I’ve been with this series since the beginning. After the last one I was ready to give it up. But I don’t give u0p easily. I’m still not sure who “She” is in the title. Is it the little girl who witnesses the abduction in the beginning? Is it the victim? Is it the cop? I’m starting to really wonder about titles. Anyway, after the last book, I was more interested in this story. My mind kept scoming up with possibilities with each new character. I could imagine how this person could be involved and what their motive would be. That is part of the fun of reading a thriller. Trying to think of all of the possibilities.

Who would pull a woman into a van in broad daylight? Is it the husband? Is it the sister, whom we are told over and over looks just like the victim? Is it the cocky American profiler? His creepy and intense assistant? The mob-adjacent owner of a chicken slaughterhouse?

That all kept me reading. Even thought Kate has become a boring character. She should be interesting even if she is not in some Sort of weird romantice turmoil. This series still defines its female characters by their relationships with men. The women are constantly reacting to the men. I don’t get it from a female author. Similarly, I was hoping Sophie would grow. She still acts like she graduate the police academy yesterday. She is always following someone around and seriously second guessing every thing she does and says. When will she become more?

Other characters didn’t show any growth, either. Morgan has become just a bore. Rick became more interesting in the last few books but is largely ignored here. He has the potential to have depth. It is there somewhere but we are not given access to it. Disappointing.

The author continues to overexplain almost everything, but then I found huge jumps were made that were not explained. For example, how does something on a mantle tell one character who did it? Because you found out the victim knew someone you already knew that they knew? Why was the first abduction done where it was done if it was done for the reason it was done? It seems like it should have been more like the second if that was the point the whole time.

The good-the introduction of possible suspects and motives.
The questionable-some of the jumps and choices made by characters.
The bad-lack of growth in recurring characters.

Read it for the story. You don’t need to have read previous books.

A young girl, not-quite-5-year-old Molly McCarthy, is dawdling rather than getting ready for school. She's looking out the window at a white van. A young woman walks by; someone jumps out of the van, grabs the young woman, tosses her into the van; and then drives off. Molly's mother thinks she's making it all up, but eventually does call the police. They send around DS Karen Hart to talk to Molly. Hart believes Molly, in part because Molly reminds her of her own daughter, Tilly, still deeply mourned after her demise in an auto accident. And so, the search begins for the van and the missing woman.

Complicating the investigation is that a new chief inspector, DCI Churchill, has just been appointed to oversee the police station in which Karen works. Churchill is skeptical of the competence of women in general, and of DS Hart in particular. He has heard that DS Hart has a way of being a bit unorthodox at times, and also a bit prickly. Some of that may be true, but she does have a way of getting cases solved.

An additional complication is that Dr. Michaels, a famous criminologist from the U.S., is visiting on a book tour with his entourage of publicists, right-hand man, Zane Dwight, and photographer, Nicholas Phinny. Dr. Michaels wants to "help out". But, is he actually helping, or is he hanging out to generate more publicity for himself?

Eventually, they figure out that the missing woman is likely Tamara Lomax. When the police interview her husband, he seems unusually nervous. Was he, perhaps, involved in some way? Later on, they find that Tamara's sister, Rachael has also been abducted in a similar fashion. One intriguing feature of all this is that a playing card, the Queen of Hearts, is found at each abduction site, and so as not to be missed, stuffed through the Lomax's mail slot. Dr. Michaels detailed a serial crime of female abduction wherein an Ace of spades was the "calling card" feature of the crime. Is someone recreating one of Dr. Michaels' previous cases? If so, that would certainly be Good for publicity.

So, why are the sisters targeted? Why is Aidan so twitchy? What's up with the Queen of Hearts? Where is the van? It all comes out in the end in this book. This is essentially yet another British police procedural story. It's a rather popular form of fiction these days, and justifiably so. I've read some of DS Hart's adventures previously, and will likely do so in the future.

#WhatSheSaid #NetGalley

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. When playing cards are left at the scene of a crime, its up to Karen who is a detective to figure it out. This book captured my attention from the start.

I received an ARC of this book. This is an excellent detective series. I love the characters. Full of action and suspense!

Fantastic! A real page turner of a story with a totally unexpected ending, had me guessing all the way through. The tension was palpable, a great read.

What She Said by D. S. Butler is a thought-provoking mystery in the Detective Karen Hart series. This is book six and I have enjoyed this whole series! Many children are gifted with creative imaginations and that is a cause for concern when the only witness to an incident is a playful child. She is playing one morning when she observes a woman being pulled from the sidewalk and forced into a van. She tells her mother, but the mother thinks she is avoiding getting ready for their day and wants to play. Detective Karen Hart is really considering all the possibilities as she questions the little girl and has officers pick up any debris on the curb close to where the child said the van parked. Soon, there is no doubt that a woman has gone missing from their neighborhood. The investigation really picks up when another body is found along with another playing card. The story is intriguing!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Well I must say having read some rather dire police procedurals recently this made an excellent change. I haven't read this author before but I certainly will again. What struck me was how believable the police team was. They had a night shift, people went home and had something to eat- no breatharian detectives here who are the only police officers on the force! Whilst the DS Karen Hart has had her troubles she hasn't turned into an alcoholic, chain smoking, pain killer addicted saddo. Thank heaven!
The attention to detail was excellent. I really liked the way DS Hart interacted with people. The characters were well drawn and the book very well written. Believable plot , no rabbits out of a hat just for the sake of adding "jaw dropping" to a headline. Concentrating on a good story. Right up my street. I shall search out the earlier books and am very pleased to have read this one.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

I actually want to go back and read what happened to Karen in her previous books. This book was ok in the beginning but got a lot more interesting once I hit halfway through.

This series checks all the boxes for me. Mystery=check, enjoyable characters- check, twists and turns and didn't see that coming=bonus!!! I started reading D. S. Butler from the Kindle Unlimited. My subscription expired and I was given the opportunity to read book six from the Publisher. (Thank you). That being said, I will buy the books as they come out...I enjoy this series that much.

Prolific author D S Butler has released the sixth book of her Detective Karen Blackwell series - What She Said. The police case begins with an imaginative five year old girl witnessing a kidnapping. Yet the police feel she cannot be relied upon despite her seeing the woman abducted off the street in front of her. Detective Blackwell is not so certain and sees a stark reminder of her own child. Initially, she is reluctant to accept help from a visiting American criminal profiler as the team chases down leads and the tensions and human dynamics interplay. An engrossing police procedural with great characters and a captivating case that builds to an unexpected outcome. It’s a most enjoyable crime novel with a four-star read rating. With thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and the author for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes, All opinions expressed herein are freely given and totally my own.

This book was great, the characters were well developed. The plot was interesting. Highly recommend it.

This novel is a thoroughly brilliant Police mystery with intrigue from the very start when they are first alerted by a mother of a 4 year old girl who saw a woman being grabbed from a man in a white transit van. The detectives can’t be sure that this is a real abduction as even the child’s mother says she tends to make things up but the child, Molly is adamant and the Police get underway with their investigation.

I could really see this coming to the screen in a fast paced Netflix drama, all of the characters are rich in description and likeable especially Detective Karen Hart, who clearly has her own skeletons in the closet that she doesn’t want to open and a pressurised job coming up against harsher officers above her.

Interesting is the fact that when the Police check to see if anyone local has been reported missing, Tamara Lomax has and her husband, her sister and her boss could potentially all be trying to hide something important. The author has been very clever in creating a suspense of a victim that you know llittle about from anyone other than the potential perpetrators.

The only negative I have is that, though the author fleshes out in great length the characteristics of the Police team, I don’t feel that was enough about the loss of Karen Hart to really see her vulnerabilities. An exceptional cop nonetheless, but I wanted to know so much more about what had happened to her.

I didn’t see who was the person responsible until DS Hunt did which I loved and the ending is perfectly emotional and gives the feeling of closure to a good novel.

All in all, a good read that I would recommend.

Book available – release date – 24th May 2022:-

What She Said (Detective Karen Hart Book 6) eBook : Butler, D. S.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Date of review: 7th June 2022

SPOILERS- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Another amazing Karen Hart book. I found this one, a bit less intriguing than the previous ones, but nonetheless, really gripping. I liked seeing more of the dynamic between all of the side characters, especially Sophie, even though I found her a bit annoying at times. The American psychologist person was so shifty, he ended up disappointing by the end. I did think that the whole mystery was kind of underwhelming. Everyone died accidentally and the 'villains' were mediocre. Not much development of the tension, and it's a bit weird when nearly everything suspicious turns out to be fine and the whole case is unravelled based on one chance thing, that could have happened at the beginning of the book.

Either way, I'll still continue with the series and can't wait for the next book!
Highly recommend for people who like crime thrillers, but without as much gore.

I really enjoyed this book. It drew me in from the first page and I didn't figure it out till the reveal. Just a good book and a favourite series of mine.

What She Said finds DS Karen Hart on the trail of a missing woman, but is there really a case? Her main witness is a very young girl who was in the midst of an argument with her mother. The mother insists her daughter has a habit of making up tall tales. The daughter insists she saw a woman being grabbed off the street and being thrown into a white van. Who is she to believe? Hart also has to deal with team members who don’t believe the little girl and don’t believe Hart being female should be in a position of authority. Matters are further complicated when an expert in serial abductions and murders attempts to horn in on the investigation. Hart’s superior officers are not pleased and feel that she invited the man into the case. But the expert and his assistant both give off vibes that they might be more than tangentially involved in the case. The book is well written and has more than enough to keep the reader engaged. I look forward to reading other books in the Karen Hart series.

I have been loving the karen hart series, and What She Said is a wonderful addition

Well written, great characters and a gripping plot

Brilliant read i love the Detective Karen Hart books the stories and characters always go so well together and keep you hooked from start to finish.5*

Great plot twists. Engaging from start to finish.

The sign of a great story is one that you can’t wait to get back to reading. This is the perfect example of a be of those stories. With three-dimensional characters that drive the plot forward, Butler is an absolute master of her craft.

Also important to note is that this is part of a series, of which I have read none. What I enjoyed immensely is that I didn’t feel as though I was missing out by jumping in at this point. While there were references to past events that I assume were from previous novels, this book stood very well on its own.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. I await the next in the series, and can use the time to catch up on previous adventures.

Book six in the Karen Hart series and it started off really well. It begins with a youg girl witnessing the abduction of a woman. A good plot, plenty of misdirection. Unfortunately for me the story left unfinished. So many unanswered questions and the conclusion was a bit bizzare. All in all a good read.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

When a woman was kidnapped and the only witness a 4 year old little girl that could describe the van, would anyone believe What She Said?
D.S. Butler writes with total comprehension of what makes a marvelous mystery novel.
The twists and turns in What She Said almost gave me whiplash.
With an ending that was oh, so satisfying.