Thank you to #NetGalley for my advance copy of #TheGuiltyGirl by #PatriciaGibney

Another superb story in the Detective Lottie Parker Series. Can’t believe this is Book 11
The action starts straight away when the body of a young girl, Lucy is found dead after having a party.
Lottie is struggling without her right hand man who is still away but the team work well together to find the answers.
A good read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Guilty Girl by Patricia Gibney is the WoW eleventh book in the superb Detective Lottie Parker series and this series has been a fantastic roller coaster ride with brilliant twists and turns from start to finish. This is a series that I have been a fan since book one and I am looking forward to book 12.

Big thank you to the author, Patricia Gibney, publisher Bookouture and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this title in advance of its

A brilliant thriller from the Lottie Parker series. It starts with a death of a popular teenager girl in her own party. The chain of events brings two more deaths. Lottie desperately tries to link all three murderies despite her own family problems.
I liked the main character and the story itself. Many suspects and the role of them in the murderies is not clear up to the end.

DI Lottie Parker and her team are missing DS Mark Boyd, as he is in Spain while he gets to know his newly-discovered son. In this harrowing case, Lottie deals with the murder of seventeen-year-old Lucy McCallister. The teen’s parents were away when she threw a party that ultimately resulted in her murder. Not only is Lottie very concerned about the loss of this young life, after discovering that the teen’s parents had left her on her own for several weeks, her concern is raised even higher.

One of the party’s guests was Lottie’s son Sean. Not trusting Sean to be at a party that was likely unsupervised, Lottie actually waits outside and takes him home at some point. Then, when she is called to the scene of the brutal crime, she is relieved that Sean is completely innocent. However, Sean is keeping something from his mother. Other guests at the party included a tee who brought in drugs and alcohol. Factoring in the part was fairly well a setup to humiliate another teen that was invited, the case proves extremely complicated for Lottie.

Where does Lottie begin, especially when things at her home begin to unravel? Sadly, other teen deaths also occur in fairly quick succession, thus keeping Lottie on her toes, all while she can’t help but become emotionally involved. Interviewing teens cannot be easy, even with Lottie herself being a mother. There are some horrid details that Lottie is forced to face, thus more lives prove to be in danger, possibly to herself.

In this highly emotive read, any parent will want to hug their child closer, no matter how old. This book is a crime thriller that presents real problems that teenagers face in these perilous times. Serious issues are dealt with in this book beyond murder. These include drug abuse, childhood sexual abuse, bullying and more.

Lottie finds herself torn both professionally and personally while trying to find out who is behind these murders. With excellent pacing, powerful characters, a few surprises, and an emotional ending, this book is one of the strongest in this thoroughly engaging series by Patricia Gibney. This brilliant series is going strong and remains one of my favorite from this publisher. I cannot wait for book 12, especially when Boyd returns with his son.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/PvZ6VgvYPoc

You have to love a Lottie Parker book! If you don't, you just don't know when you have read a decent police procedural :)

Lucy McAllister throws a party for her friends at the end of the school year, whilst her parents are overseas. Several people are there who are not part of her inner clique - and these people end up being very important to Lottie's case when a murder occurs at the house. Unfortunately for Lottie, her son Sean is one of the party guests and his presence impedes her investigation. She misses Boyd's calm personality but he is in Spain, getting to know his son.

Interesting case and I had no clue who the villain was (although, the bitchy teenage girl shenanigans really annoyed me - good writing from the author there!).

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

*4.5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

A really interesting read. Great characters. The book made me feel and think. Enjoyed this and would recommend.

The Guilty Girl is another amazing story in this series. Lottie keeps on being Lottie and keeps on getting upset for not being able to devote the time she deems necessary to her family, her mother, and her partner, and feels guilty for being so focused on work. She is now trying to understand who and why a teen-aged girl was murdered in her home, and also how the main suspect - another teen-aged girl - who remembers nothing is in that position. A great plot, a fast-paced narrative with a lot of mystery that just increases as the story grows. If you enjoy this genre of books, this one is a must-read!
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my unbiased opinion.

It's a normal teenage party --- loud music, alcohol, rowdy teens, and...a murder? Just as her parents are away on a 3-week excursion, Lucy McAllister decides to throw a party to celebrate their end-of-year exams. Uninvited peers crash the party, inappropriate guests are invited, and drama ensues. But the celebration becomes a tragedy when she's found in the morning, dead. The chase as to killed her begins. The evidences point to Hannah Byrne, a fellow teen Lucy humiliated and had an altercation with the night of the party. A magpie is on the loose, stealing shiny things, taking lives. Detective Lottie Parker must hunt down the criminal all while facing the possibility of her son being a suspect.

