Detective Lottie Parker has a difficult investigation to lead following the discovery of a woman’s body in the cathedral. Followed soon after by the discovery of a man’s body. What is going on and how is this linked to the former children’s home that closed years ago?

Very well written and well narrated (I listened to the audiobook). Strong characters must use their skills and stamina to solve what is going on before even more deaths. Lottie’s family will be drawn in to the danger and mystery to these killings. Only book one so I look forward to book two.

A great debut in this series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to listen to this audio book.

Ms Moran does an amazing job of narrating this debut. I loved the accents and as always, there is something about the narration that successfully describes the settngs and the emotions, with an "Irish" twist.

Lottie is investigating two deaths that are seemingly tied to each other and to the past. As she goes deeper, she is surprised to find that they are also tied to HER past, and not in a happy way.

Lottie is navigating being a single parent, and the effects of losing her husband while trying to be a leader at work and involved at home. When the killer hits close to home, she is in a race to unravel not only the past, but figure out what or who is threatening her in the present. The church is involved, which means there are a lot of loyalties and people who have a vested interested in the past remaining the past.

I was interested in her relationship with her team and the different dynamics. I am excited to see the next book in this series to watch Lottie and the team evolve.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this audiobook and offer my thoughts.

Title: The Missing Ones
Author: Patricia Gibney
Series: Detective Lottie Parker Book #1
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Michele Moran
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: Mystery
Audiobook Release Date: September 20, 2024
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages 424

This is the first book in the ten volume Detective Lottie Parker series. Book #1 was published back in March 16, 2017 - there are 38 editions available.
The audiobook release date is scheduled for September 20, 2024.
This story starts when two bodies are found at two different times; however both have the same distinctive tattoo on their legs. There seems to be no other connection.
Lottie and her team must work from that first clue. As Lottie investigated she finds a connection to her own past; she fears that her children, Sean, Chloe and Katie, might now be in danger.

The burb plus the 4 & 5 ratings from readers I usually agree with had me interested in this story.
However, I sound found it dragging and I was struggling to keep interested. I found Lottie annoying, rude and unlikeable and wasn’t interested in hearing her yell at her children – Note: I am listening to an audiobook, sometime the narrator’s performance is not what I imagined however as I continued, I believe the narrator Michele Moran got it right.

I hung in there as often the ending saves the story for me and I end up liking it; however, this ended just okay.

I want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 20, 2024.

Lottie Parker might just be my new favorite female detective! The audio version was exceptional, with the perfect Irish accent, authentic without being too thick to follow. Lottie herself is brilliantly written, coming across as a real, relatable person. Her imperfections make her all the more captivating. As the first book in the series, it delivers a strong start, and I’m excited to continue the journey. If you’re a fan of The Women’s Murder Club or James Patterson’s Harriet Blue series, this is a must read! 5/5 highly recommend for your next detective thriller binge!

Good listen with plenty of twists and turns I also liked the characters and as this is book 1 in the series I am so looking forward to more in this series

This book is a bit too long and slow moving at the beginning, but towards the end as the events start precipitating I couldn’t stop listening.
The backstory is very good, although a harrowing one of child sexual abuse by the Catholic Church.
I look forward to reading more books in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for letting me review this audiobook.

DI Lottie Parker is the lead investigator on a case unlike anything they have ever seen. Two suspicious deaths are linked together by a unique tattoo on their leg. But as the case unravels these victims are tied to past murders from decades ago. They are also all linked to a former children’s home that has rumors circling that horrible things happened there.

I had high hopes for this book because the plot sounded so interesting. And I think it still is, however it still had some flaws.

The first being it is entirely too long. Over 500 pages for a mystery/thriller is way too much in my opinion. Especially because it was also very slow. It was difficult for me to want to pick it up at times.

I also felt there were too many characters and they wouldn’t be talked about often enough so you might forget who they are when they come back around. I did enjoy the main character towards the end, but there were times I wasn’t a fan and it felt hard to connect with any of the characters.

Everything did wrap up nicely at the end. But I did figure out a good chunk of it except a couple of things. The narrator did a good job with audio version of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the audio copy of this book!

This is the first book in the series, and I did not know there are already many more that are published. I am not sure if I will be listening to them when they are available to me, only because I found it to be too dark for me. I would also add that I felt like that it drug on a little longer than necessary.

I think there was good character development, and I say that because when characters get on my nerves, that to me says that the writer is doing an excellent job describing them through dialogue, action, and overall essence of them throughout the book.

