A strong, dark start to the series.

„The Missing Ones“ introduces the reader to Irish D.I. Lottie Parker (the latest installment in the series, number 14, is slated to be released on September 2020, 2024). Recently widowed and a mom to three children, Lottie tries to juggle her demanding work and her family life. She is likeable and a capable detective, yet very flawed, and a great character to base a series on. Even when she is being insubordinate, I found myself rooting for her, though I could have done without the casual police brutality.

In „The Missing One“, the discovery of a murdered older woman in a cathedral leads Lottie to a now defunct local Catholic children‘s home for wayward kids. Sadly, with the way the world is, once you hear „Ireland“ and „Catholic children‘s home“, you can already picture a lot of the dark and disturbing subject matter in this book.

While this is not a light read, and not a quick one either, it is a well-done mystery / suspense novel. I didn‘t quite find the final twist as „jaw-dropping“ as advertised by the cover, but I can agree that this was a gripping, often horrifying, and frequently heartbreaking thriller. I will definitely be reading more books from this series.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

„The Missing Ones“ was published in 2017, and the audiobook version is slated to be published on September 20, 2024.

A murder (or murders), a snappy detective with a complicated life and a lovely, wintry Irish setting? I'm in! Lottie (named for Charlotte Bronte...yay!) pushes through her life's sorrows to be an excellent and thorough detective. People are being murdered one after the other, ties are beginning to be formed between the victims, but there are still many layers to unfold as you begin to try to figure out who is responsible. I felt that it was not predictable and the plot was cleverly laid out. There is some abusive content within that might be unsettling to some readers, but overall pertinent to your emotions toward the characters.
I'm intrigued to get to know more characters along with Lottie, like Boyd. I'll definitely be waiting for the next installment.
As always I could listen to someone read anything with an Irish accent, and this narrator was superb in capturing all the characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARL! All opinions are mine.

I loved this audiobook.

The narration was spot on for this, so many times you excitedly start listening and realise that for whatever reason you will not make it past the first chapter. Not so in this case.

Speaking of cases this was gripping, dark and thought provoking. In part set in times not that distant but horrifying in the extreme.

Characterisation was good and gave a good overview of the majority of them.

I was very impressed with the quality of writing for the first in the series, imagine my delight when I realised that although the audio is a new release there are other Lottie novels ready and waiting. All I have to do now is decide if I can wait for audio or if I should devour them in written format.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for this audiobook.

Whew... this book was a massive emotional undertaking. Very well written, but much more graphic in its content than I had anticipated, which could be hard to get through at times.

For anyone who reads this review and plans to read the book: massive trigger warnings for child abuse, alcoholism, rape, attempted rape, pedophilia, and religious trauma.

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