Stella Hawkins has never given up hope that her missing twin sister will be found, either dead or alive. Every year she puts up posters and flyers to encourage the search but this year, the 25th anniversary, she takes part in a documentary to get national coverage.
The Girl in the Missing Poster is an intriguing psychological thriller. Stella’s whole life has been dominated by her twin’s existence and then disappearance. She is desperate for closure and the truth.
The book is mostly written from Stella’s first person perspective. We can see her emotions and her determination to find the truth about her sister. I really liked the use of the documentary transcript to show evidence and attitiudes of witnesses and peripheral characters. The descriptions of the body language is an effective way to convey the characters’ behaviour without drawn out descriptions.
The mystery led me to have lots of theories about how and why Leila disappeared but author Barbara Copperthwaite keeps the secrets until the end. I didn’t particularly enjoy the email exchanges between Stella and someone claiming to have information. This narrative device stretched my credulity a little too far although it did allow Stella’s emotions to be fully explored.
In a subplot, Stella is a dog behaviourist but also stands up for abused animals. This makes her enemies and this leads to a blurring of the plot threads as we are unsure which events are due to her actions in the present and which link to Leila’s disappearance.
Overall, I found The Girl in the Missing Poster hugely enjoyable and it maintained my interest from the first page to the last.
I have previously reviewed Flowers For The Dead by this author.
B Copperthwaite Media Kit:
Title: The Girl in the Missing Poster
Author: Barbara Copperthwaite
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Description:
24 June, 1994 – Nineteen-year-old Leila Hawkins runs from her father’s birthday party into the stormy night wearing her sister Stella’s long red coat. Some say she was crying, others swear they saw her get into a passing car. Nobody ever saw her again.
Present – This time every year, on the anniversary of that fateful night, Stella decorates the small seaside town she grew up in with pictures of her beautiful missing sister. But after twenty-five years, is it even worth hoping someone will come forward? Perhaps the upcoming documentary will spark people’s memories by reuniting all the guests who were there the night Leila went missing.
As old friends gather and long-buried secrets begin to surface, the last thing Stella ever expects is a direct response from someone claiming they took Leila. They want private details of Stella’s life in return for answers. But as the true events of the night of the party play out once again, who is lying? And who is next?
From the bestselling author of The Perfect Friend, this absolutely gripping psychological thriller will keep you up all night and leave you sleeping with the light on. If you loved Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us this book is for you!
Author Bio:
Barbara is the Amazon and USA Today bestselling author of psychological thrillers INVISIBLE, FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD, THE DARKEST LIES, and HER LAST SECRET.
More importantly, she loves cakes, wildlife photography and, last but definitely not least, her two dogs, Scamp and Buddy (who force her to throw tennis balls for them for hours).
Having spent over twenty years as a national newspaper and magazine journalist, Barbara has interviewed the real victims of crime – and also those who have carried those crimes out. She is fascinated by creating realistic, complex characters, and taking them apart before the readers’ eyes in order to discover just how much it takes to push a person over a line.
When not writing feverishly, she is often found hiding behind a camera, taking wildlife photographs.
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Nikki Galena is called in to investigate a murdered couple and finds herself in the midst of a gang war. The scene reminds the police of Romeo and Juliet and the warring families adds to this impression. But then another couple are discovered…
Secrets on the Fens is the 12th book in Joy Ellis’ Galena series. The books can be read as stand alone stories but there are threads from previous books that are continued in this one.
The main murder plot is strong and takes a long time to unpick due to the complicated family relationships. Nikki and her team need to persuade witnesses to reveal their secrets to understand the motive behind the killings which in turn leads to the culprit.
Nikki’s mum Eve is hot on the trail of the missing artist that she has been searching for in previous books. She still manages to get involved in the murder case and also has medical concerns she is hiding from her friends and family.
I admit that I found the first part of the book quite confusing as there seemed to be a lot of characters. There are the police, the warring families and the victims have real names and aliases. Nikki’s mum has her own subplot with yet more characters! Once again, the pathologist Rory steals every scene he is in. He continues to be my favourite character in this series.
Secrets on the Fens is a solid police procedural novel.
Secrets on the Fens BLURB:
FROM TWO-MILLION SELLING AUTHOR JOY ELLIS COMES ONE OF THE MOST EAGERLY AWAITED MYSTERIES THIS YEAR.
One moonlit night, the bodies of two young people are discovered lying entwined on a blanket in the woods. The young man is clutching a red rose. It appears to be a lovers’ suicide pact . . .
