Hush Little Girl is the eleventh instalment in the Detective Josie Quinn series, set in and around the small town of Denton, Central Pennsylvania situated along the banks of the Susquehanna River. The prologue begins on a chilly January day with Josie and her long-term beau and fiance, Lieutenant Noah Fraley, travelling along, the snowy rural roads from Harper’s Peak back home to Denton, in his new Chevrolet, after finalising their wedding plans, when a deer runs out in front of them giving them no time to brake or swerve out of its path. They had been visiting the hotel venue at which their ceremony would be held to ensure they have it secured for their perfect day. Both had been thrown forward with their seatbelts snapping tautly across their bodies. Josie appeared to have whiplash injuries and when she turned to Noah he had blood trickling from his forehead. They had been dating now for 3 years but had known each other for 7; they are excited now their day is down in writing. It'll take place at the quaint local chapel in 3 months when the couple hopes beyond hope that the pristine snow will have given way to lush greenery and that spring has sprung. Miles from both Denton or Harper's Peak, luckily Good Samaritan Lorelei offers them a much-needed lift when they each find their mobile phones without signal and unable to call for assistance. Fast forward 3 months and the nuptials have arrived with Josie and Noah full of excitement at their upcoming special day. But Josie wouldn't be Josie if she wasn't attracting the wrong sort of attention. The entirety of Denton PD is in attendance at Harper's Peak, an opulent resort renowned for its stunning hilltop church and wonderful atmosphere. As her hens flock around primping and preening her to perfection ready for that all-important walk down the aisle, Josie learns that the body of a young girl, a child of all people, has been discovered slumped on the steps leading up to the venue.
Knowing Josie's tendency to be selfless and altruistic, those around her try to limit the information they tell her in the fear she might call off the vows due to the death. Torn over what to do, her mind is made when she finds that the child is the daughter of the woman who rescued them that evening some months earlier after the incident with the deer in the dead of midwinter. 12-year-old Holly Mitchell was laid among the flowers with a creepy doll made from pine cones clutched to her chest. The scene is secured as her department looks into the cause of death and ready themselves to break the horrific news to her family. But at the remote home at which she resided, there's a truck with a trail of congealed blood, a missing rifle, signs a struggle had taken place and the girl's mother, Lorelei, was dead from a gunshot wound after being attacked in her own kitchen. To make matters even worse, the youngest daughter, Emily, is missing but is found hiding and traumatised but unhurt. Can Josie, Noah and their team discover the truth as to the fate of this family and eventually find they have enough time to carry out their vows? This is a riveting, compulsive and exciting procedural with a merging of Josie's personal and professional lives and you can't help but wonder if she will ever receive the happiness she truly deserves for being not only a stand-up, inspirational Detective but person too. Full of gasp-worthy family secrets we learn about some interesting behaviour, sordid secrets and barefaced lies as the scintillating narrative unravels before our eyes. Usually, I would expect a series to begin flagging, at least a little, by this point, but surprisingly it remains a tautly plotted, grip-like-a-vice type of read with drama, atmosphere, secrets, lies, intensity and wickedly twisty reveals in abundance. Highly recommended.