I love the murderer POVs, giving us glimpses and hints but also more questions on the persona of the killer.

All throughout the story I didn't know where to look. There is just so much activity in the story and suspenseful moments are abundant. This story definitely won't give an ounce of boredom --- nor rest. You've really got to have your mental gears in overdrive to figure out the plot. One complacent moment and you'd never know what hits you.

I had a really hard time figuring out the murderer --- and after placing my bet on one person out comes Gibney with an astounding plot twist!

Another unputdownable whodunnit from the Bookouture shelf!

It was lovely being back in Ragmullin again.

The story was quite dark and my heart broke for one particular character. There was so many secrets and lies it got to the point if Lottie said she had 3 kids I'm not sure I'd believe her!

I was exhausted just following what Lottie had to do each day.

I loved it and I'm looking forward to the next book especially the changed dynamics of her personal life.

A cracking 5 🌟 read.

Like the previous books in the series, this one has a tight, complex plot and many twists and turns. There are lots of moving parts and many suspects, most of them up to something that's not quite legit, even if it's not directly-related to the murders. This book focuses more on solving the crimes than on Lottie's family distractions, and I think it's better for it; however Lottie remains one of the most credible, fallible, complicated detective series leads I've come across (although I was quite glad that she got away with only a scalp laceration this time, given what the author has put her through in previous books!)

I didn't like the chapters on the killer's thoughts - to me, they felt too stylised and out of sync with the rest of the book, and I'm not sure they were needed at all. However Gibney has served up another dark, tense, fast-paced police procedural which doesn't feel nearly as long as it is. I'm just so glad I don't live in Ragmullin!

I'm so pleased that Lottie Parker is back and I can't believe this is my eleventh outing with her and her wonderful family! She continues to be the feisty, determined detective we know and love. Her attempts to avoid her boss made me snort with laughter and while she doesn't so much bend the rules as snap them in half, I always trust her to get to the bottom of what's going on. Her trusty sidekick, Boyd, is in Malaga for this instalment and whilst we do see a little bit of him, it's interesting to see how Lottie manages without him for the majority of the investigation.

Interspersed between the main story, there are sections by "the magpie", who is our killer. This helps us to see exactly how twisted and evil they are and makes us root for the police even more, but it still kept the mystery alive as it didn't give me any clues!

This investigation gives Lottie an unholy mess to unscramble! There are so many suspects, so many people with potential motives and so much more going on under the surface than first appears. This means the investigation moves quite slowly, but that doesn't slow down the pace of the novel! I loved trying to work everything out and it was definitely a rollercoaster ride doing so!

There is still a lot to come from this series and I can't wait to see what happens next!

The Guilty Girl is the eleventh in Patricia Gibney's excellent D.I. Lottie Parker series, set in the (fictional) town of Ragmullin in central Eire (Ireland). It's another action-packed and engrossing read, though somewhat troubling, drawing as it does on themes of adolescent discontent, drug rings and organised child sex abuse.

Spoilt and bitchy seventeen-year-old school leaver Lucy McAllister throws a post-exams party at her family home, while her parents are away at their second home in Malaga. Local youth converge on the well-appointed home, many drinking heavily and drugs being dealt on the premises. By the next morning, the place has been trashed and Lucy lies dead, stabbed and her throat slashed, in an upstairs guest bedroom...

This case has an unusually awkward personal element for D.I. Lottie Parker - her own seventeen-year-old son, Sean, had attended the party, and it transpires that he returned to the McAllister home in the early hours to search for a lost jacket, stumbling upon Lucy's body in the process. However, he keeps this fact to himself, and it's not until later in the investigation of Lucy's murder that Lottie becomes aware of his role as an important witness. Of course, this also places her in a very difficult position professionally, and she spends much of the story trying to avoid her superior officer, Superintendent Deborah Farrell, fearful that she'll be taken off the case (view spoiler).

