I received an eARC from Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Single mother Lottie Parker is trying to juggle three teen children and a demanding job while still not recovered from her husband Adam’s death. Her life is in a tail spin, and with her case load there’s no time to breathe.
A woman is found dead in a cathedral, a man swinging from a tree in his own front yard. The only thing it seems the two have in common is the fact that they work together. As Lottie and her team dig deeper, they realize that this might have ties to a shady children’s home from years ago- one with ties to Lottie’s own past. Scandal and secrets that could shake a community, hidden for decades. How far would you go to keep the secret?
My thoughts:
I liked this book, and would like to see more of these characters. Lottie is an interesting, if broken, character. I liked the kids and Boyd; though I did find some of the characters very one note. Told mostly Lottie’s POV , you do get insight into the minds of a few others.
While I loved the story, some pieces were very hard to deal with. If pedophilia is a trigger for you, be warned. I guess my only real complaint is that pieces- not all- of the story were a bit predictable. Still it was a good read that held me captive from the beginning. Four stars!
As far as the adult content scale goes, I give it a nine. The violence and abuse is hard to take, and I would not give it to a teen.

AMAZING!
Really well written and kept me itching to read the next page the whole way through. It was unputdownable! Cannot wait to read book two when released. Definatley a series in the making!

Debut thriller, police procedural featuring DI Lottie Parker -- a widow with 3 children and a compelling case involving an old children's home and the discovery of victims who were once sent there. Set in Ireland, the story involves horrific abuse of children and a coverup that becomes personal for Lottie.

This novel is well-paced and filled with complex layers that hinder the investigation and involve a lot of characters. Who is commiting these murders and is that person someone who had a connection to St. Angela's? The subject matter is difficult as the abuse involves priests and children so beware.

I liked the writing and the character of DI Lottie Parker and hope to see more of her in future books. Will be looking for another in the series. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the e-book ARC to review.

This is a brilliant read and a debut! It is set in Ireland with strongly drawn characters, humour and an intricate plot. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lottie is a widowed single mother with teenagers struggling with their needs, the loss of her husband and the unsociable policing hours. She's down to earth, blunt, brittle with gutter language and often crushing but is respected by her team. She doesn't suffer fools gladly and is one to keep on your side; a good friend and an invincible enemy. She and Boyd appear at first to have a love-hate relationship as they bicker constantly which is hilarious. Nevertheless they work together well as they try to unravel the strange events that occur. There are sundry sub plots like drug-use, paedophile priests and greedy business men. I look forward to a series with this duo as the main characters. I shall post this to Amazon, Facebook and my blog.

D.I. Lottie Parker is a woman with a lot on her plate. She's a widow with three teenagers, a boss who makes working for Donald Trump look attractive and a love hate relationship with her partner that gives her equal measures of comfort and frustration. Add to that the obligatory "dark and unexplained event" of her past we have a woman that really doesn't need a murder on her patch.....or a suspicious apparent suicide only a day later. Even worse the first murder was in the local Catholic church and all clues lead to a now abandoned childrens home once ran by the church.

First books in new series aren't always the best indicator of how it's going to pan out in the long run. It's a bit like a superhero film where you know they're already planning parts 2,3 and 4 before the script for the first one is even sketched out. Often it's all about introducing the main character and their team, or family and so the story gets a bit lost. Most are usually pretty short as well to get it all included so too much is crammed in. Well this ain't short, at over 500 pages it's a good third longer than many books in its genre so this shouldn't be a problem right? Wrong! This is crammed with plot and character development right from the first page. In Lottie Parker we have a new addition to what's really become a genre of its own, the flawed tormented female detective genre (I've just spent too long trying to think up a name for this....I got nothing apart from some dodgy ideas, most sounding like a femidom advert). And Lottie looks to be a worthy contender. She's tough in her job, but a loving if somewhat distracted parent. There are a few nice touches about how she deals with the loss of her husband that you just know are rooted in real life. The actual crime and mystery in this is a touchy subject. It does refer a lot to paedophile crimes but never in a gratuitous way. But it does make for some uncomfortable reading. It was rather easy to guess what was going on as there was such a glaring clue that I was left wondering how on earth anyone let alone a bunch of detectives could miss it.

A gripping read from beginning to finish, I'm very much looking forward to lots more Lottie.

