DC Charlie Stafford has a really odd case on her hands. What was creepy has turned deadly. She's a good character and this is nicely twisty. For fans of procedurals.

This book is number 5 in a series. I highly recommend you read these books in order so you get the perspective of the characters and their lives. This is a thriller thats ending was just superb. It had great characters and a great storyline. I found I was addicted to finding out what was happening. I couldnt stop thinking about it.

Another great book by Sarah Flint. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it is well written with some fascinating characters. I will definitely look out for more books by Sarah Flint.
Thank you Aria and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and Netgalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for a unbiased review of these works.

the 5th book in aseries but I had read none previously and it worked perfect as a standalone, great characters and a gripping story, this book has made me go back and read more by this author!

This book was a brilliant read and one that is perfect to escape for a few hours and loose yourself.
A great read.

Daddy's Girls is the fifth instalment in the DC Charlie Stafford series and once again Ms Flint uses the expertise she learned during her 35 years in the Metropolitan police force to bring a gritty and authentic feeling to the story. Having read every book in this series I can honestly say they get better each time. The dual plot lines are both so compelling and the investigating team have personalities that work so well together. If you enjoy realistic police procedural's that conclude in frustratingly good fashion then this is well worth your time. I am already pining for the next instalment. Many thanks to Aria for an ARC.

Part of a series, I hadn't read any of the previous books but this worked well as a stand alone. Great plot and strong characters. Would recommend.

This is my first book by Sarah Flint, so jumping in at book 6 can often be a bit difficult but this does read well as a standalone, there isn't loads of reference to previous books so I was comfortable picking up from here.

A series of burglaries of the older generation, a burglar in breaking and entering, but not stealing much and only seems to be turning up for a talk with these older victims, until one fateful night the burglar goes to far and becomes a killer.... something he now has a taste for.

There is another story line running along side which is as equally prominent and vital to the book, one I will not go into for fear of spoilers.

My take on this book is firstly is that it was darker than I was expecting, one scene in particular was disturbing and written with frightening aplomb, it really made me sit back for a moment, its expertly done.

The book is written well, Sarah Flint is clearly a very accomplished writer whose career experiences shine through.

DC Charlotte Stafford, is suffering her own home life dramas throughout and she comes across a little morose as she battles her own demons.

This book isn't one to make you laugh, approaching some taboo and upsetting subjects, it's a very good murder mystery that packs a punch and has plenty of twists right up until the killers reveal.

Gently paced, it never really steams along, but that for me, suits the tale and subject matter in hand.

A recommended read

4🔥🔥🔥🔥

This was a gentle crime book and I know many of my readers like these ones so it will be perfect for them. No gory scenes to deal with.
This is a series so if you have not read any then please do as they are good. A good set for someone at Christmas!

What is true and linked that is what I kept asking myself as the clues are a bit misleading so yes it will keep you guessing. Even the police are having a hard time getting to the murderer.

Wow, this is already the fifth book in the DC Stafford series, and they just get better. This was a well written, nicely done, gripping and entertaining read until the end. I just love Charlotte and can't wait to read some more of her! Recommended.

It is my second book by Sarah Flint and I'm not disappointed. Like I said in my previous review of her book, she has something in her writing style, that can send chills down your spine.
It's a solid mystery book, with great characters and a very compelling story line, that keeps you reading past your bed time.
Now I can't wait for a next book, because the ending left off on a huge cliffhanger.

Definitely recommend to all mystery book genre lovers.

Sarah Flint pens a really realistic crime thriller and I was gripped by her latest addition to this great series!

Charlie Stafford finds herself in the unenviable position of investigating a series of crimes where the perpetrator breaks into the home of elderly women and sits chatting to them about the past, before leaving with some of their treasured souvenirs. Suddenly it all ramps up a notch when the home invasion turns to murder and it becomes a case of finding out who he is before he gets the opportunity to strike again . . .