Until Detective Nikki Galena and DS Joseph Easter look more closely. Romeo and Juliet, as they decide to call them, were murdered somewhere else and brought to the woods. But why?
Then another young couple are found dead, again beautifully posed as lovers. And Nikki knows they have a twisted serial killer on their hands. Who are the next victims?
EVERYONE HAS SECRETS. BUT SOME PEOPLE WILL KILL TO KEEP THEM.
What readers are saying about JOY ELLIS
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Just wonderful to read.” Carole
“Holds the reader’s attention from the first word to the last.” Nicki R.
“Compulsive reading, I loved it.” Viv
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Riveting tale from start to finish.” Lynne
“Absolutely engrossing.” Olga
“Brilliant book which kept me gripped from page 1.” Barbara
THE DETECTIVE
DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she’s seen a girl die in her arms and her own family destroyed. She’s tough on criminals but fiercely loyal to her team.
THE SETTING
The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland, and nature reserves. It is not easy terrain for the Fenland Constabulary to police, due to the distances between some of the remote fen villages, the dangerous and often misty lanes, and the poor telephone coverage. There are still villages where the oldest residents have never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event. But it has a strange airy beauty to it, and above it all are the biggest skies you’ve ever seen.
ALSO BY JOY ELLIS
THE NIKKI GALENA SERIES
Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS
Book 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
Book 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS
Book 4: KILLER ON THE FENS
Book 5: STALKER ON THE FENS
Book 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS
Book 7: BURIED ON THE FENS
Book 8: THIEVES ON THE FENS
Book 9: FIRE ON THE FENS
JACKMAN & EVANS
Book 1: THE MURDERER’S SON
Book 2: THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS
Book 3: THE FOURTH FRIEND
Book 4: THE GUILTY ONES
JOY ELLIS
UK #1 BEST SELLER WITH THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS, DARKNESS ON THE FENS, THE FOURTH FRIEND, BEWARE THE PAST, FIRE ON THE FENS, AND THE GUILTY ONES
OVER 2 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
“I was born in Kent but spent most of my working life in London and Surrey. I was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the sixties and seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. What an eye-opener for a working-class kid from the Garden of England! I swore then, probably whilst I was scrubbing the floor or making the tea, that I would have a shop of my own one day. It took until the early eighties, but I did it. Sadly the recession wiped us out, and I embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Surrounded by books all day, getting to order whatever you liked, and being paid for it! Oh bliss!
And now I live in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with my partner, Jacqueline, a highly decorated retired police officer, and our four barking mad Springer spaniels. If I do get any spare time, which is rare these days, my one relaxation is painting, especially using soft pastels. We have been here for twenty years now and although I’ll never be a true ‘Yeller Belly’, a native born to this county, I have adopted it as my own. I love the mists, the big skies and the endless waterways. All my books are set here on the Fens, and why not? The location is perfect for murder!”
OTHER BOOKS BY JOY ELLIS
MATT BALLARD SERIES:
BEWARE THE PAST
FIVE BLOODY HEARTS
STANDALONE NOVELS:
GUIDE STAR
FIND JOY ON
Former cop Madison Harper returns to her hometown to find her son and clear her name. Her former lover has been murdered and she has inherited the house but she is distinctly unwelcome. The police are investigating the suspected suicide of a teenager at the fairground but Madison soon suspects there is a link between the murders.
Cry For Help was a totally compelling read and I am sooooo annoyed that I have missed the first in the series to feature Madison. However, this felt like the first book so I can’t imagine what was included in Shadow Falls. There were no spoilers and this first book goes straight to the top of my reading list.
Corruption is rife and Madison has no idea who she can trust. She has been in prison for years, sentenced for a murder she did not commit. Now she has teamed up with her private investigator employer Nate who was also falsely convicted. She is determined to clear her own name but this is soon surpassed by the need to protect her son. She hasn’t seen him since her conviction but he is now the lead suspect in the teen’s murder.
Most of the plot is delivered in the third person narrative in the present day. However some chapters are written from the day of Nikki’s murder so we see the build up to her final moments. The effect of this is to make us root for Madison and Nate even more as they strive to find the truth.
There are plenty of suspects and the author cleverly misdirects the reader to keep us guessing. Some of the descriptions are a little grisly but did not feel out of place due to the momentum of the plot.
Cry For Help was an excellent thriller with strong lead characters and a gripping plot. I LOVED it!
