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D.I. Lottie Parker #10
Little Bones
She lifted up her granddaughter from the cot, clutched her to her chest and, without looking at her beautiful daughter lying dead on the floor of her bedroom, ran from the house. Only when she was outside did she let a wail escape her lips, frightening the baby who joined in her screams.
When Isabel Gallagher is found murdered on the floor of her baby’s nursery by her mother, it’s a gruelling case for Detective Lottie Parker. Isabel’s pyjamas have been ripped, her throat cut and an old-fashioned razor blade placed in her hand. As Lottie looks at the round blue eyes and perfect chubby cheeks of Isabel’s baby daughter, she can’t understand who would want to hurt this innocent family.
That very same day she receives a call with devastating news. Another young mother, Joyce Breslin, has gone missing, and her four-year-old son Evan has been abducted from daycare. Lottie is sure that the missing mother and son are linked to Isabel’s death, and when she finds a bloody razor blade in their house, her worst fears are confirmed.
Desperate to find little Evan, Lottie leaves no stone unturned as she delves into Isabel and Joyce’s pasts and when she realises the two women have been meeting in secret, she knows she must find out why.
But when Joyce’s body is found in a murky pond and some little bones are found on a windy hillside, it feels as if this merciless killer will stop at nothing. The bones aren’t Evan’s but can they give Lottie the final clue to find the innocent child before more lives are taken?
When Isabel Gallagher is found murdered on the floor of her baby’s nursery by her mother, it’s a gruelling case for Detective Lottie Parker. Isabel’s pyjamas have been ripped, her throat cut and an old-fashioned razor blade placed in her hand. As Lottie looks at the round blue eyes and perfect chubby cheeks of Isabel’s baby daughter, she can’t understand who would want to hurt this innocent family.
That very same day she receives a call with devastating news. Another young mother, Joyce Breslin, has gone missing, and her four-year-old son Evan has been abducted from daycare. Lottie is sure that the missing mother and son are linked to Isabel’s death, and when she finds a bloody razor blade in their house, her worst fears are confirmed.
Desperate to find little Evan, Lottie leaves no stone unturned as she delves into Isabel and Joyce’s pasts and when she realises the two women have been meeting in secret, she knows she must find out why.
But when Joyce’s body is found in a murky pond and some little bones are found on a windy hillside, it feels as if this merciless killer will stop at nothing. The bones aren’t Evan’s but can they give Lottie the final clue to find the innocent child before more lives are taken?
494 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 17, 2021
1708 people are currently reading
1439 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Gibney
31 books1,347 followersMy name is Patricia Gibney and I’m from Mullingar, County Westmeath. Right in the heart of Ireland. Surrounded by lakes, Mullingar is damp and wet most of the year but when the sun shines it is a little piece of heaven on earth. I’ve lived here all my life. I’m widowed, seven years in May, but was married to Aidan since 1982. I’ve three children who keep me sane, or maybe keep the madness at bay, just a little bit! I say that because I am an artist and a writer. I started writing, for therapy, when Aidan died.
I secured an agent in January 2016 and she is fighting my corner in an effort to get my debut novel published.
Three years ago, I decided to get serious about it. I joined The Irish Writers Centre. Started doing courses. I love reading crime thrillers so it was obvious to me to start writing in the crime genre. And let me tell you, it is not easy. A crime novel needs to be tightly plotted and plotting is the bane of my life. I prefer to write straight off the top of my head. Oh, Oh. Feels good when writing but then comes the editing. I lost 20,000 words in the process. But at least I am proud to say I got it done.
I am now writing the second novel in the series, featuring Lottie Parker and a host of credible characters. They are all part of my extended family, you know the kind – people you love one minute and want to kill the next!
So join me on this journey and lets see where it leads us.
I secured an agent in January 2016 and she is fighting my corner in an effort to get my debut novel published.
Three years ago, I decided to get serious about it. I joined The Irish Writers Centre. Started doing courses. I love reading crime thrillers so it was obvious to me to start writing in the crime genre. And let me tell you, it is not easy. A crime novel needs to be tightly plotted and plotting is the bane of my life. I prefer to write straight off the top of my head. Oh, Oh. Feels good when writing but then comes the editing. I lost 20,000 words in the process. But at least I am proud to say I got it done.
I am now writing the second novel in the series, featuring Lottie Parker and a host of credible characters. They are all part of my extended family, you know the kind – people you love one minute and want to kill the next!
So join me on this journey and lets see where it leads us.
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September 14, 2021
A woman is found murdered in her home, her child screaming in its cot. She is found with a razor blade in her hand. Another woman and her son disappear separately. This woman’s car is found by a lake, empty, but an envelope with an address and razor blade are found in the car. The address in the envelope yields an old crime scene where a lot of blood is found, including in a small cot and more razor blades are found at the address. A small body is found buried by a tree at the top of a hill. How are all these events connected?
Set in the Irish town of Ragmullin DI Lottie Parker and her team are run off their feet trying to solve all these cases and find the missing child alive. It is clear that a lot of the people involved are somehow connected and/or know something but nobody is talking. This is a very convoluted case indeed and I had no chance of unravelling it. There are so many secrets and so many red herrings and so many suspects it almost made my head spin, in a good way. The tension got very thick the further we got into the story and it was not a given who would live and who would die!
I have read all the books in this series and along the way have come to know the characters very well. This can be read as a stand alone but you do miss a fair bit of the background. Lottie and DS Boyd’s romance is on the back burner again as he gets a letter that could blow up his life but that will be for the next book. Lottie herself is still struggling to juggle motherhood with her career but the three children are growing up and seem to be able to manage quite well. I should think the whole team will need a holiday after the conclusion of this awful case that has wrung them all out. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
Set in the Irish town of Ragmullin DI Lottie Parker and her team are run off their feet trying to solve all these cases and find the missing child alive. It is clear that a lot of the people involved are somehow connected and/or know something but nobody is talking. This is a very convoluted case indeed and I had no chance of unravelling it. There are so many secrets and so many red herrings and so many suspects it almost made my head spin, in a good way. The tension got very thick the further we got into the story and it was not a given who would live and who would die!
I have read all the books in this series and along the way have come to know the characters very well. This can be read as a stand alone but you do miss a fair bit of the background. Lottie and DS Boyd’s romance is on the back burner again as he gets a letter that could blow up his life but that will be for the next book. Lottie herself is still struggling to juggle motherhood with her career but the three children are growing up and seem to be able to manage quite well. I should think the whole team will need a holiday after the conclusion of this awful case that has wrung them all out. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
September 4, 2024
DI Lottie Parker is back in this tenth episode of this enjoyable series set in Ragmullin in Ireland. This time she has a number of cases to investigate. There is the murder of a young mother in front of her baby daughter followed by the disappearance of another young mother and her young son Evan. Not obviously linked to these cases, there is also the unearthing of little bones belonging to a child killed and buried some time ago on a lonely hillside. With the urgency to find Evan while he is hopefully still alive, Lottie and her team have their work cut out trying to find any clues to why he and his mother were abducted.
Lottie’s a great fictional detective, hard-working and driven, while running a good team and trying to keep her home life and her relationship with DS Boyd on track. Her family have now moved into the old house that Lottie and her half-brother inherited but it’s in an awful, rundown state and doesn’t feel like home. The plot is complex and fast paced and it’s a while before all the threads come into alignment and the connections slot into place, perhaps just a bit too conveniently, but nevertheless in a gripping climax. It was good to catch up with Lottie and her team again and to have a little tease of a cliffhanger to lead into the next instalment.
With thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for a copy to read.
Lottie’s a great fictional detective, hard-working and driven, while running a good team and trying to keep her home life and her relationship with DS Boyd on track. Her family have now moved into the old house that Lottie and her half-brother inherited but it’s in an awful, rundown state and doesn’t feel like home. The plot is complex and fast paced and it’s a while before all the threads come into alignment and the connections slot into place, perhaps just a bit too conveniently, but nevertheless in a gripping climax. It was good to catch up with Lottie and her team again and to have a little tease of a cliffhanger to lead into the next instalment.
With thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for a copy to read.
December 1, 2023
Pongo aquí también la reseña de este libro, que hace unos días escribí en "Little bones". Goodreads tiene la mala costumbre de no unificar versiones.
No es la novela de la serie que más me ha gustado.
La trama es interesante. Gibney genera intriga y es cierto qué quieres que se resuelvan todos los interrogantes planteados. El ritmo es adecuado. La cuestión es, que una vez que se desvela el quién y los porqués, las actitudes de algunos personajes, como Joyce (y algún otro que no nombro por lo de los spoilers), no me cuadran, no me resultan creíbles.
