Little Ghosts

by Gregg Dunnett

One moment my beautiful daughter, her face flushed from the sun, her curls still wet from splashing in the ocean, was waiting in line for a strawberry ice cream, the next she was gone… As I sit in her dimly lit bedroom, surrounded by flickering candles, I feel the crushing weight of my daughter’s absence. It's been two years since Layla was murdered. The police have searched tirelessly for her killer, but they've found nothing – it's like whoever did it vanished into thin air. My once-perfect marriage is falling apart, we can hardly look at each other anymore. Our ten-year-old son Gale is struggling. He’s changed since she died. He’s more secretive and also… I can’t quite put my finger on it. They were so close, is this Gale coming to terms with her death? Still, unease creeps over me as I watch him. He just stares past me at something I can’t see. Then one day, as I butter his toast for breakfast, my son tells me something that stops me in my tracks. " I know who killed Layla .” I can barely get the words out to ask how. Looking at me with his serious little boy expression, he puts a hand on my arm. “She told me.”

Genres: Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery, Horror, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Psychological Thriller

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2023

About the author

Gregg Dunnett writes twist-packed psychological thrillers set where the land meets the sea – a habit born of years chasing waves as a windsurfing journalist and all-round beach-bum. His novels include the Amazon #1 bestsellers “The Wave at Hanging Rock” and “The Things You Find in Rockpools” (now in development for TV) and the Audible #1 hit “Little Ghosts”.

After twenty years on England’s south coast, Gregg, his partner María (who translates the books into Spanish), their two kids and a daft Labradoodle named Loki set off on another adventure – moving to Spain to draw artistic inspiration from the moody Cantabrian mountains and the wild Atlantic coast. Plus the food’s really good.

Grab two free thrillers – just search “Gregg Dunnett free books” in your browser.

Reviews

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Ghosts by Gregg Dunnett
Narrated by Katie Villa

From the beginning we know that Layla is dead, her murder unsolved. The grief of her family is ever present even two years later and it will always be there in some way or another but right now it could tear the family apart. Jon, the father, rides his bike a LOT, angering Rachel, the mom, with his not being around, not being there more, forgetting appointments between the demands of his job and his need to burn off energy. Rachel can only turn her grief into a smothering control of their ten year old son, Gale.

Gale barely talks even two years after Layla's death. He has weekly therapy, his parents show him he is loved always. But Gale has a secret that keeps him in his room away from others. He knows no one will believe him so he tells no one.

The audiobook narration is so good. I can still hear Gale's voice and Layla's voice, too. Two smart kids that have had to grow up way too soon. But still kids whose creative minds and active imaginations just might make finding Layla's killer possible.

DI Kieran Clarke has been on this case for two years but it's being shunted farther down the priority list with the lack of movement on the case. A TV reenactment might just stir up memories and the parents want it to happen. There are results and from then on we "get" to spend time in the head of a horrible monster. I did have trouble knowing the bad things that happened to Layla and the bad things that could happen to Gale, the subject matter is very disturbing. But I think the story is very well told and now I have a new author to follow.

Pub May 11 2023

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

[Heather Adores Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐
Genre ~ psychological thriller
Publication date ~ May 11, 2023
Page Count ~ 426
Audio length ~ 11 hours 55 minutes
Narrator ~ Katie Villa
POV ~ multiple 3rd
Featuring ~ kidnapped child, dead child, ghost (obvi), snakes

Well, this was pretty heartbreaking and disturbing, as dead children plots are.

Layla has been gone for 2 years and her case is still not solved, but luckily, Gale, her brother, can see and talk to her, so they work together to take down her killer. But will anyone believe where Gale is getting his inside scoop from? Not bloody likely, which is not surprising.

We hear from Clarke, the detective on the case and parents Rachel & Jon, which kept the story flowing along nicely and kept me gripped. I didn't get a big paranormal vibe, which was good since I'm not super big on that genre.

Overall, I was totally taken by surprise with who the killer was. We didn't have to wait until the bitter end to find out either, which worked really well. It was fast paced and well done, and that ending, wow, cue the tears.

Side note ~ my biggest fear is snakes, so I hated that they were in the story, yuck! Just had my first one slithering along on my back porch the other day, and he came back the next night, too, UGH! First one we’ve ever seen in 9 years living here.

Narration notes:
I thought she did a great job. Her male voices were fine, except Gale sounded a little older than 10.

*Thanks to Gregg Dunnett, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

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[A Mac (on hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating 3.5
TW: Kidnapping, Murder, Rape (Underage [off page]), Abuse

It’s been almost two years since Layla was found dead after disappearing from a day at the beach with her family. Her family has been struggling with their new reality and the lack of leads in the case. But Gale, Layla’s younger brother, has recently felt a presence about the house. And that presence appears to be his sister, Layla. As the police decide it’s time to mark the case as inactive due to the lack of progress, Layla’s presence speaks to Gale. Is it possible that Layla will be able to tell Gale what happened two years ago? And even if she did, would anyone believe him?

This psychological suspense/mystery is written from the third person POV of several characters, one of which is Gale’s (the GR book blurb is a misrepresentation). I think the author did a decent job at writing from the POV of a child – Gale did feel a little old for his age, but after going through that kind of grief and trauma, that’s not entirely unreasonable. Much later in the book, we get chapters from the POV of the killer. I did like this as it gave much insight into the motives and the person behind the crime. But these chapters get dark. Darker than I’d expected – nothing too graphic, but the thoughts and reasonings of the person are intense and horrifying, giving these portions of the book a much heavier tone and feeling.

The book begins in a relatively standard way, but the tension and suspense increase as it goes along, creating an overwhelming feeling of dread and heaviness. Although the book is 420-ish pages, it felt shorter. The pacing, atmosphere, and writing kept the read engaging, though I do think the length kept this work from feeling like an actual thriller. The reveal wasn’t mind-blowing or completely a surprise, but that wasn’t a bad thing in this case – knowing something is coming but not knowing why or how is its own sort of dread and suspense.

This was a tense, suspenseful mystery that was well written. I can’t emphasize enough that this is quite a dark read, but it’s worth it if you are in the right mindset. Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is a tough disturbing read at times I like the original way the story is presented and parts definitely break your heart. It’s well written, suspenseful with plenty of twists to keep you reading on. Much is told through the eyes of ten year old Gale, brother of murdered girl Layla and this is done extremely well. It’s a disbelief suspender of a novel but somehow the author gets me to buy into it and it’s compelling. I like the end… it fills me with hope.

[John Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was really good!

Even if ghost stories are not your thing don't let that put you off what, in effect, was an excellent psychological murder mystery. The ghost aspect is secondary to the main theme of the story. A violent paedophile abducted and murdered a young child and then sat back and laughed at the police's futile efforts to identify and apprehend him. The story is told through numerous POVs, the murdered child, the leading police officer, the child's brother, her distraught mother and even the killer himself. This was a fast moving story, full of twists and turns, that had me riveted all the way through to the end. The conclusion was most unexpected and I cannot rate this story highly enough!

[Nina (ninjasbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most heartbreaking and wonderful book. Won’t ever forget it.

[Cranky Commentary (Melinda) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first time I’ve ever wondered who writes a synopsis for a book. Do they have to read the book first? Apparently not in this case. No spoilers, I’m just correcting what readers find out in the first part of the book. The mother’s POV sounded intriguing in the synopsis, but the POV was mostly Gale, her son, the 10 year old brother of the little girl, Layla, who was murdered. Even the title is not accurate, as there’s only one ghost. Also Layla doesn’t know who killed her, as the synopsis suggests. Gale NEVER said to his mother, “ I know who killed Layla because she told me”. If “they” can’t even get these things right, then how good could the book be? I will now write an accurate synopsis (you’re welcome).

A ten year old girl, Layla, is murdered. She comes back as a ghost and silently hangs out all the time with her brother, Gale. She doesn’t speak for two years. Then, when her brother turns the same age as she was when she was murdered, she begins to talk. Nonstop. Gale has conversations with her as if she were still alive, and together they attempt to figure out who killed Layla, as the police make a last ditch effort to solve the case.

This part was less paranormal, more fantasy. It’s like The Lovely Bones meets Encyclopedia Brown. At least for the first part of the book.

When the POV changes from Gale to the murderer, the book becomes a Dean Koontz knock off. Koontz is the master of creating super evil, super intelligent psychopath villains. (After reading about a million of his books, I’m now burnt out). If child torture floats your boat, you’ll like this one. I did not. I read through to the end just to find out what happened, although I admit to skimming frequently to save my own sanity because I was so bored. After all this detective work and evil stuff, the end actually managed to be predictable and sappy.

The real torture for me was having to read over 400 pages of slow-as-molasses pacing, and dim-witted adults that take forever to catch on to clues in the case.

I’m sorry, but I have to speak the truth as I see it. This just isn’t worth the time. One star.

