After laying dormant for 7 years, the Lollipop Man is once again under suspicion for the kidnap of a 7 year old girl. Adrian is a local journalist who freezes when he learns this. Why? Because he was nearly a victim of the serial killer himself, but since he’s changed his name he’s hoping nobody will discover him. But that’s about to change…

It’s 1994 and a little girl goes missing, it brings it all back to Adrian as he was kidnapped 10 years prior. He was the one that got away though, others weren’t so lucky. I enjoyed the storyline, liked the timeframe and it was very on par. The book is set in 1994 and the old fashioned ways were very much part of the storyline. I did find there was a lot of characters and as it’s a longer book, it’s hard to keep on track. I did enjoy the ending though and glad Adrian will find peace.

An overall 4 star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

I did enjoy this story, set mainly around West Yorkshire, mainly in the 1990's, however it does relate to dome earlier events.. The story was good and a little different however I did struggle with the number of characters involved in the story which did make things a little difficult.
The story does bring back thoughts of murderers such as Myra Hindley and Peter Sutcliffe. These were areas where they committed their crimes so life would likely affect the thoughts of the characters.
If you like psychological thrillers and crime fiction, and you are good at keeping track of characters, then I would definitely pre-order the book ready for its release.
Many thanks to Allison & Busby, NetGalley, and the author, for providing me with an electronic advanced review copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
The book will be published in hardback and e-book formats on 20th February 2025

"There's shame and death hanging over you like a black shroud, Adrian Brown."

Seven years ago, a ten-year-old boy named Matthew Spivey was abducted by a man known as "The Lollipop Man." Unlike the other three victims, who remain missing, Matthew was released two hours later. Unfortunately, he was unable to provide an adequate description of the offender.

Now, another young girl has disappeared under similar circumstances, and people are whispering that the Lollipop Man is back. Matthew has changed his name to Adrian Brown and is working for Calder Valley Advertiser as an administrative assistant but is also doing duty as a driver, and this is how he ends up at the crime scene.

Soon he finds himself in the midst of the investigation after he stumbles (literally!) over a body, and he feels obligated to attempt to determine the identity of the perpetrator or perpetrators.

A brilliant read that captivated me from the very beginning!
Thank you to NetGalley and Alison & Busby for the ARC.

A brilliant book that brings together the past and present in a brilliant way which collided. There were a lot of twists which I never saw coming.. I was totally gripped

This is a twisted psychological thriller. Author’s writing is compelling and the book is gripping. Author has shared enough about the characters. The book kept me on the edge and loved suspense and twists and turns.

Set in the Yorkshire town of Tollers Bridge. Sarah Barrett, an eleven year old girl vanishes. Eight years ago some 4 people were abducted and now the abduction of Sarah made everyone believe that the lollipop man is back. Adrian’s character is strong and determined. The news of the return of lollipop man has not only scared people but it also reminded them of the unsettling memories. The closer they are getting to the truth, the more dangerous it’s becoming for them. Will they be able to save Sarah or find the man behind all the abductions? Read the book to find out the answers. I loved this book. If you are looking for a twisted psychological thriller with twists, K!ller on loose, hidden identity and the book that will keep you on edge, read this book.

Many Thanks to the Publisher.

Another young girl, 11 year old Sarah Barrett, has gone missing in the Yorkshire town of Tollers Bridge. The police only find her clothes and the community is shocked as it means that the Lollipop Man has returned. 8 years earlier 3 girls and a boy were abducted. The girls were never found but the boy was.
Adrian is 18 and an admin on the local paper, the Calder Valley Advertiser, and he’s soon in the thick of it as the paper covers the events. But the possible return of the Lollipop Man brings back disturbing memories. He was the killer’s last victim and his name used to be Matthew Spivey. Although his name has changed and his relationship with his parents has always been strained since, he has more disturbing reminders of his abduction as the hunt for the killer continues.
The media circus soon becomes a feeding frenzy when local TV celebrity and journalist, Sheila Hargreaves becomes involved. She has her own memories of the first girl’s disappearance and her part in the aftermath.
A local woman, Edna Wormley, contacts Adrian and they meet. She hints that she knows who the killer is and has proof of it in the form of a letter. But she wants to be on the front page. But someone knows that she’s got too far near the ruth and it’s Adrian who finds her, murdered, on a towpath near his favourite gay pub, the Jester.
There was a book published about the case who named three suspects – two have alibis and the third is dead. It’s also established that a woman was seen taking Sarah Barrett which brings back memories of Myra Hindley. Adrian and his mate, Gav, now begin their own investigation focussing on Edna Wormley’s allegations and Sheila Hargreaves accepts that she has to atone for what she’s done and becomes involved once she realises who Adrian really is.
When another young girl vanishes from Adrian’s mother’s back garden, it’s time for them all to join forces and find out the truth before it’s too late.
The Yorkshire moors have been the backdrop for notorious killers such as the Moors Murderers and Peter Sutcliffe and the brooding landscape lends itself to dark dees and disappearances. The murderers echo throughout the book.
The book is set in 1994 and there are enough references; Walkmans, Russian trench coats, faxes, Ceefax, AIDS and phone boxes to make it authentic. Adrian was a typical teenager but also suffered from survivor guilt - why was he returned and found? I thought that this was really well portrayed.
The media circus was also a major theme with several people determined to become rich and notorious because of it. However, Sheila Hargreaves pestering Adrian by assuming different voices to speak to him was really nauseating.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of and I thought that perhaps a couple could have been dispensed with. Adrian and Gav’s investigation methods were unprofessional bordering on amateur to say the least. I felt that the ending was rushed compared to what had gone before but on the whole it was a good solid psychological thriller by a writer who was new to me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

