I'm so happy! It seems that my reading mojo is back, especially thanks to Angela Marsons series... and this little gem! I had seen this around but haven't requested because there were so many other similar books out there... But I read several glowing reviews and I had a feeling Little Girl Lost could be so much more than it seemed. I was so right!

I was immediately hooked thanks to the very disturbing prologue... and even though it wasn't a short book, I would've finished this sooner if I hadn't had plans (I was honestly considering staying at home!). Little Girl Lost is the author's first experience with crime... and I was amazed she had been writing romantic comedies up until now. 

This book had everything I like in a mystery. The main character was amazing, the case was full of twists and turns, there were multiple POVs, creepy flashbacks and even some gaslighting! (I already told you how much I love that). Although I was able to guess some of it, it was one of those times where I wanted to be right and I was completely satisfied with the way everything ended.

For those of you who have read countless of police procedurals, I'd say that Little Girl Lost is among the best ones I've come across and I think I know why it made a difference. I believe this was an excellent novel because its main focus was on the case and not so much on the investigation. Thanks to the multiple points of view, I was able to immerse myself into Abigail's life as if I was reading a psychological thriller. Sometimes, police procedurals are more focused on the everyday tasks and you aren't able to connect that much with the case they're investigating. This certainly doesn't happen here and you still get to follow Robyn's investigation and play detective with her.

At the same time, I feel like I want to know more about DI Carter, as she seemed like a great character (and her backstory was sad and touching), so I hope we can count on many more fantastic books featuring her and Carol Wyer's ability to craft complex mysteries. Don't miss it!

Within the first minute of this book, it popped and I thought to myself 'if this beginning is anything to go by, this is going to be a fantastic read'.

Unfortunately for me it was not.  The first 70% of the book bored me.  I dragged my way through it, only persevering as I promised a review of the book.  I found the characters to be simple, the storyline confusing and sometimes off track and I thought there was little substance to the writing.

The ending was predictable, the book poorly edited with a lot of grammatical errors throughout it and while the overall concept of the storyline was good, I felt there could have been a lot more depth and excitement throughout the book than what I got.

I love this female DI. The author does such a great job with keeping the pace, tension and story so well, with as mentioned before a collection of great characters, good and bad. I had no glue to the guilty character/characters and kept changing my mind.

Good mystery with great characters and a steady but paranoia driven build-up to the twisty end. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Bookouture, Carol Wyer and Netgalley, for a ARC digital copy; it was my pleasure to write an honest review on the nail biting, gripping and tense thriller.

Bookouture you have found a great author here, I loved this book.

Another great female Detective Inspector character that I will have to follow.

Detective Robyn Carter, returning to the police force after a series of personal tragedies, dives into several investigations; a husband has gone missing and a man turns up murdered. Once she begins her investigations, she sees a link between these men. As she digs deeper and deeper, her investigation leads her to housewife Abigail and her family. How is she connected to these victims and why is she receiving threatening messages; there are secrets and someone wants those secrets told. When Abigail’s daughter is abducted, the race is on to find the perpetrator in time…

The author does such a great job with keeping the pace, tension and story so well, with as mentioned before a collection of great characters, good and bad. I had no glue to the guilty character/characters and kept changing my mind. 

The story picks up to a rollercoaster pace for the last 30% -40 % of the book, and the race is on for Detective Inspector Carter and her team.

A fantastic book that I can recommend to everyone. A clear five stars.

This author will be one I look for her next book alongside great police thrillers from Angela Marsons, Sharon Bolton, Casey Hill, Mel Sherratt and Robert Bryndza ... to name a few.

[[ THIS BOOK SHOULD COME WITH A WARNING!!! The Prologue is VERY graphic, If you have EVER been sexually abused as a child or raped (or even have a young daughter) BE WARNED this first part of the book WILL most likely get to you!! ]]

After i read the Prologue to this book i had to put it down and i couldn't bring myself to read it until the next day, I understand the shock factor and why it was in the book, people would be really confused about the rest of the book if that was not put in the book somewhere, however that didn't make it any easier to read, imagine or remember.
I'm not sure if it was because i was still thinking about the first incident or just something about the book but this was a slower book for me. It did not grab me and make me read it like my usual books, i just causally got through it when i had time rather than actually wanting to pick it up and read it. 
WITH THAT SAID: That does NOT mean it was a bad book, it turned out pretty decent. Has a couple turns and twists in it, thought i had some of it figured out then i was like no that can't be right then when i did find out what was going on, who was who, i was pretty surprised. It picked up about halfway through and it was easier to finish but something about the front of this book just dragged on (again could have definitely been me). 

