Another brilliant Lottie Parker Book, I so look forward to each new release!
This one finds Lottie investigating the apparent suicide of a young woman. Further investigations indicate there is more to the situation, especially as shortly afterwards another woman is found dead. Little Lily Heffernan is missing following her mother’s death - who has her and is she safe?
This is a real fast paced story, and I ended up suspecting pretty much everyone of being the killer!
Alongside the police drama, is the ongoing saga of Lottie, her family and her relationship with Boyd. She has accepted his marriage proposal and finally feels ready to move on, but why is he giving her the cold shoulder? Has he changed his mind?
No spoilers, but the end of the book is so sad, However, I can’t wait to see what happened in the next book!

It's all happening in Ragmullin. No small station easily copes with murder cases but multiple similar cases? All hell has broken lose. An extra bonus is that Lottie seems to have a handle on life and a glimpse of happiness. At first anyway....... loved the case hated the ending!! We need this cliff hannger resolved and quick Patricia!

I am a huge fan of patricia Gibney so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her latest offering and OMG was it worth the wait it kept me up all through the night and it is definitely my favourite book so far!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Patricia Gibney for the Arc of Broken Souls my review is honest and unbiased.

Book 7 of Lottie Parker and they are still fast paced and engaging. Lottie is struggling in this book and tempted to start dringing again. Her and Boyd are now engaged but keeping it secret and she is suspicious of trips and days off he keeps having. Her home life is further complicated by her half brother and her daughters wanting to go to America for Christmas.

Lots of dead bodies in this book, all apparent suicides but Lottie thinks something is amiss. It was a great story with lots of twists and kept me engaged right till the end.

There were definitely some strong points to book 7 in the Lottie series, but, I did have a few things that bugged me so, the lower rating is applied. I was mostly pleased that one of Lottie's kids were not a victim - sorry for giving anything away. Ms. Gibney was doing overkill on that score - sorry for the pun. There is a decent storyline, although I did have some issues with it. It's hard not to give anything away. I'll just say that I'm glad I read this series and will continue to do so.


**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest review.**

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Broken Souls.

This book was just ok for me... I’ve read other books in the Lottie Parker series and seem to remember liking them how very this book dragged out a bit. I didn’t find the suspense all that great and the twists weren’t all that shocking. Nothing about this book had me craving more to unravel what was going on and I felt like there could have been some twists that were instead left unresolved. My biggest gripe with this book was the way Lottie and Boyd acted towards each other. They are engaged to be married and barely acted like they liked each other. Their relationship was very confusing to me and seemed a little unrealistic.

I’ve been with this series from the start and its one of the few that goes straight to the top of my to-be-read pile as soon as it becomes available.

Patricia Gibney has a wonderful talent for writing stories with multiple strands whilst keeping the character count down.

She uses the incestuous nature of criminals, and the vulnerability of victims, to make the books realistic and enthralling.

The main character is Lottie Parker, and those familiar with the series will be aware of the ups and downs of her life and the life of her family. Although the family are front and centre in most of the books, all of them can easily be read as stand-alone crime thrillers. Just as much detail is put into her team and their continuing story.

But as well as her family, and her team, the main threads of each story revolve around the crimes, and they are all brilliant.

Broken Souls starts with the discovery of a woman hanging in a bathroom, dressed in a wedding dress. Nobody thinks this is suicide but when another woman dies in similar circumstances everybody’s worst fears are confirmed.

But, there are more crimes taking place and Lottie becomes convinced that the life of a young girl is in danger.

Never one for sticking too closely to the rules Lottie goes a bit maverick in her efforts to solve the crime and locate the young girl.

In doing so will she put herself into danger.

This book is a real page turner, if I had the time it would have been a one sitting read, unfortunately things like work get in the way.

The story is addictive and fast paced. It’s not often a cup of coffee gets chance to go cold on me but I got so carried away towards the end of this book, one went stone cold.

An absolute gem of a series, and absolute gem of a book.

CRUMPETS! I could not put this book down!
I have not read any of the previous 6 books in the series and whilst I appreciate there is an ongoing back story with Lottie Parker et al, I found reading this as a stand alone was absolutely fine. There were obviously a few references that I did not understand not having read the previous books but it did not detract from my reading pleasure
The plot was full of twists and turns that I just did not see coming and I avidly read on to find out what was going to happen next and who might be the guilty party.
I liked all the characters, whether they were the suspects or victims in the story or the team of detectives headed up by DI Lottie Parker.
There was the usual mix of background stories running to do with Lottie's family life and relationships and then the main act of working out why apparent suicides were happening so frequently in the Irish villages of Ballydoon and Ragmullin.
Lottie is not a unique female detective. She is of the feisty brand who spends far too much time away from her family and loved ones and has many hang ups about getting close to others and forming lasting romantic relationships.
However, if you love this genre of book I don't think it will disappoint. And for me it contained the right level of intrigue and crime without being too graphic and gruesome.
I definitely want to read the preceding novels in this series!

★★★ 3.5 stars

I'm no stranger to DI Lottie Parker and have been a fan of the Irish crime series since the beginning. So I was excited to see where this one would lead, as I thoroughly enjoyed the last book "Final Betrayal" but for the cliffhanger Ms Gibney left us on. The premise for BROKEN SOULS was intriguing with two women found dead in suspected suicides, both wearing wedding dresses.

Cara Dunne, a schoolteacher, was found hanging in her bathroom, a belt pulled taut around her neck. By all accounts it appeared to be a suicide, particularly as she had recently been jilted by her fiance local pub owner Steve O'Carroll. What little was known about Cara said that she was devastated over her broken engagement. Is that why she chose to end her life wearing her wedding dress? But why was there no note? And wasn't hanging a little dramatic? Women usually opt for an overdose of pills, a clean and painfree end. Something didn't add up for Lottie. Cara had scratches on her neck that weren't easily explained. Added to that, her new found faith would see suicide as a mortal sin. Surely she wouldn't jeopardise her eternal soul for the sake of a broken engagement?

Fiona Heffernan was a nurse at the Ballydoon Abbey nursing home and, having finished her shift the day before she was to married, she is found dead by a colleague, having seemingly thrown herself from the Abbey roof. She, too, was wearing a wedding dress. But not, it seems, her own - unlike Cara who was.

No sooner were investigations into Cara's death underway with her body having hardly reached the mortuary when word reaches the team about Fiona. Two suicides in one day? In Ragmullin? Surely not. Then through the course of their investigations, the team learn that Fiona had an 8 year old daughter that no one had thought to tell them about, until her husband-to- be Ryan did, and the race is on to locate her. Her last known whereabouts was at the theatre where she has dance practice. But upon their arrival, there is no sign of Lily.

With two suspicious deaths and now a missing child to contend with, Lottie needs to make sense of it all, piecing together the puzzle and work out how each case is linked. But most importantly, to find Lily and her back safe and sound.

Then the team find a link to the suicide of a Robert Brady, who was found hanging from a tree two weeks ago. But where he was found was of great interest to Lottie...just a few hundred metres from the residence of their prime suspect, shift solicitor Colin Kavanaugh, Fiona's ex-partner and father to her daughter Lily. It seems wherever she turns, Kavanaugh's name continues to crop up. So what exactly has he got to do with these cases?

Aside from the pressures of her professional life, Lottie's personal one seems to be just as much turmoil. Although one would think that after the abduction of her own daughters in the previous book, it would draw them all closer as a family but it seems to have the opposite affect. Her daughters are now both adults and doing their own thing while her 15 year old son angrily shuts her out. I was very surprised at the dynamics in her family after such a traumatic event.

And then there is Lottie's relationship with her DS, Mark Boyd. His proposal at the end of the last book surprised us, including Lottie, but in this book both are behaving like they are anything but engaged. Boyd's behaviour has become somewhat furtive as he continually skives off to Galway on what Lottie believes is a pretense of seeing his mother. Lottie thinks he's found someone younger so that puts her in a continually bad mood, sniping and snarling at everyone...instead of actually sitting down and talking with Boyd. However, it is Boyd who broaches the subject and says they need to talk at the close of the case. Lottie thinks "This is it. He's changed his mind and doesn't want to marry me. He's found someone else." and voices her thoughts of that nature to him before he can get a word in. But when he does...nothing will prepare her for his revelation.

