Fast becoming a must read for me, this series just gets better and better. Like the 2nd book in the series, this the 3rd is again the perfect mix of crime thriller, Celtic mythology and the enjoyment of character development in the sub plots. When a critically ill child goes missing from a city hospital the race is on to find her, but all is definitely not what it seems as foes old and new appear. This book reads perfectly well as a standalone but to get the most out of it I’d urge you to read the series in order and I envy you the binge read

4.5⭐

This is my first introduction to Boyle & Keneally and author S.A. Dunphy and all I can think is why have I waited so long!

As this is a story that's not only full of twists and turns, but takes old Irish folk and legends, action and police procedures and creates a mystery that I honestly struggled to put down.

And with unforgettable and unique characters and the spectre of a serial killer this was a truly compelling and well-paced read.

That actually reminded me of two of my favourite TV shows The Fall and Hinterland and it's definitely a story I would recommend in fact I'm off to buy the first two books as I enjoyed it that much. 😊

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Her Child’s Cry’ by S.A. Dunphy in exchange for an honest review. I have also been invited to take part in the Bookouture blog tour later this month.

This is the third in Dunphy’s series of Irish police procedurals featuring Jessie Boyle, a criminal behavioural specialist, and Detective Seamus Keneally and their work with a task force investigating serious crimes. Both of the earlier novels proved compelling 5 star reads and so I was excited about this new book.

Just brief plot details in order to avoid spoilers. Nine-year-old Arizona Rose (Rosie) Blake has been taken from the hospital where she was being treated for cancer. Rosie’s distraught parents haven’t received a ransom demand and she needs medication to survive. With no leads Jessie Boyle and her team are brought in to help.

When links are found between Rosie’s disappearance and the recent revival of Dublin’s Hellfire Club, an ancient and terrifying cult obsessed with death and sacrifice, the case takes a sinister turn.

Each of the books in the Boyle and Keneally series has had elements of folk horror woven into the narrative alongside the more conventional elements of gangsters and serial killers. As a fan of horror this is something that is totally my cup of tea. Indeed, when one of their team heads to a remote, insular island community my first thought was of Summerisle.

Again, this proved an excellent police procedural, though readers new to the series should be warned that It is quite dark and disturbing in parts. S.A. Dunphy not only provides strong storytelling but has created in Jessie, Seamus and their team very relatable characters.

I certainly will be looking forward to further novels in the series.

This series has turned out to be one of my favorites! The author writes tight, tense and fast paced thrillers where you just keep reading and reading - never wanting to miss a moment. This third installment continues the story of Boyle and Keaneally along with their boss, Dawn, and a genealogist, Terri rounding out the team. Compulsively readable!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

When Arizona Rose (Rosie) is removed from the hospital where she is undergoing cancer treatment it becomes a top priority to find her. The chief commissioner decides it is a case for her special team of criminal behaviourist Dr Jessie Boyle, D. S. Seamus Keneally and computer expert Terry Kehoe. Jessie cannot quite suss out the parents, although they are frantic to get their daughter back they are not overly helpful. When Rosie's kidnapper is found shot near Mt Pelier close to what was the shady Hell Fire Club it would seem that once again the trio are investigating something spooky as well as involving gangland connections & Jessie's nemesis- the mysterious Uruk. The race is on to find Rosie & to give her the drugs she so desperately needs.

This is the third in the series & each one seems to get better & better. The characters have settled into themselves, but each story adds to our knowledge of them. I love how S.A.Dunphy incorporates the supernatural & Irish history into an engrossing police procedural. I'm already looking forward to No4! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I love this series. Part police investigation part action heroes mixed with myths, legends and folklore make a gripping story.

This time the team are investigating the abduction of a little girl with cancer from her hospital bed. Who would do such a thing and more importantly why?

With mini cliffhangers and plenty of twists and turns I was hooked beginning to end.

A great page turner and I can't wait to read more about this quirky team.

I get overly excited when I find out there's a new Boyne & Keneally book coming out! I have absolutely fallen in love with the characters in this book, and I find it in fact impossible not to fall in love with both the characters and the writing. Yet again, I was hooked from the beginning.

I have to say I got really interested in the mystery itself, or the reasons behind it, since it is fairly rare to read about a 9-year-old cancer patient undergoing essential treatment being kidnapped. The parents do not seem to be as concerned as one would think they would be. The kidnapper is found fairly quickly, but because he is shot dead, more questions arise.

The book takes us into a shady Dublin crime family, a weird cult, and even Boyle's nemesis Uruz makes contact. It is all a big mess, but the specialist team on the case is one of the best.

I found this book to be slightly different in pace and tension than the previous two in the series. I think it could have moved on a bit faster at some points, but it is overall an extremely enjoyable read, totally unputdownable, and I could not wait to find out the truth.

I cannot wait for the next installment, since S.A. Dunphy is an absolutely brilliant author, and this book, and the whole series deserves to be read and praised all over the world! Hauntingly good, disturbingly tickling, and masterfully pieced together!

I have committed to this series completely and get such great joy when I see that a new instalment has been finished by Shane and will be on the way. The Boyle and Keneally crime series is such a brilliant addition to the whole crime genre.
When reading, it feels as if Shane has put a huge amount of research into his characters, the places, the issues and you then read with a knowledge that this author knows his stuff.
Shane knows I can never speak highly enough about his books. He is an author I connect with and I feel he brings much to the table for his readers.
Her Child's Cry I so thoroughly enjoyed. A race against time to find a young child who has been snatched from a hospital bed and who desperately needs her treatment to survive. The one aspect to this series I really saw in book three is the trust between Seamus and Jessie. They know each other so well by now and it makes for such a great partnership.
But it seems as if the little girl has vanished and Seamus, Jessie, Dawn & Terri must use all their resources and contacts to try find her.
Packed with drama, tension and suspense, I tore through the pages in my quest to see where this instalment would take me.
It is a gritty read for sure and one that will have the hairs stand on the back of you neck.
Well done Shane..

I am on the blog tour for this book so I will come back and add the link to my review then.

4.25⭐️
#3 Boyle & Keneally

This Irish Crime series is fast becoming a favourite. I was lucky enough to get the audiobook version of the first 2 as I love the accent. It will be interesting to see how I find a printed version.

Jessie Boyle is a criminal behaviourist, Seamus Keneally is a Detective Sergent. Terri Kehoe is an amazing tech expert. Their boss is Dawn Wilson she is the Garda Commissioner. They are based in Dublin.

It’s sub divided into six parts. Each of those has a poem which was wasted on me.

Rosie Blake, a young girl with terminal cancer is snatched from the hospital where she is being treated. Her specialist says that they have a 6-7 day window to find her and recommence treatment or it’s too late. The clock is very much ticking for the team.

I really like the relationship and banter between Jessie and Seamus.
The parents behaviour, especially the fathers seems off, the dad doesn’t come over as likeable at all.

The plot has a good complexity, the team work well together, the tension and threat was palpable as the book headed towards its conclusion. It has a good pace throughout.

Personality wise the team are all likeable, Dawn for a commissioner is one hard edged street wise cookie who knows how to ‘handle herself’

I really enjoyed it. I reckon I would have definitely loved the audiobook more.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this book. This is the 3rd in the series and begins when a critically Ill child disappears from the hospital without a trace. Jessie, Seamus and Terri are out on the case. The body count racks up literally page by page. Once again Jessie is taunted by Uruz but is he helping or hindering the case.
Once again you can probably get by without reading the first 2 in this series but the backstory is helpful. And that ending…. Can’t wait for book 4!

Nine year old Arizona Rose Blake, known as Rosie, is kidnapped from her hospital bed in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital where she is having Chemotherapy in a race to cure her Cancer. Her rich parents Peter and Shauna are totally distraught. If she isn’t found within ten days maximum she will die.
Police Commissioner Dawn Wilson alerts her specialised team, DS Seamus Keneally, Jessie Boyle and Terry Kehoe, a multifaceted, resourceful and talented squad who complement each other’s skills in this the third outing in the Boyle and Keneally Irish mystery thriller series. Investigations start straight away and the team is mobilised and ready for action.
The first clue is ascertained and it appears Rosie has a favourite porter called Richard Roche. He spends his spare time with her as she is alone in a private bedroom. He reads to her, plays games with her and more importantly takes notice of her. With this gem of a clue, the chase is on and it leads the team to Ireland’s remote mountains. In a deserted building Richard is found dead and alongside him is Rosie’s favourite toy, Panda Bear, now discarded in a corner. The building used to be used by a cult called Dublin’s Hellfire Club that was associated with death lust and also human sacrifice.
This discovery begs many questions: Why has Richard Roche been murdered? Has the cult been resurrected? Is innocent little Rosie going to be offered as a human sacrifice? The team has plenty of work to do as quickly as possible. The clock is ticking and Rosie needs her medications if she is to survive.
In the noughties Shane Dunphy started his writing career with poignant and highly readable nonfiction books about children who were mistreated and needed support, therapy and keeping safe. At that time he was working as a child protection expert and teacher. He was prolific and I loved reading each new story. When I saw the name S.A. Dunphy I wondered if it was the same author, which turned out to be the case. I really enjoyed this tense and action packed crime thriller. The Storyboard was impressive and the pace of the story was even and full of surprises, shocks and red herrings. I thought the storytelling was very good and the characters relatable and diverse. This story is part of a series, but I read it as a standalone novel without any problems. This man has a great imagination and I was very pleased that I had been introduced to a ‘new to me’ crime fiction writer.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. It is a really good read and my review reflects this fact. It’s a 4.5* review from me.