I like Robyn Carter & Ross, i had a little bit of trouble with Abigail just because she should have reacted more to the notes, emails, calls, and her suspicions, I think that would have made the book more realistic and probably a better read. She had everything right in front of her but yet she kept acting like nothing was ever going to come out of it, who the hell doesn't confront their husband when they think he is cheating on her!?! I liked Jackson's character even though he didn't really have a huge part in the book! I like that as soon as he figured out what the hell was going on he took action talked to Robyn right away, unlike his wife. It was an interesting part of the story when the sister tells Alice Paul did what he did to protect her, for some reason that never popped in my mind i really thought he was as evil as his son. Interesting to me, that one little line can make you look at a person in a whole new light. 

Overall i liked this book I really wish i read it faster made me feel like i was slacking, which i don't like to do. My usual turn around on a book is about 6-8 hours of steady reading, Where as it probably took at least a full 20-24 hours to read this one.

I will say that the subject matter and the number of players in the beginning was a bit hard to sort out.  

This one was slightly better than OK.

Considering this is written by an author who usually writes a completely different genre, you certainly would never know this is her first venture into the dark side!
What does become immediately evident, is that Carol is certainly well versed in knowing how to draw her readers in to the book very early on, and keeping them hooked until the reach the gripping conclusion.
The characters are well drawn and the plot seamlessly fits together. By an author of a lesser talent, this wouldn't have worked, as there are quite a lot of characters to discover. However, Carol manages this perfectly and I have to say, this definitely lived up to my expectations.
All in all, this was excellent, and I look forward to reading the next instalment with Detective Robyn Carter at the forefront!

This book shows how young children are often not believed when sexual encounters occur . They are even less believed if a family member is involved . Revenge is bittersweet in this book. Sexual abuse, pedophiles, prostitution, alcohol and drug abuse are just a few topics in this book. Not many happy moments in this book . but if looking for a fast paced read with a variety of characters and lots of gruesome deaths this book is for you .Thanks Netgalley. This  author has so much potential with Detective Carter ion the scene. Way to go!!

Thank you to net galley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review. 

Robyn Carter is returning to work after the death of her partner and a miscarriage brought in by tragedy. Her private investigator work has crossed into her police work. 
Alice was a little girl when she was hurt and the loss of her perfect life has escalated into her adult life. Bring into that numerous murders and lots of twists can Robyn solve the murder and save the missing baby. 

I absolutely loved this book and it was so exciting and had me gripped from the start. Definitely one for our book club (less)

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this review copy.

My first Carol Wyer book.  I have seen other books by this author but they have looked to be more light hearted.  This appears to be the author’s first thriller book and the first book in the Robyn Carter series.  The story begins with 8 year old Alice.  Her father has died and her mother is now engaged to a famous actor, Paul Matthews.  They have moved into Paul’s house where he lives with his 2 children, Lucas and Natasha.  The problem is, Lucas is abusing Alice.  Once night when her mother and Paul go out, Lucas attempts to rape Alice but she defends herself by sticking a sharpened pencil in his eye.

We then move on some years later, and we meet Robyn Carter.  Robyn is a Detective Inspector who is taking some time out following the death of her husband and unborn baby.  She is working with her cousin Ross as a private investigator.  In between the insurance cases and following unfaithful husbands she is asked to look into a missing person case.  The missing person is Lucas Matthews.  His wife has reported him missing and as Robyn delves deeper, she discovers things about Lucas that she feels needs to be investigated by the police.  She agrees to go back to her old job early so she can be in charge of this case. 

We also meet Abigail.  Abigail is mum to baby Izzy and wife to husband Jackson.  Abigail is a stay at home mum whilst Jackson is a pilot for a private airline.  She has a small circle of close friends – Zoe, Claire and the newly befriended Rachel.  One day she starts receiving strange texts and phone calls by someone she doesn’t recognise.  They know all about Abigail’s secret.  It does appear that Abigail does have secret, but what is it?  The two storylines run side by side.  Robyn’s investigations takes her to the town where Abigail lives, but are the two connected, and how?  Robyn suspects that the two cases are linked, but she’s running out of time to put the pieces together.  

