A review by lynnedf
The Lost Children by Helen Phifer
3.0
Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.
2.5 to 2.75 star read.
This book read like the script of a police television drama. It's fast paced, a little superficial, and the characters all seem to connect the dots really quickly. There's nothing wrong with that, except that, especially considering this is the first book in a series, I could have used a little more depth. I wish we'd learned more about Detective Inspector Lucy Harwin and her demons.
This book introduces us to Lucy Harwin and her partner Mattie (Matthew) Jackson as they try and solve a murder that happens in The Moore Asylum, a building that has been abandoned for decades. Told mostly from Lucy's perspective, but also tossing in alternating points of view, the team of detectives race to solve the case as the bodies start to pile up.
My issues with this book revolve around the fact that Lucy's gut seemed to connect the dots a little too quickly. Sometimes mysteries and thrillers need to be pruned/ be better edited because they have far too much detail or take too long to get to the point. In this case, I feel that everything was so rushed. Early on in the book we get flashes of the backstory (what happened in the Moore Asylum in the 1970s), and I wish that we would have gotten more of the backstory. Finally, by having the murderer provide a few chapters through their point of view, I was able to figure out who did it prior to the big reveal.
That said, I would give Lucy and her team another shot. I never felt like I was wasting my time reading this book, (it's a nice fast read) and it would be interesting to see how things develop between some of the characters (especially Lucy and Mattie, but also Lucy and Ellie, and Lucy and Steve).
2.5 to 2.75 star read.
This book read like the script of a police television drama. It's fast paced, a little superficial, and the characters all seem to connect the dots really quickly. There's nothing wrong with that, except that, especially considering this is the first book in a series, I could have used a little more depth. I wish we'd learned more about Detective Inspector Lucy Harwin and her demons.
This book introduces us to Lucy Harwin and her partner Mattie (Matthew) Jackson as they try and solve a murder that happens in The Moore Asylum, a building that has been abandoned for decades. Told mostly from Lucy's perspective, but also tossing in alternating points of view, the team of detectives race to solve the case as the bodies start to pile up.
My issues with this book revolve around the fact that Lucy's gut seemed to connect the dots a little too quickly. Sometimes mysteries and thrillers need to be pruned/ be better edited because they have far too much detail or take too long to get to the point. In this case, I feel that everything was so rushed. Early on in the book we get flashes of the backstory (what happened in the Moore Asylum in the 1970s), and I wish that we would have gotten more of the backstory. Finally, by having the murderer provide a few chapters through their point of view, I was able to figure out who did it prior to the big reveal.
That said, I would give Lucy and her team another shot. I never felt like I was wasting my time reading this book, (it's a nice fast read) and it would be interesting to see how things develop between some of the characters (especially Lucy and Mattie, but also Lucy and Ellie, and Lucy and Steve).