Synopsis: Their parents thought they were hiding…
One beautiful summer’s evening, thirteen-year-old twins Ivy and Erin Westmore snuggle down in a tent in their back garden, giggling and sharing secrets.
When their mother goes to wake the girls the next morning, their tent is empty.
The alarm is raised and Detective Natalie Ward is put onto the case. When the twins’ bodies are discovered on nearby marshland, covered with deep pink petals, an icy shiver travels down Natalie’s spine. Everything about the girls’ deaths reminds her of a horrifying case she worked on earlier in her career, which saw a killer of the worst kind placed behind bars.
The next day, that feeling is heightened when she receives a chilling note saying ‘I’m back’. Is this killer a copycat or did Natalie put the wrong person in prison all those years ago? In a small town, where no stranger goes unnoticed, what is Natalie missing?
Consumed by the case, determined to prevent more deaths, Natalie misses the fact that it is her attention the killer wants. And to get it, he has his sights set firmly on her precious daughter Leigh…
My Rating: 5/5
My Review: Woahhhhhh, I was so not ready for this book! I have recently been binge reading this series and in this latest book it is all happening! This latest instalment is so good, but also slightly disturbing which is always a good combination for a book of this type. However, for some the subject matter surrounding the death of children may be a topic they want to steer clear of (just a warning to those not prepared). When a young set of twins go missing the whole team that work with Natalie go into overdrive to try and find them however the worst outcome is ahead as their bodies are found on nearby marshland.
Natalie’s biggest concern is not only that a child killer is out there free but that this case seems eerily similar to a case she worked earlier in her career. Whilst once again the reader is taken on the road with the team, we also see once again Natalie battle to maintain relationships with her husband alongside her children. It has been a real insight seeing the way the various relationships have progressed over the last few books.
When Natalie recieves a chilling note from the killer she becomes consumed in tracking them down and in doing that avoids telling her children that she is leaving their father. With all that is going on Natalie also has to deal with her boss bringing on and old colleague DS John Briggs. This book literally had everything and then some. I was tunring pages and read this in (almost) one sitting. I was gobsmacked by the ending and had no clue anythign like that was coming. Absolutely the best book in the series so far, where it goes from here who knows?
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