The Lost Girls

by Caroline Clark

When darkness stalks the streets, the innocent succumb to the shadows.
Lincoln is an idyllic historic city until a sinister serial killer stalks its lonely streets.

When Sophie Wilkinson, just 13 years old, disappears, the search is on.

Is she just lost?

Has she run away?

Or is it something much worse?

A city’s heart breaks when she is found lifeless four days later. When another girl goes missing, the city holds its breath. Will the chilling pattern be repeated?

Moira Foster was once a respected member of the Lincoln Police Force. She retired after a gut-wrenching case hit too close to home. Now, she's a private detective and a search and rescue specialist with her trusty dog, Rose. This case brings back memories she would rather forget. She wants to walk away, but she can't.

When a serial killer is stalking her streets, she will not rest?

As the town's façade crumbles and the city’s secrets spill, will Moira unravel the chilling truth in time, or will another young life be lost to the malevolent force hiding in the shadows?

Dive into this gripping psychological crime thriller, where innocence meets evil, secrets breed mistrust, and not everything is as it seems.

Genres: Thriller, Ebooks, Fiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2023

Reviews

[Eirlys · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good read

I liked this book with its drama and suspense. Moira, and Rosie, her boxer dog are a force to be reckoned with as they search for a missing young girl. Rosie has an incredible sense of smell which Moira utilises in her search for the answers to who is taking the young victims. The characters are skilfully crafted and believable.

[Alison Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good story, but it was marred by repetition. I did want to find out what happened and I kept reading, but found myself skipping chunks where the story slowed. Moira's past was referenced frequently, and this became irritating.
There were several copy errors, which jarred as I read: missed apostrophes, American English - neighbors, vapor etc.

[Lise R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book a 4 stars for the story. It’s captivating, fast paced, believable and quite well built though with a few inconsistencies like a private detective allowed to question a murder suspect at the police station or a teacher calling the police on a suspicious man sitting on the other side of the school yard because she saw him breathing heavily.
Rose the Boxer is an instantly loveable character too.

But I give it a 2 for the poor writing. The book is full of grammar and style errors: verb tenses that change every 2 sentences, wrong subject/ verb concordance like “ the killer were evil people”, adjectives or verbs or even expressions repeated within the same paragraph ( if the author wrote once “ a testament to”, she wrote it a hundred times ), phrases like “Rose, having taken seat on her lap, sat quietly there”, etc.
So many such errors that it does seriously take off the pleasure of reading.
And, on the other hand, a myriad of comparisons, allegories that could be pleasant if there weren’t so many of them that it looks like one of the first style exercise of a student willing to learn about how to write a book.
If this is this author’s first book, she is promising provided she gets a good editor or fool proof reader.

[Satwant Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nail biting thriller because of little girls

The story itself was good the dog was totally awesome. However the story itself was too American and too self absorbed by Moira herself and her past memories. Then the story of the cyanide controller left out altogether. What happened to him and his family? And K9 was awesome and I loved her a lot. It was supposed to be a British thriller but I didn't feel it. The description of City of Lincoln didn't feel right and I have been to Lincoln.

[Patty U. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book

Enjoyed reading this book. I felt the author described some things beyond what they should have been. Like the boxer. She was always going on about her markings or feel of the fur. By the fifth time I think we knew what the boxer looked like. The book has a very good storyline. It will keep your interest till the end.

[Nai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review may contain spoilers!
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I quite liked the story and I don’t usually write reviews but I just need to know, surely I’m not the only person wondering what the hell happened with Darren Wilkinson? Was his guess for the killer correct? What was the point of even having him in the story if there was no closure there for that part? Anyone else feeling confused about that?

[Deanna Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved it! I’m hooked reading it!

I love how Moria and her dog Rose really well work together and trusting and of course understanding…geez! So many girls went missing a bit extreme but glad they found him after trying to find the killer..it was soooo good!

Looking forward to read another book series soon….

[Megan Lords · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story line was good… the book was quite wordy. It seemed like there were 27 words to describe one thing. I enjoyed the plot line and the message, but I’m not sure I would pick up another book of the same style.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a wonderful book!! very confusing on the internet though. trying to figure out what books are in this series because it is not posted very well on the internet. there are side books called darker truths, and I don't know if it's book 1.5 or 2.5
anyways this was awesome!

[Kayla Wiklanski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big thumbs up

Well put together story. Descriptions brought it to life. Clara creeps me out!! Never had a character I'd read who I would not want to come across.

[Naoise Nickolay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline is fine, good even but the overly emotional descriptions and flowery dialogue is beyond off putting. A decent bit of editing and tightening up of the language could improve it 100%.

[veronica Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

good murder mystery

decent storyline, well written. Overall a nice thrilling read. For me it started off slow but eventually it picked up and became more interesting

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

British author uses American English spellings.....why on earth do this!

Leaves the reader with unanswered questions!

[cathey dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Police

I'm not as intrigued with police procedures as the actual crime itself. The long drawn out police activity was too much.

[Rachel Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story however there were so many grammar and punctuation mistakes… it drove me nuts.