Tampoco me ha gustado mucho la semiinvolución de Lottie Parker. En las anteriores novelas había dejado de ser la "desquiciada" de las primeras entregas, para mostrarse más centrada en lo personal. En esta última, vuelve a boicotearse a sí misma, por decirlo de alguna manera. Es un comportamiento que no obedece a ninguna lógica, salvo que la autora desee prolongar ese quiero y no quiero. Acostumbrada a la nueva Lottie, esta vuelta atrás me ha chirríado.
En conclusión, una novela entretenida, con una trama intrigante y que no me ha terminado de convencer por las actitudes y decisiones de algunos personajes. Aún así, la serie merece la pena. Veremos qué tal la próxima entrega.
No es la novela de la serie que más me ha gustado.
La trama es interesante. Gibney genera intriga y es cierto qué quieres que se resuelvan todos los interrogantes planteados. El ritmo es adecuado. La cuestión es, que una vez que se desvela el quién y los porqués, las actitudes de algunos personajes, como Joyce (y algún otro que no nombro por lo de los spoilers), no me cuadran, no me resultan creíbles.
Tampoco me ha gustado mucho la semiinvolución de Lottie Parker. En las anteriores novelas había dejado de ser la "desquiciada" de las primeras entregas, para mostrarse más centrada en lo personal. En esta última, vuelve a boicotearse a sí misma, por decirlo de alguna manera. Es un comportamiento que no obedece a ninguna lógica, salvo que la autora desee prolongar ese quiero y no quiero. Acostumbrada a la nueva Lottie, esta vuelta atrás me ha chirríado.
En conclusión, una novela entretenida, con una trama intrigante y que no me ha terminado de convencer por las actitudes y decisiones de algunos personajes. Aún así, la serie merece la pena. Veremos qué tal la próxima entrega.
October 7, 2022
3,5 ⭐
No es la novela de la serie que más me ha gustado.
La trama es interesante. Gibney genera intriga y es cierto qué quieres que se resuelvan todos los interrogantes planteados. El ritmo es adecuado. La cuestión es, que una vez que se desvela el quién y los porqués, las actitudes de algunos personajes, como Joyce (y algún otro que no nombro por lo de los spoilers), no me cuadran, no me resultan creíbles.
Tampoco me ha gustado mucho la semiinvolución de Lottie Parker. En las anteriores novelas había dejado de ser la "desquiciada" de las primeras entregas, para mostrarse más centrada en lo personal. En esta última, vuelve a boicotearse a sí misma, por decirlo de alguna manera. Es un comportamiento que no obedece a ninguna lógica, salvo que la autora desee prolongar ese quiero y no quiero. El problema es que acostumbrada a la nueva Lottie, esta vuelta atrás me ha chirríado.
En conclusión, una novela entretenida, con una trama intrigante y que no me ha terminado de convencer por las actitudes y decisiones de algunos personajes. Aún así, la serie merece la pena. Veremos qué tal la próxima entrega.
No es la novela de la serie que más me ha gustado.
La trama es interesante. Gibney genera intriga y es cierto qué quieres que se resuelvan todos los interrogantes planteados. El ritmo es adecuado. La cuestión es, que una vez que se desvela el quién y los porqués, las actitudes de algunos personajes, como Joyce (y algún otro que no nombro por lo de los spoilers), no me cuadran, no me resultan creíbles.
Tampoco me ha gustado mucho la semiinvolución de Lottie Parker. En las anteriores novelas había dejado de ser la "desquiciada" de las primeras entregas, para mostrarse más centrada en lo personal. En esta última, vuelve a boicotearse a sí misma, por decirlo de alguna manera. Es un comportamiento que no obedece a ninguna lógica, salvo que la autora desee prolongar ese quiero y no quiero. El problema es que acostumbrada a la nueva Lottie, esta vuelta atrás me ha chirríado.
En conclusión, una novela entretenida, con una trama intrigante y que no me ha terminado de convencer por las actitudes y decisiones de algunos personajes. Aún así, la serie merece la pena. Veremos qué tal la próxima entrega.
August 11, 2021
Wow! This is the tenth book in the Lottie Parker series and it’s still as sharp as the first. Patricia Gibney continues to delight with well thought out police procedurals. Lottie is involved in two different investigations - a woman murdered in her own home, her four month old child in the same room; and a missing woman and her four year old boy, who have gone missing separately. There is some weird connection between the two women involving razor blades but Lottie can’t figure out the link.
The book moves at a brisk pace. There are lots of avenues to be explored and possible suspects, including a controlling husband. As Lottie thinks at one point, “the threads of the investigation were snaking out all over the place instead of being wound into a spool. It was turning into a logistical nightmare.” And oh, how right she was!
On top of this, there’s lots of personal drama going on within the team. And another cliffhanger at the end.
This book can be read as a standalone but it will mean the reader misses out on some of the pertinent background.
I recommend this for fans of police procedurals with interesting team dynamics and fully fleshed out characters.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book.
The book moves at a brisk pace. There are lots of avenues to be explored and possible suspects, including a controlling husband. As Lottie thinks at one point, “the threads of the investigation were snaking out all over the place instead of being wound into a spool. It was turning into a logistical nightmare.” And oh, how right she was!
On top of this, there’s lots of personal drama going on within the team. And another cliffhanger at the end.
This book can be read as a standalone but it will mean the reader misses out on some of the pertinent background.
I recommend this for fans of police procedurals with interesting team dynamics and fully fleshed out characters.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book.
October 19, 2021
Little Bones is another tightly-plotted and emotionally gripping instalment in Patricia Gibney's excellent D.I. Lottie Parker series.
The book opens with a dramatic prologue, set two and a half years prior to the main body of the story, detailing an horrific episode of domestic violence and a clandestine burial. We then move forward to the present time, as Anita Boland arrives at the home of her married daughter, Isabel Gallagher, expecting to babysit her baby granddaughter while Isabel attends an appointment. She walks into a shocking crime scene - Isabel has been murdered, but baby Holly has been left alive, screaming disconsolately, in her nearby cot.
Detective Inspector Lottie Parker and her team, based in nearby Ragmullin, Eire, are called in to investigate the murder. Throughout the story, we see vignettes of widowed Lottie's rather chaotic domestic life at dilapidated Farranstown House, with her three children, young grandson and the frequent presence of her partner/colleague Mark Boyd and her judgmental but domestically-indispensable mother, Rose.
While Parker's team begin their investigation of the Gallagher homicide, another drama is unfolding nearby. Another young mother, Joyce Breslin, receives a mysterious warning - a rusty razor blade in a plain envelope pushed under her door. Joyce is clearly traumatised as a result of experiences in her past, her terror amplified when she hears of Isabel's death on a news bulletin. She reacts instinctively by preparing to flee Ragmullin with her four-year-old son, Evan, dropping him at day-care while she frantically gets herself organised. But before she can escape, Joyce disappears, leaving her car abandoned by the side of a remote road, and Evan is mysteriously abducted from his day-care centre while the proprietor is distracted.
If that's not enough drama to contend with, hiker Dervla Byrne is enjoying a solo walk on nearby Misneach Hill, a place rich in mythology, when she comes across a tiny bone, protruding from a moss-covered mound. Dervla wrestles with what she should do - could this be a human bone?
The three apparently disparate plot threads gradually come together, as Parker and her team conduct their investigations. Both Isabel's and Joyce's husbands are behaving strangely, the homicide team is further stretched by internal tensions, and a potential witness-suspect can't be found.
As readers have come to expect from Patricia Gibney, a complex, multi-layered plot is complemented by great characterisations, evocative settings and punchy dialogue (both internal and spoken). Lottie Parker is a sympathetic protagonist, barely keeping her home and family arrangements under control while balancing a demanding professional life. The supporting characters are also well-developed, both those who are recurring figures throughout the series and those whose involvement is limited to this particular case. There are so many metaphorical skeletons hidden, in addition to the one physical one, that the reader is kept guessing as to the identity of the villain(s) right up to the thrilling conclusion.
With the themes of domestic abuse, self-harm and violence against children, this isn't a book for the faint-hearted. Several of the scenes are genuinely chilling in their descriptive content. However, for readers who look for grittier content in their mystery-thrillers, Little Bones will prove a stimulating and enthralling read. This is a worthy addition to a fantastic series. Highly recommended.
My thanks to the author, Patricia Gibney, publisher Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent title.
