Book Description:
The girl is sitting upright, her dark brown hair arranged over her shoulders and her blue, blue eyes staring into the distance. She looks almost peaceful. But her gaze is vacant, and her skin is cold…
When Detective Jackie Cooke is called to the murder scene, she is shocked by what she sees. Missing teenager Chloe Smedley has finally been found – her body left in a cold back yard, carefully posed with her bright blue eyes still open. Jackie lays a protective hand on the baby in her belly, and vows to find the brutal monster who stole Chloe’s future.
When Jackie breaks the news to Chloe’s heartbroken mother, she understands the woman’s cries only too well. Her own brother went missing as a child, the case never solved. Determined to get justice for Chloe and her family, Jackie sets to work, finding footage of the girl waving at someone the day she disappeared. Did Chloe know her killer?
But then a second body is found on the side of a busy motorway, lit up by passing cars. The only link with Chloe is the disturbing way the victim has been posed, and Jackie is convinced she is searching for a dangerous predator. Someone has been hunting missing and vulnerable people for decades, and only Jackie seems to see that they were never lost. They were taken.
Jackie’s boss refuses to believe a serial killer is on the loose and threatens to take her off the case. But then Jackie returns home to find a brightly coloured bracelet on her kitchen counter and her blood turns cold. It’s the same one her brother was wearing when he vanished. Could his disappearance be connected to the murders? Jackie will stop at nothing to catch her killer… unless he finds her first…
An absolutely gripping crime thriller that will keep you racing through the pages. Fans of Kendra Elliott, Rachel McLean and Val McDermid will love The Lost Ones.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Lost Ones' by Marnie Riches.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Marnie Riches, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 7th June 2022.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in the 'Detective Jackie Cooke series'.
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Kendra Elliott, Rachel McLean and Val McDermid will love The Lost On' I am a huge fan of Kendra Elliott 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 and 48 chapters. 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 Manchester, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture.
This book is written in third person perspective and main protagonist is Detective Jackie Cooke and the perp. 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.
'The Lost Ones' discusses some topics that may upset 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 Marnie discusses/includes death of disabled children.
This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that really set the scene and kept me on the edge of my seat. The cover and synopsis suited the storyline perfectly.
OMG!!! MIND ABSOLUTELY BLOWN!!!!
Love, LOVE, LOVED this absolute page turner!! It may be the first book I have read by Marnie but I can promise you it won't be the last!!! As soon as I've written this up I'm off to add all her books to my wishlist. The storyline is absolutely ram packed with mystery, deceit, secrets, lies, romance, tension, suspense and OMG the twists just kept on coming again and again!!! Just when I thought everything that could happen had happened BOOM there was another shocker around the corner. Every time I kept telling myself one more chapter the one I was in ended at a point where there was no way I could stop reading so I absolutely devoured it in one sitting!! I will say thay the fact that the victims being disabled or vulnerable hit a bit close to home but it didn't stop me loving the book. Once I had ignored the fact that the victims were disabled/ vulnerable I absolutely loved the gore and the discovery at the end. Completely sick, amazing and unique!!! I'm a bit morbid and love gore in books and Marnie you did this perfectly!! I love the fact that although this is a crime thriller there is some light hearted moments throughout so it's not all darkness. I WAS absolutely blown away and considering I read approximately 30 books a month that is certainly no easy feat so a HUGE congratulations on that Marnie. Marnie mentioned Frederick Ruysch and Gunther Von Hagens so looked them up and found the information intriguing. Love it when books include names and places I can look up as helps me picture what's going on. I really could not recommend this book any more. If you are looking for something unique, filled with suspense and that will blow your mind then this is definitely the book for you!!
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 the pathologist was Nick Swinton and I am pleased to say that I really liked him and his personality.
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT READING THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!!!
I wasn't just 100% invested in the storyline but also in the characters. Every single one of the characters were well defined, realistic and strong. I absolutely LOVED Jackie who is absolutely kick a## and I cannot wait to meet her again. I couldn't stand Venanbles and although I loved the way Jackie stood up to her I just find her to be a horrible cow who doesn't give a monkey about people and is just concerned with rates, figures and making herself good. The fact that Jackie had twins made me relate to her being a twin mum myself. I also loved her sons Lewis and Percy and can also relate to something that Jackie suspects with one of them. God help if I have orange juice in cereal to look forward too 😂. I found it hilarious that Beryl (Jackie's mum) got them mixed up as my twins Gran does the same thing 😂. However I wasn't a fan of Beryl and think that she not only lives in the last but could do so much more to help Jackie. I thought Ted was so lovely and sweet especially the way he was with Lewis and Percy. I couldn't stand Gus from the start and my feelings were right about him. However I completely misjudged another character and was gob smacked. I won't say who as I don't want to spoil it for future readers. I adored Nick and am hoping something will spark between him and Jackie, they would definitely suit. Cave makes a fantastic partner and they work perfectly together. The fact that he is there for Jackie at all times is so lovely and I'd love to have a friend like him in my life, Shazla also made a good member of the team and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better. Jackie, Dave and Shazla make an absolutely fantastic team and I cannot wait to meet them all again, hopefully very soon! 😉
Gus arse hole. Nick lush
. Ted (beryl partner) lovely so sweet
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Marnie on what promises to be a massive best seller!!! I WAS absolutely shocked by so many events but OMG what was said by a certain person at a certain time was absolutely shocking!!! I can't say anything else but when you've read it you'll know!!! Welcome to my favourite author list Marnie and here's to your next explosive success 🥂!!!
Overall an absolutely addictive, mind blowing page turner that will keep you up with a racing heart until you've finished!!!
Genres covered in this book include Thriller, Psychological Fiction, British Detective Stories, Police Procedural, Suspense, Thriller, Women's Detective Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Women Sleuths, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Thriller and Mystery amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Kendra Elliott, Rachel McLean, Val McDermid and anyone looking for a red hot crime thriller!!!
324 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) 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.
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@MarnieRiches @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio:
Marnie Riches grew up on a rough estate in north Manchester. Exchanging the spires of nearby Strangeways prison for those of Cambridge University, she gained a Masters in German & Dutch. She has been a punk, a trainee rock star, a pretend artist and professional fundraiser. Her best-selling, award-winning George McKenzie crime thrillers were inspired by her own time spent in The Netherlands. Dubbed the Martina Cole of the North, she has also authored a series about Manchester’s notorious gangland as well as two books in a mini-series featuring quirky northern PI Bev Saunders. Detective Jackson Cooke is Marnie’s latest heroine to root for, as she hunts down one of the most brutal killers the north west has ever seen at devastating personal cost. When she isn’t writing gritty, twisty crime thrillers, Marnie also regularly appears on BBC Radio Manchester, commenting on social media trends and discussing the world of crime fiction. She is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Salford University’s Doctoral School and a tutor for the Faber Novel Writing Course. https://marnieriches.com/ https://www.facebook.com/MarnieRichesAuthor https://www.instagram.com/marnie_riches/ https://twitter.com/Marnie_Riches Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Marnie Riches here:
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