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and Patricia Gibney for the chance to read and review this novel.

What an heart breaking opening which instantly created the feeling of terror and desperation from three children, as they helplessly watched from a third floor window, while a child's body was callously kicked into a shallow grave. Well I was shocked to say the least as surely someone would miss this child and surely the children watching would tell, but neither happened. Almost 40 years to the day  later a series of events would kick open this hornets nest of child abuse and murder of the most heinous kind.
This is a cracking book that stirred up so many different emotional feelings, from heart break to loathing and finally the put me in a room with them for 10 minutes, kind of anger, that you build up as the story unfolds. Set in Ireland the story is centred around the murder of a woman and shortly afterwards the suspicious death of a man. It isn't long before they are linked because of a very unusual tattoo on both victims.
DI Lottie Parker, recently windowed and with three very hormonal children being almost teenager to two that really knew they were adults and you can't tell me what to do sort of age,  heads the investigation with her partner Mark Boyd. This is the first time out for these two this being a new series. It will be very interesting to see how this relationship develops in further books. I certainly loved how they tackled this investigation.
Patricia Gibney certainly made me put my thinking cap on with this book which grew darker the more I read. It really is a very sad story but totally riveting and 100% engrossing, I had to read it in one go. There just wasn't a spot I could stop as the past and present hurtled together to finally get some sort of justice but not without an increasing body count and an accumulation of old scars and new that would never really heal.

Fantastic read. Enjoyed the twists and turns in this,fast paced novel. A real page turner. Highly recommended read

The Missing Ones is a fantastic start to what promises to be a brilliant new crime/ detective series (Detective Lottie Parker series).

I was intrigued from the very first page - it's really well-written, with engaging characters who I really felt like I cared about by the end. Detective Lottie Parker is a bit of a wild card, often breaking the rules slightly to get the outcome she wants, and her partner Mark Boyd who I really warmed to as well! They're both flawed in their own ways - neither of them are perfect - but this only makes them more likable, in my opinion! Lottie is certainly not the perfect mother but her heart is in the right place and she has her own demons to struggle with. The personal lives of the officers added an extra element to the story, on top of the already gripping investigative storyline.

The theme of corruption in 1970's Ireland, particularly in the Catholic Church, is a well-known one and I found it really interesting (if not quite uncomfortable) to read about. It felt well-researched and full of interesting details.

The pace moves along quickly, with no time for me to get bored or disinterested. There's elements of humour, very dark parts and others which are entertaining. The case gets very personal for Lottie and some parts felt a little unbelievable, but I feel that readers always suspend their disbelief with novels like this, and I truly enjoyed every page- a fantastic new series which I'll definitely be reading more of!

A solid series debut featuring Detective Lottie Parker, who is recently widowed with 3 teenagers at home. What starts out as one murder soon turns into several, with each victim being connected to the others. The deeper Detective Parker and her team dig, long time secrets start to surface. Dark and haunting secrets that have affected so many.

The main plot really had me hooked. You could tell this was going to be dealing with a horrible, dark subject matter early on, and it didn't lighten up. Sadly, this read like it could very well be based on true facts.

With a large cast of characters I found myself bouncing back and forth between the who and the why. When it was all said and done, I had some things right, others I completely missed. A good sign in my book of a well written mystery!

While I enjoyed getting to know Lottie Parker, she didn't quite rise to the level of my favorite police bad-asses such as: [author:Robert Bryndza|5763380]'s Detective Erika Roster, or [author:Angela Marsons|7942666]' DI Kim Stone, and the ultimate [author:Cody McFadyen|83056]'s Special Agent Smokey Barrett. I think part of this is due to her team being a bit more disjointed than the ones mentioned above. But there is a lot of potential for growth here and I look forward to seeing what is next in store for this crew.

If you are a fan of police procedural's or just a solid mystery that will keep you guessing, this one is for you!

ARC provided by NetGalley

Really enjoyed this book-- lots of intrigue, multiple possible villains and tension in the police force! Set in a sleepy village in Ireland, it combines some of the horrors of the past with dodgy dealings in the present. Fast-paced and with sufficient layers to keep your interest, The Missing Ones rattled along. Almost read it in one sitting (if work hadn't got in the way, I would have done!)