I have no experience of crime investigation apart from what I read or see on tv but I suspect that this series of books is more representative of what really goes on in the squad room. There are no magic moments, no flashing bulb suddenly shining - just lots of hard graft and sometimes a little bit of luck. Things don't always go to plan but the team never give in. This is a really well-written novel, with interwoven events clouding the issue and giving the reader even more to ponder. I much prefer not knowing who the guilty party is; for me, it all adds to the atmosphere and the credibility. A very substantial thriller which reveals the doggedness of basic police work in an absolutely gripping way where the tension is palpable, and it is fully worthy of a full house of stars. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

My thanks to publisher Aria for my copy via NetGalley and particularly to Vicky Joss for my spot on this blog tour. All stated opinions are entirely honest and completely my own.

Daddy’s Girls is the 5th book in the DC Charlie Stafford series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Elderly Florence has an intruder in her house, he wants to talk……but the following day her friend George, finds her body.

Charlie is part of Operation Greystream, as they try to catch a burglar who breaks into elderly people’s homes, he chats and takes a small souvenir ….but now it seems he has escalated to murder.

Running parallel is the story of Thomas, who is dealing with the death of his wife Catherine in the worst way possible….he is a drug addict and his poor daughter, Emma is struggling to keep it all together and deal with her own grief. But then Thomas tells her Catherine has come back, he’s seen her, he’s watching her…

Are these two cases linked?

This is a solid police procedural with plenty of character background so they have a real personality and sometimes messy lives of their own. The thought of someone targeting the most vulnerable older people is a scary thought and this tale really does have a sense of menace and you wonder who will be next…..

I found this to be very well plotted with a few surprises too …totally gripping from start to finish. I can thoroughly recommend it.

Thank you to Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction, The Author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest and unbiased review.

This had been a police procedural investigation, interesting and original that will be a delight for any crime lover!
The story is centered in a robbery that has gone wrong, the police will try to discover who and why there’s a victim in a “simple” robbery. Because this is not the first assault that this attacker has done, only the first one with a victim. Why? There will be another case that would make the police quite ambiguous about the resolution of the case, it’s the same perpetrator or simply a coincidence? Of course you’ll have to read the case to discover the truth! 😉
This is one of those books that there’s a very detailed police investigation; clues, interrogatories, investigation… and in the end a good way to solve the case, which will leave everyone satisfied.
This is the fifth case of the DC Charlotte Stafford, you can read the book as standalone, but there are some character background and connections that will be missed, but I am sure you’ll like it no matter what.
Charlotte is the team leader of the case and it makes the story real and interesting, she shows us her point of view but at the same time it makes you part of the story too. And let me say that after reading this book I will follow her next cases for sure.
I liked that this was not the typical case, why someone that started only robbing finish killing? There has to be something more, am I right? They target only elderly, and they never hurt anyone before. That’s why I liked the story, it felt real and human, perfect for any crime lover!

Having read all of the Charlotte Stafford series, I couldn't wait to get my teeth stook into Daddy's Girls.
It wasn't my best Sarah Flint book but it is definitely worth a read. The next one looks like it's going to be great and I can not wait for it.
3.5*

DADDY'S GIRLS is the fifth book in the DC Charlotte Stafford series by Sarah Flint, but it was a first for me. A police procedural but also a crime thriller, it is complex and it is gritty with a slow burning tension.

TRIGGER WARNING:
Elder abuse, rape, sexual assault and drug use should be advised before you consider reading.

It has been a year since Thomas Houghton had buried his wife Catherine and he blames his daughter, Emma, for the disease that claimed her life. Diagnosed with MS shortly after Emma's birth, Thomas believes she was the cause which ultimately contributed to his wife's death. Now he is drugged, delusional and broke, frequenting crack houses for his latest fix while Emma works menial jobs to pay for the tiny bedsit they now live in.

Approaching the anniversary of his wife's death, Thomas rushes in elated and brimming with news. He has seen Catherine! She has returned to him! Emma brushes off his words as delusional ramblings. Her mother has been dead a year. But Thomas is adamant, believing he has seen his dead wife and no one and nothing will come between them again. Of this he must ensure.

Thomas has waited and watched Catherine for a while now. He knows her routine. He knows she misses him as much as he has missed her. Tonight's the night; as she turns off her lights he knows he must make himself known to her again. Crawling in through her bathroom window, he stealthily approaches her bedroom and as he enters she senses his presence and awakes. He smiles. She has been waiting for him. The fact that the woman is wide-eyed with fear and pleading with him not to hurt her doesn't seem to register with him. Even as he calls her Catherine and identifies himself as Thomas, the woman does not know him - but it doesn't deter him. Nothing will come between them now; till death do us part.

