The Nowhere Girls by Dana Perry

 On the anniversary of her sister’s death, FBI agent Nikki Cassidy takes a call that has her heart pounding in her chest, the image of her beautiful sister Caitlin etched in her mind.

Another girl has been taken.

Days later, the lifeless body of twelve-year-old Natalie Jarvis is found in a remote patch of woodland, a crown of roses delicately placed on her head. Just like Caitlin.

The killer is back.

Nikki rushes to her small hometown of Groveton, Ohio. She will do anything to stop another young girl dying, but she soon realises that nothing is what it seems—everyone in her hometown is keeping a secret. And when a note is discovered near Natalie’s body addressed to Nikki, it’s clear what the murderer really wants: her…

She’s caught killers before, but this time it’s personal. And Nikki will risk everything—even her own life—to get justice for every victim. It’s time to stop this twisted killer, once and for all…

Dana Perry's The Nowhere Girls features a maverick FBI agent, Nikki Cassidy, who has a personal connection with crime.  Her father was the local police chief when she was growing up in Ohio, and when her sister went missing.  Eventually, her sister's remains were found, buried in nearby woodlands, and a perpetrator was jailed for her abduction and murder.  Each year, on the anniversary of her disappearance, Nikki returns home in the attempt to gain closure, but each year, her convicted killer refuses to see her.  This year, however, is different.  This time, he wants to see her.  This time, Nikki may discover the truth.

Nikki is back in her home town when another local girl goes missing, and it feels too close to home.  She persuades her boss that the FBI should get involved and that, as she is on the scene, she should be the one to liaise with the local law enforcement services to see if there is a connection.  While some might argue that her personal history might render her less than ideal to pursue this investigation, Nikki and pragmatism prevail.   Colleagues are dispatched to assist in the investigation, and as events  unfold, they are all put at great personal risk.  Meanwhile, Nikki's partner is less than happy that she is putting her job before their relationship...

A good read, a pacy thriller and an interesting start to a new series. of crime thrillers featuring FBI agent Nikki Cassidy.

Blog Tour: The Girl Who Escaped by Angela Petch

 

The Girl Who Escaped: Utterly heartbreaking and emotional WW2 historical fiction by Angela Petch

 

Italy, 1940. The girl sobs and rages as her father tells her the terrible news. “Italy is entering the war alongside Germany. Jews are to be arrested and sent to camps. We have to be ready.”

As fascists march across the cobbled piazzas and past the towered buildings of her beloved home city, twenty-year-old Devora’s worst fears come true. Along with her Jewish parents and twin little brothers they are torn away from everything they love and sent to an internment camp huddled in the mountains. Her father promises this war will not last long…

When they are offered a miraculous chance of escape by her childhood friend Luigi, who risks everything to smuggle vital information into the camp, the family clambers under barbed wire and races for the border. But Devora is forced to make a devastating choice between saving a stranger’s life and joining her parents. As shots fire in the moonless night, the family is separated.

Haunted by the question of whether they are dead or alive, all Devora can do for their future is throw herself into helping Luigi in the Italian resistenza in the fight for liberty. But posing as a maid for a German commander to gather secret intelligence, Devora is sure she sees her friend one night, in a Nazi uniform…

Is Devora in more danger than ever? And will her family ever be reunited – or will the war tear them apart?

An absolutely devastating but ultimately uplifting historical novel about how love and hope can get us through the darkest times. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Rhys Bowen and Soraya M. Lane.

 

Buy link: https://geni.us/B0BYC1V9NHsocial

Devora is the heroine of this novel.  Born in Italy to Jewish parents who fled Germany and the horrors of persecution during WW1, she is happily living in Urbino, studying with the ambition to become a doctor, with a group of friends and a teenage crush on the local heart-throb.  However, the rise of the fascists and invasion by the Nazis threaten her future and the safety of her parent and twin brothers.  Devora must discover new strengths and resources within herself if she is to have the opportunity to grow up and realise her dreams, and she also needs to determine who her true friends are.  A spirited and rebellious girl, she must grow up quickly.

