Book Description
Three Cold Cases - one determined cop.
Someone's playing tricks on Karen at home and at work.
When two cold case files about missing girls turn up on her desk, she's fuming.
When a third arrives...she blows a fuse.
Her boss demands she takes holiday leave just as she discovers
her late father was involved in one of the cases.
Now she's compelled to investigate them.
She's accompanied by sometime boyfriend John –
but can she trust him or his friend and map keeper Mr Binks?
She has formidable detective skills but will they work in places
where old-world magic is still powerful?
Karen's life is in serious danger... But from whom...or what?
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Three Little Girls' by Jane Badrock.
Read and reviewed for Jane Badrock and Question Mark Press.
Publication date 30th November 2021.
This is the third book I have read by this author. It is also the second book in the 'Karen Thorpe' series. I have also read the first book in this series 'Comatose' and thr third book in this series 'The Woman Who Knew Faces' and would highly recommend both. These books can be read as standalones and I read them out if order but to gain the insight of character development I would recommend reading then in order.
I was originally drawn to this book by its stunning eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. I am also a huge fan of Jane and if this book is half as good as 'The Woman Who Knew Faces' and 'Comatose' it will be an epic page turner. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Question Mark Press. I have yet to read a book published by Question Mark Press 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 82 chapters. The chapters are short 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 Hertfordshire, York and Lincoln, England 🏴, and Edinburgh, Scotland 🏴, 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. I have actually visited and holidayed in England on many occasions so am intrigued to see if I recognise anywhere I have visited or stayed at.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are DS Karen Thorpe, John Steele and Mr Binks. 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.
'Three Little Girls' 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 Jane discusses/includes the death of children.
Jane has done it again!!! Love, love LOVED this book. Wow!!! What an absolutely unique storyline that I just could not put down!!! Clear your schedules before you pick this up!!
The descriptions are extremely vivid which completely set the scene for me and really made me feel like I was in the storyline. The cover, title and synopsis suit the plot perfectly.
After I read and absolutely loved the first and third books in this series 'Comotose' and 'The Woman Who Knew Faces' I just had to read the second book and also any more that come after 'The Woman Who Knew Faces'. Although all three books can be read as standalones I would advise you read them in order so you can see the character development.
The storyline is most definitely unique and one I have never read before which was a HUGE bonus as there is so many times you can read very similar crime books before you get fed up. There was plenty going on to keep the reader on their toes!! The storyline is very fast paced and will keep you flipping the pages until you've finished. It is filled with tension, horror, secrets, deceipts suspense and a few absolute shockers which I did not suspect at all!!! It is getting harder and harder to surprise me with the amount of books I have read but you definitely managed it so well done Jane. There were several mysteries that Karen was trying to solve so plenty to keep the reader guessing and I didn't work any of them out which is always a good thing. I absolutely loved the gothic and supernatural feelings throughout the book which was perfectly entwined with the crime and psychological aspects. I love a good horror and to have it mixed in with an unputdownable psychological crime thriller is just my perfect genre. There was just the right amount of the supernatural element to make it believable and not over the top. It gave me shivers down my spine and was hair raising. I was kept on the edge of my seat, and then later my bed, while reading this and I just could not put it down until I had finished at 2am!!! I think this would make an absolutely fantastic movie and I'm looking forward to reading Jane's future books!!
An absolutely unputdownable page turner that will suck you in from the first until the last pages!!
I loved meeting Karen again and she has definitely become one of those protagonists I just cannot wait to meet again. There is definitely a huge difference in her personality throughout the three books and I'm looking forward to see how she is developing still in the next book in this addictive series. Karen is the main protagonist and being another strong female she definitely gets my vote. I love seeing more and more strong females coming into crime novels and Karen is definitely in the lead with some of the best. I absolutely adore her kick butt attitude and felt she was a fantastic role model and lead for her team. Although she is extremely good at her job she still seems to underestimate herself. It was intriguing seeing her and Macy's relationship. It definitely developed from 'Comotose' and how they butted heads a few times to this book. Karen butts heads with quite a few people through the 3 books and I love her attitude!! I have been behind her throughout and the rest of her team. I love Karen's sense of humour and sarcasm and it was interesting to see how her relationship with John changes through the books. John is just as sarcastic, fun, loving and has a heart of gold. It is always intriguing when you know characters from later books in the series and then go back and see how it all starts and changes. DCI Winter made a fantastic boss and you can see that his team respect him as he is the perfect mix of friend and boss, he made me laugh a few times where he is giving Karen a bollocking with hidden meanings as he knows he can't encourage her to do certain things officially it knows that she will get his messages. This just shows how much of a great relationship they have. Macy is an essential part of the team. I enjoyed getting to know her even more in this book and look forward to meeting her again. I recognised a certain character immediately fro. 'The Woman Who Knew Faces' and although he isn't mentioned as much in this book, knowing what happens with him in the third book definitely changes how I feel about him. John's mother is very stuck up but I like his Dad, they seem to have such different personalities and attitudes that is makes me wonder how they get together!! Overall an absolutely fantastic team who were each strong individuals with very different personalities but they all worked perfectly together. I'm going to miss them all and can't wait to meet them all again!!!
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO JANE ON YET ANOTHER ABSOLUTELY PAGE TURNING AND EXPLOSIVE BOOK IN AN ADDICTIVE UNPUTDOWNABLE SERIES!! THIS IS WHY YOU ARE IN MY FAVOURITE AUTHOR LIST!!!
I cannot wait to dig into future books in this series and get to know Karen and her team in the future. Here's to your next success 🥂
Overall an absolutely EXPLOSIVE page turning book filled with surprises and twists in an extremely successful series!!
Genres covered in this book include Thriller, Horror, Supernatural, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Occult Horror, Horror Thriller and Psychological Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Angela Marsons, Carol Wyer, Noelle Holten, Mark Edwards and anyone looking for an explosive crime series!!!
314 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free on kindle unlimited and £8.99 in paperback (at time of purchase) 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
#ThreeLittleGirls #QuestionMarkPress #JaneBadrock #KarenThorpeSeries #BookReview #BlogTour #BooksOnTour
@JaneBadrock @ThreeLittleGirls @KarenThorpeSeries @QuestionMarkPress @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio
Jane writes novels, short stories and poems, usually with a good dose of humour in them. She's probably owes it all to her late grandmother who, she's just found out, also wrote short stories and poems. She tends to get an idea and then run with it whether it be a 100 word short story or an 80 thousand word novel. It all depends on the voices in her head at the time…
Social Media Links
Twitter @janebadrock
Facebook Jane Badrock Author
Write to me at janebadrockwriter@gmail.com
Purchase Link
Amazon: bit.do/Threelittlegirls
