Her Lost Soul was such a fun ride with a unique storyline. I can start by saying that I have not read the #1 book in this series, but boy, I like Maria Miller.

First, the relationship between Frankie and Maria was so much fun. It's crazy because the book immediately started off with their relationship, and for partners, their banter and connection was undeniable in the best brother-sister familiar kind of way. I saw them pop out of the pages and couldn't get enough of them. This was some of the best character development I've seen.

Second, the story was eerie and chilling, but not in the way that I would lose sleep. However, it gave you that feeling to look over your shoulder in any abandoned place and curious if darkness lies in places with many secrets.

Third, this book had a little of everything, mystery, horror, time travel, creepy settings, and trying to figure out what's real and what's not. But it pulls you in and doesn't let you go. I'm so pleased with this book and this author--and really excited to read more of her.

Finally, I want to thank both Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I'm really excited to have read this book and again, excited for more from Phifer!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! This is a police procedural crime thriller with a supernatural element, so I highly recommend it if that interests you. If you don't have an open mind to supernatural events, I wouldn't read it. Spirits, psychic mediums, time travel, Native American mythology just to name a few. I liked the characters, although sometimes the dialogue felt a little unnatural. This is the 2nd book in a series. I didn't read the first book and I was still able to catch on. I will most likely go back and read the first, though!

I wanted to like this book so bad but the plot was difficult for me to comprehend and it confused me. I also think if my mindset was better than I would have rated this book more. Lots of characters to follow in dual timelines.

I enjoyed the first book in the series more than this one. Another quick read of a dark tale with multiple time lines again. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Maria and Frankie are off on another case, and this one could kill one or both of them.
When a teenage girl goes missing in an old abandoned mental hospital, a friend of Frankie's reaches out for help. When he and Maria arrive, they quickly discover that their newest case is going to be one that will test them in many different ways. After their first visit leaves them with a bad feeling, they know more help is going to be needed.
As the investigation continues, time is running out. Will they be able to rescue the missing teen before the thing that lurks in the darkness harms them?

What a read! I enjoyed this one. Maria and Frankie make a great team, and I do enjoy the older ladies that make appearances within the book. There were quite a few twists and turns that happen, and make you not want to put this book down. I am going to be stalking the web looking for the next installment in this series!

Having read and enjoyed the first book in the Detective Maria Miller series (The Haunting on West 10th Street), I was keen to read this next instalment – and it didn’t disappoint. (I would advise reading the books in order, to fully appreciate the character development and their relationships.) This book is set in a derelict psychiatric asylum, which really sets the scene for the spooky events that follow. We also have a dual timeline which flits between the present day and 1960, which I really enjoyed, as the chapters set in 1960 give the reader not only some background and clarity to the present-day events, but also work as a mini story themselves. The book is well written, with a host of well-developed characters and an atmosphere that you can practically feel! This is a gripping read, a well-executed police procedural with an added supernatural element. Highly recommended.

Four friends exploring a haunted building leads one to being trapped inside.

Marie Miller is a homicide detective in New York. Her partner, Frankie, is asked to assist with a missing teen case in the next county. Marie and Frankie learn that the missing teen, Riley, may be trapped inside the decaying Beacon Hill Asylum. Marie discovers that a dark entity has trapped her in 1960 when the asylum functioned with staff and patients. Marie must race against time and travel back to save her before her eventual death.

Helen's description of Beacon Hill Asylum brings creepy and dark to vivid imagery. It makes you shiver as if you are walking and hearing things with the four teenagers. In addition to her descriptions of place, the author has strong characters. Marie is a sceptic at first until she is almost loses her life after encountering a dark entity. She becomes brave when she faces the entity to save Riley before it's too late. As a fan of scary and dark stories, I highly recommend this book.

