What an intriguing mystery at the Saint Agnes Orphanage, full of secrets, bad cops, and an unraveling of innocent people for over 25 years. 50 orphan girls have gone missing from this castle-like estate under the scrutiny of Dr Thomas Mackenzie. Madeline, a wealthy socialite with an arrogant persona has a lot of pain behind her tough attitude that she does not want anyone to know. She, as well as her family, have a financial interest in the orphanage... her Goddaughter, Mia, is a resident there and has gone missing...MIA. She is a beautiful girl and can sing as softly as an angel. Her choir director Goolsby took her under his wing with promises she will be a star one day.
Madeline has hired numerous private investigators to find out what happened to Mia, but to no avail, except the obvious.
Hazel Cho went to law school with her parents pleading for her success as a lawyer. When she experienced a traumatizing nightmare. Her knight in shining armor was a private investigator, not a lawyer. This encouraged her to follow in his footsteps to help others, much to her parents' dismay.
Madeline approaches Hazel with an astounding $100,000 offer, as well as a Tesla, to help find Mia. She accepts, but the catch has a one week deadline.
The orphanage houses children that have no other family or have been abused and pulled from their homes. Their only hope is Saint Agnes. When she investigates the place, the people inside appear to have something to hide, as well as the disappearance of 50 girls.
Hazel meets the suave, wealthy and handsome Andrew Dupont, which helps her with the case or leads her into a dark web of lies and society. Kenny, her roommate, stalker and best friend, besides crushing on her, is an incredible addition to her case, helping behind the scenes.
All the characters play a huge role in the substance of the book and soon it becomes a questionable battle who Hazel can trust and work with. An outstanding book and an impressive talent of words from the author. The ending has a surprising twist with a horrifying glimpse into today's society. About halfway through the book, I thought I could see where it was going, but it did not deter me from enjoying it nonstop. The eye-catching cover had me begging for this one and I was not disappointed.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this incredible ARC in exchange for my review!