I do like Lottie but I find her increasingly frustrating. She has an annoying habit of pre-empting everything, which is especially annoying in her personal relationships with her family and Boyd...instead of talking to them. And in many cases she is way off the mark. I really like Boyd though he was more of a silent partner on this outing, probably due to his personal issues. Sometimes I have to wonder what he sees in Lottie but then he is about the only one who keeps her centred when she starts to spiral out of control. Her family feature so little in this book, except as ships passing and all that, although Lottie does enjoy a little outing with her grandson Louis.

I don't think BROKEN SOULS was as exciting or as thrilling as past books but it was still marginally compelling. I think because the case seemed a little convoluted in parts making the investigation long and frustrating on all count. And I found her kids incredibly frustrating as well when they should have been drawn together, particularly after the last case.

BROKEN SOULS is an intriguing police procedural with mystery, murder and mayhem all combined to make for a compelling read. There are references to previous events and occurrences from the series but while I don't think they deter from the storyline, the series is best read in order to gain a fuller understanding and appreciation of Lottie and the other characters.

After the bombshell delivered at the end of this book, I can hardly wait to see what happens for Lottie next!

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

This review appears on my blog at <a href="https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/</a>.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of broken souls by Patricia Gibney. Although I hate starting a series not at the beginning I really enjoyed this crime book. It didn’t seem like I needed to read the previous ones first in order to understand this book. It was a really good suspenseful book with a lot of twists and turns, I highly recommend.

People have raved about Patricia Gibney for a long time, but I was too stubborn to listen. I have learned my lesson. This was an excellent crime thriller. Fortunately for me, it could be read as a stand-alone, although there were numerous references to past books in the series (to be expected, as this the 7th). If you have read the others in the Detective Lottie Parker series, you will be very pleased with this one. If you’re like me, and haven’t read any of them before now, do yourself a favor and pick up this series. You’ll be glad you did. For more details, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a complimentary, pre-release, digital ARC of this book.

Firstly I must thank Net Galley, the publishers and the author for an ARC copy.

Broken Souls is the seventh book in the DI Lottie Parker series

Two apparent suicides are discovered but both are wearing wedding dresses so suspicions are raised that the deaths were in fact murders. One of the women had an 8 year old daughter but she is now missing: has the murderer taken her or has she been abducted by someone else?

Lottie’s personal relationship with Boyd has become complicated. They have agreed to marry but are keeping it quiet until she feels ready to tell her children and face her superior officer. This has led to tension and Boyd starts behaving oddly, taking time off and making secretive visits to his mother. Lottie thinks he may be having an affair…

There is a careful balance in Patricia Gibney’s narrative between the suspects and the police perspective, and her family life. This has the effect of allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of their behaviour's and draw our own conclusions, a detailed investigation depicting realities of working with different members of a team. Lottie was a straight-shooter too involved in her work, I felt bad for her children. She worked hard but had her down points and vulnerabilities. This book had a good dose of reality mixed of true family relationships added with the fiction.

There are heartbreaking glimpses into the mind of the killer as we see flashbacks to his unhappy childhood.

The plot is delivered in quite a fast pace through short chapters to represent the urgency of the case, in particular finding the lost little girl. A whole heap of suspects/red herrings are acting suspiciously so Lottie and her team have a tough job getting them to reveal the truth. The victims and suspects are all linked together in a complicated web of family ties and business dealings. In fact I was becoming frustrated as I could not guess the guilty person.

Broken Souls is full of mysteries and secrets; it will keep you guessing, that's for sure with a few shocks at the end as well.

Four stars

# Broken Souls # Lottie Parker book 7 # Netgalley
Gosh I have read every book about Detective Lottie Parker. Patricia Gibney can bring Lottie her family and case to life like no other has a single mum, her home life seems to be never ending chaos. Despite Lottie seemingly doesn’t seem to get a lot of sleep, she just thrives on her job. A addictive book you don’t want to put down. Extremely well written. I would go has far as saying every book about Lottie Parker are Awsome reads. With twists and turns all over the place. This one in my opinion is the best so far. You could try reading it has a stand alone book however I think it can just about work has a stand alone thriller. However it’s actually far far better if you read in in the order they where written this absolutely blew me away fantastic read absolutely phenomenal

