This is the 9th book in the D.I Lottie Parker series and it seems like it's been ages the last but then I feel the same with every Ms Gibney novel. In my opinion these books go from strength to strength but I honestly don't think that this or any of the the series are written as standalones, for maximum enjoyment it's best to start at the beginning with #TheMissingOnes. This is set in a small town called Ragmullen which is fast turning into Irelands version of Black Rock Falls in D. K. Hoods Detectives Kane and Alton series and I don't think I want to live in either thanks very much lol..

It's a huge welcome back to DI Lottie Parker, her family and the team, catching up with Lottie, Boyd is like meeting family/friends that you haven't seen for a long time (lockdown springs to mind). We begin this one on the run up to Boyd and Lottie's wedding, something a lot of the readers have been waiting quite some time for and wouldn't you know it there's not only wedding issues but there's also a series of horrific murders for them to deal with. 

We all know that Lottie hates to be beholden to anyone and there's an issue with their wedding that means she needs to accept help from a suspect, this really doesn't sit well with her but there appears to be no other option if the wedding is to go ahead. Whilst out on his bike Boyd meets a young girl of 14 with a broken bicycle chain which he promptly fixes, for some reason he feels a kind of protectiveness towards her, more so when it seems as if she is somehow involved in these crimes.

If you enjoy crime novels with a strong female protagonist with a mind of her own, who sails a little close to the wind at times I would recommend that you give @PatriciaGibney and Lottie Parker a read. I would advise you  make sure you have time to read as you'll be gripped from the beginning. They are very well written, really fast paced with more twists and turns than the Kildare Maze. One of the best things about this series is that theirs always a good cast of suspects for us to pick through and this is no different. The manner of the victims deaths is strychnine poisoning which we all know isn't pretty but Ms Gibney writes about the deaths clearly but without unnecessarily graphic descriptions. 

Read for an honest review. Thank you Ms Gibney, #Netgalley and Bookouture

Love the Lottie Parker novels. Great writing and premise. Amazing characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing..Definitely looking forward to the next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it s

Another brilliant instalment in the amazing Lottie Parker series.  So many red herrings and I had absolutely no clue who the killer was.  Really fast paced, exciting and compelling!

Detective Lottie Parker and her Detective Sergeant, Boyd, are days away from getting married. Things are not going to run smoothly for Lottie though. For one thing there are a series of three murders just days apart. And not just murders but horrible ones done with poison and it turns out the victims all knew each other. 

  Then the hotel where the wedding is taking place gets flooded and Lottie is forced to use the home of one of the murder suspects. The woman owns a new restaurant in town and has two grown daughters who are connected to the victims. The ex-husband is also weirdly attached to the victims. I found it odd that a man described as visually shocking by his thinness could attract so many young women. But the family seems to have a strange fascination for Lottie. She even goes to their house for dinner. This odd attraction was bothersome to me. It's just so out of character for Lottie but maybe it's the upcoming nuptials.

  Boyd runs into a poor 15 year old girl, Maddy, who is also connected to the murder victims. He develops a very protective feeling for her. It turns out Maddy's involvement is the center of the investigation. 

  This 9th entry keeps you turning the pages and is a wonderful series. You can read it as a stand alone but as in all series, you would miss a lot of the nuances. It's a series that's worth the time although it's grim. Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

Another great Lottie Parker story with an ending that comes as a surprise. No matter how hard I try I can never work out who the killer is. Keep up the good work Patricia.

A new book in this fascinating series is like waking up on your birthday and looking forward to opening your gifts!
It’s book number 9 and I would not mind reading a hundred more of them with this great DI and her team. 
She does not always follow the rules and she knows she should hold back, but she so wants to find the culprits that she does not want to spend too much time waiting. Every second counts and she is determined to use them all for the good cause.
The story starts on a happy note. An event fans have been looking forward to, but everything is soon turned upside down. Lottie has other fish to fry first.
That was one hell of an opening, but that’s not all. The author takes us a few years back and the past is the base for the present and the future. That’s not a problem of course in normal situations, but as you can imagine, this is not one of those.
Is the killer a man or a woman? That was the easiest part for me to determine. If you asked me for a name, well that’s where I missed the boat. 😊
A very complicated story, but crystal clear when everything was unraveled. 5 stars.

Thank you, Patricia Gibney and Bookouture

As always another gripping thrilling read from The D.I Lottie Parker series. Without a doubt my favourite detective out there...probably because I've read them all. Awesome!

Here we are again back with the wonderful Lottie Parker and her team in book nine of one of my favourite series. As always with these books it’s not just about solving the case it’s also about catching up with all the wonderful characters especially Lottie and Boyd who take pride of place just as they should in my opinion they make a great team. 
So this is a case that is so full of twists that try as I might I just couldn’t figure out who the perpetrator was I had some ideas but my head was fairly spinning on my shoulders as the book progressed. To add to all the complications of this case Lottie and Boyd have just a few days till they are getting married putting extra pressure them both. The book rattles along at breakneck speed and once again we have the brilliant writing of Patricia Gibney to thank for that she is just so clever with her plot line giving hints and clues and twisting you up in knots making for a completely addictive read.
So a book I loved and a series also that just never fails to satisfy and that’s what makes it a five star read for me and totally recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love a police procedural and this is a very good one. Great plot, fab characters, plenty of red herrings and interesting private lives of the detectives. This has the right amount of tension to keep those pages turning.

Another good mystery thriller in the series which shows Lottie as a strong and level headed person both at home and work. The positives are the narrative and characters. The negatives are the disjointed initial chapters and a circuitous plot to the extent of improbable. 3.5 stars

If fans of this series know one thing for sure, it is that things never happen simply for Lottie. So it only makes sense that her wedding would somehow get messed up as well.

Wedding planning (and eventually the wedding itself) get pushed to the back burner when young women are suddenly being poisoned. At first the connections don’t seem to make sense. But as more crimes take place and a few more shifty characters are introduced, we realize that the connection lies in the shared past of the murdered women and the Fleming Family (who is all too happy to keep pointing the finger at each other). Needless to say a combination of daddy issues and a need for constant attention can be deadly.

Hopefully Lottie and her family can experience a few weeks of peace before they’re taken on their next crazy adventure. Whatever the case, I can’t wait to read all about it.

This book definitely held my interest and despite a few flaws, I was determined to get to the end so I could find out who the murderer was. 

First, the flaws - there were so many characters in this book it was sometimes hard to keep them straight. And the first couple of chapters were very disjointed, each one having to do with people and circumstances that seemed not to be related (they were, eventually). I was also disappointed in the tie-up at the end, where the murderer was revealed. Did I suspect the person?  Probably, because I suspected everyone, but the whole ending felt very anticlimactic. 

Overall though, the book did hold my interest and was written very well. I liked the main character, Lottie, who was torn apart in many directions - her career, her family, etc. Her drive and passion came through to the reader.

Wow we are on book 9 already of this utterly amazing series.  I can honestly say that the Lottie Parker series just keeps getting better and better.  This time Lottie and her team are frantically searching for a serial killer who has killed people in a most heinous manner.  Despite the full team working on this case they are struggling to find a motive and who is responsible . In the midst of all this Lottie and Boyd are trying to organise their wedding which is happening in a few days .  Well what can I say expect that this book was another fantastic read in this superb series.  I absolutely love Lottie in spite of her mad moments at times.  An absolute thriller of a read with many stop your heart moments. 5🌟

This is my 9th time to visit Lottie and the gang, and Ms. Gibney does not disappoint. Lottie certainly has her flaws, but with each book we see more growth. Once again, Ms. Gibney grabs your attention from the start and does not let go until the finish. An awesome tale that mixes murder, horror and twists...you won't be disappointed.

**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest opinion.**

Well that was a twisty rat’s nest and then some! The book opens with drama at Lottie and Boyd’s wedding and then we backtrack. A young woman, Rachel Mullen, attends a launch party for a posh new restaurant one night. The next day she is found dead in her home, apparently of strychnine poisoning (a particularly nasty way to go). Lottie’s team launches an investigation but before they get their teeth into it another body is found, ostensibly killed in the same way. This time it’s a psychologist, Ellen.

