Decent mystery but I knew the solution way too early which detracts from the pleasure and tension!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to preview The Child by Fiona Barton. Last year, I read The Widow. It was really well written and engrossing. I feel the say way about The Child. A local reporter, Kate, trying to keep her career on track since her last big story about a "widow". Kate learns about the body of a baby found under a urn in an older section of town and she decides to explore this finding more.
Kate's investigation into the child's body takes on a life of its own. She must dig deep to find the identity, as well as, what happened over 30 years ago. The story centers on four women's lives and this allows the reader to get into their heads - how are they connected to this baby?
There are alot of characters in this book and at times that does get a bit confusing, however, I really liked the switchback to different characters througout the book. Each character's point of view gives the reader an insight and this connects the reader to the characters.
This is well written and a great ending. Barton follows up with another WINNER. RECOMMEND.

I just finished reading The Child by Fiona Barton. As a fan of The Widow, I was so excited to get approved by Netgalley to read Barton's follow up with novel. (The books are not related, but the reporter can be found in both books.) The Child did not disappoint! I hung on to every word and was kept in suspense until the very end.
There were a few moments that I wished I had the paper version versus the E reader, as I wanted to go back to check earlier facts. I would highly recommend this book to other lovers of psychological thrillers.
*I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having read Barton's other novel THE WIDOW last year, I was really looking forward to THE CHILD. I enjoyed THE CHILD overall, however it was not as suspenseful as her other novel. I found that this one became slightly more predictable and not quite as thrilling. I could put the book down and not really be thinking about what would happen next. There was still an interesting plot, but it was not necessarily a page turner.

Great read! Kept me turning pages well into the night. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. I can not wait to recommend and discuss this book with library patrons.

Yes, this book was captivating and mesmerizing and altogether worthy of the hours I spent with my nose in it. I have to admit I was patting myself on the back for figuring out this puzzle of a book.

The story is narrated by Kate (the reporter), Emma (a lady who lived near where the body was discovered), and Jude (Emma’s mother). A baby’s skeleton is found on a construction site after a building is torn down and as Kate scrambles to figure out whose baby it could have been, she stumbles into a web of people who are unknowingly connected. She meets some fantastic and interesting characters and a few who are cruel and disgusting. Through some great detective work by the reporter, we soon learn how the pieces fit together with a big stumper in the middle of the book followed by an a-ha moment.

Well done Fiona Barton. This is a must-read for mystery lovers.

Thank you to Fiona Barton, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for my ARC copy of this book.

I was very excited to have the opportunity to read, The Child by Fiona Barton.  I had read Fiona Barton’s debut novel, The Widow and love it!  In the beginning of The Child, there are a lot of characters and the narrative switches between them frequently.  It took me a little bit to get all the characters straight and feel a connection to them.   Three women are the main characters.   Katie is a journalist wanting to dig deeper into the story of a infant’s body found at a building site.  Emma is an Editor, she has some difficulty/anxiety.  She become very interested/obsessed in the infant.  Angela and Nick are parents of baby Alice who was abducted from the hospital shortly after birth. 
The character develop is great.  You have a good sense of each character and their inner thoughts while the story switches between past and present.  The Child by Fiona Barton starts off slow with giving you a glimpse into each woman’s life and you are also introduced to people in their lives as well.  Just as I began to feel like this story wasn’t going anywhere, my interest was peaked.   The small connections between the women’s life start to be skillfully revealed.  Ok, Ok…Fiona Barton you got me!  I am hooked.   Each connection brings you closer and closer to understanding the memories that haunt the women, with a few twist to keep you on your toes.
The suspense builds and builds.   I am reading the last few chapters in the morning before going to work.  Ok….I will have a second cup of coffee and read one more chapter.  Ok…. I will read one more chapter and work late tonight.  Ok…I am sitting on the edge of seat and on a total emotional roller coaster – tears and all!  I will finish this book before going to work.  Yes, I was late for work, but The Child by Fiona Barton was totally worth it.    Fiona Barton sure knows how to build the suspense and deliver a memorable ending! I give The Child by Fiona Barton 4 star – could I have a note for being late for work??

When I read Fiona Barton's first book, The Widow, I thought it was OK, but somewhat disappointing. Her newest book, The Child, is more of the same. It reads fast, and the story is intriguing enough to keep you interested, but there were a lot of little things about it that were a let-down. Most of the characters are annoying and unpleasant, but part of that I feel was due to to the fact that there were too many points of view, so no character was fully developed. There was even one random chapter that had the point of view of a character that we had never heard from before, and that we would never hear from again. I hope that waste of space doesn't make it into the final version.

The story wrapped up in a way that felt completely unrealistic. Really everyone's actions throughout this book felt inauthentic.

The remains of a baby are found when workmen are tearing down old homes / apartment dwellings.


Many years, decades prior, Angela gave birth in a local hospital and the next day went to take a shower for just a moment while her newborn laid in her hospital room. When she returned from the shower her infant daughter was gone, never to been seen again.

Kate Waters is a local reporter, you might have met her in the author's prior book, "The Widow." She finds out about the body of the infant being recovered from the work site and starts wondering if there could be a connection between this infant and the infant that disappeared so many years ago.

Emma grew up same area as where the buildings are being demolished, she is an emotionally troubled adult women but she gets by with her depression medicine and her husband who is a great deal older than she is.

The story is told in alternating point of views of these three women. It is a complex and intriguing story that spans many years. I never saw the ending coming and that is refreshing.

The story begins a bit slow for me, of course you have to build the characters to get to the larger story, and once you get about 30% into the book the story is in full motion and it is a book you won't put down.

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this book prior to publication for an honest review.

I enjoy the way the author gives viewpoints from so many characters. I found the mystery to be easy to figure out, but found the developing story rather interesting nonetheless..

An intriguing mystery that is well-plotted with developed. The changes in narration add different perspectives and dimension to the novel while still keeping readers guessing as to how these people are connected. This is a unique mystery that is most about the past affecting the present, but the stories told by each of the women were compelling and added current action.

Not only is The Child a delicious mystery, at its centre is Kate, a formidable investigative reporter stuck in the reality of a news industry pushing celebrity headlines. In addition to her POV, the story also unfolds from the perspective of two other women and the question becomes, how does the discovery of a baby's remains tie them all together?

This is a great read for anyone who enjoys thrillers with multiple POVs, and a whydunnit mystery. The pacing unfolds beautifully, amping up as Kate's findings take us deeper and deeper into the this tangled web. Barton's characters were intensely compelling, each woman struggling with profound issues of grief, loss, and identity, weaving us through the tapestry of their lives. I'm definitely going to go back and read Barton's first novel now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for a copy.

Kate Waters the intuitive and intepid reporter is back on a case again. I loved her diligence and problem solving ability in THE WIDOW, but this book is even more engrossing and engaging. Barton tells the story of a few bones found by construction workers that lead Kate Waters to uncover the mystery of a child kidnapped from a maternity hospital after her birth.

The book is narrated by the women surrounding the fragile skeleton. As the story unfolds we begin to understand the complicated background of the women, all left damaged by the starling kidnapping. The men are introduced and we begin to see who the bad guys are, especially one who essentially destroyed Emma. There are many twists and turns, keeping the reader guessing., until the final denouement which I will not spoil!

This is an incredibly satisfying book, I enjoyed every page, and quite literally could not put it down. Unlike many books, THE CHILD, pulls all the strands together perfectly at the end. Do not miss this. Note to publisher: keep Kate working on these cases!

I devoured this book in a single day.

When the bones of a baby are found during an excavation, journalist Kate thinks there is a story there, even if finding who the mother was will be exceedingly difficult. Angela, whose baby was stolen from her years ago, is certain that the baby is hers, and Emma, who battles a mood disorder and has been treated for mental illness, reads everything about the remains obsessively.

Told from multiple points of view, the mystery of who this baby is will keep you turning pages. Kate is the force that keeps digging and unraveling secrets. She’s a tough, likeable protagonist. Jude, Emma’s self-absorbed mother, is well drawn as an odious woman who should never have become a mother.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

As the newspaper for which she works is firing journalists left and right, making way for a crop of inexperienced writers of sensationalist online content, veteran reporter Kate Waters catches the whiff of a story: a baby's skeleton is discovered during a construction project. Unable to stop thinking about the "Building Site Baby," Waters sets out to investigate alongside the police detectives, insinuating herself into the lives of women who once lived on the street where the skeleton was found. She also meets Angela and Nick, who were ruthlessly scrutinized after their baby was kidnapped from a maternity ward forty years before. Angela desperately hopes the skeleton at the building site is that of her kidnapped baby, so that she can finally have closure, while Emma, who had a difficult childhood with an unloving mother, fears she will be caught out for a crime she committed as an adolescent. A poignant, well-paced novel that examines the intrusiveness of investigative journalism along with its power to provide answers. The final few pages provided an aha moment I absolutely did not see coming.

Open book to -
that is the end to anything else. I was not able to stop reading!
Different viewpoints rotate around so get full effect of everyone's individual story...
when the climax actually took my breath away - I literally gasped and had to stop for a second and just breathe!!

I loved this book
especially in Ch. 41- "Dolly was singing pleading with Jolene over the speakers."
I am a Dolly fan, loved the reference. I could hear the song through her words.

A gripping page-turner! One of my favorite kinds of books--the British crime novel, chock-full of multiple viewpoints told in short chapters. Loved it! Highly recommended for fans of mystery/suspense.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the preview copy

Kept me guessing the whole time. I was waiting to see how the different points of view would finally intersect and I thought I had guessed it, but I was wrong! I really felt for the characters the whole way through. Very touching story with a good twist!

Decades ago, a newborn went missing from a hospital. Days ago, a baby's body was discovered at a construction site. Has the missing baby finally been found? Or is there another heartbreaking explanation? Fiona Barton is a master at dropping clues that lead the reader right to the truth without lessening the enjoyment of the story. Fans of last year's The Widow will enjoy this follow-up, also featuring journalist Kate Waters and boasting more twists and turns, but new readers can also enjoy The Child as a standalone mystery.

A newborn is found buried in the yard of a housing project and two women come forward claiming it is theirs. A stunning ending, as an investigative reporter and the two women become involved in telling this sad story from each one’s perspective. Wonderfully written, this fast paced, emotionally charged psychological drama with all its twists and turns will leave you breathless and tearful. Even though I suspected the twist and was not totally surprised I was still intrigued with the story and was eager to learn what all had happened to keep the secrets hidden for years and I loved watching Kate – the investigative journalist – do her job and bring the whole story together.