by Patricia Gibney
In a relatively small town in Ireland, the murder of a woman in the town’s cathedral sets off a chain of events that results in several more deaths and the unearthing of terrible secrets kept under lock and key for decades.
Lottie Parker is the Inspector called to the scene, and when she finds clues that point towards a past tragedy that changed her own family forever, things become personal.
Widowed only a few years ago, she struggles enough as it is with her demanding job and not neglecting her three children.
And then there is the yellowing file of a missing boy, dating back to 1976, still at the bottom of a drawer in her desk…
I found myself not particularly drawn to Lottie as a character, but to the solving of the puzzle and the way each clue that seemed to turn up came to a dead end – at first, until at some point, everything fell into place and made sense.
The story involves horrible crimes such as systematic child abuse, abandoned babies and nameless graves in the grounds of an orphanage run by the Catholic church.
Abusive priests and destroyed lives cropped up left, right and centre – not an easy read, especially considering that we all know such things really happen(ed) on a large scale.
The relationship between Lottie and her policing partner leaves room for development; typical for the 1st book in a series.
I am not sure I will want to read more; the writer’s style is readable enough and the story really kept me guessing (sometimes, but not always, right). But I have so many other books lined up for reading, and am now ready for some lighter entertainment.
Needless to say, this was a free ebook from Amazon's kindle shop. If you want to know more about the author and her work, her website is here. In "about me", she shows a few things in common with her heroine: Just like Lottie Parker, Patricia Gibney has lost her husband way too early. And like Lottie, she has three children. Unfortunately, her website seems not to have been updated since 2019, but there has been a continuous output of books, 11 so far according to wikipedia.
There's such an abundance of gruesome crime novels these days that it really takes extraordinarily likeable characters and environment for me to get "hooked" on a new series these days (and that goes for TV as well...)
ReplyDeleteSame here, Monica. I am so pleased that my next read after this one was/is the next Inspector Oldroyd one, as per information from your blog. It is a pleasure to "meet" those likeable characters again!
DeleteI find it unpleasant to read horrible crime books but maybe that's just me! I am rereading "Spill Summer Falter Wither" by Sara Baume, beautifully written but not a thriller.
ReplyDeleteIt was unpleasant, Jenny, but at the same time gripping as the detectives were coming up against thick walls of silence in every direction during their investigation, and it was fascinating to read how they worked it all out in the end. Certainly not a book I ever wish to re-read, though!
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