The investigation keeps turning up the same people - Annie Fleming (owner of the new restaurant), Matthew Fleming (her soon to be ex-husband and businessman), Jessica and Tara Fleming (their two daughters. And a 14 year old girl from a poor and struggling family, Mandy Daly, seems to crop up everywhere too. The psychologist, Ellen, has counselled just about everyone and there are various boyfriends and former boyfriends in the mix as well. DI Lottie Parker and DS Boyd, due to get married in a few days time, are run ragged investigating more and more deaths and getting nowhere. Except - the Fleming family is very, very fishy. There are some dark secrets here and Lottie will have them out in the open if it’s the last thing she does. And it could very well be!

It was looking like a 5 star book for sure until the end. I was wondering how this mess could be brought together into a coherent whole and I did find it a little lacking. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the book, it was great fun to read and I do enjoy a nice complex plot but I thought the final denouement was a little bit of a stretch. Just a tiny bit. Nevertheless a very solid 4 stars from me and I still think it’s one of the best in the series. Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Patricia Gibney for providing me with a copy to review. My opinions are my own.

Wow. This book moves at the rate of a speeding train. Told from multiple points of view and ending each chapter with a bit of a cliffhanger, Gibney grips the reader with suspense wondering when everyone's worlds are going to collide. 

With a plot established on strong characters and authentic police procedure, and a very satisfying conclusion, this a must-read for crime fiction fans.

I saved this one especially for the holidays because a new Lottie Parker book is always a treat. This one is no exception. The plot is interesting: women are being poisoned and it takes a while before you get any clarity on what is actually happening and why. The strength of this series remains its characters and their relationships. Lottie is getting remarried but even this cannot happen without complications. Very enjoyable.

*5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be a really interesting read with lots of twists and turns. This kept me guessing about who the criminal really was. I found the characters to be interesting and I really enjoyed this book. Would recommend.

The newest addition to the Lottie Parker series and it’s up there with the best in the series. 

Young women are being poisoned in the town of Ragmullin and Lottie is on the case. There are various leads but none of them seem to be connected. Can Lottie figure out a motive that will ultimately lead her to the killer and stop the murders?
We also find here more or less on the eve of her wedding. Her plans are somewhat scuppered and she finds it hard to concentrate on it as the murders mount as well as the suspects and she tries to unravel the intricate web of clues. 

As said,this is a great addition to the series. There’s a huge cast of characters and suspects but they are all very well written and not at all hard to keep track of. The book really zips along despite being around 500 pages long. It didn’t feel like any filler at all as this complicated story is told and fleshed out. There’s some lovely descriptive passages that seem to have found their way into Gibneys writing and they really help to add a sense of atmosphere. 

This could possibly work as a stand alone but is probably better read as part of a series. Lottie Parker is a fantastic character, smart and not afraid to speak her mind or break the rules, she really does carry all the books on her shoulders. 

This series is evolving nicely and if anything getting stronger. This is one of my favourites in the series and I’d highly recommend it. 

Many thanks to Netgalley for an ARC.

Lottie never fails me! She is such a good and trusted friend. Although, she can be quite annoying at times, you need a lot of patience if you want to be close to her, and at other times you just want to run and leave that complete mess. When it's time for her wedding, things are not exactly calming down. There is a fresh case on the table. Women around town are found dead. Murdered. The team does not seem to get anywhere with the case.

A solid Lottie book in this excellent series! If you like small towns and big crimes, you should read this series! Even though Lottie can be one of the most frustrating people on the planet, you can't help but love her. Her determination is admirable. She's like an angry terrier when she is on a case. Nothing will stop her from solving the case. Not even her own wedding.

Mesmerizing! Utterly thrilling! Unputdownable! One of the best series I have ever read. It seems like nothing can stop Patricia Gibney. Her writing is excellent. The story flows like a river with no dams, but many waterfalls, and several dangerous currents. Highly recommended!