4.5* stars - I look forward to reading more about Lottie (and Boyd...)

January 1976, and three children watch with horror as a small body is buried, without ceremony, under an fruit tree.
December 2014, and a woman is discovered, strangled, in a rural cathedral. DI Lottie Parker and DS Mark Boyd are called to the scene and can see no reason why anyone would want to harm a fifty-one year old county council worker. She has no family, few friends and apparently no enemies. A distinctive tattoo is found on the corpse and a similar one is located on the body of a suicide victim, just days later. For DI Parker, the coincidence is just too much, and she digs deeper to find a connection.


The Prologue of The Missing Ones is about as strong as you can get. Disturbing, yet brief, it is enough to draw the reader into the mystery surrounding a child's death. Fast forward almost forty years and we are introduced to DI Lottie Parker, a forty-something mother of three. Widowed over three years, she is still grieving for her husband and coming to terms with raising her kids alone. She tries to balance her work/home life yet there are rarely family mealtimes and she feels responsible. Her vulnerability gives her character more depth and adds some warmth to the story. There is some great chemistry with Lottie and her partner, DS Boyd, bringing a real human element into the mix. As the case gains traction, there are flashbacks to 1970s Ireland and the darkness of the State/Church run children's homes of which we are all too aware of. Decades of secrets and lies are discovered as Lottie searches for links to her investigation. Meanwhile, a homeless man rambles about the past, the shady dealings of planning permission for the renovation of a former children's home come to light and a teenage boy goes missing. The spider web of cover-ups is expanding and the tension builds rapidly.

Considering the recent events surrounding the discovery of hundreds of bodies in a former mother and baby home in Ireland, this book is eerily relevant. Our small island has buried the truth for far too long and society will no longer stand for it. Patricia Gibney has written a fictional account of how a handful of bad apples can destroy the whole cart. There are twists galore and the story gathers pace at a gentle pace, reaching a frantic climax. The horrors of the past seep into the present and the characters are introduced with meticulous detail. This is a thrilling debut, with a fantastic protagonist. DI Lottie Parker has her flaws; she has OCD tendencies, a disastrous relationship with her mother and a terrible concept of what is a reasonable diet for herself and her family. Basically, she is human. I'm a big fan of crime thriller series and look forward to the next installment from this Irish DI and her sidekick, DS Boyd (of whom I may be developing a crush on).

Omg what a truly amazing book!!!! I honestly can't put into words how much this book has moved me!!! It made me laugh and cry a lot but most of all it kept me awake at night because I just couldn't put it down!!!! Maybe it was because of recent revelations about mother and baby homes but this is THE best book I've read to date!!!!!! Thank you netgalley. I'm only sorry there were only 5 stars because it definitely deserved more!!!!

The story is well-written and the plot definitely moves forward. While the main voice is that of Lottie, we also read from the perspectives of the suspects as well as people from the past. I can't really say much more than this, however, because I wasn't able to get through it. There was nothing wrong about the book itself; I just wasn't able to get into the story. I gave it about 150 pages before deciding to let it go, so I didn't really get to the juicy parts but based on all of the reviews I have read about this story, this is definitely one to try if you like detective fiction!

I was given an ecopy of this book by Bookouture, Patricia Gibney's publisher in exchange for an honest review - something which I am more than happy to do.

Wow, where to begin with this one? This is a crime thriller that will grab you by the throat - literally! A story that will grip you from the start, it has a dizzying amount of characters and unexplained events that conspire to confuse and throw you off the scent. Who would be a police detective? The story is told from the voice of many characters and it is the job of Detective Lottie Parker, side kick Boyd and her team to unravel the motives for so many seemingly random murders.

Almost each and every character within The Missing Ones has a back story and not all of them visible or obvious - add to that a detective with her own issues and problems and you can imagine how cloudy the waters are!

The story is told over a nine day period set in the present but periodically flicks back to a narrative from the 1970s and a children's institution it is a heart pumping, dark and twisted tale that at times is so awful t's difficult to read, yet you're compelled to keep turning the pages. Events unfurl at a lightning pace - so many events and incidents seem to occur to many people all at the same time leaving no time to second guess the next move or connection.

One thing I am sure about though is, events that happen in our childhood shape the adults we become — not always for the best and not all of us get the solid foundations we should -each turn of the page in The Missing Ones sees a number crumbling that you wouldn't expect. A brilliant debut and a fantastic start to a new detective series.