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little Ghosts
By Greg Dunnett
Wow, what a wonderful ghost story! Heartache, suspense, heartwarming, and loving, all in one book. A little girl is kidnapped and murdered. Two years later, she appears to her still grieving little brother. No one else can see or hear her.
No one has found her killer, so she still can't go on. She wants her brother to help her. So two kids, one of those a ghost, try to find a killer without getting the brother thrown in a mental institute or killed also!
Very suspenseful at times. It kept me reading and page turning! Loved the plot, characters, and ending.

[Youssra {very busy-review slumping} · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me cringe AND cry. 4 stars!

[Jennifer (Jaye) (trying to catch up, so behind) · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

This book begins with grief. We encounter a family attempting to recover from the death of one member, their eldest child Layla.

Ten-year-old Gale is left behind and finds comfort in someone close to him. I am being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers.

Layla was murdered; the killer believes he is beyond reproach, yet he has not accounted for a child with a secret weapon.

To the outside world, the killer seems capable and confident. Behind the scenes, he is calculated, twisted, and full of dark intent.

Now, Gale must persuade his mother that he knows the killer’s identity. There is only one major obstacle…

As the book advances, we see a race against time to save a life before the family, once a unit of four, shrinks to two.

This is my first read by this author, and I will explore more of his work.

[Melany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a wild ride. I loved that Layla could still talk to her twin and they could see one another. Such a sad story as to why Layla was a ghost but I loved how determined her twin was to get her justice. The ending was shocking! The last bit of the book truly had me on the edge of my seat. Worthy read, but very heartbreaking.

[Sarahpants · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel very conflicted about this book. On one hand, the story itself is pretty good and while the twist is a little obvious if you’re a fan of thrillers, it’s still not so in your face that it’s boring. I wasn’t bored while reading this and I read the whole thing in one sitting. On the other hand, I’m thrown by the fact that what occurs in the book blurb never actually occurs in the book itself and randomly there will be references to something that occurred, but the reference won’t exactly match what occurred, or a name would be wrong. The book is 95% well written and the other 5% has these random and jarring mess ups that are so obvious that I’m baffled that editors didn’t address them.

Overall, the book was good. It would make an excellent airplane book/other king transportation and you won’t be bored while you read it

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly it took me a couple of tries I think because I had to be in the right frame of mind to read this book. You do have to be in a certain mood to read about the murder of a 10 year old little girl, especially when a few years later her little brother announces to his mother that he knows who killed his sister because “she told me.” No spoilers here as the book reviews share this same information.

Once you do get into the book, it’s a solid fast paced 3.5 ⭐️ with a twist that’s a little predictable but still good. I personally would have loved more from Gale’s and Layla’s perspectives but that’s probably just me. It felt vaguely like The Lovely Bones. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

[Priskah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,0 ✨✨✨

(Audiobook)

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll start by saying that Katie Villa was a perfect fit for narrating this book! She seamlessly jumps from one character to the next and I was always able to easily identify which character was talking. I normally am not a fan of books with too much police procedural involvement, but this was one of the few books I will make an exception for! It was reminiscent of The Lovely Bones only more focused on the surviving younger brother solving his sister’s murder years after the fact. It was incredibly well written and had so many twists that I didn’t see coming! If you like suspenseful stories about hunting down child killers, this book is for you!

[AmBerGUR · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up. Ugh I’m still crying!!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this one, but am still processing it. Heartbreaking, heart-wrenching, and more emotional than anything I’ve read in quite some time. At its heart, it’s a story about a sister, her little brother, and their unbreakable bond. Highly recommend!

[Marrissa Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a haunting story about a boy who, with the help of his sister’s ghost, brings her captor and murderer to light. I don’t usually read paranormal stories, however this was so well written and had me hooked from the beginning. The brother/sister relationship between Gale and Layla was heartwarming and breaking at the same time. It had the right amount of surprising twists just as any thriller should. I definitely recommend.

[Tiffany aka Chai Tea And Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This didn’t hook me right away, but hang in there because it gets thrilling fairly quickly. I set it down to go do some cleaning, and I’m glad I did. I only set this down after I restarted it to get a couple hours of sleep. My dishes would still be dirty if I hadn’t taken that break 😅 if this was cleaned up a bit better, it would have easily been 5 stars. The blurb was from the mom’s POV, which doesn’t happen in the book. It threw me off a bit, that and the fact that there is only one ghost. I kinda kept waiting for at least one more to enter the picture. There were some bits that didn’t line up with what was written earlier in the book, but they were minor details. The big twist happens at the end of the first section, and after that it was a no holds barred, action packed ride. At one point, I felt like there would have been evidence to catch the killer sooner (the second kidnapping) but it didn’t happen. Overall, once Layla’s ghost showed up, it was a great read.

