This story is a real twister. Just as you think you know where it’s going, it changes direction and makes you question what you’ve already read. Great characters and although a disturbing storyline it doesn’t go into salacious detail. We’ll crafted and very well written.

A fantastic read that kept me absolutely kept me hooked to the very end!
This is very fast pace and you feel like so much is going on with lots of twist and turns. It kept me thinking to the very end. We get to head from a few different POVs which I really liked as you get a sense what you think is happening and what others are thinking.
The character development was fab, some sent a chill as I was reading and some totally shocked me

This mystery thriller was good. It grabbed my attention straight away. What happened to them? Where were they? And can someone please tell me the truth!
Lots of mystery with twists and turns. The plot really worked for me and I didn’t figure out the ending before the ending. I recommend if you enjoy a good mystery suspense.
Thanks Michael Joseph via NetGalley.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. The fourth in a series but work ok as an isolated read. Quite gripping and twisty it caught my attention from the beginning and kept me reading to the end. A good psychological thriller for fans of the genre!

Little Sister is the fourth book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series by Gytha Lodge, but I think it would still work well as a standalone. This psychological thriller/police procedural will have you turning detective yourself as you follow the trail of clues through the story. The police procedural element is very well done, and provides an accurate insight into interview techniques and the lengths that the police need to go to in order to solve crimes.

This story centres around two sisters living within the care system. When the older sister Keely turns up in front of Jonah Sheens, he is not sure whether she is a killer or a victim, but Keely is not about to tell him the truth. She was possibly the most unreliable witness to whatever had happened to her younger sister Nina, but in addition to the mystery of where Nina was, Keely was intent on playing a game of cat and mouse with Jonah, challenging him to work out from her story, exactly what had happened to the sisters.

As the central character, Keely was unlikeable and came across as supercilious, toying with Jonah and his team as they tried to work out what was going on. She frustrated me, I have no idea how they kept so calm in the face of her gamesmanship, I certainly couldn’t!

I loved the way in which there were clues within her unreliable testimony, but you have to read with care or you will miss them. I had so much fun trying to work out what they were, and trying to find them. I have to admit I was kicking myself when I missed a clue!

Gytha Lodge has such a wonderful way of writing that you are instantly immersed in a tense storyline. I find it a kind of escapism from my own life when I read one of the books in this series because I found myself captivated by the storytelling, and the twists and turns of an exceptional thriller. I also like that the entire team under Jonah Sheens are all multidimensional and with each book we get a greater insight into their lives at work and in their home lives.

Little Sister is a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns that will make you want to turn detective and solve the mystery yourself!

DCI Jonah Sheens is at the pub one sunny afternoon with his baby daughter. Then there is a stir at the tables around him so he turns around to see what is happening. A teenage girl with lovely red hair has walked out of the woods and into the pub garden. Her arms are covered in blood. He contacts DC Juliette Hanley to come to the pub and advises her of the situation. Also, he contacts Michelle, his partner, so she can come get their daughter.

He then moves over to the teenager and asks her name, ‘It’s Keely’, she says. She is not hurt, the blood isn’t hers. Keely knows where Nina is but she is not telling until she has his complete attention.

Jonah asks Juliette to check if there is a missing persons report for Keely and Nina Lennox? There was one filed on Wednesday morning. The girls were both red-heads, Keely being older at sixteen whilst Nina was fourteen. They had been missing for nearly five days.

Jonah found it hard to get Keely to talk back at the station. She seemed reluctant to answer questions that were put to her, especially any referring to Nina.

They found a safe house for Keely to sleep in that night with a social worker, Veronica, so that they knew she was safe and they would resume the questioning in the morning to see if Keely would tell them any more. The next morning a taxi was meant to pick Keely and Veronica up but a land rover or something like it, with no plates turned up instead. Keely got in and the car sped away. The social worker was not near it so couldn’t do anything. She reported it to Jonah. He hoped for some CCTV. Now they had to search for both the girls.

This was a great read. Full of twists and turns. Gytha Lodge certainly knows how to tease the reader and keeps you on tenterhooks throughout the book. It got so I didn’t want to put the book down. Definitely worth reading. Great cover too.

