Two books in, Barton continues the theme that all it takes for an evil man to flourish is for a woman to defend him over the people he hurts. Click on the link below to read the rest of my review.

Kate Waters is journalist looking for the next big scoop when she reads about a recent construction site in London. While the workers were doing the renovations they find the skeletal remains of a baby. Immediately Kate wants to know more and thinks that this could be a big story.

With the help, or hindrance, of a new intern Kate meets with several of the construction workers and starts to piece together what could have happened to the baby. There are several other women who’ve read this story and who think they may know who the truth.

As Kate investigates the past of the building and tries to connect with the people that may have lived in the area or have children missing she encounters Angela. She is a homemaker who has lived with the guilt of having left her baby in her cot at the hospital while she took a shower. In that small instance while she left her alone her baby went missing.

There are alternating narratives which lead you down the path of different conclusions. I did not see how everything was going to come together until well into the story so I really liked being kept in suspense. I thought Kate was a believable character and liked how she came to rely on her intern and together they worked together to find the truth. A very enjoyable read.

When an old house in London is being torn down, the skeletal remains of an infant are found. Reporter Kate Waters sees a story and is bent on investigating what is clearly a crime.

When the story of the infant remains appears in the local paper it captures some interest beyond the average 'human interest story' for a few individuals. One woman is particularly interested and convinced that the infant was her child who was stolen from the hospital in 1970. Reporter Waters picks up on that lead and begins investigating - fully aware that the police at the time strongly suspected the woman (Angela Irving) of doing something to her own child.

Waters' investigation has her searching for, and interviewing, residents of the neighborhood from the 1970's - no small task given the transient nature of the area some 40+ years prior. When the police have some DNA information, Kate Waters jumps the gun in order to get the advance story. Further work by the police changes everything Waters thought she knew about the case and her own investigation deepens as she tries to track down the anonymous caller who has information not known to the general public.

Author Fiona Barton has written a compelling story that is part mystery and part human interest/general fiction. The story is told in multiple points of view which is generally a format that I don't really like, but Barton handles it well and the transitions are generally smooth and easy to follow - beyond the character information at the beginning of each chapter, the character voices are distinct, and what they are thinking about is clear from the very first moments of each chapter, which makes a big difference.

Barton also does a nice job of building the story and capturing the reader's attention and interest. The mystery builds well, with 'hiccups' along the way, derailing what Waters (and the reader) were heading toward.

However, the 'surprise' revelation near the end was obvious to me as soon as the police revealed a new piece of information. It was so obvious that I expected the 'revelation' to be made early so that it could be explored more, but instead the reader was led along, trying to make this the 'big surprise.'

There were a few things that I wasn't expecting, though given the nature of the crime and the found body, I shouldn't have been surprised by the background that is revealed.

This is not my typical read, but for the most part I enjoyed Barton's writing - but as a mystery it was too easy for me.

Looking for a good book? <em>The Child</em>, by Fiona Barton, captures the reader's attention with well-designed characters and an unforgettable crime, but the mystery is rather apparent early on.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

A twisty page turner that will keep you guessing to the end.

I know everyone that has read this book has said wonderful things. I just didn't really care for it. Sorry...I expected more suspense. It seemed to drag for me.

I'm chalking this one up to my way too high expectations - The Widow was one of my favorite reads of 2016, I set the bar high and was naturally disappointed. Also, I wasn't a big fan of the audio, I noticed each and every time the narrator(s) ended a sentence with 'x said.' Kate said, Emma said, etc.

"The Child" was a thrilling delight, so much so that I immediately grabbed Fiona Barton's first novel, "The Widow". You don't necessarily have to read "The Widow" first, but know that a lot of the same characters, particularly journalist Kate Waters appear in both.

"The Child" revolves around a cold case, when an infant skeleton is discovered in a building site in London. The story is told from multiple perspectives, including Kate's. Additional point of views include Angela, a grieving mother who lost her daughter years before and Emma, a young wife facing terribly anxiety. They are all looking for something. All have some interest in the baby's skeleton.

The pace is quick. The chapters are short, shuttling you from one perspective to another.

The ending comes together in a most satisfying way that left me hungry to read everything else Barton writes.

This is my second Fiona Barton book (after The Widow) and I very much like the characters of Bob and Kate and was happy to hear the author is working on a third book featuring the two.

I sometimes had a hard time keeping the story lines straight, along with what was happening to which character, but that fault is more my own than the author's. I must have been one of the only readers who did not see the ending coming AT ALL and I feel somewhat stupid about that, but it did come as a surprise, which I always enjoy.

This is a fast-passed mystery and very character drive. It kept me interested the whole time, and I really liked how the story developed with the different points of view.

When the skeleton of a baby is found on a building site, journalist Kate Waters makes it her mission to uncover what really happened. There's four POVs throughout this story- Kate's, Angela, Emma, and Jude. Kate of course is constantly digging and interviewing everyone for more information on the baby. Angela lost her baby over 20 years ago and is holding out hope that this skeleton could be her child. Emma is struggling with anxiety and is very concerned about the discovery of this baby. Jude is Emma's mom but they are not on very good terms. For reasons of her own, Jude is also interested in the baby. Relationships are tested, secrets are uncovered, and the truth finally comes to light.

Just like in her debut novel The Widow, Barton weaves a tale that leaves your head spinning! I gave this book three stars because I felt the pacing was a little drawn out and slow at times but the ending definitetly made up for it. The Child made me feel all sorts of emotions-shock, disapproval, and heartache. Overall it was an expertly twisted mystery.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Pub Group for the opportunity to read this novel.

Highly recommend this book if you enjoy suspenseful reads. It will definitely keep you enthralled and the ending is extremely satisfying.

Loved this book! It was such a fascinating read with a great twist. I look forward to reading more by her

The Child was a very gripping tale of many characters and their involvement in a discovery of a buried child. This was my first read by this author and I was very pleased to see her writing style was similar to some of my favorite thriller authors. It was elegant and suspenseful at times. I loved how the ending wrapped everything up with no loose ends. I am thankful to the publisher for providing me with a review copy. I plan on picking up the rest of the authors work as soon as i can. The only issue i found with this book was the unrealistic lab issues. The author seemed to present it as if the scientist would know less about how DNA works than a journalist. Overall I highly recommend this novel.

First line - My computer is winking at me knowingly when I sit down at my desk.

Summary - When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers it’s impossible to ignore.

For one woman, it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her.

For another, it reveals the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered.

And for the third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth.

Highlights - It has a pretty great twist at the end that I wasn't able to figure out earlier in the book.

Lowlights - I felt like the first 3/4 of the books was very slow. A lot of reviewers said it was a page turning psychological thriller but I didn't find that to be the case until the end.

I happened to read a negative review of this book prior to choosing it and that put a cloud of doubt in my mind, because I didn't think I was going to enjoy it. Happily, I liked it much more than I anticipated. :) I liked the chain of events (I did have to juggle some characters for a while, though) and the bits of twists. The storyline had several facets to it, which I found to be a good blend.

Stevie‘s review of The Child by Fiona Barton
Crime Fiction published by Transworld Digital 29 Jun 17

Somehow I missed the release of Fiona Barton’s debut novel, which is a shame, since it sounds as if it’s exactly the kind of investigative story that I love to read; possibly I saw the rather bland title and missed the far more informative blurb. Fortunately the same problem didn’t crop up with her second novel, although the title is just as uninformative as to the nature of the story itself as was that of the previous novel. Although both stories feature some of the same characters, notably Kate, an investigative journalist, this book stands very well on its own as far as I can see. As for the title, the child in question never really appears, having died some decades before we meet our various leading women.


For much of the story, the child has no identity, its skeleton having been dug up during the redevelopment of some gardens in a formerly rundown part of London. Kate, however, is determined to find out the child’s name and when and why someone chose to bury it in secret. Some months after breaking her last big story, Kate feels herself under pressure to deliver another sensation, especially with the ever-present threat of redundancies looming over the paper on which she works. Fortunately, she is able to call on a police contact, who helped her before, and he is able to put her in touch with detectives working on the current case, much as some of them resent Kate’s intrusion.

Also following developments in the investigation, albeit from a greater distance, are Emma — a former resident of the street where the child’s body was unearthed — and Angela, whose new-born baby was taken from her room in the maternity hospital and never seen again. Kate is convinced that the child is Angela’s, but while some evidence seems to confirm that theory, other pieces of the jigsaw suggest that the child was buried more recently than the date of Angela’s loss. Emma, meanwhile, is hiding her own secrets relating to the child’s — and her own — tragic history.

In the background, the not at all sympathetic characters of Emma’s mother, Jude, along with Jude’s on-off boyfriend of many years’ standing have secrets of a criminal nature that both threaten the investigation and have the potential to change everyone’s perceptions as to the identity and origins of the child. More tangled threads for Kate to unravel and make sense of, before her editor or the authorities prevent her delving further into past events.

I was utterly enthralled by this story, even once I’d come up with my own — correct, as it turned out — theory of what had happened to create the mismatched evidence. All three main characters, not to mention their families and friends, had me fascinated — and not just the likable ones. I definitely plan to read the author’s previous book very soon, and I hope very much that this isn’t the last investigation Kate will get herself involved with.

Grade: A

This was an interesting read, as journalist Kate Waters looks into the discovery of a baby's skeleton in a condemned house - one that might be linked to an unsolved abduction case. A case that appears straightforward suddenly twists and turns, and the outcome was unexpected,, but made sense once you put all the facts together. An enjoyable, suspenseful novel.

Great suspense/mystery and a wonderful follow up to Barton's previous book The Widow. Classic tale of investigative reporting.

No sophomore slump here. Page turning, great plot and twists. Loved it!