Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from Canelo Books via #netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.
Everyone in the family had a secret. Which one has proved deadly?
When Mallory Dawson gets a call from a former colleague, Elsa, describing a strange scene, she initially thinks nothing of it. The teenage cleaner had gone into clean a holiday cottage in the forest to find a kettle boiling on the Aga, sandwiches half made and the family who were renting it gone.
DI Harri Evans, however, has a story about the place from the time he was in uniform. He was called out to a girl with scratches down her face claiming someone unseen had attacked her.
When the father of the missing family is found dead in their hire car there is an urgent hunt for the rest of the family. But their identities are false and there's no hint of their history. How are the past and present connected?
A tense and atmospheric Welsh crime thriller. Perfect for fans of Clare Mackintosh and Fiona Cummins.
Review:
This is Book 3 of the Mallory Dawson Crime Thriller series, but the first I have read. It's always a plus to have an older character, with a past, that an get referred back to and used in their new setting. Mallory is comfortable in her new home finally, and when she has a chance to check in with Harri, she's not unopposed to seeing if sparks can still fly, while snooping out the scoop about the incident in the woods. As Harri explains his past occurrence with the house, thinks get even odder. As she comes in to observe and help, they soon realize an odd situation is murder and missing children, and time becomes very valuable. Mallory is also dealing with a surprise summer term with her son, as he takes on a new job and soon it feels like the old days. This is an interesting series and I look forward to going back and reading the first 2 books, and anticipate the next one as well!
About the Author
Sarah Ward is a crime novelist who writes gothic historical thrillers as Rhiannon Ward. The Shadowing, her most recent gothic novel, was a Daily Express book of the year. The Birthday Girl, is the first book in her new Welsh based series, was described in the FT as 'channelling Christie-esque tropes'. The second in the series is The Sixth Lie. She has also written Doctor Who audio dramas. Sarah is Vice-Chair of the Crime Writers Association and Treasurer of Crime Cymru, the Welsh crime writing collective.
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