#allthebookreviews: The Stolen Girls by Patricia Gibney @bookouture @trisha460 @jessicamapreviews
The Stolen Girlsby Patricia Gibney
Bookouture
Happy book birthday!! 🎂
A grittier, darker look into Lottie Parker's life - both professionally and personally. I highly suggest you get in on this series. See what Jessica and I thought about this thriller gone wild.
See my review for Book One, The Missing Girls, here.
See my review for Book One, The Missing Girls, here.
Goodreads Synopsis:
One Monday morning, the body of a young pregnant woman is found. The same day, a mother and her son visit the house of Detective Lottie Parker, begging for help to find a lost friend.
Could this be the same girl?
When a second victim is discovered by the same man, with the murder bearing all the same hallmarks as the first, Lottie needs to work fast to discover how else the two were linked. Then two more girls go missing.
Detective Lottie Parker is a woman on the edge, haunted by her tragic past and struggling to keep her family together through difficult times. Can she fight her own demons and catch the killer before he claims another victim?
My Thoughts:
Coming right off of Book One in the Lottie Parker series (The Missing Girls), we go right back into Lottie's life a few months later. Book Two has Lottie getting back to work, but before she can even get out of her house, a young woman and her son are on her doorstep, seeking help. Leaving a mysterious letter they need to translate, she heads into work and is immediately distracted with a murdered young pregnant woman. Lottie tends to push the line when it comes to what she should be doing while on the case - constantly putting her job at risk. But this is why we love her so, am I right? The case becomes personal when her dead husband and her daughter, Chloe, get in the mix. So busy with work, her home life tends to be pushed to the side. Just when she thinks she knows her children.... secrets come to the surface that will threaten all their lives.
Lottie is a hot mess most of the time, but everything she does, she does a thousand percent. Her attitude, banter with Boyd and take charge, won't take shit attitude makes her a great lead character. You can read this as a stand alone but I would suggest starting with The Missing Girls so you can stay on projection as we learn about these characters. This sophomore thriller is action packed, dark, gritty and touches on the subject of rape and sex trafficking. If that wasn't enough, the author touches on the subject of organ harvesting as well. Why not?! I am a huge fan of this series and will definitely be continuing on Lottie's journeys. Get in people - let's solve some cases!
★★★★
Jessica's Thoughts:
THE STOLEN GIRLS picks up shortly after when THE MISSING ONES ended, but in book two of the Detective Lottie Parker series, Patricia Gibney touches on much darker topics than she did in the first book. Lottie deals with human trafficking, organ farming, rape, self-harm, and a serial killer at large.
Lottie Parker is a hard worker and caring mother of three, and she tries her best to keep business and personal life separate. However, when strangers, a woman and her son, show up on her doorstep asking for help in finding her friend, Lottie's world flips. Later that same day the body of a pregnant woman is discovered and she can't help but wonder if this is the friend the woman and son were looking for. Later a second victim is discovered by the same man that found the pregnant woman, and all of his injuries are the same. Looks like Lottie has a serial killer on her hands. When two more girls go missing she must race against the clock to find them before he kills again.
I really enjoy Gibney's writing style. The chapters are short so the book reads incredibly fast. One of those "just one more chapter" books. I read chapter to chapter, so I'm so guilty of counting to see how long the next chapter is before I start it! Not only are the killings brutal, but the other elements that Lottie uncovers are gruesome and add another layer to this thriller. Then when her daughter is thrown into the mix and is clearly keeping secrets from her mom, that adds to the tension. The characters are great and the build up was so worth the end! I cant wait for more Detective Lottie Parker in the future.
I give this murder mystery thriller 5/5 stars!
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