A murdered girl. A missing girl. An escaped abduction victim. DC Morgan Brookes has had a busy morning where the crimes keep stacking up. Could there be a connection?
Two Broken Girls is the 13th book in the Morgan Brookes series of crime thriller/police procedurals set in the Lake District.
The day begins badly with the discovery of a murdered college student. Then another student arrives at the police station to report her best friend missing. On the way to investigate, Morgan is in a car crash swerving to avoid a third student who runs into the road begging for help. The police are stretched as they attempt to solve three crimes simultaneously.
I absolutely raced through this book, couldn't put it down (my only complaint is that it was over too soon). The plot is fast paced, chapters short and the characters felt authentic and real. Developments happen quickly and there were some great twists which kept me guessing. Most of the book is written to show the police investigation but there are also some chapters from the killer's perspective to increase tension and mystery.
The dynamic between the police characters sparkles and fizzes with humour, respect and compassion. There are several references (but no spoilers) to previous victims to show the continuing emotional effect on the police characters. Morgan is a great detective and her fearless attitude to policing gets her into the thick of the action and puts her frequently in danger!
Two Broken Girls is a very enjoyable police procedural and crime thriller with fab lead characters.

Two Broken Girls was another twisty and fun ride in the Detective Morgan Brookes series! I’ve been a long time fan, and I’m always excited to read the new additions. I will say, this wasn’t one of my favorites, I really missed having more of the side character pop ins that we normally get and this mystery dragged out a bit for me. I still really enjoyed it, and if you are going into it as a first read you wouldn’t notice the changes I did.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

This is the 13th book in the Morgan Brookes series. This series just keeps on getting better and better. What I love so much about this series is the characters.

Reading another Morgan Brookes novel is like watching a new episode of a favorite tv show. In this one, Morgan, Ben and crew are attempting to find the person that has kidnapped and murdered young women from Rydal Falls. Morgan stumbles upon a kidnapped girl after the killer sets her free. A girl reporting her friend missing show her a couple of suspects, including one she never would have guessed.

Not only do we get Morgan’s point of view, but we also get the murder’s. We get snippets of the kidnapping of the girls and committing murders, but it was definitely brain wracking to figure out who the person is.

I can’t wait for more of this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC of this book,

TWO BROKEN GIRLS is book 13 in a police procedural series featuring Detective Morgan Brookes by Helen Phifer. I have read all of the books in this series and this book is a definite winner! Although this book can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading the books in order to get a full history.

The books in the Detective Morgan Brookes Series:
1. One Left Alive (2020)
2. The Killer's Girl (2020)
3. The Hiding Place (2021)
4. First Girl to Die (2021)
5. Find the Girl (2022)
6. Sleeping Dolls (2022)
7. Silent Angel (2022)
8. Their Burning Graves (2022)
9. Hold Your Breath (2023)
10. Stolen Darlings (2023)
11. Save Her Twice (2024)
12. Poison Memories (2024)
13. Two Broken Girls (2024)

This is my review of Two Broken Girls.

The cast of the small control team includes:
DS Ben Matthews-Boss & partner
DC Morgan Brookes
DC Amy Smith
DC Cain Robson
Amber-Police Officer

The novel opens with the killer getting ready for his next kill. His method was strangulation with a rope, not messy, as he hated the smell of blood.

She walks out of her house, he is standing by his car with the hood open, pretending to have engine problem. He knows her and says “Hi Melody” and gives her a drive to college…but she never makes it there.

The next day Melody Carrick’s dead body was discovered by the riverside, with strangulation marks around her neck and her gold cross necklace missing.

DS Ben Matthews and DC Morgan Brookes head to the crime scene. She needs to stop his next attack.

But before Morgan has a chance to attend the post-mortem, seventeen-year-old Paige Evans rushes into the police station claiming her stepfather Alan Cooper
kidnapped her best friend, Alisa Halliday. He has an old wooden box full of jewelry that she believes are trophies.

When Morgan races to Alan’s home, she spots a young woman stumbling out of the forest. The girl, Chloe Smith claims to have been abducted and then suddenly set free. By a man who looks nothing like Alan.

Is there a connection between all three girls?

This was a well-written unputdownable thriller with a high level of suspense. I was kept guessing right until the end. A great read!

Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for my digital copy.

This was my first Detective Morgan book and I was still able to keep up with the story. However, after reading this one you will want to read the previous ones. I already downloaded them. Detective Morgan is a great female character who fights for what is right all while dealing with the trauma that comes from such a job. The interpersonal stories didn't take away from the main story line and gave the characters more depth. I ended up reading this in less than a day..

Another fabulous story from Helen. A well written storyline which had me gripped. I look forward to reading more Morgan Brookes stories

Another brilliant book in this series. After reading them I can't wait for the next instalment into Cain's, Morgan and Bens life. A great book for those into who did it books.
Morgan and Ben her partner in both life and work have yet more crimes to solve when a young girl is found dead. What makes it harder is that they all know the girl but even more so her mum making it personnel to them.
Another great book that will keep you reading into the night.

So I've followed the goth DC Morgan Brookes since book one and love her feisty, no nonsense, head strong personality and have always enjoy joining the team as they investigate murders in the lake district.

This book was very much the professional side of the investigation without the usual mix of the personal, I must say I missed Ettie and Max they always add some magic to the books.

I was also a little disappointed with the ending as it fe!t rushed and I'd have liked a little more in terms of the killer and his motives etc..

Another in this police procedural set in the Lake district. This is number 13 and is ok as a stand-alone, though if you know the police team from others in the series, you will get more out of the book. At the beginning of the book a girl is found dead in the woods, it turns out that she is the daughter of Jade, the owner of the team's favourite coffee shop. Other girls also go missing and one turns up on the road having been abducted and let go. The team do not have a great deal to go on and are looking at different suspects. The plot came together in the last chapters, but I thought that other books in the series were better. This is a good read though I missed the more personal side of the relationships between the collegue detectives this time. Definately looking forward to the next one
Thanks to Net galley for the ARC

My first Detective Morgan Brookes thriller but not my first Helen Phifer book, I love her story telling and this book is no exception. A young girl murdered another missing, can Morgan solve this case and find the missing girl in time. Full of twists and turns to make your head spin. Wonderful characters. Thanks to Bookoutre and Netgalley for this review ARC.

Two Broken Girls is book 13 in the Morgan Brookes series by Helen Phifer. I got hooked on this series with the first book and look forward to each new entry! A man is out walking his dog along the river when he notices something out of place through the trees. When he goes to investigate he finds a young woman dead. She has red marks around her neck like she's been strangled. He calls the police immediately and can't stop screaming! When Morgan arrives she is horrified because she knows the victim. It's the daughter of the coffee shop owner in town and she's actually waited on Morgan before. Melody Carrick was such a nice young woman who was in college, but helped her mom in the coffee shop when she could. It was going to be very hard to tell Melody's mom about her daughter as Morgan had just seen her this morning when she stopped for a coffee.

When Morgan arrives back at the police station to attend the post mortem on Melody, there's a young woman waiting to see her. Paige Evans tells Morgan that her stepfather, Alan, has kidnapped her best friend. She claims Alan is obsessed with serial killers and watches documentaries about them constantly. She also tells Morgan that he has an old box filled with jewelry that she thinks he's taken from his victims. As Morgan rushes to find Alan, there's a young woman coming out of the woods with rope ties around her wrists and she's crying. She was abducted by a man, but he suddenly dropped her in the woods, and let her go. The man who took her looks nothing like Alan, so Morgan isn't sure if the cases are related or not.

Will Morgan, Ben, Cain, Amy and the rest of the team be able to figure out who this twisted killer is and why he's preying on young girls? What do the girls have in common? Is Alan behind these killings? Is Paige telling the truth about her stepfather? Is Paige in danger when Alan finds out she talked to the police? This book is so exciting you will race to the end! I thoroughly enjoyed Two Broken Girls and rate it 5 stars. If you've never read a book in the series Two Broken Girls can be read as a standalone with no problem. Two Broken Girls is available now and should not be missed! I'd like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy of Two Broken Girls in exchange for a fair review. #TwoBrokenGirls

Another great read from Helen Phifer.
Morgan and the team are called to a scene of a body of a young girl. There is a lot going on in the book but as usual it is well written and keeps a reader guessing. Looking forward to next.
Thank you for advanced copy.