This is the second book in the Maria Miller series which features Maria and her partner Frankie Conroy, assigned to the newly formed Strange Crimes Unit, whose work has similarities to the X Files. It can be read as a standalone, although references to the first book made me curious not only about the history of this unit, but also what had taken place at West 10th Street, which was mentioned. Maybe an addition to my TBR pile is needed to bring me up to speed.

The story starts with group of ghost hunting teens breaking into Beacon Hill Hospital, a derelict former mental facility. But things go badly wrong, and soon they are running for their lives, only to find one of their group is missing. The missing girl is 17 year old Riley Holt, daughter of the local Chief of Police. When the hospital is searched and they can find no trace of her, Miller and Conroy are called in to investigate.

The prologue where the teens break in to the old hospital and discover a malevolent force, is gripping. What follows is a supernatural suspense/crime story with a great cast of characters, and narrated in two timeframes – present day and 1960. The writer did a brilliant job of navigating between both decades and making sure she constantly held my attention. The story builds to a thrilling climax and a race against time to save Riley.

My thanks to Storm Publishing, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of Her Lost Soul in exchange for an honest review.

After investigating a macabre murder resulting from a satanic ritual in ‘The House on West 10th Street’ Detective Maria Miller and her partner Frankie Conroy are now being assigned any ‘unusual’ crimes. So when four teenagers enter a haunted derelict asylum in Beacon in NY state and only three return and the missing girl is Riley, the Chief of Police’s daughter, Maria and Frankie are called in to investigate.

The plot switches from the current time and 1960 when the asylum was in use for mentally ill patients and there is a good twist at about the 40% mark that ties the two together and gives the plot an original angle and sparked my flagging interest. We’re also told that the asylum was built on native Wappinger land and was also once the hiding place of a serial killer known as the College Kid Killer in the 1960s and although these tie in with the plot I thought more could have been made of both those elements.

I thought I would enjoy this mix of paranormal, horror and murder mystery with a modern Sully and Mulder type team of detectives at the helm, but it never really gripped me. I felt that either the paranormal or horror element needed more depth to make it really creepy and chilling, but I may be an outlier here as several reviewers describe it as ‘dark’, ‘thrilling’ and ‘terrifying’. The characters and their relationships are interesting, so if you enjoy a light and not too scary paranormal mystery then give this a try.

Her Lost Soul
Helen Phifer
February 28, 2024

Detectives Maria Miller and Frankie Conroy have nothing but usual police duties for a while, at least until a case that is so unique and bizarre turns up. They are chosen to find homicides of the unknown that require an unusual sort of research. At times they need to call in people who have psychic knowledge and abilities.
Recently four teens have decided to take a late night trip to a hospital that has closed and is due to be torn down for the space. They broke a window and climbed into the old asylum. It was spooky and eerie but they walked the halls and explored the old patient rooms. They heard noises and hoped that the creepy sounds were from the old building’s construction blowing in the wind. They took photos and found many things that took their breath away. By the time they decided to leave they were shaking from fear. Once they were all outside, one of their group was missing. Despite screaming for her and making another trip into the entryway, Riley never returned.
Her Lost Soul will be published by Storm Publishing on February 28, 2024. I was able to read the ARC of Helen Phifer’s latest Detective Maria Miller series via NetGalley. This one succeeded in creeping me out. I have been in old buildings and it is difficult not to see and hear spooky things. Her writing brings such experiences back to the reader and leads us right into that old mental sanitorium. It’s a good read and has its moments of humor. A good choice for a thriller on a stormy spring night. Enjoy!

A good paced dark and sinister read. I read this as a stand alone and there were hints at the lead characters history but I think it would have helped to have read the first book in the series. A bit too much packed in for me though, demons, ghosts, time travel to name a few!

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, Storm Publishing and Helen Phifer for an ARC of this book.

A solid 4 stars from me.

I’m more familiar with the authors crime books but have read the previous book in this series. Whilst different from her other books I do like the supernatural element. I felt there was more of the supernatural in this book.

The dual timeline between present day and 1960 works well, but the reader does need to have an open mind. I like the setting of the abandoned psychiatric hospital and learning a bit about what went on there in the past. In the present day 4 teenagers explore this abandoned building but only 3 come on. Can the detectives work out what happened and save the lost girl?

A fast, interesting and creepy read.

Books about abandoned haunted buildings in various forms are one of my favorites to read.
A hunted mental hospital with a “x-files team” but for the paranormal shows up to help crack the case about a missing girl. She walked in to investigate the local mental hospital, a place that has the reputation of being haunted and a evil place, with her friends and she was the only one not coming out again. The hospital is searched, but no tracks or clues reveal where she might have gone.

Riley is the seventeen-year-old daughter of the local police chief. Did she run away or did something happen to her in the mental hospital?
Detective Miller and Frankie Conroy is on the case, the modern version of Scully and Molder (but less UFO’s and more ghosts).

I have not read the first one in the series, but this book works great as a stand-alone. But it read great as a stand-alone and the backstory I needed was presented. I really enjoyed this book; it was well-written and just as scary as the description makes it sound. Truly a page-turner.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own. Publication date: 28/2.

Four teenagers go into the old insane asylum to do a little ghost hunting. Only 3 come out. The bones of the lost teenager are recovered a few days later but they date back 50 years 😳 Now two detective have to find the portal into the past to try and bring her back before she dies. Her Lost Soul has it all. Haunted insane asylum, time travel, Native American burial ground, 50’s Hollywood starlet. Scary and tragic at the same time. Very happy this is part of a series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this opportunity!
The story starts out with teens going ghost hunting in an old hospital that used to be filled with mental patients. I was unaware that this book was part of a series and I think that was a disadvantage for me. I wasn’t thrilled with the supernatural aspect of the book. But it does have you flipping pages and wondering what’s next. I will have to read a stand alone by Helen to get a true taste of her work.

This is book 2 in the paranormal series featuring Detectives Miller and Conroy. It was a bit unbelievable for me as paranormal is not my type of genre.The dual timeline, detectives seeing ghosts and too much filler in the middle left me losing interest. Other readers may enjoy it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Brilliantly original! Four teenagers break into an old asylum and one disappears. It’s not the usual abduction trope, but a sinister supernatural story that takes us back to the past. Some great characters and clever twists made this gripping read unputdownable.

I haven’t read the first on the series, but it works well as a standalone.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Helen Phifer and Storm for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the second outing of Missy and Emilia in pursuit of the supernatural and assisting Maria!
Although the book requires the suspension of belief and the paradox of time travel it is a thoroughly gripping read with great characters and buckets of creepy, chilling atmosphere!

Four teenagers enter Beacon Hill, the old abandoned psychiatric asylum, to have one last look before its demolished. Only three exit, Riley is nowhere to be seen. Knowing Maria and Frankie take on unusual cases, Frankie's friend calls them in to investigate. But dark forces are at work and the dark shadow that takes the souls of all who enter.
The Miller series aren't your usual police procedural novels, they have a paranormal feel, this was no exception. My heart was in my mouth for much of the book and I found it spooky and chilling.
I also loved the sections in the 1960's when the asylum was functional. The connection between a famous starlet and Dolores was an interesting sideline.
And great to see Missy and Emilia again, they are feisty ladies

I did not read the first book in this series so went into this book a bit blind. I was expecting the police procedural part of the story but was surprised by the supernatural aspect of it. Although it wasn’t quite what I expected I enjoyed it.

Her Lost Soul is a fast-paced story with unexpected twists and turns. It leaves you wanting to keep turning pages to see what happens next. It’s creepy and atmospheric and the author makes it very easy to visualize the abandoned horror-filled asylum. You can almost imagine you’re right there with the characters.

The characters were very likable. Frank and Maria are a strong team with a great dynamic between them and the supporting cast of characters plays off of them well.

Even considering the chilling and frightful backdrop this was a fun read.

Thanks NetGally and Storm Publishing for this advanced copy.