Faced with an odd case and a tough one at that, Charlie is on the hunt for a burglar who, gloved and masked, breaks into homes of the elderly in the dead of night. Codename "Operation Greystream", he isn't interested in valuables nor does he hurt them - he just wants to chat. And then when he leaves, takes a memento of no real value.

But then things turn nasty when 87 year old Florence Briarly is found by her friend and neighbour, cold to touch and neatly tucked into bed. Has this burglar escalated to murder? If so, he will now have a taste for it and it won't be long until he craves it again.

Charlie and her team, under the leadership of DI Geoffrey Hunter, chase avenues of enquiry, follow up leads and investigate why this troubling case has suddenly turned sinister. Reports are coming in hard and fast from care homes where there had been troubling incidents of someone seen lurking and peeping in the windows of the elderly residents. Charlie is troubled with why this villain is so fascinated with the elderly. What is it attracts him?

Then a report comes in about a rape within the villian's comfort zone with a similar MO. The phone line is cut, enters in the dead of night and then as he is leaving, steals something that has only sentimental value to the victim. But this time it's rape. Is it the same man? Has, what started out as simple break-ins for a chat, progressed into rape and murder?

The two cases are being investigated separately but with the possibility that they are connected. As the reader, they seem to be separate...but are they really? From the outset, we know who the rapist is but we are completely in the dark as to the identity of the murderer.

Throughout the story we are witness to a lot of petty crime that connects to one of the cases, but is it also related to the other? There is a lot of drug use which is rampant but of little interest to me. For me, it certainly doesn't make the story any more gripping.

There are several third party perspectives telling the story and at some points I was a little confused as to the POV, particularly towards the end when the stand-off unfolded throughout various perspectives. I normally don't get confused with multiple POVs but in this case, I found it a little confusing.

DADDY'S GIRLS is really a slow burn that I didn't feel pick up much at all. I found it long and drawn out and I had to force myself to continue, knowing that a lot of work is put into writing and creating these stories. It kind of makes me feel bad when I don't enjoy a book as much as I had hoped. But that is not to say that others won't. In fact, there have been a lot of positive reviews about it already so I must be in the minority.

I think, for me, this is a series that really needs to be read from the beginning to gain a better appreciation of it as a whole. Charlie plays such a minor role it didn't feel as if it was part of her story. The main focus was on the two investigations and the residents of the crack house. I didn't feel I got to know Charlie at all, or her team for that matter. There was less police procedural in this and more of a crime thriller, and yet I don't feel it can be read as a stand-alone as some others do. It felt like something was missing and I couldn't connect to Charlie or the stories that unfolded.

I think the book would have been far better with just the case of Thomas Houghton as that in itself was major story that would have played out better on its own with maybe a smaller separate investigation as an aside. Having two major cases just made it too confusing with too much going on.

I was also puzzled by the title as it didn't appear to have any bearing whatsoever on the story, or stories, at all. DADDY'S GIRLS speaks of something far sinister than what unfolded in these pages, as despicable as they were also.

However, the ending gave us a final twist with a secret that leaves readers wanting to find out more and sets the scene for the next installment nicely.

In summary, I think I would have appreciated DADDY'S GIRLS a lot more had I read the rest of the series first. I don't think it works as well as a stand-alone, not with the knowledge that it IS part of a series at least. However, the story is gritty and action-packed throughout and I think fans of the DC Charlie Stafford series won't be disappointed.

I would like to thank #SarahFlint, #NetGalley and #Aria for an ARC of #DaddysGirls in exchange for an honest review.

Flint does a great job at making your head spin in this mystery. You will not know who to suspect and therefore will suspect everyone. A mystery book that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Sarah Flint is back with another ingenious, gut-wrenching and nerve-twisting thriller that is dark, gripping and brilliantly terrifying: Daddy’s Girls. Featuring the fabulous DC Charlie Stafford, strap yourself in for a nail-biting ride that will keep readers on the edge of their seats throughout.