I was expecting a typical police procedural thriller. What I read was an indepth, extremely clever, twisty ride. What started as a mystery, quickly turned into a tale of abuse without gore and dramatics that rang so true its clearly been superbly researched.
.
Keely and Nina are both complex characters and I didn't like either. They had no redeeming qualities that I could see but I still cared what happened to them and needed the missing sister to be found.
.
Although this is book four with DCI Sheen's, I've only read the last two and can easily be read as a stand alone.
@gythalodge is a consummate story teller, she's an autobuy author for me now and I cannot wait for what surprises the next book will bring.
.
Thank you @michaeljbooks for this copy to read and review.

I'm loving this series as the books are fast paced, gripping, and keeps on the edge till the end.
This is another nail biting novel, well developed.
I love the growing tension, the solid plot, and the interesting characters .
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Omg I highly recommend everyone reads this book by going in blind. It’s so so gripping, my heart was pounding, I was on the edge of my seat and my nails were reduced to stubs! What an amazing thriller. This is such a page turner and everyone needs to read it!

This is the fourth in the family of Jonah Sheens novels but works as a standalone. So if crime/psych thriller/police procedural is your bag, you’re in for a treat.

Let’s start off by saying that Keely sent shivers down my spine and totally creeped me out with her cold manner and recalcitrant demeanour. She’s covered in blood, and absolutely knows where her sister Nina is but wants to tell their back story from being orphaned to their seemingly perilous journey through social care and foster homes.

Telling her story to DCI Sheens, I couldn’t tell what was fact and what was total fabrication. Had Keely been misunderstood by the system and her peers? Or was she a 16-year-old serial liar and sociopath? I was steering towards the latter.

As we weave through Keely’s tale of child abuse and bullying there are subtle hints dropped as clues for Sheens’ team to pick up on leading to Nina’s whereabouts. But at this point, they believe she has been left for dead somewhere.

It’s a cleverly written tale with breadcrumbs scattered throughout, but be prepared to be deceived as you read - even the book title contains the word LIES. Obviously I can’t reveal any major twists here - if there were any - but I’d say be ready for some jaw dropping moments.

All in all, Little Sister is a treat and definitely recommended.

What an outstanding thought-provoking storyline

DCI Jonah Sheens was enjoying an afternoon of sitting in a pub garden enjoying a beer while looking after his baby daughter. He’s only taken a few sips when a young teenage girl comes in, covered in blood. She says her sister Nina Lennox is missing. He immediately goes into work mode and arranges for her to be taken to the station so that his team can start the search and find out why Keeley, the teenager, is covered in blood.

He works with an excellent team; DC Juliette Hanson, DS Ben Lightman and DS
Domnall O’Malley. For this investigation, they must join with the special team dedicated to finding missing persons.

He starts interviewing Keeley and is shocked by the girl’s story. She and Nina were orphaned after their mother had a terrible accident. Since then, it’s been one foster family after the other for the two girls and as Keeley tells their story, the detectives are left not knowing whether Keeley is fabricating everything or whether what she has to say can be true. In which case, these two young girls have endured some of the worst abuse the team has ever seen.

I wish I was in a book club so that I could discuss the plot at length. I can’t because it would mean giving spoilers. Over the pandemic, there seems to have been far too many cases of children being killed by their parents. Or paedophilia rings being brought to justice. This storyline is warts and all on what Keeley and Nina have been subjected to in the various foster homes. Unfortunately, they are never believed and now, time is running out to save them from more damage.

Gytha Lodge, I’ve read your previous books and loved them but by tackling this subject and giving each character a very clear voice, you’ve broken the barrier. It’s going to haunt me forever. It’s also left me with so many questions. Will we ever find perfect foster parents? Will these traumatised children ever succeed as adults?

Rony

Elite Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

Wow!! What a ride this was. This series just gets better and better. From the very beginning it was gripping with Gyntha drip feeding information so that you just had to keep reading.

The subject matter is not for the faint hearted and may be triggering for some people but I think it's important to shine a light on this area. Too many children fall through the cracks in the care system and not all are as strong at Nina and Keely. The sections of the teams personal lives were a welcome distraction from the case and also helped to show the characters as being rounded. Jonah is my favourite DCI!