Her Child’s cry by S.A. Dunphy is the third in the Boyle & Keneally series and I think it’s his best one yet.
Nine-year-old Arizona Rose Blake (Rosie) is currently in hospital receiving treatment for a rare form a cancer in a private hospital. When she is kidnapped, but no ransom has been made. If she is not found in the next 10 days, it will be fatal. So, the team are called in to find her. The team wonders who would do such a thing a kidnap a girl with cancer. They also noticed that the parents are not as upset as they should be, and they seem to be hiding something.
When a body turns up with evidence that they were Rosie’s kidnapper Richard Roche that is a porter at the hospital. They are shocked and ascertain that they must have an accomplice. Where is Rosie and what do they want with her? As the investigation deepens, they discover that it is linked with a cult called The Reavers and Jessie’s adversary Uruz contacts Jessie and warns her of the danger that she is in.
Thank you Bookoutre for a copy of Her Childs cry. This is another tense and creepy, supernatural thriller from the author that keeps you at the end of your seat. Which left me a bit breathless wondering what is going to happen next. I love the mixture of a Police procedural and the Irish supernatural element to it. The characters and the comradery between them are great. I highly recommend. 5 stars from me.

Out May 18, this is the third investigation for Jessie Boyle and Seamus Keneally – and it’s a heartstring puller. A young, very ill child is taken from her hospital bed, whisked away from her parents and medical staff and it’s up to Boyle and Keneally to find her… fast. Rosie could last up to ten days without her medication so time is of the essence for the police investigators, plus their boss and nimble techy friend. Though they’re quick to find the abductor, he’s sort of indisposed when they meet – which is one word for it – leading the pair into a much larger story where Jessie’s past flashes in front of her. You’d easily read this in one sitting and the pacy is such that everything rattles along. The ending is particularly good and opens the door neatly for another case. The characters are believable, witty and smart but not everything is handed to them; there’s a good bit of guesswork and skill in deciphering what’s going on.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I can't get enough of kidnapping books for some reason. This was a good book. I enjoyed the medical condition as another twist to the plot. It had good suspense and some good secrets i didn't see coming. The only thing that turned me off was the whole ritual/sacrifice thing. The ending kind of made me slower my score by a star due to that.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of "Her Child's Cry" in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 3rd book in the Boyle & Keneally series and it is the best one! The first two books were wonderful reads but this book goes above and beyond. I was hooked from page one and I did not want to stop turning pages.

Jessie Boyle is a criminal behaviourist and her partner is DS Seamus Keneally. The third member of their team is Terri Kehoe who is a computer whiz. Their boss is Ireland's Garda Commissioner Dawn Wilson. The team is called in when Arizona Rose Blake (Rosie) is taken from her hospital room in Dublin. A search of the hospital yields nothing. Time is critical because Rosie is in hospital for life-saving chemotherapy and she cannot be disconnected from her drip for long. It is believed that hospital porter Richard Roche took her from the hospital in an attempt to "save" her. Roche was her friend at the hospital, he played games with her, watched TV with her. When the body of Roche is found by a hillwalker at a remote cabin, finding Rosie becomes even more critical.

The parents Peter and Shauna Blake are an odd couple. They are uncooperative with the police, they barely answer any questions. One would think they would be anxious to find their little girl as soon as possible. Roche had filed a complaint against Rosie's parents with the hospital social worker.

As in the first two books, we have a message from Uruz, the serial killer from London. He seems to know every move Jessie is about to make. Who is the bald man with the massive dog and how does he fit in the story?

Definitely looking forward to book 4 as this was a stellar read. This book deserves 10 stars for the character development and plot.

This is the third in SA Dunphy's wonderful Irish crime series, featuring 45 year old criminal behaviourist Jessie Boyle and DS Seamus Kenneally, part of a special police unit set up by their increasingly hands on boss, Police Commissioner Dawn Wilson, and which includes their tech genius, Terry Kehoe. They are to find themselves with their most pressurising case yet when young 9 year old cancer patient, Arizona Rose Blake, known as Rosie, is taken from her private room at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital. They have no leads, although her abductor, porter Richard Roche, is identified when they find his dead body at the Mount Pelier, close to the notorious and sinister Hellfire Club, shot 3 times. Rosie's wealthy parents, Peter, who works as a stockbroker at Precision Investment Brokers, and Shauna, are visibly upset, but why are they so reluctant to be as helpful as they could be?