Tense and complex mystery that just doesn't let go. Past and present collide with secrets everywhere. Protagonist you will root for all the way and strong storyline. A definite winner.

Although the crimes explored in this novel are often the subject of crime thrillers, this story has an unusual team of investigators. The Lollipop man abductions dominated the news scene in the late 1980s, but after the last victim, a young boy, was found alive, the abductions ceased. In 1994, another child is taken and the police and public fear the killer has returned. Adrian was the boy who survived, and at eighteen, is working in a newspaper office to gain experience. He is understandably affected by the new incident and is determined to find the killer. Shelia was a young journalist at the time of the abductions and is now a successful television journalist; she also wants to see justice done. They form an unlikely alliance, which uncovers clues, false leads and suspects in a community rife with fear and suspicion. The short chapters and pacy writing give the story a real-time feel, but the setting is the mid-1990s, where prejudice is endemic. It is a complex and compelling crime mystery.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

'Can Sheila and Adrian stop history repeating itself?'

…

Okay! So where to begin with sharing my thoughts about this intense, complicated and highly nuanced thriller?

First of all, I needed to get my head around recalling what policing standards and the role of the assorted press would have been, back in the 1980s and 1990s, pre social media, mainstream internet access and modern crime investigative techniques - (who remembers microfiche?).

Now, I needed to imagine myself in the late 1980s, as a primary school age boy called Matthew, an only child, living in a relatively small community, at a time when it would have been considered gospel truth, that anyone in uniform was someone to be trusted, respected and obeyed (not difficult to imagine as this was a tenet instilled in me by my own parents!). Three girls of a similar age to Matthew have already been abducted by a man in uniform over a period of the last few months, none of them have been seen again, nor any bodies found and although the police have a potential suspect, they have insufficient evidence to arrest. So, when Matthew becomes the fourth victim, is taken by a man in uniform, but several hours later is returned home, unharmed by a random lady in the street, the initial relief of his parents and the police is tempered by the question - why?

Fast forward to 1994 and we meet Adrian, a young man still living at home, although almost totally estranged from his parents, working, he hopes temporarily as he aspires to gain enough qualifications to attend Leeds University, as a gofer for a local newspaper. Considered by many to be a loner, Adrian has a secret, known only to his closest friends and the crowd he mixes with outside of work hours. With the suspect for the 1980s abductions having been declared long dead, the community is aghast when the unthinkable happens and the abductions begin again, not once, but twice, leaving Adrian filled with a deep sense of fear and foreboding.

It is now, when Adrian is sent to help cover the latest disappearances for the paper, that he comes face to face with Sheila, a successful journalist turned popular television show host. He recognises her long before she manages to put a name and place to the young man who seems so eager to avoid her. However, it doesn't take Sheila long to put two and two together to work out where she has met Adrian before, although her guilt and remorse at her own actions during that first meeting, initially make her reluctant to approach him for fear of his reaction on seeing her.

However, as the new and unfolding situation threatens to spiral out of control and the investigating police officer, who was also the lead officer on the original abduction cases more than a decade ago, seems to have no more leads or evidence than he did then about the identity of the perpetrator, it doesn't take long for both Sheila and Adrian to work out that it is only by sharing their combined memories and information, that they are likely to discover exactly who is responsible for this new spate of abductions, before a third victim is snatched...

...

I would have liked to have sped through this book much more quickly than I in fact did, so eager was I to have the mystery unravelled and see the culprit get their 'just deserts'. However, there was such a plethora of characters, who were falling over themselves, often unintentionally, to deflect both the combined forces of Sheila and Adrian, and the authorities led by DCI Struthers, that the investigation was often derailed and sent off in the wrong direction. Mercifully, the chapters were kept short, well-signposted and fast paced, leaving me the odd few minutes to break from my reading to carry out my more mundane, but necessary chores!

So many layers of tension filled storytelling to negotiate, so many twists and turns and blind alleys to navigate, so many potential suspects to be considered - maybe, if I am being brutally honest, some of which were not really necessary to have made this an awesome read. Characters who, as a whole, I never felt any synergy or connection with, and probably was never meant to, but who were wonderfully crafted and developed into their individual roles.