This was a fantastic read.  I could not put this book down.  The prologue was hard to read considering it was focusing on child abuse, but once over that the story was better.  As well as the story from Robyn’s and Abigail’s point of view, the story is also interspersed with the story from Alice’s point of view as she grows up.  The story is great in that you don’t really know who Alice really is and how she connects to the story now.  It’s very difficult to explain without giving away too many spoilers!  I loved Robyn’s character.  The relationship she has with her cousin Ross is humorous but you also see the emotional side to her as she recounts how her husband and baby died.  It’s great that she tries to overcome her emotions and goes back to her old job as Detective Inspector, but she keeps questioning herself if she really has it in her any more as all her ‘hunches’ seem to come to nothing.

The story twists and turns so fast sometimes you don’t know which way it’s going.  I think there’s nothing worse than reading a book where you’ve guessed the plot and ‘whodunnit’ early on in the book.  This one was nothing like that!  I genuinely did not know who was what until the very end when all the pieces slotted together.  For me, there were no loose ends, nothing seemed wrong or unanswered and everything fitted together perfectly!  An absolutely brilliant book.  Roll on for the next one in the series!

I have just finished this book, and I am gobsmacked! What happened to the author who wrote the light and fun books that I like to read inbetween the thrillers I also like to read? She has only gone and joined their ranks, that's what! And what an incredible thriller debut this is too :)

Robyn Carter has been working as a PI with her cousin Ross after some serious personal events knocked her confidence whilst working as a police officer, and she took a leave of absence. She has excellent cop instincts though so when her case into a missing person reveals a whole other life that that person would have preferred to have kept hidden, she keeps on digging and rejoins the Force. What she discovers is a trail of lies, secrets and violence, the likes of which make the little hairs on your arms stand on end. 

This is an incredible book, full of twists and turns, and just when I thought I had figured it out, nope, I was wrong again.

Highly recommended read :) I am already looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

My first read from author Carol Wyer, but definitely not my last!  This is the first in a series featuring Detective Inspector Robyn Carter.  DI Carter has been on bereavement leave following the loss of her husband and unborn child. She rejoins the police force with the case of a missing man.  Soon she is trying to put together a puzzle involving the missing man, multiple murders, and a set of friends, each with deep secrets. 
This is a fast paced read with multiple twists that kept me guessing until the end. And even when you have it all figured out, the ride just gets wilder as the loose ends are tied up. I can't wait for the next in this series!  
A big thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Carol Wyer for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This book was fantastic. The twists and turns kept me guessing and the switches in timeline were easy to follow. 
I cannot wait to read the next books in this series. For me they were up there with M.J Arlidge's Helen Grace series. Absolutely brilliant.

Last year I read 'Take a Chance on Me' by Carol Wyer and it was an enjoyable 'chick-lit' story. 'Little Girl Lost' is her first attempt at something darker and wow – she did good! I love a good crime or murder mystery, so maybe that may make me a little biased, but I found this book definitely outshone the first of her novels I read. 
The prologue is a little full-on, but it definitely gets you hooked and gives you an instant understanding of several key characters' motivation.  The book quickly jumps away from the events of the prologue and you are introduced to so many different characters, that I was completely engaged in trying to work out 'who-dunnit' and who was being false.  
Inevitably you begin to understand who has done what, but that only made the story more tense for me as I urged the protagonist, Robyn, to save the day.  Robyn herself is an interesting character.  She is battling lots of demons and has only recently returned to the police force.  I look forward to seeing this character develop throughout the series, I just wish I knew when the next book was out!

This is the first book I have read by Carol Wyer and very impressive it is too.  It is the first in a series featuring Detective Robyn Carter and it is a real page-turner.  It combines psychological thriller with detective novel and treats both genres skilfully.  Robyn is a fascinating creation with an interesting back story and the twists and turns and revelations in the crimes she is investigating are breath-taking.  I await future contributions to this promising series.

Can't review this book because the ebook sent by Netgalley is not a Rachel Carter mystery but another book entirely.

Another winner for Bookouture! They just keep coming. Fantastic book. Utterly unpredictable. I kept trying to figure out what would happen next with very little success. Very gripping. I'm excited and think this is the start to what will be a great series. 

