantastic author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.