Broken Souls is the seventh book in the DI Lottie Parker series (read my review of book 6 Final Betrayal).
Two apparent suicides are discovered but both are wearing wedding dresses so suspicions are raised that the deaths were in fact murders. One of the women had an 8 year old daughter but she is now missing: has the murderer taken her or has she been abducted by someone else?
Lottie’s personal relationship with Boyd has become complicated. They have agreed to marry biut are keeping it quiet until she feels ready to tell her children and face her superior officer. This has led to tension and Boyd starts behaving oddly, taking time off and making secretive visits to his mother. Lottie thinks he may be having an affair…
There is a careful balance in Patricia Gibney’s narrative between the suspects and the police perspective. This has the effect of allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of their behaviours and draw our own conclusions. There are heartbreaking glimpses into the mind of the killer as we see flashbacks to his unhappy childhood.
The plot is delivered in quite a fast pace through short chapters to represent the urgency of the case, in particular finding the lost little girl. A whole heap of suspects are acting suspiciously so Lottie and her team have a tough job getting them to reveal the truth. The victims and suspects are all linked together in a complicated web of family ties and business dealings.
Broken Souls is full of mysteries and secrets; it will keep you guessing!

Broken Souls is the seventh in the police procedural series featuring Irish DI Lottie Parker, however, I was happy to jump straight in and read it independently without any issues as the author, Patricia Gibney, provided enough background to allow me to feel comfortable with the characters and setting. Set in fictional town of Ragmullin and the surrounding villages, Lottie Parker makes a rather dysfunctional but very likeable detective.

This novel was a fantastic, electrifying and solid police procedural and I warmed to Lottie from the outset It was a well-balanced thriller that had me glued to the pages and I didn't want to put it down as I was desperate to know the outcome of the story. As Ragmullin was such a small place it soon became apparent most of the residents had some kind of connection to each other, leaving Lottie and her team with a lot of suspects to chase and quite a tangled web of mystery. This really was a spectacular thriller that grabbed me hook, line and sinker. Lottie embarked on an exciting and exhilarating mission to find the perpetrator and all of the time the tension was being ratcheted up a notch as Patricia Gibney smacked me with some captivating misdirection and planted a few red herrings. The writing flowed effortlessly with a swift pace to it as Broken Souls delved into topics of chaotic relationships and small communities with doses of deception, lies and twisted minds.

A brilliant, nail-biting and highly recommended crime-thriller.

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

This is the 7th installment with Detective Lottie Parker and Mark Boyd. It starts 6 weeks after the last book and I have to say it was another page turner. The characters have grown through the books and have become very likeable. The murder and kidnapping are familiar to the scene, it's the stories around them that make these books special. I love this detective duo and can not wait for the next book. Thank you Netgalley for my advanced copy.

If you know me, or have followed my page for a while, you’ll know that Lottie Parker is my favourite dysfunctional detective. In the procedural fiction world, middle aged male detectives have had their reign for years. So I love that Lottie bucks the trend, and focuses on a female detective with lots of personal issues.
Lottie feels so realistic to me. She has her demons and I never know from one book to the next when she will conquer them or leave them break her. And I love that vulnerability, mixed with her huge inner strength. We all have weaknesses, and I take comfort in watching a smart woman fighting hers. Day after day, and book after book. Because that’s life, we don’t just battle our demons and win the battle and live happily ever after. So I love that Lottie’s battles mirrors that reality.

The murders in this one had me scratching my head in puzzlement, as I just couldn’t connect the dots to see how everything was linked. A gripping plot, gristly details and lots of psychological mind games made this a cracking page turner. And I loved how it all finally made sense.

But that ending….I’m already crying at the thought of what might be in store for Lottie next….I’m not able.

Who should read Broken Souls by Patricia Gibney?

Highly recommended to all those who enjoy complex characters, a journey through dark themes and Irish settings. Fans of Cara Hunter’s DI Frawley series should also enjoy this one and I’d also recommend it to fans of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and With Our Blessing by Jo Spain.

Broken Souls by Patricia Gibney
D.I. Lottie Parks #7

Creepy characters – suspects aplenty – unsettling – made me wonder...