WENDY DRANFIELD Media Kit:
Title: CRY FOR HELP
Publication Day: Feb 22nd 2021
Author: Wendy Dranfield
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Description:
Shivering in the early morning chill, the caretaker flips the switch on the Ferris wheel and stumbles back in shock. The teenage girl’s body is slumped in a halo of pretty colored lights, long red hair spilling over her tear-stained cheeks, her eyes fixed forever on her dangling feet.
When teenager Nikki Jackson’s body is found at an amusement park, just hours after Fourth of July fireworks lit up the night sky, the Lost Creek police rule her death as suicide––a devastating final act from a girl who had lost all hope. But the absence of the knife used to make the wounds on her delicate wrists makes Detective Madison Harper think otherwise. And the partial fingerprint found on the girl’s face proves her right. Someone else was with Nikki in her final moments…
Back home in Colorado for the first time in seven years to investigate the murder of a woman with ties to the son she lost to the care system, the pressure is on for Madison to work both cases at once. Fearing the team has missed a vital clue, Madison searches the crime scene alone and finds the last thing she ever expected: a note proving the victims knew each other, and that the cases are linked. Is this a coincidence, proof a dangerous murderer is on the loose, or a trap set to lead Madison off the trail?
It’s only when Madison finally finds the knife used to harm Nikki, tucked in an almost impossible to find hiding place, that she knows she is closing in on a twisted killer. But the last person she expects to see dragged into the department in handcuffs is her own missing son…
An absolutely unputdownable crime thriller that will have you sleeping with the lights on. Addictive reading for anyone who loves Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Melinda Leigh.
Author Bio:
Wendy is a former coroner’s assistant turned crime writer who lives in the UK with her husband and 3 cats.
As well as her two crime series and the YA crime novel – The Girl Who Died – Wendy has several short stories published in UK and US anthologies. She has also been shortlisted and longlisted for various competitions, including the Mslexia Novel Competition.
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Wendy’s social media:
Website: https://wendydranfield.co.uk/
Twitter: @WendyDranfield
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FBI profiler Dr Kay Sharp quits her job and returns to her hometown when her brother is imprisoned for a bar room brawl. Almost immediately, she spots a newspaper headline and becomes convinced that a serial killer is active in the area but can she convince the local police team…?
The Girl From Silent Lake refers to Kay, a determined and tenacious investigator who is adamant that a serial killer is on the loose. Women’s bodies are discovered and there are children missing. She teams up with Detective Elliot Young and together they rapidly look for clues to save the latest missing woman and her daughter from a vicious ending.
Kay, Elliot and the killer all have secrets in their past that affect their present actions and viewpoints. I enjoyed the dynamic between Kay and Elliot as they negotiate a new working relationship yet remain mindful of their own pasts.
Author Leslie Wolfe includes chapters from the killer and victims’ viewpoints and these are difficult to read due to the intensity of the violence perpetrated. I admit to initially feeling some sympathy towards the killer as he reveals his troubled past but I suspected that his skewed viewpoint did not tell the whole picture.
I was totally engrossed in this book from the first page. Kay’s past is gradually revealed and this gives the reader an emotional investment in her success and safety. The pace was rapid and there were plenty of twists. The killer and victim perspectives increased the ‘human’ side of the story and made this unputdownable!
The Girl From Silent Lake was an excellent crime thriller and I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series.
Leslie Wolfe Media Kit:
Title: The Girl from Silent Lake: A totally gripping and heart-pounding crime thriller (Detective Kay Sharp Book 1)
Publication day : 19/02/21
Author: Leslie Wolfe
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Description:
“Please, not in front of my daughter,” she pleaded. “She’s just a little girl.” He leaned closer, so close she felt his heated breath on her face. The blue jays that had been filling the valley with their chirping fell silent all at once when the woman’s cry ripped through the clear mountain air…
Detective Kay Sharp vowed she’d never return to her childhood home. On the night of her thirteenth birthday her broken family was shattered beyond repair, and leaving was the only option. Unable to fix her own past, she’s been an FBI profiler for over a decade, desperate to save others.
But now Kay’s back and only she can solve the crime that has rocked the tight-knit community of Mount Chester to its core. A dead woman has been found by Silent Lake under the dew-covered Fall leaves, her hair braided and her body wrapped in a blanket. This small town may be a stranger to murder, but Kay recognizes the signs of a serial killer. She’s certain that the ritualistic nature of the scene means it’s just a matter of time until he strikes again––unless she catches him first.