I enjoyed getting to know Devora and her journey to adulthood against the background of the War in a setting I was somewhat unfamiliar with: the Italian Resistance and the risks taken in outwitting the enemy as part of the fight for survival.  Urbino is a beautiful, hill-top walled city, a world heritage centre in the Marche region of the Appennines which played a significant part in the Renaissance and was the birthplace of the artist Raphael.  It looks absolutely beautiful and luckily it was not bombed during the war and remained relatively unscathed.  I recommend a quick search to discover more about this beautiful place, but I digress...

This is a moving story of bravery and collaboration against a common enemy, with a satisfying ending.

It is a good read, too. Thanks to Bookouture for the opportunity to enjoy this book.

Secrets of the Dead by Carol Wyer

What they said:-

Three murders. Three innocent victims. What secrets did they share with their killer?

A bottle of bubble bath and colourful, plastic boats were scattered in small puddles on the floor. In the bathtub lay Linda Upton, fully-clothed, her lips a shade of blue, and her bloodshot eyes wide open.

When a young mother is found drowned in the bath, clutching a receipt saying ‘all debts paid’, Detective Robyn Carter knows it’s just the beginning of a harrowing case. She recognises the signs of a serial killer, and when a second victim with a receipt is found, her worst fears are confirmed.

With the local press whipping the public into a frenzy, Robyn is under pressure to solve the crime yesterday. But her team can’t find a link between the two bodies, and the cracks are starting to show.

Just when her leads have dried up, Robyn discovers an unsettling clue she thinks could unlock the case. But as she chases across the plush carpets and manicured lawns of the wealthy elite, honing in on the killer’s shocking motive, one of her own is put in terrible danger.

The press call him The Leopard for his stealth, speed and brutality. Can Robyn stop the most twisted killer of her career before it’s too late?

A heart-pounding, toe-curling, one-sitting serial killer thriller that will hook you from the first page till the last. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter.

What I thought:-

An ingenious plot which kept me guessing and reading compulsively to discover the outcome.  There were plenty of twists and it was very enjoyable reading.  Carol Wyer's DI Robyn Carter is an interesting heroine with a tragic past, maverick tendencies and a strong sense of intuition.  I look forward to reading the next instalment of her crime-solving adventures.

The Lost Children by Helen Phifer

An exciting thriller featuring an interesting pairing of detectives in Lucy Harwin and Mattie Jackson, set in the fictional coastal town of Brooklyn Bay, and dealing with the consequences of historic treatment of  child patients in the local psychiatric asylum.  It's an interesting angle and well handled.  There are twists, surprises, threats and dire danger, making for compulsive, gripping reading.

Sleep Tight by Caroline Mitchell

DS Ruby Preston has another murderer to find: this one is extremely creepy and the case is turning out to have leads that come very close to home.  Ruby grew up in the East End and went to school in the area.  She is pursuing a career with the Shoreditch police, while some of her class mates are from the families of local crime lords (including her estranged sweetheart, Nathan Crosby and his brother Lenny).  A girl is found, murdered, in a local park, but then another body, this time staged in an adjacent cemetery to look like Snow White, and crucial evidence is found in the home of someone she cares about.   Ruby continues to go her own way rather than follow procedure. and puts herself at risk rather than let more victims fall to this sinister killer.  There's plenty of suspense and surprises in this compulsive read of a book, and it leaves me wondering where Ruby's cases will next take her.

Last Breath by Robert Bryndza

Another excellent crime thriller by Robert Bryndza, centred around DCI Erika Foster and her colleagues.  Despite having been assigned away from the Murder Investigation Team, Erika finds a way to attend the crime scene when a body is found in a dumpster in a car park.  Very much led by instinct and intuition, she cannot let it go and begins to look deeper, managing to get herself, eventually, reassigned to the investigation.  This is a compelling and thrilling read, cleverly crafted and plotted, with intriguing and believable characters who are beginning to feel like old friends. Good one, Robert!