Having just read the book description before starting the book I was surprised with how the book began and even looked ahead to make sure I was reading the correct book. It actually took the prologue and a few chapters before I reached a point where I knew I was in the right book. Once Lottie was on the scene I felt perhaps I was where I was supposed to be. I had no idea what the prologue would refer to but thought perhaps it might be either a victim or an eventual murderer that I had just met...and I did feel sorry for the little boy that I met in the first few pages.

Eventually Lottie and her team are dealing with deaths that might look like suicides but are really murders and the kidnapping of an eight year old girl. There are numerous suspects and creepy people for the reader and police team to sift through before the case is solved. Lottie is still not someone I can relate to or even like much. I have a feeling she is good at her job but perhaps not the warm caring mother her children would benefit from. I also wonder about her relationship with Boyd and what he sees in her.

What I liked the procedural aspect of the story
* That Lottie’s family were not singled out as victims
* Lottie’s team members – at least what I saw of them
* That McMahon might be taken down a peg or more soon
* The bad guy was caught
* It took me awhile to figure out what was going on (also didn’t like that at times0

What I did not like:
* The reason why the bad guy ended up as s/he did
* More than one of the characters that were suspects...even though they were not the perpetrator
* Lottie’s distance from people and unwillingness to engage
* Feeling at loose ends at the end of the book – especially in regard to the eight year old who was kidnapped.

Did I enjoy the book? I think so
Would I read more in this series? Might try one more to see if I can warm up to Lottie or not

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3 – 4 Stars

Broken Souls by Patricia Gibney is the Seventh book in the Detective Lottie Parker series and what a brilliant book this was.

One cold winters morning, a young school teacher called Cara Dunne had all her life ahead of her was found hanging from her bathroom with a belt tightly around her neck. She was wearing a wedding dress. This looked like a suicide but there was no suicide note left. Detective Lottie Parker and DS Mark Boyd are called to the scene and whilst looking at the body of Cara Dunne, Detective Lottie Parker noticed her body was bruised and a lock of hair had been removed. Lottie wonders who could of have hated her enough to kill her at the happiest time of her life.

Later on that winters day, there was another shocking discovery, a local nurse called Fiona Heffernan, who worked at the local nursing home was found dead wearing a wedding dress. She was pushed from the roof top of the local hospital where she worked. Fiona was due to be married the next day.
Detective Lottie Parker and DS Mark Boyd were called to the scene and whilst looking into the scene she notice a lock of Fiona's hair had been cut off.

What is the connection to both of these murders?

Can Detective Lottie Parker and DS Mark Boyd find the killer before they kill again?

A few hours later, it’s discovered that Fiona’s 8 year old daughter Lily is missing, it’s down to Detective Lottie Parker and her team
to find Lily and hoping they're not too late to find her.

Will they find her in time?

This book is full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing right till the end. You will learn more about Lottie's personal life with DS Mark Boyd and OMG what an Ending to this book!!! My heart missed a few beats!!!!!
Can't wait for the next one.........They both have become a part of my reading family and I so want it to be a happy ending!!!

One thing I loved about this book is that, it can be read as a stand alone book but I highly recommend you read this as part of this excellent series about Detective Lottie Parker and her team.

I highly recommend these books........Just brilliant!

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

What appears to be two separate suicides at first glance for the police, soon become an intense murder hunt for a suspected psychopath who has pretty big issues with brides to be. But there is more as one of the cases and sloppy investigating has lost precious hours that could be the difference between life and death for another victim. It really is all hands on deck as the team have to take one on the chin about the mess up.
D. I. Lottie Parker is a brilliant detective but has constant guilt trips about being away from her family working long hours, especially as she is raising her three children herself but when she is at home her mind is constantly on work. Her career had put her family in jeopardy not too long ago, so now she is pulled between wanting to protect them 24/7 and trying to make the outcome of one of the cases she is working on a happy ending.
This is such a fast-paced read with the investigation spiralling in different directions, joining dots where it hadn’t made sense at first glance. There are such a lot of unlikeable characters in the story, so it is easy to see the worst in them. This really is an edge of your seat read both for the case and for Lottie. So much I didn’t see coming. Brilliant round up, still holding my breath.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.