I can't wait for the next book!

The previous book, Lie beside me, was the only one that I’ve read in this series, so I was looking forward to see where the author will take detective Jonah next.

I enjoyed Little sister much more. Yes, it's harder to digest some topics touched in this instalment, especially since it talks about children's abuse and crimes with twists that left me speechless.

The games played by Keely kept me on the edge throughout the book. It was surreal how she played it all so easy and unaffected.

I can't say I got to like any of the characters, unless you count Jonah.

Thrilling and engaging, the story deals with difficult topics but it's a must read novel.

🆓📖Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy.

I’ve read some of this author’s earlier books so was glad to get hold of a copy of this new one, Little Sister which is a complicated story of two sisters who have spent several years in care.
DCI Jonah Sheens is spending a quiet hour in the pub when 16 year old Keeley rushes in covered in blood. Taking her back to the station it becomes apparent that Keeley and her younger sister, Nina have disappeared from their care home. Keeley will not reveal Nina’s whereabouts or even her condition but starts to tell the detectives a long and detailed story about abuse stretching back many years.
This is a very difficult read as Keeley tries to explain all that has happened to her and her younger sister in a flawed care system and it was increasingly difficult to work out whether Keeley’s actions are a cry for help, an attempt to get some justice or in fact a pack of lies.
This was an interesting but rather sad story which became more and more complicated as the plot progressed. It is hard to work out whether Keeley is being truthful or whether she is a sociopathic liar and that was part of the intrigue and indeed cleverness of the book.
The descriptions of abuse by foster parents were heartbreaking and very difficult to read but the nuance that it could all be made up gave it an added dimension. As a reader I was torn between horror and incredulity mirroring the police officers’ own reactions.
This was a difficult but ultimately satisfying read and would appeal to readers who enjoy police procedural with complicated and twisty plots. It is part of a series but could easily be read as a stand alone.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc.

Having read the third in this series, I was so pleased to read the next instalment.
DCI Jonah Sheens is having a drink at a local pub when Keely arrives covered in blood. She presents him with a long story with clues to find her sister, Nina, who she claims to have hurt and hidden somewhere. And so begins a long story of two sisters who have been fostered and in care homes for years. They are branded as trouble makers because of the complaints they have made during their time in the system.
This is a complicated and clever police procedural with a convincing team of police officers who work well together.
Three and a half stars
Many thanks to Netgalley/Gytha Lodge/Penguin Michael Joseph UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Wow, where to start?! This book was mind blowingly brilliant and I could NOT put it down.

It starts with a young girl, Keely appearing suddenly out of the woods covered in blood. She has a story to tell, but is she what she seems? And where is Nina, her younger sister?

This book is honestly like nothing I have ever read before (in a great way!) and I was immediately hooked on the strong, ingeniously plotted storyline and relateable police characters.

I loved the way the personal lives of the police were portrayed, each character, especially Jonah, was exceptionally drawn. The cleverest part though, is Keely and Nina's dark, sinister tale and the sinuous way in which this is told. I was left not knowing who to believe or trust and willing the police protagonists to discover the disturbing truth amongst the secrets and lies.

This is an exceptional book, one that will stay with me for a long time. All I can say is, read it! Now!

Thanks to the author, Gytha Lodge, publishers Penguin Michael Joseph UK and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Two girls went into the woods. Only one came back. . . .
Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens is on the trail in this explosive crime novel from the acclaimed author of She Lies in Wait, Watching from the Dark, and Lie Beside Me
Jonah Sheens is enjoying a moment of peace in a pub garden on his day off when a teenage girl wanders out of the woods. She’s striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She’s also covered in blood.
When Jonah races to help, the girl insists she’s fine. Then she smiles. It’s her sister he needs to worry about. Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children’s home a week ago. Now Keely is here—but Nina’s still missing. Jonah is sure Keely knows where her sister is—but before she tells him anything, she insists, he has to listen to her story from the beginning.
Is she witness, victim, or killer? And if Jonah follows the trail of clues in her story, will they lead him to the missing girl—or distract him until it’s too late?