I highly recommend this book, it is compiles reading above and beyond and once you've read the prologue you'll be speechless, turning the pages in search of answers.

This opens with one hell of a jaw dropping prologue; three children watch in horror as another child is buried and they wonder, which one of us will be next? Absolutely chilling and it sure pulled me in right away. The prologue is set in the seventies then we switch to present day and inside the life of Lottie Parker, a detective in a small town in Ireland. She’s widowed and the mother to three teenagers, and she’s struggling to find a balance between her professional life and her family life. She’s a very well crafted lead, I feel like I really got a good look inside her mind and I understand how she thinks and what motivates her. She’s tough as nails and brash to boot, but in private she has moments of vulnerability that were really endearing. As one murder turns into three, Lottie finds herself cracking under the pressure and making a mess of her life in all areas.

The case leads Lottie and team to St. Angela’s, a home for wayward children that has since closed. The snippets told from the seventies detail the horrors that were occurring there and I have to give a fair warning that there were some disturbing scenes, especially involving children. There was child abuse and sexual abuse and it was pretty graphic and dark. Some of the stuff being outlined was hard to read, but nothing too over the top.

This was an exciting and promising beginning to a new series and a totally spectacular debut, it didn’t read that way and was rather impressive. Gibney created a complex storyline with a pretty large cast of characters making it more difficult to pin down whodunnit. There were twists and turns galore and every time I would make a guess, another direction would be taken leaving me puzzled and trying to work out exactly where this was going, I love that!

This was on the longer side, but it wasn’t filled with fluff, it allowed more exploration of both the central characters as well as a more intricate plot. Besides Lottie, you’re introduced to her partner, Mark Boyd. They had a fantastic chemistry between them and I’m eager to see where the series takes them.

*4.5 stars

I'll be honest, I wasn't even interested in reading this book until I read Melisa and Pamela's reviews. So thank you to them for praising this book because I've found a new series to follow:)

I can't believe this is a debut novel. This was so well-written that I would have believed Patricia Gibney was a seasoned author. The characters were well developed. I liked Lottie a lot. She wasn't perfect, she made mistakes, but that only made me like her more. I even liked her partner, Boyd. I can't wait to see if anything develops between the two.

The story was fleshed out well, also. At times it could be a little uncomfortable because of the subject matter but it was written in such a way that it kept you reading. And believe me when I say that the subject was horrendous!! But I really liked Patricia's story, so well in fact that I stayed up incredibly late reading this!! It's one of those stories that you look at the clock and you think ok, just a couple more chapters, and then you look again and hours have gone by. That's how engrossed I became in the story but it was well worth the lack of sleep.

Patrica Gibney is already working on writing the second installment and I can't wait to read it!

**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is set in Ireland and follows Detective Lottie Parker and her team as they try to track down a killer. I can sometimes find crime books very repetitive in the way that the police force is depicted. But this book by Patricia Gibney awoke my interest in police procedurals again. I loved the characters in this force. They were unflinchingly human and there was so much depth to their characters. It was fascinating getting to know the different lives of each detective and how their career impacts upon this.

What I particularly enjoyed about this book is that it isn’t just told from Lottie Parker’s perspective. There were a lot of voices in this novel, sometimes just one snippet but each narrative injected the story with a dose of realism and intrigue. I think the way the story was delivered is what kept me reading. I never knew whose mind I was going to be in next and what they could tell me about this complex web of deceit.

Gibney tackles a sensitive but widely known blight in Irish History; The Catholic Church. Many books depict the terrible abuse of power by members of the Church, but this is the first book I’ve read that has incorporated this into a crime novel. This book has heartbreaking scenes of child abuse at the hands of people who are trusted to be acting in the name of the Lord. But not only that, it shows the transcending impact this has had on the lives of these children when they have grown up. This element in the book made this much better than many crime novels where the killer just kills because he is a psychopath or a sadist. It is far more complex than that. It juxtaposes real-life issues of the present day with the religious history of Ireland, which means that the plot is a lot more complex than many crime novels I have read. It is impossible to work out whether the killer is acting because of the past or the present.