There are various threads to this dark and intense fast paced mystery that includes the incorporation of Ireland's history of the the supernatural with the pagan occultists known as the Reavers with their notions of seeking metaphysical change that involves sacrifice, there are crude human shaped figures made of sticks and twigs left at the scene of gruesome killings, and Rosie's description of a bald man with his large dog turns out to be more than a mere feverish dream. We learn more about Dawn's intriguing past as an undercover police officer as she seeks answers from crime boss, Garth Calhoun, a man who has brought in the ambitious Eugene Dunlin into his gang. Joining the investigation is US intelligence officer, Donal Glynn, serial killer Uruz insists on keeping in touch with Jessie, providing what appears to be helpful information and Terry finds herself sent out in the field on a dangerous assignment to Tory Island.

As the body count rises, the pressures on the police intensify, particularly as Rosie can only survive for so long without her essential cancer treatment and medication. This is a terrific addition to this tense and captivating Irish series, I love the characters of Jessie, willing to do whatever it takes to protect Rosie, Seamus with his attempts to pass himself off as street and urban, Dawn who thinks nothing of placing herself in the midst of a ferocious battle and Terry, who keeps her wits together in the face of great danger. A great crime read. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of Her Child’s Cry, the third novel to feature criminal behaviourist Jessie Boyle and DS Seamus Keneally of An Garda Síochána.

Jessie and Seamus are in Dublin to investigate the disappearance of 9 year old Rosie Blake from hospital where she is being treated for cancer. She has 10 days before the lack of medicine kills her so the pressure is on. They quickly find her presumed kidnapper murdered, but there is no sign of Rosie. Who has her now and is there a link to the 18th century Hellfire Club?

I thoroughly enjoyed Her Child’s Cry, which is an exciting read with a strong plot. The author has an interest in the old Irish legends and traditions and successfully weaves them into the series, in this case it is the occult that draws his attention.

I like this series because the plots are denser than the average novel in the genre, giving the reader more strands to follow and much to think about. Obviously in this one the disappearance of Rosie Blake is front and centre, but there are a couple of subplots and several offbeat stories about Ireland’s history to keep the reader amused. I was impressed by the author’s ability to weave these ostensibly disparate strands into a cohesive and engrossing whole, but I was even more impressed by the twists he incorporates. I read the novel in one sitting, absorbed by the story and fascinated by the mythology.

The mysterious serial killer, Uruz, pokes his nose in once again. Unidentified and seemingly all knowing he is a thread in the series. He is alternately helpful and threatening to the team. I don’t like threads (too much effort to try and remember back), so I wish they’d catch him and be done with it. Having said that his interference is bewitching - how does he know so much, how can he run a group of psychopaths so anonymously and, mostly, why is he so interested in Jessie?

The plot is only half the story in the novel as much of the attraction in the read is the characters and their humour. Jessie, Seamus and more and more often Police Commissioner Dawn Wilson are ever ready to jump into the fray and physically tangle with the bad guys. This is exciting and fun, but it is their humour and close teamwork that give the novel its warmth and edge.

Her Child’s Cry is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Although there are two earlier books in this series, this is the first I’ve read. It’s quite good and there’s enough backstory that a new reader to the series won’t be left missing details. The book starts with a young cancer patient going missing from her hospital bed. Within hours a well-liked hospital porter is found dead on a remote hillside with the missing child’s stuffed panda beside him. What does the shadowy figure leaving clues for the lead detective have to do with the disappearance, and who are the Reavers? It’s an excellent thriller with twists and turns all over.

This excellent entry in this Irish police series really ups the ante. A very sick nine year old girl is kidnapped from a hospital where she is undergoing treatment for her cancer. Her parents' reaction is not quite what you'd expect and the porter who allegedly kidnapped her is found dead. The police team investigating her disappearance is under intense time pressure to find the sick girl, and are bedeviled by many factors, including links to a creepy cult with supernatural overtones. I enjoy this series because the police team works so well together, and because I learn a little about Irish supernatural history. It's also a crackling good mystery!

This series keeps getting better and better. The third volume brings same supernatural goodness with a helping of smart and funny dialogues and non-stop action. The creepiness factor is higher than ever. A little girl with a rare form of cancer is kidnapped from the hospital. Jessie’s team knows how time is of the essence. Pretty soon, their investigation takes them to a very dark cult of devil worshippers… or could there be a more pedestrian explanation? Now that we know everybody, it’s easy to imagine how they’re all going to act, even if the characters surprised me. This time more than ever, there is a clock counting down. There is one twist after another and, when you think you reached the end, there is another plot turn. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Bookouture!