[REVIEW] Little Girl Lost

title: Little Girl Lost (DI Robyn Carter #1)
author: Carol Wyer
genre: adult fiction, crime fiction, mystery, thriller
publish: January 19, 2017 by Bookouture
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

A perfect family hiding disturbing secrets. A killer who wants the truth to be told.  

A teacher goes missing under suspicious circumstances.
A millionaire is murdered at a local reservoir.
For Detective Robyn Carter, there’s no obvious link between the men. But as she starts to delve into the cases, her investigations lead her to Abigail, perfect wife and mother to beautiful little Izzy. What was Abigail’s connection to the victims? And why is she receiving threatening messages from an anonymous number?  

But as Robyn starts to inch closer to finding the killer, Izzy is abducted.  

Unless Robyn gets to the twisted individual in time, a little girl will die …  

Gripping, fast paced and nailbitingly tense, this serial killer thriller will chill you to the bone. Perfect for fans of MJ Arlidge and Angela Marsons. Discover Carol Wyer’s new series today – at a special launch price. 

kept me thinking. kept me at the edge of my seat.

I read this basically because I'm a Bookouture thriller-trash. I'll probably read every Bookouture thriller that's out there, ya know 💁 Also, check that hook, I'm always into those perfect-family-but-not mysteries. Gotta read them all!

KEEPING SECRETS LEADS TO UNHAPPINESS AS YOU WILL SOON FIND OUT. -loc1090; eARC

Little Lost Girl opened with a prologue of a young girl ending up being raped by her supposed-to-be step-brother. But before anything happens, she stabbed him with a pencil (i think?) in the eye. No one believed her when she tried to tell what happened. Because of the incident, her supposed-to-be step-brother's father ended his relationship with her mother which ruined their life thus the revenge plot happens. But where does the perfect-family-but-not plot comes in? Let me tell you.

This detective mystery-thriller novel follows the points of view of: (1) DI Robyn Carter -- so we can try and solve this care. Also, her mind is super sharp and she has strong intuition/gut feeling. Not the best way to solve a case, of course, so she finds things out; (2) Abigail Thorne -- she lives the perfect family life. Her husband has a good job and she just gave birth to her daughter Izzy. However, she started receiving threats pushing her to reveal her secret, whatever that is. She slowly gets paranoid throughout the novel which she even ended up doubting her husband; and (3) the serial killer -- there's a 'now' and 'then' point of view and it's very intriguing. I was really trying to find her out as I read this.

I always believe kindness is spread. If I do something nice then the universe will repay me somehow, although that isn't a reason for doing kindness. The universe has a way of dealing with good and bad energy. I try to spread good energy.' -loc2924; eARC

If you've seen my updates on goodreads, I was actually both confused and intrigued by this novel. There were deaths and, of course, I know they're related but how? I even had NO IDEA as to how to relate the disturbing prologue to Abigail Thorne and this anonymous threat she's receiving. All throughout this confusion, I was intrigued to know the connections. I was constantly thinking as to who the serial killer is especially when it was revealed that the girl from the prologue grew up moving places and changing names. It made the entire mystery more difficult. HOW EVEN?

However, throughout this really crazy mystery-thriller, Carol Wyer successfully explained and wrap the mystery up. It was like reading a Christie Mystery and at the end of it all, you'll just have that moment of: oh wow, that actually made sense. That was amazing. Yup, I think this was an amazing mystery with amazing writing that's completely worth reading if you're up for really engaging mystery that will keep you thinking.

'Any death is tragic, especially for those left behind.' -loc3987; eARC

DI Robyn Carter is a detective with an unfortunate past and strong intuition. She follows her gut feelings and strongly look for clues from her line of inquiry. She sticks by it which makes her a stubborn detective but she does show results. At some point, she reminded me of Detective Erika Foster because of the death of her husband but DI Carter has her husband's ex-wife and daughter which were really good to her.

OVERALL, Little Lost Girl is a completely intriguing read. Carol Wyer is a great mystery writer. She kept me thinking and always shifting suspects until revelation time. DI Robyn Carter is a must read detective crime thriller if you're a fan of DI Kim Stone by Angela Marsons and Detective Erika Foster by Robert Bryndza!

trigger warning!! child rape

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