This is a wonderful addition to this thrilling series!
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary

There’s a reason crime fiction fans love a series and that’s because we become heavily invested in the characters. This Southampton based team is led by DCI Jonah Sheens with DS Ben Lightman, DS Domnall O’Malley, and DC Juliette Hanson. We know by now more about some of them than others, but with every book, our knowledge of them as individuals with home lives grows and we care about what happens to them and their families.

You can absolutely read Little Sister as a stand-alone book, but you’ll be missing out if you don’t then go back and read the rest of the series, because this is a character driven police procedural done exceptionally well.

DCI Jonah Sheens is a good man trying to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons. He’s a new father and he knows his partner, Michelle, with whom he has reconciled for the sake of their baby, is struggling with motherhood.

He needs and wants to do the right thing by her, but he’s in a state of turmoil and sleepless nights since his daughter’s arrival are not helping.

Jonah is in the pub when 16 year old Keely Lennox turns up, covered in blood and asking Jonah to find her younger sister, Nina. Both young women went missing from their care home some 5 days ago and all their history suggests that the police have reason to be concerned for Nina’s safety.

What follows is a layered, emotive and very twisty puzzle in which Keely, for reasons that become abundantly clear as the novel progresses, is used to not being believed and so lays out a series of clues for the team to follow in the hope that this will lead them to Nina. They in turn have a real fear that her life may be in jeopardy and so this becomes a race against the clock with Keely seemingly dictating the pace and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for the police to search out the facts.

It’s a stunning piece of plotting and Gytha Lodge has paced this book really well. From the very first page I was hooked and she reeled me in like a fish on the end of a very big hook.

Keely is a self-possessed young woman intent on relating her story in a clear, cold narrative style from which she does not deviate. She answers no questions, other than to tell the team that they have to listen to her – really listen – if they want to find Nina.

For buried in her narrative are the clues that will help them find her, but only if they are paying attention.

The story that Keely narrates is not an easy or comfortable one. It is a story of abuse, neglect and betrayal. A story of all the worst things that can happen to two vulnerable girls in care. As we hear Keely tell her story, there are doubts raised about her veracity – Jonah Sheen wants to believe the victim, but so much of what she alleges has already been found to be false.

So what is going on here? Can the team fathom it out in time to find Nina? As they battle against the clock to work out all the clues, this is a case that is getting to some of the team members more than others.

Keeley is such a brilliantly drawn character. She appears cold, calculation and deliberately deceptive. She is the cat playing with the mouse that is the team’s investigation. And she plays them like a fiddle. (too many metaphors?). She’s done her homework on this team, too. And that leaves Jonah really quite unsettled…

Verdict: I absolutely loved this book. It’s clever, twisty, incredibly propulsive and genuinely deserves the ‘I couldn’t put it down’ status. Tightly and rather intricately plotted, it has everything you want in a psychological thriller within a police procedural. It both engages the brain and draws on the heart strings and it kept me transfixed for hours. This is exceptionally good crime writing and deserves to be an award winner. Go buy it – you won’t be sorry.

I love a good police procedural but because I’ve read so many of them, I sometimes find that they slip into the same patterns. This was not the case with Little Sister.

When Keely comes wandering out of the woods covered in blood, Detective Jonah Sheens has to lead his team in a race against time to find her younger sister Nina. The difference here compared to other missing persons investigations was that Keely had a story to tell, and her story contained all of the clues needed to find out where Nina is and what happened to her.

Working back though the videos of her interviews, Jonah and his team need to solve the riddles Keely has carefully planted for them before it’s too late.

This was such an addictive read, impossible to put down and thoroughly entertaining. It did deal with some difficult subjects such as abuse, and the failings of the care system for vulnerable children but it was treated with complete sensitivity.

Totally innovative, interesting and full of shocking twists. A must read for any detective novel fans.

AMAZING book! couldn't put it down, a very sad story with a happy ending but all the in between was amazing! it had everything, intrigue, shock...so much shock! and emotion. edge of your seat stuff! hoping for the best result, loved it! Gytha Lodge- we want more!