As yellow do-not-cross tape flaps in the biting wind, another woman is reported missing. Kay leads a frenzied search for out-of-towner Alison Nolan and when she locates her car, Kay’s blood turns to ice as she shines her flashlight on the backseat and sees a teddy bear. Alison’s six-year-old little girl, Hazel, has vanished too.
Kay knows the missing-person investigation could turn into a murder case at any second. But as she hunts for the culprit, her own past closes in on her. Can she find the killer before it’s too late? And will the secret she thought she’d buried stay that way?
A totally gripping and utterly addictive new crime thriller series for readers who love Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Kendra Elliot. The Girl From Silent Lake gives “unputdownable” a whole new meaning!
Author Bio:
Leslie Wolfe is a bestselling author whose novels break the mold of traditional thrillers. She creates unforgettable, brilliant, strong women heroes who deliver fast-paced, satisfying suspense, backed up by extensive background research in technology and psychology.
Leslie released the first novel, Executive, in October 2011. It was very well received, including inquiries from Hollywood. Since then, Leslie published numerous novels and enjoyed growing success and recognition in the marketplace. Among Leslie’s most notable works, The Watson Girl (2017) was recognized for offering a unique insight into the mind of a serial killer and a rarely seen first-person account of his actions, in a dramatic and intense procedural thriller.
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Leslie enjoys engaging with readers every day and would love to hear from you.
Become an insider: gain early access to previews of Leslie’s new novels.
Email: LW@WolfeNovels.com
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The mummified body of a pregnant teen is found in a barrel. Olivia Rockwell’s father fails to make parole and is found hanging moments later. Detective Will Decker’s brother is in danger in prison. What connects these three plot strands?
Her Perfect Bones is the second book to feature Rockwell and Decker but I have not read the first. There are references to the first book but no spoilers that would prevent me going back and enjoying it in the future. The book did not draw on details from the last book so works perfectly well as a stand alone novel.
The murder case is muddied by the intensely personal subplots for both Olivia and Will as both have family members involved. There is also a frisson of romantic tension between Olivia and Will which adds an extra dimension to their interactions. Both of the main characters are strong willed and determined to protect their family as well as solve the case. I also enjoyed the comradely relationship between Will and his colleague JB: their interactions added a little light relief to counter the grisly murder and violence.
There is a grittiness to the prison life and crimes described. The inclusion of a murdered pregnant teen is highly emotive and I was anxious that she should get justice. The combination of the historic case as well as the present day family concerns mantain the momentum of the plot and ensure the reader stays involved with the events.
Her Perfect Bones was an enjoyable mix of crime thriller with a fine dose of family drama and a healthy spark of attraction between the lead characters.
Ellery Kane Media Kit:
Title: Her Perfect Bones
Publication Day – Feb 16th 2021
Author: Ellery Kane
BUY LINKS
Description:
The girl’s body is curled up like a shell and almost completely buried in sand. Only her fingertips can be seen, reaching helplessly up towards an escape she will never find…
Seventeen-year-old Shelby Mayfield sits alone on a bus to Fog Harbor, California. Aside from a few items of clothing, all she has with her is twenty-two dollars, the ragdoll she’s kept since kindergarten, and the devastating secret she’s been hiding.
How long will it be before her family realizes she’s gone?
Can anyone see the fresh bruise on her cheek beneath the makeup?
Perhaps she was a fool to believe the person she is meeting in this remote little town could help her…
When a girl’s body is found hidden in a barrel in a woodland cabin, the local police are at a loss. The film from an old camera found looped around her neck is their only lead, but Criminal Psychologist Olivia Rockwell’s blood turns to ice when she recognizes the ragdoll in one of the girl’s last photographs. She used to own one just like it, and it can only mean one thing: if she doesn’t dig deep into the mind of a deadly killer from her past—her own father—more innocent lives will be in danger…
A totally gripping and utterly addictive crime thriller for readers who love Lisa Regan, Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh. But be warned: you’ll be sleeping with the lights on after you’ve raced through the pages in one sitting!
Author Bio:
Forensic psychologist by day, author by night, Ellery Kane has been writing professionally and creatively for as long as she can remember. Real life really is stranger than fiction, so Ellery’s writing is often inspired by her day job. Before writing the Rockwell and Decker series with Bookouture, Ellery published the Legacy series for young adult readers and the Doctors of Darkness series of psychological thrillers. She was previously selected as one of ten semi-finalists in the MasterClass James Patterson Co-Author Competition. A Texan at heart, Ellery currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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