The body of a young girl is found beside the river – Detective Morgan Brookes expects that dog walkers interrupted the killing but before the team even starts, 17 year old Paige Evans reports that her best friend is missing, and accuses her mom’s boyfriend. Things do look suspicious … so many twists and turns, and an ending that I totally not expected! A book to add to your TBR pile!

I am truly obsessed with this series and when I hear there’s a new book being published I don’t even need to read the blurb. This is the 13th book in the series and as always with this series I put aside my current read and dived straight into this one. Another fast paced crime thriller that completely gripped me right from the very start. My heart was in my mouth at times as I was reading and at times felt I was part of the police team trying to solve the murder as I was so invested in the story. When it came to figuring out the killer I was convinced I had it all worked out but as always with this author I was completely on the wrong track. Everything about this book was first class and the more I read them the more I enjoy the characters and how they all work so well together. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DC Morgan Brookes is on the case in one of the fastest paced books that I have read in a long time. Tragically the body of a teen girl named Melody is discovered. As Morgan and her team search for answers, Morgan really feels for Melody’s mother.

Shortly after, another teen enters the police station and is only willing to speak directly with Morgan. Has another girl gone missing, and what does this insistent teen know? To add to the strangeness of both the murder and the claim of another missing girl, Morgan literally runs into another victim, almost. However, Morgan must quickly ascertain whether or not she is the other teen girl that might be missing.

There are some books impossible to put down and Two Broken Girls is just that book Although the serious case of the first body possibly being tied into the other recent crimes, this book offers more. There is a wonderful sense of camaraderie between Morgan and her team, and this gives this excellent 13th book in a remarkable series an extra touch.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Another gripping Morgan Brookes story. This story is so full of twists, turns and red herrings it had me not knowing whether I was on my head or my heels. I love the relationships among the detectives in this series, not just Ben and Morgan but the whole team. Their personal stories are almost as good as the cases they are tasked to solve. Can't wait for the next one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

A screaming man by the banks of the river
Memories from the past make Morgan shiver
Rydal Falls has another serial killer it would seem
To Detective Morgan Brookes and the team.

What an intiguing read this proved to be
With a possible perpetrator identified so quickly
But another victim survives to say
He wasn't her abductor anyway.

With conflicting evidence and twists galore
Another great read with suspense and more.
Deciphering the clues, finding connections, too,
Can they arrest the killer before there's a victim that's new?

A brilliant addition to this series that is great,
For future reads in it I can't wait!
For my copy of this book I say thank you
As I share with you this, my honest review.

I love the Detective Morgan Brookes series. Every book is gritty and intense. The investigative team is always hard working and capable, but human, I love that in Two Broken Girls, the team has become a family. They give each other a hard time, but are there for each other. They read each other, and are learning when to push harder or pull back, when to step in, and when to not. In this book, Brookes, Ben, Cain, Amy, Amber, Marc, pull together in a breath-taking race to find a killer before he takes the life of another teen. There were moments the writing was impeccable, but there were also parts of this book where certain incidents that happened did not make sense, and while they provided needed clues, I found them unbelievable and distracting. Overall, they did not limit my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to Bookouture, Netgalley, and the author, Helen Phifer, for early access to this latest entry in this intriguing series.

I had high expectations as I started this one and was not let down.

I love how Morgan is a walking ball of trouble, yet also a great detective. She finds herself into more of it than you would think possible. While I love a good police procedural, this is as much about the team as the case. There is both good and bad news for someone on the team. Their relationships are growing and strengthening. In addition to Morgan and her expert trouble seeking, there are a couple of other members that end up a little out of sorts. And through that, the team is supporting each other while tirelessly working to solve the case.

It’s fast paced and kept me guessing through plenty of suspects and some turns along the way. The plot is complex and layered and at one moment I had to go back a little and reread because my mind ventured off a little and I missed an important piece of information. I am sure my mind wanders on occasion, but I rarely go back to catch every detail.

There is also just a smidge of humor to give a break from the seriousness of the case.

This series is definitely on my list of must read series and I always look forward for the next installment. And though this is book 13 in the series, it can easily be picked up without reading the rest of the series. The author provides everything you need to follow and enjoy. But once you read it, you’ll want to go back and read the rest.