Detective Robyn Carter is taking some time off from the force after being hit with not just one but two personal tragedies. She's working alongside a family member who is a private detective. Mostly cheating spouses and insurance scams, not terribly exciting. But when they're contacted by a woman looking for her missing husband, things go up a notch. She initially doesn't want to go to the police, but as Robyn goes back to work, her and her small team get to work on the case. Bodies start to pile up and they all seem to be connected to the missing man... but is he a murderer? Where is he?

New mother Abigal is completely devoted to her baby, Izzy. She sees her friends less, leaves the house less, and certainly makes love with her husband less. Adding to her stress, someone is contacting her warning her not to keep secrets. Though her marriage has been a happy one, she hasn't been totally honest with her husband about her life before him. Her stalker escalates and eventually Robyn gets involved. It's up to her to unravel this tangled web before more people die. 

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Bookouture. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

As soon as I saw this book's beautiful cover and read its intriguing blurb I knew I HAD to read it. Now that I've finished it ... WOW! What a cracker!! Can't believe this is the author's debut thriller.

"Lies harm. Lies hurt. The truth liberates."

A wealthy, retired actor dies in a 'freak accident' while jogging, and his son Lucas vanishes into thin air at the same time. Where is Lucas? What happened to him? Did he run away? Or has something sinister happened to him? 

DI Robyn Carter, the main character in this book, has suffered devastating loss, and is currently on a leave of absence from her job at Straffordshire police force. She's helping her cousin Ross in his private investigation business. Her latest job is to track down the missing Lucas Matthews. Delving into the Matthews family's past, Robyn begins to uncover disturbing secrets, lies and horrible deeds, and when people close to the family start to drop like flies, she realises that a serial killer is at large. She takes the case to the police force to tackle it in her role as DI. How many people will have to die before Robyn catches the killer? How long will it take her to find the key to it all and expose the killer's identity? 

"Mummy told me I was a horrible little girl."

In a separate storyline, Abigail is the mother of baby Izzy. Her perfect married life begins to crumble when she begins to receive mysterious messages and phone calls threatening to expose her past and destroy her life and family. Someone is watching her every move and seriously messing with her head. Who is this person? Is it someone she knows? What do they know about her? Why are they hell bent on destroying her? 

Well I really enjoyed reading this fab book. From the first unsettling chapter, it grabbed my interest and kept me glued to my kindle. As the characters were introduced and the past began to catch up with everyone, the plot thickened and the tension rose. The chapters from the pov of Alice were the most powerful. And I kept wondering how Abigail fits in the whole scenario. 

Abuse, secrets and lies are all at the heart of this book. Little Girl Lost is extremely well written with very realistic characters - Robyn is a particularly interesting character. With a shattered mind and spirit and riddled by guilt, she's a brilliant police officer who's constantly fighting with her pain and the accusing voices in her head. I definitely want to meet her again in future books. 

With suspense and twists and turns throughout, the well-thought out plot is very absorbing, rich and tangled and it kept me engrossed and turning the pages fast. The ending is simply breathtaking - an ending that made me bite my knuckles. 

With thanks to Bookouture for approving my request to read and review this book thorough NetGalley. Highly recommended!

The story is narrated through multiple view points. I found each voice to be quite unique hence easy to differentiate so the narrations didn’t confuse me. I also like the fact that the villain is one of the narrators and that they use two timelines for the POV. The flashbacks helped in explaining the motives for the crimes.

At first, it was hard to guess how all the characters were connected. On one hand, there is Abigail, a new mom who is being harassed by an anonymous person. Through other chapters, we have the villain and then the detective. The serial killer’s MO is also sort of haphazard so it seems like some of the victims are not even related. I think not knowing the connection is what made this such a riveting read. I couldn’t guess what the link was until the last chapters of the book when everything started falling into place.

The book has everything that makes a thriller great. There are secrets, twists and turns, lies, unsolved murders and a lot of suspicious characters (and unsub who is one of the narrators). Some of the themes and scenes introduced in the book are quite heavy such as what I alluded to  in the prologue. However, what stood out the most for me was the writing. Wyer has such a beautiful, flawless way of describing characters and scenes. I usually struggle with cop procedural novels and multiple POVs but this time, I just didn’t. Her writing style is captivating and it made me get hooked to the story.  I was able to guess some of the major twists towards the end but the writing still had me eagerly turning pages in an effort to confirm my suspicions.I can’t wait to for the next book in the series!