As a police officer, Charlie Stafford is used to the twisted and devious minds of criminals. In all her years of service, she has come up against all manner of strange and sadistic suspects, but her latest case could be her most unusual and baffling yet! Operation Greystream involves a burglar who visits the elderly late into the night, gloved and masked. He doesn’t hurt them or damage anything and if the victims beg, he will not take anything of value, but there is one thing he wants: conversation and the elderly are powerless to resist.
Charlie cannot help but be perplexed by the entire thing. In all her years as a cop, she never imagined that she would ever come up against a criminal who wants nothing more than a conversation with his victims and doesn’t touch them or hurt them. However, little do Charlie and her team realise that this case is going to take a dark, sinister and deadly turn…

Eighty-seven year old Florence is found cold to the touch by her neighbour tucked into her bed. However, this was not a natural death, but cold-blooded murder. It looks like the burglar got a taste for killing and Charlie is convinced that, unless he is stopped, he will strike again…

Can Charlie stop him before he strikes again? Or is she already too late?

Sarah Flint’s books should come with a warning: once you start reading her Charlie Stafford thrillers, you’ve no chance of putting them down until the very last full stop and Daddy’s Girls is certainly no different. Full of menace, terror, suspense and breath-taking suspense, Daddy’s Girls is a heart-stopping crime thriller packed with jaw-dropping twists and turns with a fabulous detective at its heart you cannot help but admire.

Fast-paced, intelligent and far too good to miss, Daddy’s Girls is another winner by Sarah Flint!

Another exciting range of investigations for DC Charlie Stafford and her colleagues. This book illustrates the problems faced by detectives, the procedures that must be followed and how the law can sometimes work against them, It is its authenticity that makes this such a readable crime thriller. There are also moral questions explored in this story. Can something be illegal, yet in most people’s eyes morally right?

There are multiple crimes for the team to solve in this book, which shows the complexity of modern police work, and the many competing demands they have to satisfy, with often limited resources. Mistakes are made, which have consequences, and the team have to live with this

Whilst, the overt violence is less than in previous stories, the trauma that the victims suffer is palpable and well described. This is also a family drama. How do family members react, when someone they know and love becomes a criminal or a victim? Can this, sometimes, misguided loyalty, impede the police investigation? Suspense builds with each crime, and it is only the relentless, painstaking detection and forensic evidence that will solve the crimes.

This reads as a standalone, but if you enjoy authentic police procedurals, with believable family drama and complex characters, read the series.

I received a copy of this book from Aria via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Though this is actually the fifth in the series, I didn’t know that when I started reading and had no idea until I looked at Amazon to get the link for the review. It stands perfectly well alone.

Trigger warnings for elder abuse (including murder), rape, sexual assault and drug use should be advised before you consider whether to read this book.

There are actually several cases running in parallel in this police procedural set among Greater London’s southern boroughs. The author is a police officer and has an intimate knowledge of how cases are actually solved and how the law really works, both to the benefit of the police and in some cases, protecting criminals from detection. Because of this, there was never anything in the story which felt incorrect or unrealistic, right down to the frustration of the police when things didn’t go there way. There were no unlikely coincidences or miracle leaps of intuition; the crimes were solved by solid police work, evidence gathering, fingerprints, DNA, CCTV, interviewing witnesses and following up leads.

The problem I had was that the focus wasn’t always on the ‘big criminal’ - an individual who was stalking elderly victims, breaking into their homes and traumatising them before graduating to murder - but got diverted much of the time to a completely different person whose crime was similar in some respects and therefore ended up a focus of the investigation. Both cases being solved was satisfying, but I would have liked a lot more time in the ‘big criminal’s’ point of view, because the reveal of his identity really did come as something of a deus ex machina at the end of the book. There was too much focus on other characters at the expense of that part of the plot, and while yes, you don’t want to give the identity of the mastermind up too early, you do actually need to plant the clues there from early on so the reader can realize they were there.

It’s a hard book to rate, because I liked Charlie, the police officer from whose point of view we follow the investigations, and the accuracy and realism of the police procedures were excellent, but as a mystery, the pieces really weren’t all in place. I don’t think I can give it any more than three stars.