The book opens with a dramatic prologue, set two and a half years prior to the main body of the story, detailing an horrific episode of domestic violence and a clandestine burial. We then move forward to the present time, as Anita Boland arrives at the home of her married daughter, Isabel Gallagher, expecting to babysit her baby granddaughter while Isabel attends an appointment. She walks into a shocking crime scene - Isabel has been murdered, but baby Holly has been left alive, screaming disconsolately, in her nearby cot.
Detective Inspector Lottie Parker and her team, based in nearby Ragmullin, Eire, are called in to investigate the murder. Throughout the story, we see vignettes of widowed Lottie's rather chaotic domestic life at dilapidated Farranstown House, with her three children, young grandson and the frequent presence of her partner/colleague Mark Boyd and her judgmental but domestically-indispensable mother, Rose.
While Parker's team begin their investigation of the Gallagher homicide, another drama is unfolding nearby. Another young mother, Joyce Breslin, receives a mysterious warning - a rusty razor blade in a plain envelope pushed under her door. Joyce is clearly traumatised as a result of experiences in her past, her terror amplified when she hears of Isabel's death on a news bulletin. She reacts instinctively by preparing to flee Ragmullin with her four-year-old son, Evan, dropping him at day-care while she frantically gets herself organised. But before she can escape, Joyce disappears, leaving her car abandoned by the side of a remote road, and Evan is mysteriously abducted from his day-care centre while the proprietor is distracted.
If that's not enough drama to contend with, hiker Dervla Byrne is enjoying a solo walk on nearby Misneach Hill, a place rich in mythology, when she comes across a tiny bone, protruding from a moss-covered mound. Dervla wrestles with what she should do - could this be a human bone?
The three apparently disparate plot threads gradually come together, as Parker and her team conduct their investigations. Both Isabel's and Joyce's husbands are behaving strangely, the homicide team is further stretched by internal tensions, and a potential witness-suspect can't be found.
As readers have come to expect from Patricia Gibney, a complex, multi-layered plot is complemented by great characterisations, evocative settings and punchy dialogue (both internal and spoken). Lottie Parker is a sympathetic protagonist, barely keeping her home and family arrangements under control while balancing a demanding professional life. The supporting characters are also well-developed, both those who are recurring figures throughout the series and those whose involvement is limited to this particular case. There are so many metaphorical skeletons hidden, in addition to the one physical one, that the reader is kept guessing as to the identity of the villain(s) right up to the thrilling conclusion.
With the themes of domestic abuse, self-harm and violence against children, this isn't a book for the faint-hearted. Several of the scenes are genuinely chilling in their descriptive content. However, for readers who look for grittier content in their mystery-thrillers, Little Bones will prove a stimulating and enthralling read. This is a worthy addition to a fantastic series. Highly recommended.
My thanks to the author, Patricia Gibney, publisher Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent title.
September 21, 2021
This is a compulsive and absorbing police procedural with a complex thrill-a-minute plot and plenty going on between the pages. It's stylishly woven and thoroughly atmospheric with some beautiful scenic descriptions and never a dull moment. There are ample twists and turns, clever use of misdirection and an unravelling of secrets, mysteries and drama aplenty as you realise that many people can not be trusted. Exciting and highly entertaining, you will be hard pushed to find a more refreshingly different thriller this year. It's fast paced and suspenseful with an impeccably concealed perpetrator and obscured motive. The narrative exudes tension and Gibney has well and truly mastered how to pull the wool over your eyes, grip you from the start and ratchet up the tension to palpable proportions before it culminates in an explosive finale. All in all, an enthralling thrill ride with credible and engaging characters and a keen sense of time and place. Highly recommended.
June 28, 2022
Thriller-lite, 4 stars.
I have a complaint about Goodreads rating system. A book is not an item like a toaster, which can be easily rated on a five-point scale. A book is multi-layered, chosen for a variety of reasons.
Mostly I choose books that will keep my aging brain sharp, like doing a jigsaw puzzle or Sudoku — activities recommended for older people to help slow brain degeneration. Thus, I choose to read books that are slightly challenging, ones that will get my synapses firing in a few new directions. I rarely pick up a non-fiction book, one that is designed to teach me completely new ideas, because I am old, and would prefer to spend the few years I have left in the company of enjoyable books — mainly thrillers because I love the logic that is at their root understructure. Nonetheless, I want them to make me think, just a bit, in new directions.
Sometimes, however, I want to read something that will serve as a warm comfort blanket. Not a novel that introduces me to new ideas, but one that relieves tension that is occurring in my everyday life. I have decided to call them “thriller-lite”. For a few hours I can be immersed in a world of make-believe and forget about everything else. When I find a good thriller-lite, I feel it deserves a four-star rating. But these four stars are not equal to the four stars I might give to a novel by Val McDermid, or Stuart MacBride, or Deon Meyer, or any of a multitude of writers who have indeed challenged my understanding of the world, and thus encouraged the formation of new brain connections. Thriller-lite novels are meant to be enjoyed, and then forgotten, within a short period of time.
So, this is my review of LITTLE BONES by Patricia Gibney — the first book I have read by this author. I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down until I finished. It was fast paced and well written. It alternates between a convoluted murder investigation and the ups-and-downs of the personal lives of DI Lottie Parker and her investigative team. After I finished it, the only thing that I questioned was how the ultimate villain, who was truly evil, could have manipulated so many people for so long, given the deranged level of his thinking and behaviour.
The next time I am feeling a bit downhearted, I will read another novel from this series.
I have a complaint about Goodreads rating system. A book is not an item like a toaster, which can be easily rated on a five-point scale. A book is multi-layered, chosen for a variety of reasons.
Mostly I choose books that will keep my aging brain sharp, like doing a jigsaw puzzle or Sudoku — activities recommended for older people to help slow brain degeneration. Thus, I choose to read books that are slightly challenging, ones that will get my synapses firing in a few new directions. I rarely pick up a non-fiction book, one that is designed to teach me completely new ideas, because I am old, and would prefer to spend the few years I have left in the company of enjoyable books — mainly thrillers because I love the logic that is at their root understructure. Nonetheless, I want them to make me think, just a bit, in new directions.
Sometimes, however, I want to read something that will serve as a warm comfort blanket. Not a novel that introduces me to new ideas, but one that relieves tension that is occurring in my everyday life. I have decided to call them “thriller-lite”. For a few hours I can be immersed in a world of make-believe and forget about everything else. When I find a good thriller-lite, I feel it deserves a four-star rating. But these four stars are not equal to the four stars I might give to a novel by Val McDermid, or Stuart MacBride, or Deon Meyer, or any of a multitude of writers who have indeed challenged my understanding of the world, and thus encouraged the formation of new brain connections. Thriller-lite novels are meant to be enjoyed, and then forgotten, within a short period of time.
So, this is my review of LITTLE BONES by Patricia Gibney — the first book I have read by this author. I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down until I finished. It was fast paced and well written. It alternates between a convoluted murder investigation and the ups-and-downs of the personal lives of DI Lottie Parker and her investigative team. After I finished it, the only thing that I questioned was how the ultimate villain, who was truly evil, could have manipulated so many people for so long, given the deranged level of his thinking and behaviour.
The next time I am feeling a bit downhearted, I will read another novel from this series.
July 5, 2021
I can’t believe we’re into the 10th book in this series! I always look forward to a new Lottie Parker book. Lottie finds herself in a new investigation when a young mother is killed in front of her baby. Was it the husband? Or is something else going on? Then a another young mother goes missing and her child. Are the cases connected? Lottie is feeling the pressure to solve this case before a child is killed. You will see the familiar team with this case but tensions are high. Another solid installment in this series. Fast paced, good mystery, secrets & lies…..no shortage of keep you guessing moments.
September 22, 2021
Isabel Gallagher is murdered in front of her infant daughter. Isabel's mother discovers her body and grabs the baby to take her to safety. Detective Lottie Parker is determined to discover who would commit such a heinous crime. Things get no better when another mother goes missing, but so is her four-year-old son Evan. The mother, Joyce, is soon found dead, but Evan still has not been found. A clue found with the first woman's body mirrors that of a clue with this new victim. To add to this, small bones are found in a different location, but they are too small to be Evan's and this gives Lottie hope that he might be found alive.
What do the two bodies and the bones have in common? Are there any connected clues and will they be able to not only find Evan but keep any more lives from being taken? Meanwhile, Lottie and Mark Boyd, fellow detective, are still working on their relationship, which now seems to have yet another complication. Lottie is also dealing with her own children and the home where they live, a place that needs a lot of work. Although forced to juggle all of this, Lottie remains laser focused in her efforts to locate Evan.
There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle in this gripping story. Secrets that are slowly unraveling definitely keep Lottie and her team on their toes as they work hard to connect the past with the present in this case. This exciting tenth book in the D. I. Lottie Parker series is just as strong and just as exciting as the previous books in this series. This compelling story culminates in a thrilling conclusion, one that is certain to leave readers eager for the next installment.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
What do the two bodies and the bones have in common? Are there any connected clues and will they be able to not only find Evan but keep any more lives from being taken? Meanwhile, Lottie and Mark Boyd, fellow detective, are still working on their relationship, which now seems to have yet another complication. Lottie is also dealing with her own children and the home where they live, a place that needs a lot of work. Although forced to juggle all of this, Lottie remains laser focused in her efforts to locate Evan.
There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle in this gripping story. Secrets that are slowly unraveling definitely keep Lottie and her team on their toes as they work hard to connect the past with the present in this case. This exciting tenth book in the D. I. Lottie Parker series is just as strong and just as exciting as the previous books in this series. This compelling story culminates in a thrilling conclusion, one that is certain to leave readers eager for the next installment.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
May 23, 2022
Brilliant. Another good case closed 😃
December 5, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an egalley in exhange for an honest review.
The DI Lottie Parker series is perhaps the #1 reason that I became a NetGalley reviewer in the first place. The death of a young mother and the disappearance of another has Ragmullin's favorite detective and her team quite busy. Not to mention that different members of the team are experiencing their own personal dramas. Meanwhile Lottie and Boyd appear to have hit a speed bump in their relationship. All of this makes book 10 just as memorable as it's nine predecessors!
As I mentioned, I love this series and count Patricia Gibney as one of my fave authors now. I found the mystery gripping but my heavens the Lottie/ Boyd storyline makes me want to tear my heart out. I hate the wrench that has been thrown their way. Is it just me that wants this couple to stay together and have 0 issues for at least one book? Oh well, it keeps me counting the months until we see book 11. 😂
Goodreads review published 04/12/21
Publication Date 22/09/21
The DI Lottie Parker series is perhaps the #1 reason that I became a NetGalley reviewer in the first place. The death of a young mother and the disappearance of another has Ragmullin's favorite detective and her team quite busy. Not to mention that different members of the team are experiencing their own personal dramas. Meanwhile Lottie and Boyd appear to have hit a speed bump in their relationship. All of this makes book 10 just as memorable as it's nine predecessors!
As I mentioned, I love this series and count Patricia Gibney as one of my fave authors now. I found the mystery gripping but my heavens the Lottie/ Boyd storyline makes me want to tear my heart out. I hate the wrench that has been thrown their way. Is it just me that wants this couple to stay together and have 0 issues for at least one book? Oh well, it keeps me counting the months until we see book 11. 😂
Goodreads review published 04/12/21
Publication Date 22/09/21
October 9, 2022
Qué voy a decir de mi Lottie Parket y de Boyd... pues que me encantan las historias. Son muy duras, pero la forma de narrar y de meterte en la/s historia/s no decae.
Patricia Gibney está haciendo una cosa muy difícil, no decaer en las historias que cuenta y ya son 10 libros. Y puedo decir que con ganas de más. En este libro la historia de Boyd y Lottie queda abierta, no se sabe qué va a pasar y te deja con ganas del número 11.
Muy recomendable, como siempre.
Patricia Gibney está haciendo una cosa muy difícil, no decaer en las historias que cuenta y ya son 10 libros. Y puedo decir que con ganas de más. En este libro la historia de Boyd y Lottie queda abierta, no se sabe qué va a pasar y te deja con ganas del número 11.
Muy recomendable, como siempre.
September 22, 2021
★★★★ 4.5 stars
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Patricia Gibney's action-packed crime thriller LITTLE BONES.
I always look forward to a new Lottie Parker book and, as the tenth in the series, LITTLE BONES doesn't disappoint. What I love so much about this series is it is not wholly procedural and we get perspectives from various other players in the story - the victims, their families and even the villain themselves. Patricia Gibney continues to keep readers guessing from the first page to the very last and I admit to being hoodwinked for much of the book.
The story opens with a graphic prologue which will leave you heartbroken as to its outcome and yet it pulls no punches. The characters in the prologue are unnamed but as the story progresses we begin to work out who they are, with the final piece revealed as the tension in the climax builds.
DI Lottie Parker has a busy professional life as well as a confusing personal one. Having partially inherited the rambling dilapidated Farranstown House from her biological mother (revealed in a previous book) with her half brother who is living in New York, Lottie and her family move in with Boyd half living there, half not. Along with her children - daughters Katie and grandson Louis, Chloe and youngest son Sean - Lottie is trying to balance renovating the place so that it is half liveable whilst juggling her busy career. Her mother Rose is a constant fixture, although she has her own place, who is often there cooking up a storm for when Lottie and Boyd return home.
And then they get a call to a murder scene in which mother Anita Boland discovers upon arriving at her daughter Isabel's place to babysit three month old Holly. Unable to raise her daughter at the door, she enters and after a search of the house, hears Holly crying from the bedroom and finds Isabel in a pool of blood, brutally murdered in front of her daughter. When Lottie arrives she learns that the SOCOs have discovered a razor blade clutched within her hand and healed cut marks on her feet. What does this all mean? Lottie enlists one of her team to find Isabel's husband, Jack Gallagher. With his abrupt and abrasive attitude, it doesn't take long for the detectives to suspect him of having committed the crime. Particularly when they learn Isabel had no mobile phone and was given a small allowance for groceries and anything else she may need.
Then another woman, Joyce Breslin, goes missing when she fails to pick her son Evan up from daycare...but how is she linked to Isabel? Then the team discover that Isabel had once worked at the daycare, Bubbles, until her pregnancy deemed it too difficult. She was apparently to have met with the owner, Sinead Foley, of Bubbles the morning of her murder to discuss Holly attending. An appointment that was never kept. Sinead keeps Evan with her into the night, hoping that Joyce or her partner long distance lorry driver Nathan would soon collect the boy. But then Evan disappears from Sinead's house while she was in preparing the daycare room for the following day. There was no sign of a break-in, so did the abductor have a key?
When Joyce's car is found abandoned by a lake revealing nothing except for an envelope stuffed down the side of the driver's seat with an address and a razor blade, Lottie is convinced Joyce's disappearance is linked to the murder of Isabel. The question is, how? How do the two women know each other?
In an attempt to find Joyce's missing little four year old boy, one of Lottie's team, Kirby, decides to look into the address found in the envelope. It had to be of some significance to have been left in Joyce's car. When he manages to gain entry to the seemingly abandoned house he discovers what looks to be an old crime scene with splatters of dried blood in the kitchen and in the cot upstairs. Further investigation reveals razor blades hidden in a scarf in a cupboard. Kirby has an awful feeling about this.
Added to that is the discovery of some old bones belonging to a child found on an ancient site by a tree on a hillside. But how are all these apparent crimes and crime scenes linked? They nearly all involve razor blades, bar those of the children. So what links them all? Lottie cannot figure it out. But time is running out for little Evan unless Lottie and her team can find the little boy before it's too late. And on top of that, she and Boyd still haven't managed to tie the knot after their failed wedding in a previous book when Boyd fell ill.
There is a lot going on in this book that makes Lottie's head spin, but it is clear from the start that each part is a piece of the puzzle that ties the two women, and their secrets, together. Tensions are high as the race is on to solve the convoluted case, or cases, before time runs out. The pace remains steady throughout which is hitched up a notch as the tensions builds to a spectacular climax. The suspect pool is huge and continues to grow, leaving Lottie and her team at a loss trying to figure out what's going on.
LITTLE BONES is a fantastic addition to the Lottie Parker series which just seems to get better and better. I just wish Lottie and Boyd would hurry up already. And Katie, her eldest daughter, really should have found her feet by now. She was living in New York throughout the last book but now she's returned having decided that Farranstown is the perfect place to raise her son Louis. Although she doesn't feature as heavily in this books as previous ones, in fact none of Lottie's children do this time, she still comes across as a little flaky.
A solid procedural-cum-crime thriller, LITTLE BONES is an enjoyable read and a spectacular addition to the series. And as to expected from previous books in the series, LITTLE BONES ends with a cliffhanger of sorts to be resolved in the next installment. I look forward to that, however I expect I will have forgotten it by then as I have where the previous one left off also.
A good solid read with a fairly likeable team, LITTLE BONES can be read as a standalone but to do so one would miss out on some important background pertinent to the series as it stands today. Perfect for fans of Carol Wyer Victoria Jenkins King and Lake series and Carla Kovach.
I would like to thank #PatriciaGibney, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #LittleBones in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Patricia Gibney's action-packed crime thriller LITTLE BONES.
I always look forward to a new Lottie Parker book and, as the tenth in the series, LITTLE BONES doesn't disappoint. What I love so much about this series is it is not wholly procedural and we get perspectives from various other players in the story - the victims, their families and even the villain themselves. Patricia Gibney continues to keep readers guessing from the first page to the very last and I admit to being hoodwinked for much of the book.
The story opens with a graphic prologue which will leave you heartbroken as to its outcome and yet it pulls no punches. The characters in the prologue are unnamed but as the story progresses we begin to work out who they are, with the final piece revealed as the tension in the climax builds.
DI Lottie Parker has a busy professional life as well as a confusing personal one. Having partially inherited the rambling dilapidated Farranstown House from her biological mother (revealed in a previous book) with her half brother who is living in New York, Lottie and her family move in with Boyd half living there, half not. Along with her children - daughters Katie and grandson Louis, Chloe and youngest son Sean - Lottie is trying to balance renovating the place so that it is half liveable whilst juggling her busy career. Her mother Rose is a constant fixture, although she has her own place, who is often there cooking up a storm for when Lottie and Boyd return home.
And then they get a call to a murder scene in which mother Anita Boland discovers upon arriving at her daughter Isabel's place to babysit three month old Holly. Unable to raise her daughter at the door, she enters and after a search of the house, hears Holly crying from the bedroom and finds Isabel in a pool of blood, brutally murdered in front of her daughter. When Lottie arrives she learns that the SOCOs have discovered a razor blade clutched within her hand and healed cut marks on her feet. What does this all mean? Lottie enlists one of her team to find Isabel's husband, Jack Gallagher. With his abrupt and abrasive attitude, it doesn't take long for the detectives to suspect him of having committed the crime. Particularly when they learn Isabel had no mobile phone and was given a small allowance for groceries and anything else she may need.
Then another woman, Joyce Breslin, goes missing when she fails to pick her son Evan up from daycare...but how is she linked to Isabel? Then the team discover that Isabel had once worked at the daycare, Bubbles, until her pregnancy deemed it too difficult. She was apparently to have met with the owner, Sinead Foley, of Bubbles the morning of her murder to discuss Holly attending. An appointment that was never kept. Sinead keeps Evan with her into the night, hoping that Joyce or her partner long distance lorry driver Nathan would soon collect the boy. But then Evan disappears from Sinead's house while she was in preparing the daycare room for the following day. There was no sign of a break-in, so did the abductor have a key?
When Joyce's car is found abandoned by a lake revealing nothing except for an envelope stuffed down the side of the driver's seat with an address and a razor blade, Lottie is convinced Joyce's disappearance is linked to the murder of Isabel. The question is, how? How do the two women know each other?
In an attempt to find Joyce's missing little four year old boy, one of Lottie's team, Kirby, decides to look into the address found in the envelope. It had to be of some significance to have been left in Joyce's car. When he manages to gain entry to the seemingly abandoned house he discovers what looks to be an old crime scene with splatters of dried blood in the kitchen and in the cot upstairs. Further investigation reveals razor blades hidden in a scarf in a cupboard. Kirby has an awful feeling about this.
Added to that is the discovery of some old bones belonging to a child found on an ancient site by a tree on a hillside. But how are all these apparent crimes and crime scenes linked? They nearly all involve razor blades, bar those of the children. So what links them all? Lottie cannot figure it out. But time is running out for little Evan unless Lottie and her team can find the little boy before it's too late. And on top of that, she and Boyd still haven't managed to tie the knot after their failed wedding in a previous book when Boyd fell ill.
There is a lot going on in this book that makes Lottie's head spin, but it is clear from the start that each part is a piece of the puzzle that ties the two women, and their secrets, together. Tensions are high as the race is on to solve the convoluted case, or cases, before time runs out. The pace remains steady throughout which is hitched up a notch as the tensions builds to a spectacular climax. The suspect pool is huge and continues to grow, leaving Lottie and her team at a loss trying to figure out what's going on.
LITTLE BONES is a fantastic addition to the Lottie Parker series which just seems to get better and better. I just wish Lottie and Boyd would hurry up already. And Katie, her eldest daughter, really should have found her feet by now. She was living in New York throughout the last book but now she's returned having decided that Farranstown is the perfect place to raise her son Louis. Although she doesn't feature as heavily in this books as previous ones, in fact none of Lottie's children do this time, she still comes across as a little flaky.
A solid procedural-cum-crime thriller, LITTLE BONES is an enjoyable read and a spectacular addition to the series. And as to expected from previous books in the series, LITTLE BONES ends with a cliffhanger of sorts to be resolved in the next installment. I look forward to that, however I expect I will have forgotten it by then as I have where the previous one left off also.
A good solid read with a fairly likeable team, LITTLE BONES can be read as a standalone but to do so one would miss out on some important background pertinent to the series as it stands today. Perfect for fans of Carol Wyer Victoria Jenkins King and Lake series and Carla Kovach.
I would like to thank #PatriciaGibney, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #LittleBones in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
October 19, 2022
Para mi gusto no es de los mejores, pero aún así me gusta tanto como escribe la autora que me enganchó. La trama empezó muy fuerte, y cada vez el ritmo iba a más. Desconfíe de casi todos los protagonistas, y al final fue quien menos pensaba. 8.5/10
September 25, 2021
Review published in: https://diagnosisbookaholic.blogspot....
DI Lottie Parker is back for the tenth installment of this series of deeply enjoyable police procedurals. I’ve been with her from Book 1 and it’s been a pleasure watching her grow and overcome lots of hurdles both in her personal and professional life.
A young woman has been murdered in front of her 3 months old baby. That same day another woman disappears and her little boy is abducted. Are both cases connected? The razorblades found in both scenes seem to point out that way but in a case with so many different angles not everything is what is seems.
The story took off with a bang with a pretty disturbing first chapter. From there it developed into one of the frenzied and complex plots I’ve come to expect from Ms. Gibney. She usually juggles so many suspects, red-herrings and side plots that it seems nearly impossible for her to tie them all together at the end, but once you reach the last pages you once again realize that she managed to fit together perfectly all the puzzle pieces. I can’t even begin to imagine how much crazy planning writing this books must take!
Lottie’s personal life takes a backseat this time, but it looks like her relationship with DS Boyd is gonna be front and center in the next book after that cliffhanger in the last chapter.
I like how Lottie’s character has evolved throughout the series but still find a bit off-putting the way she sometimes talks to her team. I know she’s the boss but, come on, they have all proven themselves more than once to not deserve her rudeness!
Although it can be read as a stand-alone you will miss some of the background. If you enjoy police procedurals give this a chance as it has some interesting characters and a pretty convoluted plot that will put you grey cells to work.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
DI Lottie Parker is back for the tenth installment of this series of deeply enjoyable police procedurals. I’ve been with her from Book 1 and it’s been a pleasure watching her grow and overcome lots of hurdles both in her personal and professional life.
A young woman has been murdered in front of her 3 months old baby. That same day another woman disappears and her little boy is abducted. Are both cases connected? The razorblades found in both scenes seem to point out that way but in a case with so many different angles not everything is what is seems.
The story took off with a bang with a pretty disturbing first chapter. From there it developed into one of the frenzied and complex plots I’ve come to expect from Ms. Gibney. She usually juggles so many suspects, red-herrings and side plots that it seems nearly impossible for her to tie them all together at the end, but once you reach the last pages you once again realize that she managed to fit together perfectly all the puzzle pieces. I can’t even begin to imagine how much crazy planning writing this books must take!
Lottie’s personal life takes a backseat this time, but it looks like her relationship with DS Boyd is gonna be front and center in the next book after that cliffhanger in the last chapter.
I like how Lottie’s character has evolved throughout the series but still find a bit off-putting the way she sometimes talks to her team. I know she’s the boss but, come on, they have all proven themselves more than once to not deserve her rudeness!
Although it can be read as a stand-alone you will miss some of the background. If you enjoy police procedurals give this a chance as it has some interesting characters and a pretty convoluted plot that will put you grey cells to work.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 11, 2022
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Little Bones' by Patricia Gibney.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Patricia Gibney, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 22nd September 2021.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the tenth book in the 'Detective Lottie Parker' series but can be read as a standalone.
I was originally drawn to this book by its stunning eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'A perfect read for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine.' I am a huge fan of Angela Marsons so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 77 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Ireland 🇮🇪 , UK 🇬🇧. I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have in fact been to Ireland several times and love it there so am looking forward to "visiting" again.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Detective Lottie Parker and Mark Boyd. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.
'Little Bones' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Patricia discusses/includes child abduction, murder of a child and strong language.
Wow!! What an absolutely riveting, non stop action packed crime thriller!!! I was abs hooked from the first page to the last!!! This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that absorbs the reader into the storyline. The cover, title and synopsis suit the plot perfectly.
Although this is the tenth book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader. This was an explosive introduction to the series for me and I cannot wait to get my hands on the previous books on the series as well as any new releases. The storyline is filled with suspense, crime, friendship, lies, romance, murder, secrets, family and lies and filled with tension which left me on the edge of my seat biting my nails with my heart pounding throughout. It is very fast paced and rammed with action and loads of red herrings. I had no idea who was involved and was shocked when it was revealed so a HUGE well done to Patricia on shocking me. I have read so many crime books it is getting harder and harder for me to be surprised but you achieved it so congratulations!! Also congratulations on an absolutely fantastic book and if this book is anything to go by then an absolutely fantastically explosive series!!!
It is set over/includes multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but strangely I find it important that I like the pathologist too. In this case I am pleased to say that I really liked Lottie, Mark and the majority of the teamCongratulationsI liked Lottie's kick butt attitude and that she doesn't take any crud.. Patricia on a fantastic read and welcome to my favourite crime author list!!! I am looking forward to reading your previous and future successes and here's to your next 🥂!! I'm looking forward to getting to know her better from the previous books. Mark seems to be a sweet guy and it will be interesting to see how his and Lottie's relationship develops or if it will even survive with the cliff hanger ending but I shall say no more as I don't want to spoil it for future readers. I was a bit confused for a whole with the large amount of characters involved but I gradually worked it out. I enjoyed the fiery team dynamics and enjoyed that there was tension and fights in the team as it portrays the truth that a team won't always get along.
Congratulations Patricia on a fantastic read and welcome to my favourite crime author list!!! I am looking forward to reading your previous and future successes and here's to your next 🥂!!
Overall a page turning and addictive explosive crime thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat throughout!!
Genres covered in this book include Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Mystery, Police Procedural and Crime Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Angela Marsons, CL Taylor, Carol Wyer, Karin Slaughter, PJ Tracy and anyone looking for an explosive new series to sink their teeth into!!!
407 pages.
This book is just £2.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews
#LittleBones #Bookouture #PatriciaGibney #NetGalley #BookReview #BlogTour #BooksOnTour
@PatriciaGibney @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
https://kcmw86.wixsite.com/bookworm86
https://m.facebook.com/Bookworm1986/?...
https://m.facebook.com/Bookwork86/?__...
Review for 'Little Bones' by Patricia Gibney.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Patricia Gibney, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 22nd September 2021.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the tenth book in the 'Detective Lottie Parker' series but can be read as a standalone.
I was originally drawn to this book by its stunning eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'A perfect read for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine.' I am a huge fan of Angela Marsons so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 77 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Ireland 🇮🇪 , UK 🇬🇧. I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have in fact been to Ireland several times and love it there so am looking forward to "visiting" again.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Detective Lottie Parker and Mark Boyd. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.
'Little Bones' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Patricia discusses/includes child abduction, murder of a child and strong language.
Wow!! What an absolutely riveting, non stop action packed crime thriller!!! I was abs hooked from the first page to the last!!! This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that absorbs the reader into the storyline. The cover, title and synopsis suit the plot perfectly.
Although this is the tenth book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader. This was an explosive introduction to the series for me and I cannot wait to get my hands on the previous books on the series as well as any new releases. The storyline is filled with suspense, crime, friendship, lies, romance, murder, secrets, family and lies and filled with tension which left me on the edge of my seat biting my nails with my heart pounding throughout. It is very fast paced and rammed with action and loads of red herrings. I had no idea who was involved and was shocked when it was revealed so a HUGE well done to Patricia on shocking me. I have read so many crime books it is getting harder and harder for me to be surprised but you achieved it so congratulations!! Also congratulations on an absolutely fantastic book and if this book is anything to go by then an absolutely fantastically explosive series!!!
It is set over/includes multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but strangely I find it important that I like the pathologist too. In this case I am pleased to say that I really liked Lottie, Mark and the majority of the teamCongratulationsI liked Lottie's kick butt attitude and that she doesn't take any crud.. Patricia on a fantastic read and welcome to my favourite crime author list!!! I am looking forward to reading your previous and future successes and here's to your next 🥂!! I'm looking forward to getting to know her better from the previous books. Mark seems to be a sweet guy and it will be interesting to see how his and Lottie's relationship develops or if it will even survive with the cliff hanger ending but I shall say no more as I don't want to spoil it for future readers. I was a bit confused for a whole with the large amount of characters involved but I gradually worked it out. I enjoyed the fiery team dynamics and enjoyed that there was tension and fights in the team as it portrays the truth that a team won't always get along.
Congratulations Patricia on a fantastic read and welcome to my favourite crime author list!!! I am looking forward to reading your previous and future successes and here's to your next 🥂!!
Overall a page turning and addictive explosive crime thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat throughout!!
Genres covered in this book include Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Mystery, Police Procedural and Crime Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Angela Marsons, CL Taylor, Carol Wyer, Karin Slaughter, PJ Tracy and anyone looking for an explosive new series to sink their teeth into!!!
407 pages.
This book is just £2.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews
#LittleBones #Bookouture #PatriciaGibney #NetGalley #BookReview #BlogTour #BooksOnTour
@PatriciaGibney @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
https://kcmw86.wixsite.com/bookworm86
https://m.facebook.com/Bookworm1986/?...
https://m.facebook.com/Bookwork86/?__...
July 31, 2021
Of the 10 books featuring small-town Ireland Detective Inspector Lottie Parker, I've read the five most recent (including this one). By now, Lottie is almost like an old friend - albeit one I can't help feeling sorry for because her personal life - and often her professional one as well - always seem to be so gloomy.
It's no different in this one; she and significant other, co-worker and Detective Sergeant Mark Boyd, are at least thinking about getting married. He shuffles between his own place and the fixer-upper home Lottie occupies with her school-age son Sean, daughter Katie and Katie's young daughter. It's a situation far from ideal - in fact, Lottie hates the place - but she's agreed to stay while her half-brother figures out what to do with it.
While work doesn't always provide the personal-life getaway she'd like - there are issues there as well - Lottie doesn't mind digging in, usually with gusto. This time, a woman walks in her daughter Isabel's house to babysit and gets a gut-wrenching surprise: her daughter's bloody body. The only saving grace is that the murderer spared the infant. Not long after Lottie and Mark are called in, another young mother, Joyce Breslin, goes missing; her four-year-old son follows suit, apparently abducted from his daycare center. Then, Joyce's body turns up as well - If that weren't enough, a female hiker unearths a tiny bone on a remote hillside - a bone, she's certain, is human.
All this leads the investigative team to consider numerous suspects, but mostly to dead ends. The discovery of a bloody razor blade solidifies Lottie's belief that the murders and abduction are related. Somehow, Lottie must connect all the dots before someone else, like Joyce's young son, becomes a victim as well.
All in all, this is another engrossing entry in the series that ends, as most of them do, with a cliffhanger that I expect will be resolved in the next installment. I look forward to that, and thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. Well done!
It's no different in this one; she and significant other, co-worker and Detective Sergeant Mark Boyd, are at least thinking about getting married. He shuffles between his own place and the fixer-upper home Lottie occupies with her school-age son Sean, daughter Katie and Katie's young daughter. It's a situation far from ideal - in fact, Lottie hates the place - but she's agreed to stay while her half-brother figures out what to do with it.
While work doesn't always provide the personal-life getaway she'd like - there are issues there as well - Lottie doesn't mind digging in, usually with gusto. This time, a woman walks in her daughter Isabel's house to babysit and gets a gut-wrenching surprise: her daughter's bloody body. The only saving grace is that the murderer spared the infant. Not long after Lottie and Mark are called in, another young mother, Joyce Breslin, goes missing; her four-year-old son follows suit, apparently abducted from his daycare center. Then, Joyce's body turns up as well - If that weren't enough, a female hiker unearths a tiny bone on a remote hillside - a bone, she's certain, is human.
All this leads the investigative team to consider numerous suspects, but mostly to dead ends. The discovery of a bloody razor blade solidifies Lottie's belief that the murders and abduction are related. Somehow, Lottie must connect all the dots before someone else, like Joyce's young son, becomes a victim as well.
All in all, this is another engrossing entry in the series that ends, as most of them do, with a cliffhanger that I expect will be resolved in the next installment. I look forward to that, and thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. Well done!
September 23, 2021
Another gripping installment, the tenth, in the Detective Lottie Parker series.
A mother finds her daughter dead on the floor in front of her infant granddaughter's cot. Isabel Gallagher has been stabbed and clutches an old-style razor blade in her hand. The very same evening, Joyce Breslin, another young mother, hasn't returned to pick her child up from daycare. Then the child, 4-year-old Evan, is kidnapped from the creche. When police search Joyce's home, another razor blade is found. Lottie is sure that these cases are connected, but this is just the beginning of a very complicated investigation with a long list of suspects. No spoilers.
This was quite the story with a large cast of characters to keep straight, and a very convoluted motive that took ages for the police to analyze and solve. I do like Lottie, she's a mature woman, widowed, with older children, who is trying to keep her personal life afloat in the midst of the chaos of an intense job at the Ragmullin garda station. Her romance with Boyd takes a backseat with all that is going on but is Lottie ever going to find a little bit of happiness and peace? Lots of drama at the police station between the detectives as well. I've read all the previous books in this series and suggest any new reader do the same as the backstory is quite interesting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.
A mother finds her daughter dead on the floor in front of her infant granddaughter's cot. Isabel Gallagher has been stabbed and clutches an old-style razor blade in her hand. The very same evening, Joyce Breslin, another young mother, hasn't returned to pick her child up from daycare. Then the child, 4-year-old Evan, is kidnapped from the creche. When police search Joyce's home, another razor blade is found. Lottie is sure that these cases are connected, but this is just the beginning of a very complicated investigation with a long list of suspects. No spoilers.
This was quite the story with a large cast of characters to keep straight, and a very convoluted motive that took ages for the police to analyze and solve. I do like Lottie, she's a mature woman, widowed, with older children, who is trying to keep her personal life afloat in the midst of the chaos of an intense job at the Ragmullin garda station. Her romance with Boyd takes a backseat with all that is going on but is Lottie ever going to find a little bit of happiness and peace? Lots of drama at the police station between the detectives as well. I've read all the previous books in this series and suggest any new reader do the same as the backstory is quite interesting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.
September 17, 2021
We are at the brilliant milestone of the tenth book in the Detective Lottie Parker series with Little Bones and it's every bit as thrilling as the first book in the series!
This was such a chilling read. It doesn't take long for Lottie and her team to realise that there is something more sinister afoot with the current case they are working on. Time is up against them and you can feel the mounting pressure building. Tensions are high and it makes for a fast paced read.
There are a fair few unlikable characters in this story and I wasn't entirely sure who I could trust. My suspicious mind was working overtime. I was eager to know more about certain characters and could never have come close to resolving this case of which when things start to come together, I was both moved emotionally as well as shocked by some of the revelations. Another fantastic book in a series with a strong protagonist who I love!
This was such a chilling read. It doesn't take long for Lottie and her team to realise that there is something more sinister afoot with the current case they are working on. Time is up against them and you can feel the mounting pressure building. Tensions are high and it makes for a fast paced read.
There are a fair few unlikable characters in this story and I wasn't entirely sure who I could trust. My suspicious mind was working overtime. I was eager to know more about certain characters and could never have come close to resolving this case of which when things start to come together, I was both moved emotionally as well as shocked by some of the revelations. Another fantastic book in a series with a strong protagonist who I love!
August 5, 2021
I have no clue what it is that Patricia Gibney does, but the magic wand she must be writing her books with simply works. Her spells work, I guess that must be the explanation. Lottie Parker has had a spot in my heart since I first got to know her. She has her own faults, she's stubborn, and not always easy to get along with, but she's such an adorable character. Strong female detective leads are simply brilliant, and Lottie is no exception.
I don't want to go into the plot at all, because I feel like I would give away something. You just have to read this book to see what Lottie has been up to, and the new case she's working on has her puzzled. Exceptional character, fantastic author, magnificent book!
I don't want to go into the plot at all, because I feel like I would give away something. You just have to read this book to see what Lottie has been up to, and the new case she's working on has her puzzled. Exceptional character, fantastic author, magnificent book!
July 27, 2022
Convoluted plot confounds Lottie Parker's team. Her team is a bit of a mess leaving way too much on Lottie and Boyd's shoulders. Not my favourite book in the series.
October 14, 2021
I finished this a couple of days ago but unlike the rest in the series didn't run to review it. Finally this morning I came to my senses and thought - you didn't love it but it's a lot better than other stuff that's out there! Here are my dislikes: 1) it started awfully slow, which is not like the previous installments; 2) enough with the push and pull between Lottie and Boyd; 3) I was confused by the age ranges in the group of children/adults that were the victims or maybe it was the odd, brief jump backs that confused me? But as I said this morning I realized I still enjoyed it and can live with giving it 4 stars. More Lottie Parker please!
September 8, 2021
Get ready for Patricia Gibney at her best. I need to mention that I am a fan of this series and that I love Patricia Gibney’s writing. This Lottie Parker mystery is true to form with poor Lottie up to her ears in cases that all appear to be linked and not a clue of how to solve them.
This was the tenth book in the series and the third one I have read. I have all the books in the series and I just haven’t been able to get to all of them. Lottie Parker and her team will keep you glued to the edge of your seat as you flick the pages eagerly joining Lottie as she fit the puzzle pieces together of this new crime.
I first got my hands on one of the books in the series at the end of 2020 when I fell in love with Patricia Gibney’s writing. I was super excited when I received all the books in the series from my husband. Unfortunately, I have still not read all of them, but they are still on my TBR. I will get to all of them. Patricia Gibney has created a refreshing, troubled character in Lottie Parker and time spent with her is guaranteed to be entertaining reading.
When a young mother, Isabel, is found murdered in front of her baby daughter, DI Lottie Parker are faced with a difficult investigation and very few leads. Isabel’s husband remains in their focus, but no matter how much they believe Jack is responsible, they cannot find any evidence to link him to the murder. When Joyce and her four-year-old son disappear, the team is racing against the clock. Can they find Joyce and Evan in time, or is it already too late?
DI Lottie Parker has found a soft spot in my heart. This poor woman always has so much going on at the same time. Little Bone was a brilliant story filled with everything we have come to expect from this series. I enjoyed the blind chase and all the detail that makes up this complicated story. I found myself wrapped in the chase and trying to fit the piece together right from the start. I love how this series always has so much going on. It’s a busy read that will keep you up at night.
I enjoy how DI Lottie Parker is a well-rounded character. She makes mistakes, has family issues, and always managed to do something to annoy her significant other Boyd. She is far from perfect and that adds to her appeal. She is a headstrong, determined woman that you can relate to.
I love the time I spend with this book and look forward to sinking my teeth into more of the books in this series. While Little Bines is the tenth book in the series, you can easily read this as a stand-alone novel without feeling as if you have missed out on anything.
Crime and thriller fans, if you have not reached for one of the books in the DI Lottie Parker series, you are missing out. Go ahead, add this one to your TBR list. This book will keep you on your toes with everything that happens, and you are sure to lose a few hours of sleep, but I can promise you will have an entertaining read.
This was the tenth book in the series and the third one I have read. I have all the books in the series and I just haven’t been able to get to all of them. Lottie Parker and her team will keep you glued to the edge of your seat as you flick the pages eagerly joining Lottie as she fit the puzzle pieces together of this new crime.
I first got my hands on one of the books in the series at the end of 2020 when I fell in love with Patricia Gibney’s writing. I was super excited when I received all the books in the series from my husband. Unfortunately, I have still not read all of them, but they are still on my TBR. I will get to all of them. Patricia Gibney has created a refreshing, troubled character in Lottie Parker and time spent with her is guaranteed to be entertaining reading.
When a young mother, Isabel, is found murdered in front of her baby daughter, DI Lottie Parker are faced with a difficult investigation and very few leads. Isabel’s husband remains in their focus, but no matter how much they believe Jack is responsible, they cannot find any evidence to link him to the murder. When Joyce and her four-year-old son disappear, the team is racing against the clock. Can they find Joyce and Evan in time, or is it already too late?
DI Lottie Parker has found a soft spot in my heart. This poor woman always has so much going on at the same time. Little Bone was a brilliant story filled with everything we have come to expect from this series. I enjoyed the blind chase and all the detail that makes up this complicated story. I found myself wrapped in the chase and trying to fit the piece together right from the start. I love how this series always has so much going on. It’s a busy read that will keep you up at night.
I enjoy how DI Lottie Parker is a well-rounded character. She makes mistakes, has family issues, and always managed to do something to annoy her significant other Boyd. She is far from perfect and that adds to her appeal. She is a headstrong, determined woman that you can relate to.
I love the time I spend with this book and look forward to sinking my teeth into more of the books in this series. While Little Bines is the tenth book in the series, you can easily read this as a stand-alone novel without feeling as if you have missed out on anything.
Crime and thriller fans, if you have not reached for one of the books in the DI Lottie Parker series, you are missing out. Go ahead, add this one to your TBR list. This book will keep you on your toes with everything that happens, and you are sure to lose a few hours of sleep, but I can promise you will have an entertaining read.
August 22, 2021
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of Little Bones, the tenth novel to feature DI Lottie Parker of the Ragmullin Gardai.
Isabel Gallagher has been murdered, stabbed and her throat cut, in her own kitchen and her baby was not touched. The same day another woman goes missing and her son is abducted from his nursery. Then a child’s bone are discovered buried on a local hill. What links these events?
I thoroughly enjoyed Little Bones, which is an engrossing read with multiple threads. The novel is told from multiple points of view with Lottie’s being the main one and this is initially confusing and complex as the reader tries to work out where these characters fit in and what their role is. There are also multiple stories to keep track of, so the reader needs their wits about them to keep up. This web of interconnecting people and events are further complicated by the author’s masterful use of misdirection. I personally felt that I was fumbling in the dark for motive and identity and it didn’t become clear until the concluding chapters. Despite this fumbling I found the novel compulsive because it constantly shifts its baseline, posing more questions, and I wanted to know the answers. It’s a good skill the author has at this.
Lottie is Lottie. Her heart is in the right place, but events always seem to overwhelm her, whether it’s the lack of progress in her case or guilt at her inability to run a tight ship at home. She’s human and likeable for it.
Little Bones is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
Isabel Gallagher has been murdered, stabbed and her throat cut, in her own kitchen and her baby was not touched. The same day another woman goes missing and her son is abducted from his nursery. Then a child’s bone are discovered buried on a local hill. What links these events?
I thoroughly enjoyed Little Bones, which is an engrossing read with multiple threads. The novel is told from multiple points of view with Lottie’s being the main one and this is initially confusing and complex as the reader tries to work out where these characters fit in and what their role is. There are also multiple stories to keep track of, so the reader needs their wits about them to keep up. This web of interconnecting people and events are further complicated by the author’s masterful use of misdirection. I personally felt that I was fumbling in the dark for motive and identity and it didn’t become clear until the concluding chapters. Despite this fumbling I found the novel compulsive because it constantly shifts its baseline, posing more questions, and I wanted to know the answers. It’s a good skill the author has at this.
Lottie is Lottie. Her heart is in the right place, but events always seem to overwhelm her, whether it’s the lack of progress in her case or guilt at her inability to run a tight ship at home. She’s human and likeable for it.
Little Bones is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
September 25, 2021
If Crime Thrillers are what you like to read
This is a book you definitely need!
The tenth Detective Lottiie Parker book
Is definitely well worth taking a look.
My copy is from Bookouture and NetGalley, too,
What follows now is my honest review:
A mother is murdered, her body is found,
By her baby's cot, face down on the ground.
When another Mum goes missing there's more worry
As her son has been kidnapped, needs finding in a hurry.
Can they save him, stop him being the next
Catch the perpetrator and save the rest?
Set in the Irish town of Ragmullin where
The danger lurks but who knows or will care?
Can Lottie discover what are the links
There must be some, she certainly thinks.
As another victim is uncovered,
Can the perpetrator be discovered?
This is an enthralling, gripping thriller
As Lottie and her team search for the child and the killer
As secrets are being concealed,
Ones that really need to be revealed.
A great addition that leaves me wanting to discover
What happens next to Lottie and her lover!
This is a book you definitely need!
The tenth Detective Lottiie Parker book
Is definitely well worth taking a look.
My copy is from Bookouture and NetGalley, too,
What follows now is my honest review:
A mother is murdered, her body is found,
By her baby's cot, face down on the ground.
When another Mum goes missing there's more worry
As her son has been kidnapped, needs finding in a hurry.
Can they save him, stop him being the next
Catch the perpetrator and save the rest?
Set in the Irish town of Ragmullin where
The danger lurks but who knows or will care?
Can Lottie discover what are the links
There must be some, she certainly thinks.
As another victim is uncovered,
Can the perpetrator be discovered?
This is an enthralling, gripping thriller
As Lottie and her team search for the child and the killer
As secrets are being concealed,
Ones that really need to be revealed.
A great addition that leaves me wanting to discover
What happens next to Lottie and her lover!
July 31, 2022
Who's really pissed about Katie not staying in New York for good? ME!!! 🤣
In spite of the botched wedding in the last book, Lottie and Boyd continue to lead this excellent book series of police procedurals.
I've started to dream about crime scenes at night by now. Maybe I should take a break from crime thrillers for a while once I've caught up with book 11? 😜
I'm really tired when it comes to Lottie having a really shitty boss though. It's starting to become somewhat tedious.
But, as always, the mysteries are so well plotted and thought out. I'm truly hooked!
In spite of the botched wedding in the last book, Lottie and Boyd continue to lead this excellent book series of police procedurals.
I've started to dream about crime scenes at night by now. Maybe I should take a break from crime thrillers for a while once I've caught up with book 11? 😜
I'm really tired when it comes to Lottie having a really shitty boss though. It's starting to become somewhat tedious.
But, as always, the mysteries are so well plotted and thought out. I'm truly hooked!
September 20, 2021
I have read and loved all the books in the Lottie Parker series and I can honestly say they just keep on getting better and better, hard to believe this is the 10th book in the series. Little Bones is a gripping and sinister crime thriller that had me hooked from the very beginning. The story is one that will have you wanting to turn the pages so fast to find out what is going on. I love when a book grips me like that as was the case with Little Bones. This is a book that once you start you will not be able to put down. I can’t wait for book 11. 4⭐️
September 12, 2021
Book 10 in the Lottie Parker series and it’s another solid addition.
The story of murdered women, children’s bones(historical murder?)being found and a huge list of suspects as Lottie and her team try to figure out what’s going on.
The series overall is hugely enjoyable and Lottie as a central character does carry most of the stories.
Here she is a little less unsure of herself and it makes for a solid rather than spectacular addition to the series. It does feel a little formulaic in its structure and a little familiar in the path it goes down. Not the story itself, which is hugely complicated and a little contrived feeling, but more how the book gets from A-Z to solve the crimes. I won’t go into detail but it has a very familiar feel to its structure.
I’ve had a great time reading this series and I’ve really enjoyed them all and while I enjoyed this one to a point, I do feel it’s one of the weaker ones in the series.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.
The story of murdered women, children’s bones(historical murder?)being found and a huge list of suspects as Lottie and her team try to figure out what’s going on.
The series overall is hugely enjoyable and Lottie as a central character does carry most of the stories.
Here she is a little less unsure of herself and it makes for a solid rather than spectacular addition to the series. It does feel a little formulaic in its structure and a little familiar in the path it goes down. Not the story itself, which is hugely complicated and a little contrived feeling, but more how the book gets from A-Z to solve the crimes. I won’t go into detail but it has a very familiar feel to its structure.
I’ve had a great time reading this series and I’ve really enjoyed them all and while I enjoyed this one to a point, I do feel it’s one of the weaker ones in the series.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.
September 28, 2021
This starts out with a horrifying crime, attention grabbing, but very sad. As with this whole series, there are a lot of moving parts with the plot, trying to figure out along with Lottie how it all ties together. There were quite a few horrible characters, many who have no qualms about lying to the police, and the villain was truly awful.
Lottie and Boyd seem to be stuck in limbo after the disastrous wedding attempt, they really don't seem to be the best at communicating. And the end of this one brings more strife! I'm not sure Lottie knows how to be happy.
I feel like there wasn't enough time devoted to Lottie's squad and all the drama that happened in the last book, it seemed too glossed over. Book 11 is coming, so maybe in that one?
Lottie and Boyd seem to be stuck in limbo after the disastrous wedding attempt, they really don't seem to be the best at communicating. And the end of this one brings more strife! I'm not sure Lottie knows how to be happy.
I feel like there wasn't enough time devoted to Lottie's squad and all the drama that happened in the last book, it seemed too glossed over. Book 11 is coming, so maybe in that one?
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