Initial investigations point to the involvement of another local teenager, a girl Lucy had heartlessly taunted and physically fought with during the party. However, it's not long before the body of another victim is found, that of fifteen-year-old Jake Flood, reputed to have been involved in a drug-dealing racket run out of the disused local barracks. Tragically, a third victim - a much younger child - is also caught up in the unfolding events, which indicate links to the operation of a local paedophile ring. Sprinkled throughout the central police-thriller narrative are troubling vignettes from the perspective of a threatening presence, a person who identifies themselves with a magpie, constantly watching and waiting for the chance to steal precious items with which to furnish its nest.

Widowed D.I. Parker's life is always somewhat chaotic, but in this instalment, the competing demands on her time and attention seem to rise to ridiculous levels. As she dashes from one witness and/or potential suspect to another, fuelled by coffee but failing to eat, she's enduring the Superintendent's ire and dodging the constant attempts by odious Detective Sam McKeown to undermine her. Not only is she managing a demanding serial murder case, but she's feeling anguished for a bereaved mother, triggering her own domestic guilt in the face of her complicated multi-generational home life, as she watches her own mother's apparent descent into dementia. Her partner, D.S. Mark Boyd, is away in Spain, following events that occurred in the previous book, and while he's able to contribute certain pivotal assistance to the Irish investigation, Lottie greatly misses his presence both personally and within her team. At times while I was reading The Guilty Girl, I felt like my head was spinning trying to keep up...

The Guilty Girl is a tautly-plotted and action-packed mystery-thriller, with well developed characters, plenty of unexpected twists and turns and a dramatic ending that satisfactorily ties up all the loose threads. Some elements of the story defy reality - Patricia Gibney acknowledges that she deliberately diverges from actual police procedure and forensic timelines for the sake of plot progression - but the reader is generally prepared to overlook these "clangers" when faced with a great story.

I'd recommend The Guilty Girl to any reader who enjoys complex, well-plotted contemporary crime-thriller fiction. Series afficionados will lap this one up, but as a latecomer to the series myself, I imagine it would also read well as a standalone. There are occasional references to past events which occurred in previous instalments, and significant series-level character arcs, which will no doubt entice new readers to explore Patricia Gibney's back catalogue.

My thanks to the author, Patricia Gibney, publisher Bookouture and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this title in advance of its release on 15 June 2022.

If you’re a fan of police procedurals and you’re not reading the Lottie Parker series, you’re missing out cause they’re the quintessential police procedurals. We’re already at the 11th installment and the series is still going strong.

A young girl has been murdered after a house party. At first it looks like a simple case as some incriminating evidence appears at the house of another of the partygoers with whom the victim had some history, but a second body a few hours later will put all of Lottie’s capabilities to the test.

If you’ve already read some of the books in this series you know what to expect, and if not prepare yourself for a really complex plot with lots of moving parts and suspects that have become Ms Gibney’s books trademark.

With so many pieces on the table it seems nearly impossible for the author to fit them all together to get the complete puzzle but, once again, she manages to do it seamlessly. The planning board behind this complicated plots must be a sight to hold!

One of the things I love about these series is how much Lottie has changed throughout. She’s gone from belligerent and controlling, alienating everyone around her to a much more likeable character, more respectful of her team and not so abrasive with her kids and mother.

As usual, the story moves at a really brisk pace. With so many investigative lines going on at the same time it was a really entertaining read. The resolution went to some pretty dark places that sadly felt too real.

This time around the focus was completely on the murder investigation so we didn’t get to see much of Lottie’s personal life, but I’m curious to see where that last chapter will take us.

Another gripping police procedural by Ms Gibney that I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent !!! One of the best series out there ! Can't wait for the next book !! Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book ! Opinions are solely my own ! #Netgalley #Bookouture
#TheGuiltyGirl

From my blog: Always With a Book

This is the 11th book in Patricia Gibney’s Detective Lottie Parker series and this series is so incredibly good! Yes, it’s dark and not for everyone, but I do love my crime fiction and this detective series continues to be one of my favorites! And, I just found out that there will be at least a few more coming out, which makes me so happy!

Once again, we have a fresh and original story here with this latest installment. I’ve found that this has been the case with each and every book so far and as someone who read a lot of series and sometimes gets series fatigue, I have yet to feel that with this series. I get excited to read each new book, knowing I will not be getting the same old story, and more importantly I will be getting additional character development which has been the shining point in this series.

The case the Detective Lottie Parker and her team are called to work on is so much more than what it first appears to be. Her own son, Sean, is mixed up in the case and the case is far reaching, far beyond their little town of Ragmullin. I loved that it really kept me on my toes, and that as usual, we get some sections narrated by an unknown character that just adds to the tension and suspense of the overall story. This book is dark, yet I loved how some things are handled with sensitivity and care. That is just a testament to the writing of this author and why I love her books!

I think what really makes this series a success, in addition to the fact that it is non-stop action, is that the characters are so relatable. Lottie in particular is someone that many can see something of themselves in – she is a working mom, trying to make the best of what was a difficult situation. She now finds herself as part of the sandwich generation – she is taking care of her mom who isn’t doing that well in this installment and she has her teenage children to deal with, who often keep her on her toes trying to keep up with all that they get up to. She is very dedicated to her job and often is willing to do whatever it takes to solve a case, often to the detriment of herself or others. In this installment, we see her a few times go up against her superior because she is determined that she is so close to solving the case.

I cannot recommend this series enough. If you haven’t read any, start with this one and I promise you you will end up loving it and wanting to go back to the beginning. They are addicting, fast-paced reads that are just so good! I am already counting the days until the next one comes out!

I would have given this book 6 stars if it was allowed.
A cracker of a story that looks at the trouble teenagers can find themselves in.
A girl holds a party in her parents house whilst they are away. The next morning she’s found murdered in the detritus of the night before.
Another girl holds a secret and is desperate to keep it hidden
Ore deaths follow.
Gibney portrays he emotions of victims, witness and investigators better than anybody else.
This book takes her writing to an even higher level

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Patricia Gibney's lates crime thriller THE GUILTY GIRL.

With the exception of four of the earlier books, I have followed Detective Lottie Parker since the beginning. Having met Lottie and her team in the very first book "The Missing Ones" and absolutely loving it, I was surprised to have missed the next four before picking the series up in "Final Betrayal" . With a title such as that, I feared it was the end of the series before I'd read the others (as Victoria Jenkins ended her King and Lane series around the same time and I had discovered both series together). However, that was six books ago and Lottie and her team are still crime fighting in Ragmullin. While I have enjoyed each book, THE GUILTY GIRL is by far up there with the first one "The Missing Ones" which drew me into Lottie's world from the beginning. And I loved it.

In the past we have seen Lottie's children somehow or other become involved in her cases somewhere along the line and this one is no different. Her youngest and only son, Sean, is a witness to the case Lottie finds herself landed with and she wonders how to keep this from her superiors whilst investigating the case. She knows beyond a reasonable doubt that Sean isn't involved...that he is just a witness...and she can be objective, right?

Seventeen year old Lucy McAllister throws a party at her parent's affluent home, whilst they are holidaying in Spain for three weeks, to celebrate the end of their exams and the school year. Amongst the guests is Lottie's seventeen year old son Sean who was out of his comfort zone and left early, clocking his mother outside in her car who then took him home. The clandestine party ends in the wee hours but when the cleaner arrives the following morning she gets more than she bargained for when she discovers Lucy's lifeless body upstairs.

Lottie is called in to investigate and is shocked to find it is the house from which she picked Sean up the night before and proceeds to question him about what he may have seen. What she doesn't know is that Sean crept back to the McAllisters around 4am because he'd left his very expensive leather jacket behind and feared his mum would go spare if he lost it. What he didn't expect was to walk into a crime scene and make a discovery that would leave him wondering what to do.

The investigation leads Lottie to Hannah Byrne, one of the party guests, who has no recollection of the evening beyond the cruel humiliation Lucy caused her. But when the team find a bloodied towel in Hannah's rucksack and what appears to be bloody beneath her fingernails, Lottie hauls the confused young woman in for questioning. But Hannah shows signs of having been drugged particularly when she has no memory of anything surrounding the event. Despite this, most of the evidence points towards Hannah's guilt - or involvement at the very least - along with another party guest who also appears to be hiding something.

And then another, even younger, victim who had been at Lucy's party turns up floating in the canal. He was only fifteen. The only possible motive is that he knew too much. After all, it was very probably him who spiked Hannah's drink at the party...but why? What did he possibly have to gain from it? And what does it mean for Lottie's son, Sean?

Meanwhile, Boyd is on holiday is Malaga where he is spending some quality time with his newly discovered son, Sergio. Little does he know that his holiday will turn into a working one with possible links to Spain via the McAllisters who had been holidaying there when their daughter was murdered.