The Woman in Black by Kerry Wilkinson

Kerry Wilkinson has created a fascinating character in Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniels and in this, the third in the series, she seems to be learning better to work in a team while retaining her ability to think outside of the box and combine instinct and deduction to solve some of the crimes that fall to her to investigate.

The story starts with a severed hand being left in a very public place in Manchester.  A mother is reporting her son missing and then a package arrives at the police station, addressed to Senior Detective.  The parcel reveals a finger removed from the hand - and DNA evidence shows that the hand and finger are not the missing young man.

Then a second hand and finger surface, and  it is a DNA match for the missing son.  Similar modus as last time, but this time it is addressed to Jessica, so it feels as if it's getting personal, and seems as if there might possibly be a serial killer at work - except there are only hands and fingers, but no further body parts.  Careful scrutiny of security camera footage suggests the hands are being planted by a woman dressed in a hooded black cape and low heels. The search is on for connections between victims, and to discover what is going on.

This is a really gripping story and a very satisfying read.  Happily, there are more cases to enjoy in the series beyond this one, but I am totally hooked on these books and am happily anticipating the next instalment.

While You Were Sleeping by Kathryn Croft

Start reading this book in the keen anticipation that it will keep you gripped and wondering about just about every character until its chilling denouement.  

Tara is the main character, and she lives in a South London cul-de-sac with her husband Noah, teenaged daughter Sophie and son Spencer (11).  One night, when her husband is away on business, she pops in to speak to her neighbour, and ends up having a drink with the neighbour's husband.  The next thing she knows, she is waking up in her neighbour's bed, next to Lee - who is dead - with no memory of how this came to pass but certain she had not had enough to drink to explain this lapse.  Shocked, she makes her escape from the house and begins the switchback journey to make sense of what happened, initially deciding not to go to the police.  There are plenty of shocks and surprises along the way and Tara's trust in all of her family is challenged to the extreme.  

The Gift by Louise Jensen

What a brilliant thriller: intense suspense, more twists than a country lane, and a clever, original plot that is engrossing and enthralling from beginning to end.  Jenna, the main character, has received a heart transplant but discovers that this amazing gift of a second chance at life comes with a cost.  She starts to experience dreams and recollections that are not her own.  Is she being possessed by her donor?  Her life becomes more traumatic and out of control as she tries to make sense of it all, and danger is lurking.  It's an amazing story that is utterly gripping, a terrific read.

Miss Wrong and Mr Right by Robert Bryndza

Robert Bryndza has conjured up a fascinating and believable world peopled by engaging and sympathetic characters in this delightful story.  Natalie was going to marry her childhood sweetheart until it occurred to her that there might be more to life than becoming a teenaged bride.  Her fiance, Jamie, was not prepared to wait while she found herself, so they parted ways.  Natalie works hard to overcome her poor academic performance and manages to forge a brilliant career in the world of theatre.  We find her having cast  an American heart-throb TV actor in a production of "The Scottish Play", hoping to have a financially successful run at her theatre, and with a boyfriend who is a yoga teacher, when her eccentric Hungarian grandmother turns up in London - and things start to go wrong.  What is going on in the building over the road to her theatre?  And Jamie comes back into her life - as a business rival.  This is a romance, but with added humour and wit, an absolute joy to read.  I loved it.

Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

Such a thrilling thriller: tautly plotted, peopled by well-drawn and convincing characters, with suspense and suprises aplenty.  DCI Erica Foster may be on her first outing with Robert Bryndza, but she comes with a strong and tragic back story as well as a fine investigative instinct and good leadership skills.  Newly arrived in London, she hits the ground running when required to head up a politically sensitive murder enquiry.  The situation escalates and she faces incredible challenges from outside influences and interference, as well as personal danger.  As the cover says, it's a serial killer thriller, blessed with pace and fine writing.  I am so glad there is not long to wait before Erica is back in the incident room on a new case, she's a great character.

The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft

A compulsive read and a really thrilling thriller, full of suspense and excitiement. It is well written with engaging, sympathetic characters and an excellent, original plot. Well worth reading.