It’s been two years since Layla was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered, and there is still no answers. Her family is still in a tailspin, grieving and drifting farther from each other. The grief counselor tells Gale that the visions of sister he is seeing is normal, and is his subconscious at work grieving. Until she talks. And she tells him where his toy that he thought he lost is, something he shouldn’t know. In all the stories they heard, ghosts stay because they need something. Layla must need her killer to be found. So they start trying to solve the case with what Layla remembers. But how can Gale tell adults how he figured this information out? No one will believe he is talking to his sister’s ghost.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy to review!

[Jeanie ~ Fables.and.fur · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunting and tragic paranormal story about a family whose 10 year old daughter was murdered. The case is still unsolved two years later. After Layla was killed, her younger brother Gale starts seeing her ghost. When the police tell the family they are labeling Layla’s case inactive, she begins to speak with Gale. The two then try to solve the case, but will anyone believe Gale is getting his information from his dead sister?

The plot seemed pretty straightforward at first, but there were quite a few twists I didn’t see coming. The story is emotional and suspenseful. I love Katie Villa as a narrator and she does a great job voicing the characters here. I’m surprised I haven’t seen more attention for this one on Bookstagram as it’s very good.

[Moira Savage · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found it readable but formulaic and despite the blurb promising more it becomes rather obvious and lacked the emotional intensity implied.

[Vicki Jordan · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Little Ghosts by Gregg Dunnett was terrific! It’s my first book by Dunnett but it won’t be my last. Excellent thriller and supernatural elements and no critique regarding character development or plot. Very enjoyable!

[Sara Booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

La scrittura/traduzione non è niente di speciale… però la storia merita!

NB= Da evidenziare che si tratta di un thriller con elementi sovrannaturali, richiede una certa sospensione dall’incredulità, non adatto per chi cerca thriller tradizionali e realistici.

Quando ho iniziato a leggere non ero convita che mi sarebbe piaciuto, perché a causa della scrittura/traduzione piuttosto mediocre temevo che la lettura stessa sarebbe stata, a sua volta, mediocre. Invece superate le 80/90 pagine tutto cambia ed è proprio impossibile smettere di leggere. La storia ha un plot twist pazzesco (sono letteralmente saltata sul letto come colpita da un fulmine mentre leggevo!) e la curiosità è salita ai massimi livelli da lì fino alla fine. Anzi, si può dire che più ci si avvicina al finale più la storia cattura e ci sono alcuni risvolti che fanno arrabbiare tantissimo (e anche il comportamento dei personaggi, perché in certe occasioni dimostrano un'ingenuità pazzesca e avrei voluto scuoterli uno ad uno!) ma a parte qualche piccolo dettaglio stonato e qualche ingenuità troppo marcata è una storia che funziona e coinvolge, inoltre è molto originale, nulla di "già letto".
È una storia che vedrei benissimo trasposta in una serie tv!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Layla is kidnapped and murdered, DI Clarke takes on the case. Two years later, there is still no suspect. But Gale, Laylas younger brother has a secret; one that he hasn’t told anybody… yet. He can see Laylas ghost, and she’s told him who her killer is.
I fell in love with the characters in this book straight away, and found it a very compelling read. In a way, it is a simple story, with shocking twists as it progresses.
It’s an easy read and the type of book in which you pray for a happy ending. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to reading more from this author.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this in return for an honest review.

[KT · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was okay for me... not great... just okay.

pet peeve: the blurb doesn't happen in the book. not even a little bit. and the title. little ghosts. there's ONE ghost. why the plural? i feel deceived 😆

it was just a little too long.... storm publishing didn't do great editing (lots of small errors, needed to be trimmed down, etc. etc.) ... and just a little too predictable for me.

if you're an avid thriller reader, this one probably isn't for you.

if you're not an avid thriller reader, give it a shot. the story line will probably be new to you.

[auds · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring

[Ele · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking

That ending was hard to read. I am still crying but it was beautiful too. I couldn't put this book down. It was so compelling and thought out and incredibly moving. The villain is terribly evil. Really evil. Layla was his sister she died and then two years later she appears to him and talks to him. She tells him who murdered her, not the name but what happened. He does his own detective work and comes up with the killer himself. I loved that someone, a police beat cop, was dragged into the drama and kept searching for the truth. I really loved this story and that ending was so good but heartbreaking too.

[daniela weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

all the "suspended-belief" 
elements worked well in this 
adventurous drama about a 
child in danger: bittersweet, 
original, deeply touching. ♡

[Renee Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder Mystery ►►► Mostly



Ghost Story ►►► Just a little bit.



Audible Audio is a great version, highly recommended.