Thank you, Bookouture, for inviting me to take part in Patricia Gibney’s blog tour, and for the ARC. Here is my review:
‘She shivered, though the kitchen was warm. Icicles of foreboding trickled down her spine. With trembling hands she whipped back her hair at the nape of her neck. As she turned away from the window, she missed the shadow passing by.’
One dark winter’s morning, bride-to-be Cara Dunne is found hanging in her home, dressed in her wedding dress, with a lock of hair removed. Detective Lottie Parker is first on the scene. Looking at Cara’s bruised and battered body, she wonders who could have hated her enough to kill her at the happiest time of her life.
The case takes a darker turn that afternoon with another shocking discovery – the broken body of a second young woman, pushed from the roof of the hospital where she worked. Fiona Heffernan was also due to be married, and her body is clad in a wedding dress, a lock of her hair cut off.
The killings seem so personal that Lottie is convinced the girls have been killed by someone they knew. When she goes to break the news to Fiona’s family, she’s on the alert for anything suspicious. But then she makes a discovery that causes her blood to run cold – Fiona’s eight-year-old daughter Lily didn’t return home from her dance recital that afternoon. Terrified that Lily will be the next victim of a twisted and dangerous individual, Lottie takes the case into her own hands, risking her life when she comes face-to-face with the killer…
What does TWG think?
Poor Lottie Parker can’t catch a break, can she! I’m genuinely surprised that, seeing as we are on book seven in the series, Lottie Parker isn’t spending her time rocking backwards and forwards in the corner! One person can only handle so much! As selfish as this sounds, I’m glad that she is having a lot of rubbish dumped on her because it means that we will get more books! Of course I don’t wish her harm, I just don’t want this series to end.
Like most psychological thrillers, ‘Broken Souls’ spends a lot of time creeping around building a picture, and setting the scene. This isn’t a storyline that can be rushed, simply because the author incorporates a lot of complexities around her characters, and that in turn, means that the tension needs to be built slowly to enable the realism to fly. If you’re anything like me and want to get to the crux of a storyline pronto, a slow starting novel can be quite frustrating. Thankfully, Patricia Gibney knows her craft and her readers, and makes the wait certainly worthwhile.
If you haven’t picked up a Lottie Parker novel yet, where have you been?! Don’t worry if you’re wanting to read ‘Broken Souls’ first as each book is fine to read as a standalone. However, if you like to follow characters journeys in order, then I highly suggest you start at book one so that you can make sense of Lottie’s personal timeline and why she is the way she is.
I really enjoyed this book! There was a lot of guessing who was in the firing line and, even though I did work it out before it was written in black and white, it didn’t stop me from enjoying it at all. You never know with Patricia Gibney, which way her books are going to head, and I have to say that the tension of this instalment was severely chilling and very realistic. I also thought it was great to see yet another side to Lottie, even if she doesnt exactly do herself many favours with the way she projects herself at times. I mean, shes a brilliant, brilliant character, but I will admit to wanting to grab her shoulders and shake her, just to make her see sense!!
Now, ‘Broken Souls’ ended in a way that irked me and excited me in equal measures. It irked me because of the mini cliffhanger, yet it excited me because I am so eager to find out what happens next! I dislike the waiting though, but I just know that it will be worth it!
Patricia Gibney is one of my go to authors, one that never fails to put goosebumps on my arms and a chill in the air. ‘Broken Souls’ is an addictive, brilliantly written addition to the Lottie Parker series – I loved it!
The Writing Garnet 