Book Review – The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: 16th March 2017

Format: eBook ARC

Note: This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

About the book:

When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how?

The trail leads Lottie to St Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.

As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger?

Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice.

What I Thought:

The Missing Ones is the first in a new detective story set in a fictional town in Ireland featuring DI Lottie Parker. In the present day the story begins with a body being discovered in the cathedral, before a second body is discovered in suspicious circumstances and a strange tattoo seems to suggest the two bodies are more closely connected than anyone looking at their current lives would think.

The case takes a person twist for Lottie, both historically, as the case seems to me linked to St. Angela’s a children’s home from Lottie’s past, but also in the present, as threats are made to her and her children in an attempt to scare her off the case. I won’t spoil anymore of the plot for anyone, as to not give anything away, parts of the story were quite difficult to read as it does deal with abuse, as although this is fiction, so much as been in the press over recent years you know for some people this was, as still is their reality.

One of the key areas of any book is the characters, and this is probably even more true of a series, who is going to carry on with a second book if they don’t like the characters? First up the central character DI Lottie Parker – Lottie is the DI heading up the team in Ragmullin, like so many fictional detectives she’s flawed, but that certainly doesn’t take anything away from the character. I really liked Lottie, she’s a single mother with three teenage children still struggling to cope with the death of her husband, and learning how to balance her family and professional lives. Lottie is a good detective, she’s certainly made it to her position on merit but she has a habit of following her gut, probably a little too often for her superiors’ liking, as it often leads to her stepping on others’ toes! That said she gets results in the end! Also featuring in the book are her three children, who are dealing with not only the loss of their dad but also the general trials and tribulations of being teenagers. Lottie’s mum also features and it becomes clear that something from their shared past has created a wall between them, something that becomes clearer as the plot moves on.

We’re also introduced to a number of Lottie’s colleagues, the members of her team and her superior officer. Without a doubt the character that made the biggest impact on me was her partner DS Mark Boyd, I really enjoyed the banter between the two of them, and there’s also a bit of history between them, and it’s clear he has feelings for her.

At a bit over 400 pages The Missing Ones is a longer novel but the plot was well paced and didn’t feel padded, in fact I probably could have read more! I enjoyed the movement between the past and the present day, I know this doesn’t work for everyone but I liked the little extra bits of information you gained from the past sections, it definitely added to my overall enjoyment of the plot.

Would I Recommend?

Absolutely! The Missing Ones is an extremely promising start to what is shaping up to be a fantastic new detective series, I really enjoyed the setting, and the characters, the plot was interesting and well paced, and the writing was gripping! I went straight onto NetGalley and requested the second book, The Stolen Girls. It’s actually the release day for The Stolen Girls today, Happy Book Birthday! I really enjoyed this one too, expect a review soon!

While you’re waiting for that review go and pick up The Missing Ones the Kindle edition is currently only 99p on Amazon UK, what have you got to lose?!