This is a very well-written story, and I enjoyed it. Despite working out what who was the killer before the revelation, I was still gripped as the end scenes were action packed and very satisfying. For me, it feels like Patricia Gibney has created an entire world in this book. The crimes aren’t the sole focus of the book, Lottie and her team are brought to life making this book much more than a book about a killer.

Make sure you check out the other reviews on this blog tour. It’s always great to see what other people say about a book before you buy it.

4.5 stars

The Missing Ones is an outstanding debut thriller from Irish author Ms. Patricia Gibney. It is book one of the Detective Lottie Parker series, and I am excited to hop aboard and ride along with Lottie and her team in future installments.

What an engaging read this was! By the time I read through the chilling prologue and the stomach-churning first chapter, two murders had been committed, 39 years apart. From that point on, I was hooked and blazed through this 518 pager. It seemed more like 325 page quickie to me. And yes, it is told in two timelines, but the 111 chapters are wham-bam in nature, preserving the flow of the story.

Lottie is an interesting protagonist. She is trying to come to terms with the loss of her beloved husband to cancer. She is also struggling to find time to care for and show her love to her three teenagers, who are home alone a lot. She has an issue with anxiety that she fights to conquer, though she “doesn’t have time (bad Lottie)” to see a therapist. She is prickly with her team and frequently with her witnesses as well, but she has insight into her issues and tries hard to function as best she can. She does have a soft spot for her right hand man, DS Mark Boyd, and their relationship is at times downright endearing, though not romantic.
I really liked Lottie, and Boyd as well.

There are some nasty pieces of work in this story. There are also some scenes, though not horrifically graphic, are bad enough that may be very difficult for some readers. As I read a lot of dark thrillers, I was OK with these as I think they were necessary in order to make the plot real and to propel it along. I would not recommend this book if you are a staunch member and no holds-barred-supporter of the Catholic Church or if anything related to child abuse is a deal breaker for you.

Various plot threads, red herrings, and bits of information dropped like the breadcrumbs in Hansel and Gretel make for addictive reading. There were plenty of times when I wasn’t sure who to trust. The last 30% of the tale provides a ton of suspense and a ton of uncertainty as to how this is going to all work out. Even at 98% we are still getting reveals. I managed to figure out a couple of them a bit earlier on, but only because the author kindly offered similar clues to two similar mysterious situations.

Another biggie for me was the wonderful way Ms. Gibney brings the setting (bitter winter in a town in the heart of Ireland) to life. Nearly every chapter is imbued with her subtle yet very effective setting of the scene. I felt she really instilled in me the sinister atmosphere of the story. Big props for that, Ms. Gibney.

Enough talk! Everyone (with the exception of those mentioned above) looking for a yummy crime story to get lost in should run purchase this book. Go on. Just do it.

I wish to thank Net Galley, Bookouture, and Ms. Patricia Gibney for granting me the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

This was a fantastic debut novel from Patricia Gibney. It was fast paced and kept me gripped the whole way through - I really struggled to put it down! The story was twisted but kept me guessing until the end which was lovely as sometimes you can see where somethings going a mile off. There were a few parts which were a little too graphic/disturbing for me but I'm a bit of a wuss! I really enjoyed this and I'm so glad it's a series so we can read more. I'll be putting up a blog post next week! Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this.

Book Description
The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.
The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. ‘I wonder which one of us will be next?’
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.

My View
What a storyline, Patricia Gibney has managed to capture everything in this heart wrenching thriller, there are aspects of love, hate, abuse and historical factors in this captivating debut thriller. I personally found it very easy to engulf myself in the story yes some parts are hard hitting but not in-depth if they weren't in the book then the story wouldn't have been believable.
Detective Lottie has a strong willed persona but has cracks in her façade where she struggles to differentiate between work and family. The investigation delves into the past and resurrects a cold case that Lottie vowed to resolve, linked together by St. Angela's, its a race against time to apprehend the culprit before more individuals are lost, to the repeat of history.

I didn't want The Missing Ones to come to an end, I was so wrapped up in the story and the characters it was impossible for me to put it down at times. The book is a roller-coaster of a journey where there are some magnificent highs but the inevitable lows are where you try not consume yourself with the tragedy that has befallen some of the characters.
I applaud Patricia for a fantastic debut thriller and I wait with baited breath for the next instalment of Detective Lottie Parker.