What do you think?
Rate this book
Penrose & Pyke Mysteries #8
Empty Cradle
Penrose and Pyke must put aside their own problems in a race against the clock to rescue an abducted infant.
When private detective Charlie Penrose Pyke is asked to investigate a child abduction, his instinct is to refuse. As their first wedding anniversary approaches, Charlie fears for the fragile state of his wife, Grace, for whom this heart-breaking case could be the final straw. But how can he let the desperate parents down, when they have struggled for years to conceive only to have their baby snatched away? Besides, Charlie is their only hope, because the ransom note threatens their precious son’s life if they contact the police.
A family torn apart, a case taking fresh twists and turns by the hour, and only four days to identify the abductor. Could it possibly get any worse? And then, the unthinkable happens.
The Penrose & Pyke Mystery series is set during a remarkable period of social upheaval in 1890s New Zealand.
When private detective Charlie Penrose Pyke is asked to investigate a child abduction, his instinct is to refuse. As their first wedding anniversary approaches, Charlie fears for the fragile state of his wife, Grace, for whom this heart-breaking case could be the final straw. But how can he let the desperate parents down, when they have struggled for years to conceive only to have their baby snatched away? Besides, Charlie is their only hope, because the ransom note threatens their precious son’s life if they contact the police.
A family torn apart, a case taking fresh twists and turns by the hour, and only four days to identify the abductor. Could it possibly get any worse? And then, the unthinkable happens.
The Penrose & Pyke Mystery series is set during a remarkable period of social upheaval in 1890s New Zealand.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 25, 2025
115 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Rose Pascoe
18 books37 followersRose Pascoe writes historical mysteries with a dash of romance, when she isn’t plotting real-life adventures. She lives in beautiful New Zealand, land of beaches and mountains, where long walks provide the perfect conditions for dreaming up plots and fickle weather provides the incentive to sit down and actually write the darn things. After a career in health, justice and social research, her passion is for stories set against a backdrop of social revolution. Her heroines are ordinary women, who meet the challenges thrown at them with determination, ingenuity, courage, and humour.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 6, 2025
Plenty of Red Herrings in this cozy Mystery
I love the continuing story of Grace Penrose and Charlie Pike. I have been a big fan of the series ever since the first story.
Grace is an intelligent and determined young woman with a passion for medicine in an era when females were just breaking into the field. In fact, well qualified women had to undergo many more requirements in order to be admitted into medical schools. Once accepted, they were often treated with disdain by the largely male student body...and even their teachers. So it is intriguing to see that time period and attitudes as background to these great mysteries.
Charlie is a former policeman turned private detective. He is part Chinese and has experience a his own experience with prejudice, although his is racial rather than gender-based.
Neither of them let others opinions, deter them from reaching their goals. Together, they are a strong team as they, with a cast of memorable supporting characters, solve the mystery of a baby's kidnapping in this aptly named story.
Ms. Pascoe has another hit in this installment of the series. I also like that each of her stories in the series can be read as a single title as they are a satisfying and complete book and can stand alone.
I love the continuing story of Grace Penrose and Charlie Pike. I have been a big fan of the series ever since the first story.
Grace is an intelligent and determined young woman with a passion for medicine in an era when females were just breaking into the field. In fact, well qualified women had to undergo many more requirements in order to be admitted into medical schools. Once accepted, they were often treated with disdain by the largely male student body...and even their teachers. So it is intriguing to see that time period and attitudes as background to these great mysteries.
Charlie is a former policeman turned private detective. He is part Chinese and has experience a his own experience with prejudice, although his is racial rather than gender-based.
Neither of them let others opinions, deter them from reaching their goals. Together, they are a strong team as they, with a cast of memorable supporting characters, solve the mystery of a baby's kidnapping in this aptly named story.
Ms. Pascoe has another hit in this installment of the series. I also like that each of her stories in the series can be read as a single title as they are a satisfying and complete book and can stand alone.
April 27, 2025
Love this series!
I love all the books in this series. The main characters are full of life and humanity. Grace Penrose is an intelligent, caring, and tenacious young lady and studying to be the first woman doctor in New Zealand. Her husband Charlie Pyke adores her. He is also intelligent, caring, and tenacious. This particular crime had many twists and turns and I kept thinking I had it figured out until there would be another twist. I mostly read historical novels set in England so it’s been very interesting throughout this series to learn so much about New Zealand. It’s been fascinating.
I love all the books in this series. The main characters are full of life and humanity. Grace Penrose is an intelligent, caring, and tenacious young lady and studying to be the first woman doctor in New Zealand. Her husband Charlie Pyke adores her. He is also intelligent, caring, and tenacious. This particular crime had many twists and turns and I kept thinking I had it figured out until there would be another twist. I mostly read historical novels set in England so it’s been very interesting throughout this series to learn so much about New Zealand. It’s been fascinating.
June 28, 2025
This is one good story! There were so many red herrings that I was kept guessing throughout. I went round and round, trying to figure out who it was, and was still surprised when the culprit was revealed. Excellent job of diversion. The author did a great job building suspense throughout, but especially in the last couple of chapters. This book is surely one of the best in the series. It's also an excellent series overall, and I'm hopeful it will continue for quite a long time.
May 16, 2025
I really like the series
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews