The Devil's Closet

CeeCee Gallagher #2

by Stacy Dittrich

Multiple Amber Alerts for missing girls bring Detective CeeCee Gallagher onto the case of a serial child abducter and murderer. Time is running out as Gallagher and her partner race to save the girls' lives and apprehend the killer before he can strike again.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Suspense, Ebooks, Crime

Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2008

About the author

Stacy Dittrich is an award winning 15-year law enforcement officer and former detective specializing in sex crimes. With past training by former FBI Behavioral Specialist, and bestselling author, Roy Hazelwood, Stacy is certified through the National Institute of Truth Verification as an examiner (CVSA- lie detector). Stacy has also been assigned to a federal drug task force that resulted in arrests from California to Mexico and has been involved in the investigations of numerous homicides. In 2002, Stacy received the Victims of Crime Award from former Ohio Attorney General, Jim Petro. A certified law enforcement instructor, Stacy is also a media consultant in the area of law enforcement."

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again poor writing but good plot, I hate CeeCee!

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ceecee is a jerk. oh boo hoo she is cheating on her husband ,but can't stand it when she does it to her. she's selfish and whiny. won't read more of this authors books.

[Ragne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess it was my own fault. I should have known it was chick lit at soon as I saw the name"CeeCee" as main charcter.

The thing is, I actually believed it would be an exciting read. That's why I was so disappointed when I realised the story was much more about CeeCee's marital problems, her new love, and other chick lit-stuff.

The mystery is sadly rather obvious, except small things where the reader doesn't have all the information, such as local names.

CeeCee is an infuriatingly rash woman. She doesn't care about the people around her when she acts. One of the times that illustrates this, is when she foolishly enters the house of the suspect alone, without a warrant. Michael, her partner, warns her that if he doesn't hear from her in exactly one hour, he will start a huge search-and-rescue. She says she understands, and will call. When she finally calls, over two hours later, she is in trouble, and whispers that she needs help, before she hangs up. After the danger is over, she does not call him again to let him know. No, she does not care that most likely, the entire ploce dept. is out looking for her instead of doing their job. She drives home, takes a long shower, tries to calm down, then drives Michael. All the while, everyone (includng her husband, boyfriend, father, and uncle, who also works in the police)is in terror, imagining the absolute worst, and no police officer is able to do their actual work, because they are out looking for her.

The reason I still gave it two stars, is that the language is quite good, there's a good "drive" to the story, and I could, maybe too much, relate to her marital problems. And the climax is quite good. However, I don't think I'll read more of these books. There's just too many other books to read, such as mystery books where I actually have to think a bit.

[Tomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The serial killer part of this was good but the multiple adulteries ruined it.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be a good read, I was mistaken.I would give this book a one star if not for the plot. The writing style and main character peeved me off immensely. Reading this was like sitting through a text book lecture. You know what those are don’t you? That’s when you’re in class and your professor/lecturer/teacher proceeds to read directly out of the text book without explaining anything of substance making it a totally pointless exercise. For example, in the book when Michael “asks relevant questions and gets appropriate answers” from the child molester. Seriously?! You see, theoretically I already know he must do these things, what I expect from a novel is to tell me WHAT these relevant questions are.
Apart from all that, Ceecee has to be the most irresponsible, non detective like, bitchiest child on the planet. I mean this is a grown woman who is immature at the best of times. Maybe it’s just me, but I would assume someone who is in her thirties and a detective to boot would have a stronger character and not spend a majority of the case crying about her love life instead of, you know, doing her job. Her confrontation with Jordan is something I expect from a spoiled teenager with anger management issues. Not that what her husband did was any better but I had to put up with him a whole lot less.
Overall it was disappointing and I feel like I wasted my time. Never again Ceecee!

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Stacy Dittrich's The Devil's Closet, welcome to the world of sex crimes and carnal sins. For Detective Cecilia "Cee Cee" Gallagher, she's chasing a sexual predator and killer of young girls. It all started with multiple Amber Alerts of missing young girls all over the Cleveland area. From one town to another, Cee Cee and her squad discover shocking glues from past crimes. When her former lover FBI Michael Hagerman returned to assist, it tilted her world and put her marriage in crises. Though with this tough mother of two, she dealt with her husband's infidelity and protecting her own daughters. While she managed to deal with her own emotions, she sifted through the papers to follow her own gut on nailing this sick son of a bitch. And when she does, it cuts closer to the truth. With a near-death encounter, she fought tooth and nail to save her own life and deal with her own family issues.

[Sain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to pull my hair out every time the author chose to justify cheating in this novel. It's one thing to write a character's affair and have that portrayed in the story, but it's another thing when you choose to write their affair as mystifying and defying the odds when they're both married. Even if it's not real, I'm still mad for their previous partners because this exists in real life; let's not even forget about the children who will be in the middle of the crossfire. I don't want to delve into this very much, but the book actively tried to shove it in your face, which I'm inclined to put in my review. It happened thrice, with different couples. All of them are legally married.

With that said, I'm not really interested in reading the rest of the series, not because of the issue above, but rather because of how they describe the last victim. As the summary suggests, the novel is about a deranged serial killer abducting little girls and dressing them as dolls for their sick pleasure. The last victim, a cop's daughter, was caught in the crossfire and held hostage by the suspect. She was saved by CeeCee, the main protagonist, and was implied to have been sexually victimized by the perpetrator. Instead of being told as such, for some reason the author added a line that infuriated me to the core. To quote Michael.

Physically she'll be okay and she'll be able to have kids when she grows up. The bad news is that he raped her repeatedly, so emotionally, she's got s long road ahead of her.

Did you see where I'm coming from? Like, what on the actual fuck is that line? A little girl was sexually assaulted, and that's how you described her experience? She'll be able to have kids—why would you even add that!? I'm sorry, but that's insensitive no matter how you would explain that to me. She's a KID, point-blank period. I just can't with this book.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rose

This story was extremely exciting and had just the right amount of twists and turns. As CeeCee continues her journey fighting crime, she encounters one problem after the next. Her personal life is in as much turmoil as her working life. You need to read this book to find out how things turn out. Great writing!!

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. The characters are believable and mesh together well. The plot had me guessing right to the end. Some ebooks I have read have so many typos but this one didn't. I know it's silly but those typos really bother me.

[Auntie Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need more stars!!! Excellent job!!

[Paschalis]

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[Britt · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok, but won’t read any more of this author’s books. The romance was a bit off putting and cringy.

[Georgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very dark mystery, so well written, a book I have returned to many times and would recommend to anyone!

[Lillian 🪼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, although its subject matter sent a lot of uncomfortable chills down my spine. In The Devil's Closet, Detective CeeCee Gallagher is involved in the search for a kidnapper and murderer. The victims are young girls between the ages of 6 and 8, and none of them are found alive. CeeCee finds herself butting heads with the FBI, dealing with marital problems and up against a ticking clock.

I have always been bothered by the violence adults inflict upon children, especially when it comes to sexual violence. This is a novel about sexual violence against children in it, and if you are the type of person who turns green at thought of it, you might not want to read this book. There is no graphic violence, it is all hinted at in discussions between the characters, but the reader knows what is happening to the victims without needing to actually be given a blow by blow report. CeeCee Gallagher is police officer and mother of two young daughters, and her anger towards the murderer I felt was very justified. In my job, working for the legal system, I hear a lot of things I wish I didn't and I am always outraged when I hear about a sex crime committed on a child, so I appreciated CeeCee's anger.

This book is the first in the CeeCee Gallagher series and I am looking forward to reading more of them. There is a lot of tension in this book and CeeCee has to deal with an overloaded plate of issues, but her main focus is always on the case and finding each missing girl. There are times when her bullheadedness results in a later realization that she misjudged something or someone and she does admit when she was wrong.

I always enjoy reading the Author's Note at the end of books, as it leaves me with a bit of insight into what drove the author to write a particular story. Stacy Dittrich includes an Author's Note at the end of this book, explaining that this story was inspired by a criminal investigation she was involved in, about a child rapist/murderer who she nicknamed The Doll Man. Reading her "note" made me a little more uncomfortable with the story, but it also made me appreciate this novel all that much more. I know there are men (and women) out there like The Doll Man, they walk among us and the majority of us have no idea, but I still find it upsetting and disturbing that there are people out there who wish to do harm to young children.

This book was offered as a free e-book from Barnes & Noble and that's how I received it. I have since added the CeeCee Gallagher series to my "wishlist" as I do want to continue to read about the adventures of CeeCee. Stacy Dittrich has a new fan. I'd recommend this book to fans of Tess Gerritsen and Patricia Cornwell.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see that the majority of reviewers agree with me that the main character isn't very likable. I didn't like CeeCee very much – she spent most of the book crying over her relationship problems, which were big distraction from the plot. I mean, I didn't mind the romance so much, but it just seems so unrealistic that so many of the people in the book were having affairs with married partners. Of course, the woman who wrote this is an investigator herself and she says in the appendix that this really reflects the way police marriages are – I don't know about that – but it was kind of distracting. And CeeCee herself is really annoying as I said. I couldn't figure out why everyone loved her so much – were two men were after her and madly in love with her and why the two other characters desperately wanted her friendship. It's like she was so popular and everyone either wanted to marry her or earn her friendship, and I just didn't understand why. However, the plot was really interesting and the climax was very suspenseful. I have to say, I would probably buy another book in the series if it was in the thrift store for $.50, but I wouldn't spend the full price. I have the next book in the Stacy Dietrich series, and I intend to read it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase another one

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stacy has done it once again- a brilliant crime novel based loosely on true events.

"Detective CeeCee Gallagher is no stranger to high-pressure cases. But this one could easily cost her career…and her life. A macabre serial killer is on the loose, leaving the bodies of his young victims made up to resemble dolls. With only a Bible passage sent by the killer to guide her, CeeCee will have to sacrifice everything to find him and end his reign of terror before another child is murdered."

I grew up reading "True Crime" magazines so the grotesqueness of the storyline didn't bother me but it did kind of creep me out when, at the end, I realized the book was loosely based on true cases that Stacy had investigated.

The storyline was easy to follow and besides the crime itself, I felt like I got a small peek into the interpersonal relationships between law enforcement across the country.

I did think the ending was a bit stretched out but I understand Stacy's need to tie up loose ends.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, Dittrich crafts a very disturbing case (loosely based on a case she worked) involving a predator who sexually abuses and murders young children. This isn't for the faint hearted as the subject matter is pretty awful.

Like the previous installment, I really enjoy the investigation aspect of this book. It freaked me out and I was on edge to see who the killer would eventually be stopped. As for our lead investigator CeeCee...I'm not a huge fan. Dittrich's writing style is very dry and non-emotional so it's hard to get a well rounded/realistic view of anyone. We are told she's a brilliant investigator but she seems to whine, cry and act unprofessional quite often. It's amazing anymore has any respect for her. There was a lot of drama involving her love life (as well as her boss/friend) that I didn't care for. I will definitely continue to read this series even though because I love the actual cases and 'the hunt' for the killers.

Grade: 3/5

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who like a thriller this could be the book for you.The basic plot is that there is a serial killer on the loose, and as this individual seems knowledgeable about Police procedures there isn't a lot for CeeCee gallagher to go on. Not only that but she also has to cope with her own personal life crumbling about her.
It makes a pleasant change to read one of these Police thrillers with a female as the central character. Everything was well written and this also includes the characters, you will not be surprised to learn that the author was a police officer herself. So it is all done from a position of knowledge. The only slight downside for me was that almost as much time was spent on CeeCee's personal life as was spent on the case.
As this was the first book that I have read from this author, I have just been looking for her other books which probably tells its own story.

[Kerry Kilmister · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book! I literally could not put it down. I hadn't read previous books that included the main character Ceecee but i found this book very easy to read regardless as the book gave enough background information for me to feel that I knew what life circumstances affected the character. This is a very deep book and carries alot of emotions for the reader as it is centered around a child killer. As a mother of 2 children I found it very hard to comprehend how anybody could do harm to a child and as the book delved deeper into the mind of the killer I was many times brought to tears. I definitely recommend this to anybody who enjoys crime books that focus on high emotion and I will be looking to read the next book involving Ceecee.

[Michelle]

This story tells of a serial killer who has been abducting young girls and killing them before leaving them dressed like china dolls, each with a perfect red bow in her hair. The police department and FBI are initially unaware of the extent of his 26 year killing/raping spree. He seems to have a fixation on Cee-Cee Gallacher [the lead on the case] but at the end it is revealed that he had tried to abduct her 26 years before. There is a lot of detail about the case but there is also a lot of personal detail too. Cee-Cee [promoted to Sergeant near the end of the book] hadn't seen that her husband had been having an affair for 6 months or that two of her colleagues had been having an affair too

[ToraJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Same as most of the reviewers, I am totally turned off by the characters and their relationship issues. The case itself isn't too bad, but it isn't captivating either. The two stars are solely for the case plot. I couldn't stand CeeCee that this book almost became DNF, just for the 93 cents that I spent on the book, I forced myself to finish it and I skipped all the text about all those annoying cheating/relationship issues, such a bad distraction from the case itself. I honestly don't like any characters, all of them annoy the hell out of me. I would have enjoyed the book way more if it wasn't for CeeCee and all the non-romantic and irritating romance plot.

[Blue Jay Media · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most disturbing books we have read. As parents, the idea of someone kidnapping and hurting our kids is excruciating. This story is based on detective Dittrich's own investigations, and this killer is based on a real individual. There are monsters out there, and they look just like everyone else. We kept our kids close after reading this book... (Much to their frustration.)

We grew to love CeeCee and the other complicated characters. Luckily there are several more books in the series!

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great who done it story. There are a lot of main characters who play major roles in this mystery. There is a serial killer on the loose and going after young girls with hopes of roping in a female cop for revenge. As the death tole goes up there is more and more on the line and this quick paced thriller goes from bad to worse. When the killer begins to contact one of the cops with threats they know he wants nothing more than to be caught for his horrific crimes against children.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What can I say apart from that?! The plot is a fast paced police drama and I found it impossible to stop reading due to the constant wonder of what is going to happen next.

There are parts of the book which are creepy and keeps the reader on their toes, whether it being the Gallagher-Hagerman relationship, the killers motives or the twists and turns which lead Gallagher and her team to the epic finale.

A must read for any crime-thriller fanatic!

[Phillipa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was nearly a 4-star rating but it didn't really have an impressive twist and there was way too much personal drama roped in. Along with the bending of laws to make a case which didn't feel really necessary.... or the cryptic clues that'd never be solved. It felt a little like it was trying too hard. But a good story nonetheless. Perhaps made entirely by the Author's Note at the very end. *shiver*

[Julie scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wat a great read I loved this novel its the 1st in this series by Stacey Dittrich I have read now i'll have 2 back track and read Murder Mountain & 2 top it off it was a freebie. I thought all the characters were fabulous. The killer was a total sicko but also intriguing with a huge twist @ the end of this story where it all comes together. A book thats hard to put down!!!

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read some good things about this book but I must say I wasn't overly impressed with the main character. She simpered and whimpered and cried...a lot. Not how I like my female heroine's. Especially one that's supposed to be a tough as nails cop.

[Amy Phelps · Rating 3 out of 5]

the story line was ok and the killer was extremely sick. a couple of the love story lines could have been left out and it would have shortened the book some. they didn't really add to the story at all.

[Arathi Chitrapura · Rating 3 out of 5]

liked this book by stacy dittrich, was disturbed a little to know that this was based on true incidents with a little tweak here & there.

Could have been more interested if there no love triangle ....thought it was a bit too much..otherwise this was a very interesting read