All of those things aside, I think the book is well written, there is great character development, and the storyline kept me engaged- for 80% of the book. This book needed to come with trigger warnings without a doubt, I would probably not have requested this book if I knew about all the triggers throughout this book- if it hadn't been so heavy and dark I may have been able to handle it. But this book was just too much for me.

This was an excellent book. I was hooked very early on and the author set just the right amount of suspense but not too much that it seemed dragged out. There many facets in this book too that intertwined perfectly at the culmination. Definitely recommend this book and the following in the series! Thank you NetGalley for the audio arc!

Lovely Irish accent on the narration makes listening a pleasure.
The story itself is both heartbreaking and tense. It looks at an orphanage run by Catholic priests and nuns and documents the horrendous abuse that took place. This then ties into a series of violent murders in the present day. Good author and good book

This book was very lengthy! Lottie was a little hard to follow, so much was going on at once I found myself having to go back and re listen to some parts to keep the story lines together.

The plot however was very well written! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a very long book with lots of story lines!

Thank you for letting me read and review

TW for sexual abuse, church abuse, and the type of things that are in the history of church sponsored boarding schools.

This book told an important story that related to real world events in a captivating and well-written fictionalization. Anything that is pointed to in this book could be real, which makes it both a hard read and a good read. I didn't particularly "get" all of the characters, but they were so well-written that even when I didn't understand why they did something as a person, I did in the context of the story.

This book is good for folks who like psychological thrillers, true crime, and a more hard-boiled mystery. It gave me Patricia Cornwall and Kathy Reichs vibes.

Holyyy shit ! I loved this !! You have to love a mystery that you can feel so involved in and feel like you get to work everything out with the detective as wellll as it still not being simple enough that I just guessed and got it right , I got it half right btw haha. But omg was it fun. I loved the characters , even the baddies were just so interesting. The past and present timeline mystery was amazing, the “school” was so fascinating. The writing was really well done and the audio book read it really well! Just the plot and the plot twists was really well done , I can’t wait to read book two from Lottie Parker !

I enjoyed the narration. I am not a fan of Lottie Parker. She was a very irritating character. I thought the way she treated Boyd was ridiculous, she was at times very harsh and abrasive. The plot was interesting but Lottie was not my cup of tea. She is dealing with three teenage kids which is rough but she was very dramatic at times. The plot and the twist were okay but could have definitely been better.

I’ve just finished this audiobook,

Detective Lottie, is investigating the murder of Susan Parker, when another suspicious death happens. What links these 2 victims?
Lottie is also dealing with her own demons and struggles, but tries to put her work 1st. When a 3rd body turns up she feels under pressure to solve the crimes.

I really enjoyed reading this book and getting to know troubled Lottie. I am looking forward to reading more from this author

I didn't realize I'd read this book 4 years ago, but that was long enough to have forgotten the story and to read it with a blank slate. This was so, so sad. A thriller, yes, but with a really sad backstory. The surprises and connections felt not out of the realm of possibility in real life, which was good. I liked the detective and would read more of her series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

I hate to do this for a free copy of a book, but I'm here to provide my honest opinion and it is that I didn't enjoy this book at all. It bored me to tears in all honesty. And the main issue is I can't even put my finger on what was "wrong" with it, just that it wasn't for me.

There was nothing wrong with the story, or the writing or the characters although I disliked Lottie in general. I just feel it fell flat. Shame.

Happy to try something else by Gibney though.

I rarely read or listen to Police based Thrillers anymore, I’m pleased I listened to this one.

Lottie Parker is a great main character with plenty of depth, widowed, mother, murder detective. She’s investigating murders which seem to have links back to a former church run orphanage.

There’s pain on the pages. This is deep, dark and bleak, top quality crime writing with a social and historical awareness. The narration by Michele Moran is great, with a wide variety of distinct and convincing character voices.

Highly recommended and I’ll very happily continue with the next in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio

Lottie the main character was really likeable and although it was a heavy subject matter it wasn't over the top desctriptive so no therapy needed! I do enjoy a timeline that switches back and forth although I wish some of the chapters hasn't been so short as it took a lot more effort for me to listen.
I'll definitely be reading more of the series though as I'm keen to know what happens to Lottie and her family in the future.

oh, and I absolutely loved the narrator on the audiobook.

Many thanks to Patricia Gibney, Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC.