carstensena's review against another edition
3.0
Perfect read for a busy time, but felt a little hollow by the end. The initial promise of the detective characters in particular was never fulfilled. Still, an enjoyable reading experience. I picked this up because I lived in Derbyshire for a year, and was curious about the setting. It wasn't particularly unique, either, unfortunately.
suzy1131's review against another edition
4.0
In January of 1978, two eight year old girls, Sophie and Rachel, are kidnapped. Rachel returns, but Sophie does not. More than 30 years later, Sophie’s mother commits suicide and a former teacher at the school Rachel and Sophie attended is murdered, bringing the dormant case back to the forefront. The case is complicated, for both reader and investigators, by the fact that 2 girls who were classmates were abducted, each having a different outcome.
nbrickman's review against another edition
3.0
I am landing on a 3 maybe 3.5 due to how interested I was to see how everything panned out in the book. What I liked the best- the story line developed slowly and while I had an idea that it had to do with family lines etc, I did not like ultimately how the mystery was explained. I enjoyed the characters but some of their behaviors seemed odd and unrealistic at times. The writing was good but not great. I don't find myself excited to get people to read it afterwards. It was a good read but not a shout from the roof tops about it's awesomeness type of book. I was intrigued but would also not say it was an edge of your seat mystery but more of a traditional take.
annaonthepage's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Fatphobia
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Incest
staceace11's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
steindi's review
2.0
dnf (20%)
this sounded so interesting & i really wanted to like this book, it was a random LFL find but i could not for the life of me get into this book. the erring is so weird and hard to follow & k was not intrigued enough.
this sounded so interesting & i really wanted to like this book, it was a random LFL find but i could not for the life of me get into this book. the erring is so weird and hard to follow & k was not intrigued enough.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
Two Derbyshire school girls are abducted and only one escapes. More than 30 years later and dark secrets from the past look set to be revealed…
For the book's locations - Booktrail of In Bitter Chill
Bampton may be a fictional town in Derbyshire but the descriptions of woodland and the bitter chill of winter are enough to place you right at the heart of the rugged landscape.
Bampton is rural and considered a nice safe place to live so when two young girls go missing, kidnapped by someone in a car, this is something that is unheard of in these quiet parts. The fear of the kidnapping, the fear of not seeing the girls again and the fear of that someone possibly in their midst is responsible has torn the community apart.
Bampton had started off like many others in England, as a place of trade, Tourist were often surprised to find the picturesque Peak town also supported working businesses…
An air of self-satisfaction was the legacy of its affluent Victorian heritage.
Suddenly Rachel returns. The relief is palpable yet the fear remains as Sophie is no where to be seen. Rachel grows up to be a genealogist, helping people to map their family trees, their connections, their past. Life is all about connections and how communities and families grow and develop over the years. Rachel was lost but now she is helping to find.
Derbyshire and the surrounding Peak District is a great setting for a novel about missing children, the search for the truth and a sense of community…exposed to the elements. The ondulating moorland, granite peaks, and the bitter chill of the wind set the scene for an atmospheric tale of buried secrets.
As for the 1970s – Life in the 70s was good sometimes wasn’t it? There are many flashbacks and ‘ I remember that..’ moments which evoke both time, place and mood of the decade that fashion sometimes forgot.
However the abduction in 1978 has scarred this landscape and the people who live there more than they will ever know.
Sarah, what I can say. We at the booktrail feel we’ve known you for a while on the crime fiction ‘scene’ and now having gained so much expertise and passion yourself, you’ve written a book that contains all of that and more.
This is one thriller which develops steadily and builds to the final crescendo. Apt for the Peak District setting, each chapter is a cliff hanger which made me want to read on and find out just what would happen next. New information comes to light, new leads crop up and all the while we, the readers, get the information as the same time as the police so the ultimate light bulb moment is very effective.
I really enjoyed the clever link between Rachel’s job now as someone who traces family trees to the girl who went missing and exposed the strengths and weaknesses within a rural community. The setting of the 1970s also added to the enjoyment of immersing yourself back in time whilst remembering your own childhood which made the two girls very real indeed.
The past and present mix was neatly done and it was like reading a weave of intricate unraveling of the main threads before all you were left with was the bitter chill itself.
You can tell Sarah lives and loves the Derbyshire she describes and is passionate about crime fiction. An assured debut.
For the book's locations - Booktrail of In Bitter Chill
Bampton may be a fictional town in Derbyshire but the descriptions of woodland and the bitter chill of winter are enough to place you right at the heart of the rugged landscape.
Bampton is rural and considered a nice safe place to live so when two young girls go missing, kidnapped by someone in a car, this is something that is unheard of in these quiet parts. The fear of the kidnapping, the fear of not seeing the girls again and the fear of that someone possibly in their midst is responsible has torn the community apart.
Bampton had started off like many others in England, as a place of trade, Tourist were often surprised to find the picturesque Peak town also supported working businesses…
An air of self-satisfaction was the legacy of its affluent Victorian heritage.
Suddenly Rachel returns. The relief is palpable yet the fear remains as Sophie is no where to be seen. Rachel grows up to be a genealogist, helping people to map their family trees, their connections, their past. Life is all about connections and how communities and families grow and develop over the years. Rachel was lost but now she is helping to find.
Derbyshire and the surrounding Peak District is a great setting for a novel about missing children, the search for the truth and a sense of community…exposed to the elements. The ondulating moorland, granite peaks, and the bitter chill of the wind set the scene for an atmospheric tale of buried secrets.
As for the 1970s – Life in the 70s was good sometimes wasn’t it? There are many flashbacks and ‘ I remember that..’ moments which evoke both time, place and mood of the decade that fashion sometimes forgot.
However the abduction in 1978 has scarred this landscape and the people who live there more than they will ever know.
Sarah, what I can say. We at the booktrail feel we’ve known you for a while on the crime fiction ‘scene’ and now having gained so much expertise and passion yourself, you’ve written a book that contains all of that and more.
This is one thriller which develops steadily and builds to the final crescendo. Apt for the Peak District setting, each chapter is a cliff hanger which made me want to read on and find out just what would happen next. New information comes to light, new leads crop up and all the while we, the readers, get the information as the same time as the police so the ultimate light bulb moment is very effective.
I really enjoyed the clever link between Rachel’s job now as someone who traces family trees to the girl who went missing and exposed the strengths and weaknesses within a rural community. The setting of the 1970s also added to the enjoyment of immersing yourself back in time whilst remembering your own childhood which made the two girls very real indeed.
The past and present mix was neatly done and it was like reading a weave of intricate unraveling of the main threads before all you were left with was the bitter chill itself.
You can tell Sarah lives and loves the Derbyshire she describes and is passionate about crime fiction. An assured debut.
ogokoo's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
Spoiler
incestwordnerdy's review against another edition
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/12/2015-book-287.html
I dunno, this was a perfectly fine mystery set in a small town in England, with all that entails. It centers on a recent death (actually, two deaths) that may be tied to a long-ago kidnapping, where one girl came home, but her friend never did. It's pretty entertaining, though I picked up a few things way earlier than the detectives did, and the melodrama ramps way up toward the end. Also, the main detective is romantically interested in THREE different women involved with the case, and one of the other detective's antipathy toward his upcoming wedding is mentioned a lot but never really delved into--unless this is the start of a series where that will be addressed? I mean, these characters were interesting enough that I might read a sequel. B.
I dunno, this was a perfectly fine mystery set in a small town in England, with all that entails. It centers on a recent death (actually, two deaths) that may be tied to a long-ago kidnapping, where one girl came home, but her friend never did. It's pretty entertaining, though I picked up a few things way earlier than the detectives did, and the melodrama ramps way up toward the end. Also, the main detective is romantically interested in THREE different women involved with the case, and one of the other detective's antipathy toward his upcoming wedding is mentioned a lot but never really delved into--unless this is the start of a series where that will be addressed? I mean, these characters were interesting enough that I might read a sequel. B.
suneaters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Focusing on two kidnapped girls, the book follows 30 years from when these occurred with one girl returning and the other never being found. Rachel was left alone in the woods while Sophie wasn't ever seen again. She remembers that her and Sophie were lured to the car, but not what happened to her friend. We find out that Rachel is now a genealogist working with DC Connie Childs I was more interested in Rachel than Connie and none of the love subplots did it for me.
Spoiler
and this leads her to discover the woman who was behind the original kidnapping of both her and Sophie and why she was left alone in the woods to be found while Sophie wasn't seen again. Kicking off with Sophie's mother Yvonne's death and continuing with the teacher Penny Lander's strangulation, the town becomes a claustrophobic space full of secrets. Yvonne's death is from grief after getting one of Sophie's socks while Penny was too close to the truth and was murdered for it. The family tree and secrets discovered by Rachel explains what happened. She asks her elderly grandmother about her family and learns about adoptions, suspected incest, adoptions, and illegitimate births, resulting in an uncle she never knew.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Fatphobia, Incest, Kidnapping, and Death