Amid everything that is going on, Lottie must also deal with her mother Rose who is showing signs of a heartbreaking decline and moves into Farrensworth House with the rest of the Parker clan. I foresee this becoming an aspect that Lottie must face in the next installment to come.

THE GUILTY GIRL is a chilling, thrilling fast paced read that begins with readers looking at things one way and ends with us seeing it all in a whole other light. What first begins as a cruel joke that may have gotten out of hand soon turns out to be something far darker at play. There wasn't even a hint of what was to come in the beginning until one of Lottie's team, Maria Lynch, uncovered something amiss on social media. The subject matter is at times dark and disturbing but it is handled with sensitivity and care.

A fantastic read by all accounts, THE GUILTY GIRL is one of the best in the series I've read alongside the very first one which I also loved. I love the mix of procedural with thriller as we are privy to the various aspects of those involved. I always like procedurals written this way as it takes the mundaneness and monotony out of it solely being from a police perspective. It adds to the thrill and picks up the pace a whole lot more, making the story a whole lot more exciting.

If you like procedurals that are engaging and a little more than just a procedural, I highly recommend you check out Lottie Parker and her team. And THE GUILTY GIRL is up there as one of the best so far.

I would like to thank #PatriciaGibney, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheGuiltyGirl in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

Another day, another crime. And, another crime involving one of DI Lottie Parker's relatives. But that's ok. It's what I have grown to expect from this series, now at its 11th outing.
We start with Lottie picking up her son, Sean, from a party at the house of a young schoolfriend. Although friend is a bit of a leap as they move in different circles usually. As do Lucy, the hostess of the party, and Hannah who soon becomes favourite suspect. But I get ahead of myself. Lucy is holding a party. Her parents are abroad and the school year over and exams to celebrate. But she invites more than just her close knit friends. Long story short and next morning, Lucy is found dead by the cleaner.
And so begins an intriguing tale that twisted and turned as it meandered. Pointing fingers every which way as it travelled towards what was, to me anyway, a rather nifty and clever conclusion.
It's a crime that Lottie herself struggled with, and not only cos her son was involved. No, also cos right hand man and current squeeze, Mark, is away in Spain getting to know the son he has only just found out about. And, if that wasn't enough to cope with, there are also those within her own profession who are gunning against her... and more of her taking risks along the way...
And then there's another death and the stakes get higher...!
As already mentioned, this is a crime that, once again, involves Lottie's family. I know, I know, skirts plausibility. But then again, if you think about it, who'd ever move to Cabbot Cove or St Mary Mead? Who would ever invite Jessica Fletcher anywhere...? I do know that if I was in any way related or connected to Lottie, I'd run, fast, away... Move from Ragmullin... But the stories are good nonetheless. Well plotted and that plot ably executed and interesting enough to offset my eye-rolling and keep me in its thrall.
The characters were interesting - series and episode alike - and all played their respective parts well. Pacing was good and matched the narrative well and the inclusion of Mark from abroad was also woven into the narrative seamlessly.
All in all, a book that delivered exactly what I expected and one which left me satisfied and interested in finding out what is next for certain characters. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Another brilliant book in this addictive crime thriller series.
Boyd is in Spain with his son so Lottie and the team are left to deal with a nasty murder following a teenage party.
The host has been murdered and while she seems to be popular on the surface, there’s definitely more going on behind the facade.
A boy who was at the party is targeted as well and Lottie struggles to find a motive for the murders.
As always, this is a great crime thriller, interwoven with some humour but I did miss the banter between Lottie and Boyd.
A brilliant series that I’d highly recommend.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Lottie's son, Sean goes to a party at the home of Lucy McAllister to celebrate the end of their exams and school year. Hannah, Lucy's friend is also there. Later, DI Lottie Parker and her team are called in to investigate the murder of seventeen-year-old Lucy. Sean had left at midnight when Lucy went to pick him up, and Hannah can't seem to remember much about anything. Lucy's right-hand man and boyfriend DS Mark Boyd is away in Spain where he is getting to know Sergio, the son that his ex-wife, Jackie has just recently told him he has. Can Lottie crack the case?

Dark, chilling and utterly gripping, the plotline in The Guilty Girl is a busy one. The super-talented Patricia Gibney handles everything with her usual expertise making this novel extremely difficult to leave even for five minutes. Will The Guilty Girl keep you guessing as it did me? Very highly recommended, I still really need to catch up on the instalments I've missed.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.