What they say:

I’m alone in the dark, please can you find me …

Nine-year-old twins Abigail and Olivia vow never to be parted. But when Abigail goes missing from Blackwater Farm, DS Jennifer Knight must find her before it’s too late.

Twin sister Olivia has been mute since Abigail’s disappearance. But when she whispers in Jennifer’s ear, Jennifer realises it is Abigail’s voice pleading to be found.

A damp and decaying house set in acres of desolate scrubland, the farm is a place of secrets, old and new – and Jennifer must unravel them all in order to find the lost girl. But could Olivia’s bond with her twin hold the key to finding Abigail? And can Jennifer break through her silence in time to save her sister’s life?

A darkly gripping, page-turning thriller that will enthrall fans of Rachel Abbott, Alex Marwood’s The Wicked Girls and Mark Edwards.

The Review: The book begins with an atmospheric introduction into a game of hide and seek being played by two sisters, Abigail and Olivia. We are shown the stuff of every parents’ nightmares, and then Abigail is gone. You know when you’re reading and you just know that a book is going to take over your existence for the set time it takes to read? Well I got that straight away here!

From the off the descriptions were haunting and captivating. We watched as the police arrived and then were thrown straight into the investigation where there were multiple viewpoints, some a mystery, others not, some characters twisting their actions and thoughts so you were thinking the whole time, trying to read into them. Evidence was nicely done so it incriminated some and hinted at others.

One aspect of the story I was particularly taken by was the fact that the DS involved, DS Jennifer Knight, was assigned to the case because of the paranormal aspect to it. I liked that straight off the bat she was accepted and we didn’t have to hear the sceptics as I think it would have slowed down the story (this is part 3 of a series so perhaps this was dealt with previously). I actually rarely read anything near paranormal and I think this book was excellently done in that it had the exact mix of this and ‘normal’ detective work(made even better by the fact that Caroline Mitchell’s bio tells of her previous job as a police detective, which obviously gives the reader the reassurance of being able to accept all protocol etc as truth). What was also expertly done was that you also had no idea what had happened to poor Abigail (can’t say any more on that one, you’ll just have to read!)

Characters-brilliant-all facing the horrific scenario that everyone dreads and all dealing with it in very different ways, hence any of them could have had a guilty conscience going on. Pacing-perfection. As  for everything else there were some scenes that I suppose people could find a tiny bit disturbing, more because they insinuate things,  but other than this I have to say most people will really enjoy this. It is part 3 of the Detective Jennifer Knight Crime Thriller Series but it can most definitely be read as a stand alone. That being said I’ll be going back to the start. Really enjoyable. Thanks to Netgalley for this book in return for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5