I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of The Girl in the Pink Shoes, the first novel to feature Philadelphia based PI Lucy Kendall, originally published in 2014 as All Good Deeds.

Eight year old Kailey Richardson did not return from school. Lucy Kendall a former social worker in child protection turned PI with a tragic past is determined to bring Kailey home safely, but with everyone keeping secrets Lucy soon finds the case creeping closer to her own past.

I am a big fan of the author’s Nikki Hunt series and was delighted to be able to read this new series. Unfortunately, Lucy Kendall is nothing like Nikki Hunt and I struggled to get through this, especially the first half.

This is a novel about childhood trauma and how the after effects seep into adult life. Just about every character in the book has been a victim of some sort and it’s hard going. It means that there is little clarity of thought and Lucy is mostly driven by feelings and emotions. She seems to latch on to theories with no proof and no real logic. I like a clearer storyline with goals and aims, not this mishmash of knee jerk reactions, emotional turmoil and illegal actions. I know that Lucy is driven by her need to find Kailey, but I feel that Kailey gets lost in the maelstrom of emotion and the hunt for her becomes a plot device to explore these emotions and their history.

The novel is, as I said, heavy on trauma and there are more coincidences than I was comfortable with, but it still manages to produce a few twists to surprise the reader. Still, a litany of terrible decision making, missteps and a rush to judgement does not entertain me.

On a more positive note this is the first novel in the series, so it may be that all the history and character exploration are done here, allowing for a more lucid read in the ensuing novels. I hope so, because I didn’t find The Girl in the Pink Shoes engrossing or particularly exciting.

CW: child abuse, abduction, and SA

This is the first book of four in the ‘Lucy Kendall’ series.

“I’m not a killer.” This intriguing first sentence will immediately draw you in to the story. Lucy Kendall leaves her job at CPS after learning the justice system fails the children they are working to protect. Now working as a private investigator, Lucy is determined to make pedophiles pay for their heinous crimes and abuse…by any means necessary. When a little girl goes missing in the area, Lucy can’t help getting involved whether it is by helping law enforcement or by enacting her own personal justice system.

Though the subject matter is a difficult topic, it is not graphic and was well executed. The plot was well developed and engaging and there was great character development. Overall this was a great book. You will be suspicious of everyone and won’t know you to trust. This fast-paced thriller will keep you guessing until the very end on who the kidnapper is.

You’ll like this book if you’re a fan of vigilantes. This book will have you rooting for Lucy to carry out her very own “Lucy Kendall justice system”. I would definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy crime thrillers and vigilante justice. I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series plays out and plan on reading the next book in the series.


Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC!

Promising start to the Lucy Kendall series. Lucy is a private investigator who used to work for child protection services. She also has a side job making sure predators get what they deserve. When a young girl goes missing, she’ll stop at nothing to find her. Lots of twists and turns let me glued to the pages. The past and present all come together in a surprising turn of events. Looking forward to more in this series!

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

TW: Child Abuse

Book 1 in the Lucy Kendall series.

Lucy is a former social worker now earning a living as a Private Investigator. But she also has a secret. A very big one.

When a young child goes missing on the way home from school Lucy can't help but get involved in the search. Butting heads with the detective in charge Lucy can't shake her instincts that someone from her past job is involved.

This is a fast paced thriller with twists and connections you won't see coming.

Lucy is a fascinating character and I look forward to reading more in the series.

This isn’t a book for the squeamish and faint hearted. This is a dark crime novel where the private investigator specialises in taking child predators off the streets. Literally. It’s the first time I’ve read a novel by this Author and was so gripped by the Story that I read it in one sitting. The characters are well developed and the basis of the series is well established. Not all stories have happy endings but some do find a street justice that you wished was measured out in real life. Can’t wait to read the rest of series.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and unbiasedly review an ARC.

This is my first Stacy Green read and I was not disappointed. Main character, Lucy Kendall, is an ex CPS worker and does what we all wish we had the guts to do to the sickos who get away with hurting children. When she has a run in with someone who knows what she is all about, you start to wonder why he is really there. But I never would have guessed the twists and turns that happen in each chapter. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

All I can say is WOW!

This book definitely kept me on my toes.
My brain trying to figure out the kidnapper!
Lucy is one heck of a PI and with the help of her new found friends they solved the mystery and put the bad person behind bars.
Definitely looking forward to more of Lucy in the next chapters of these books.

A definite 5 star for me!

The Girl in the Pink Shoes is a thriller mystery focus on children crimes. The story was following an former 'CPA agent who disappointed with the system and decide to take action into her own hands.

This book is my first read from the author and also first installment in Lucy Kendal series. I cant stop read this book since the first chapter. The writing style actually is bare bone and straightforward. The fast pace and short paragraphs make me keep my eyes gluing into the pages and forget to sleep. All the characters are morally grey, I love see their connection and how they are interact with each other. The plotline is creative, tight and rich with actions. The storyline actually bring the most fragile topics from thriller books, childs kidnapped and abuses. But I am glad the author capable to wrap this sensitive topic become delicate and satisfying cases to follow and solved. The twist and turns are amazingly shocking and keep me on my seat edge nervously. A strong kick to start the series.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for provided my copy. I enjoyed my reading time and my thoughts are my own.

This book hooked and shocked me from the first couple of pages. Lucy is a Private Detective with a troubled past , when she hears about the disappearance of an 8 year old girl she wants to help. She had spent years working with Child Protective Services but realised she had more freedom to really help by working for herself. The things she has gone through and has seen make her want to save any child from abuse. When she discovers the missing girl lives close to Justin, a man, who as a boy killed another child, she is determined to find out if he had anything to with the disappearance. This brings her in to contact with a Detective Todd who is Justin’s brother and paramedic Chris who says he understands what she is doing and he wants to help her. Along the way she discovers that things may not be as black and white as she believed and she is forced to take a look at they way she handles her investigations. Lucy definitely let her past direct her investigation and I was a little frustrated how this took her on the wrong path for a while, but I think this set up the narrative for the rest of the series, so it made sense in the end. I really liked how conflicted she was with what she was doing and loved how complicated, yet human all of the characters were. This book definitely deals with the lowest of the low of humanity , but thankfully does not go in to a lot of details of the abuse, although there is a little bit (just a warning). I really liked Lucy’s connection with Kelly and want to know more about her back story. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you engrossed and I definitely want to read the rest of this series.

This is a fantastic storyline ith many twists and believable characters. I was hooked on this book from page 1. I look forward to reading more of this series.

This book was just sheer perfection. Its the book that all thrillers aspire to be. The plot is so cleverly planned out with constant twists and turns throughout. You think you finally figured something out and then "bang" turns out you didn't have a clue. I loved the characters, they're very personable and written to be so 3D and real. It's impossible for this book not to tug on the heart strings at points and I did she'd a tear or two which again, it isn't often a thriller can effect you on such a base level. I'm just so blown away by the writing and how amazing this book is in all aspects. The pace is kept up throughout and there ate no plot holes or paragraphs that feel like pointless fuller. It's just the perfect thriller really! I can't wait to read the next in the series

Writing: 5/5
Character Development: 4/5
Plot: 4/5

Warnings: Language, Violence and assult against children

Themes: Thriller, Mystery

The Girl in the Pink Shoes is about a previous CPA who tries to find a missing little girl by using her skills from her years of vigilante justice. This book had a lot of twists and turns I never saw coming. It was well writen and the characters were fun to read about. Some times I wanted to strangle Stacy but it was good seeing her character grow and change.

This book is good for anyone who loves a good mystery and thriller with a woman who will stop at nothing to protect the kids of her city.

I received a free copy of this book and am leaving an honest review.

What did I just read!! Absolutely friggen phenomenal. One of the best reads for me this year. I would give this one a bonus star if I could. A no holds barred, knock you down in terror and shock read. Amazing plot, break neck speed, fantastic characters. I consumed this book. I could not put this down. My heart was pounding and there were moments I was literally sick to my stomach. There were out loud gasps and oh my gods. This author absolutely nailed this book. It was so good I finished the last page and started the next book on the series immediately. These characters are perfect. Terror and suspense galore

I love all of Stacey’s Nikki Hunt series so when I saw that she had created a new character and series I was thrilled! This book, however, could’ve been written by a totally different author!

Stacey has an incredible talent for creating twisty, fast paced plots and really credible characters. I just found as I got further and further into this book it seemed to flounder and flop between crazy ‘hunches’ and actual evidence. It would appear that everyone at some point was a suspect and Lucy didn’t do much investigation work to get to those conclusions.

Equally I found it unusual that nearly all the main characters had been involved in a child crime and had some connection to the case. It was totally unbelievable that Todd was allowed to head the investigation when his own brother was one of the prime suspects. His excuse was that the department was struggling with staff, but even still the conflict of interest was too great to put a child at additional risk. In most cases an office from another force would come in or it would be upscale to a higher department such as FEDs.

All this… leads me to what I said before. This is not Stacey Green! And this is not her finest. True I was entertained but it did kind of drag and repeat a lot and there were a lot of cliches. I half expected Lucy to start dating Chris having just turned down his ‘one thought of pedophile’ brother!

Being the die hard fan that I am I still want to read the others in the series to see if Lucy becomes a bit more developed. But if this was my first Stacey Green then I genuinely feel that it would put me off reading more.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Lucy Kendal is riding the world of one bad guy at a time. She meets Chris Hale who sees her and knows what she is doing. He says they are the same but can she trust him. Kailey goes missing and she is worried her past has caught up with.

I like the cat and mouse chase of trying to find the bad guy. How all things lead back to Chris’s troubled past. Now Chris, Justin and Lucy will work together.

I liked how Lucy wants to right the wrongs and make the place better even if it means she has to kill bad men to achieve her goal. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series.

This was such a page turner. There are twists and turns. Every time I thought I new where the storyline was headed it would veer off course. The writing is incredible. The storyline is different from other similar books, which is great. It’s fresh and exciting. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

A fast paced thriller full of twists and turns.
New author for me.
A well written story which kept me on the edge of my seat.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
A worthy five star rating.

This book is the 1st book in the Lucy Kendall series by Stacy green. I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves an on the edge page turner , where you have to keep reading till you find out what happens in the end. It all began with a former employee of child protective service turned private investigator who takes it into her own hands to get justice for all the children who have been wronged. So over all this was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to read all of the other books in the series.

I am a huge fan of this author, I’m not sure if this is a re-release or a new book… But it was a first time read for me
Lucy is a former CPS worker turned private investigator, turned vigilante. She targets pedophiles and brings to them her form of cyanide justice
I enjoyed the characters, it was a rough subject, but the author brought light to it, I enjoyed it, and I looked forward to many more Lucy adventures

Looks like a great start to this new series and now I’m looking forward to reading book 2. This was one of those books that sucked me in from the beginning and didn’t let go until I finished! I thought it was well written, with absolutely flawlessly done characters, and absolutely unputdownable. Dark, grisly and utterly compelling. Thriller writing at its finest. Covers some sensitive issues.