Whilst Adrian and his friend Gav were instrumental in helping bring the perpetrator to justice, Adrian was forced to confront memories which had long ago been supressed and confined to that space in his mind which he never visited. He is also forced to examine the fractured relationship he has always had with his father and is surprised to discover that his early memories of events were in fact incorrect and that he had completely mistaken his father's motives and actions, with his mother so deeply affected herself as to have been rendered incapable of instigating dialogue and resolution between father and son. However, rather than overwhelming him, Adrian eventually found the entire process of facing and expunging his demons quite cathartic, leaving him able to draw a line under a childhood he remembers for all the wrong reasons.

Solving the case also drew a firm line under events for Sheila, ridding her of the burden of guilt she had carried around for all those years. The team she and her friend Jeanette made, proved to be a formidable combination when it came to working through and solving a problem, leaving me still in two minds about whether there might be any mileage in further stories featuring this dynamic, crime-busting duo.

As a confirmed 'armchair traveller', author Daniel Sellers really managed to immerse me in the culture and sense of place, which was the backdrop to this chilling storyline. With a mix of both fictional and imagined locations, the bleakness of the Yorkshire Moors; the secretive, insular nature of the many smaller villages which nestle within its protective, dark cloak; combined with the urban spawl of the landmark towns and cities which define the landscape, were all beautifully brought to life as I read. Also, being of a 'certain age', mention of the infamous and at the time, very scary, 'Moors Murders', evoked many memories, adding an extra layer of intrigue and foreboding to the darkness of the story, which was always there in the back of my mind.

Bleak and disturbing, doesn't even come close to describing this terrible series of events, spanning many years; the affect it had had, and the consequences it had heaped upon so many innocent lives. The ripples on this pond of human despair, spread far and wide!

Being a fan of Daniel Sellers books, I was thrilled to get the chance to read this one!

When a young girl disappears from a Yorkshire town, there are those who are reminded of similar abductions many years earlier. Adrian Brown, at eighteen, is a new reporter on the local newspaper whilst journalist Sheila Hargreaves remembers the earlier cases only too well. Surely this can't be the same perpetrator ... or can it??

This is a very well written novel, with lots of strands beautifully entwined. I was hooked from the beginning; I tend to just enjoy reading a novel without thinking ahead and this one had me totally baffled. A thrilling read and one I'm very happy to recommend. Five sparkling stars from me!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

I did enjoy the storyline but it was rather confusing at times, so many people involved it was hard to keep track at times and I read lots of books based on a similar premise. I really liked Adrian and Gavs characters and relationship. His relationship with his parents was very weird but understandable given his history. Sheila was a strong FMC and fitted in really well. Jeanette was a pain but could see why as the story progressed. If you like psychological thrillers, give this a go it’s worth the read.

This is my first Daniel Sellers book but it will not be my last! He has a great gift of being able to keep the reader engaged and wanting to find out what happens on the next page. For me that is quite an achievement with such a dark subject as child abduction. What I found made it more readable are the two main characters, Adrian an adolescent troubled youth and Sheila, a local TV celebrity. The child abductor known as The Lollipop Man is what they both have in common. Eight years prior Sheila was a reporter investigating the abductions and Adrian was a victim who managed to escape. Both have lingering issues from what happened back then and this drives their desire to track down the perpetrator when it appears he or she is active once again. It's an unlikely partnership but as the story unfolds we learn more about them and what happened in the past and what they are trying to put right through this pursuit. It all makes for a very exciting read!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for providing pre publication access to this book.

If you enjoy a good mystery, you’ll like this book and the plot is so convoluted I defy anyone to solve the mystery themselves, you will definitely have to wait until the end.

The book is set in 1994 and it certainly takes you back to those times. I couldn’t work out at first why the author would have chosen to set the book at that time, it seemed a bit random. However our main character Adrian is gay. To be 18 years old and gay, living in a West Yorkshire working class town at that time wasn’t always easy for Adrian. He didn’t have the best relationship with his father, who he assumed to be ashamed of his son.

I think also given the theme of the plot, young girls going missing, the Yorkshire ripper and Moors murderers synonymous with this area were still fresh in the minds of those living in this fictional tale. West Yorkshire was no stranger to serial predators.

I really enjoyed the characterisation. Adrian, 18 worked for a local newspaper. He was employed to drive around the news photographer who’d lost his driving licence due to being a little over fond of spending his spare time in the local pub. Adrian was naive and after stumbling over a dead body on the canal towpath, he’d already got himself into a bit of an awkward situation by trying to report his find anonymously to the police as he feared his parents would know he’d been in the pub known to be frequented by gays and he didn’t want his parents finding out. He turns to his friend Gavin to help him out and together they become ever more deeply embroiled in the mystery of the Lollipop man’s true identity.

I have to admit that crime fiction isn’t really my thing and I did find the constant search throughout the book for a missing letter to get a little long and drawn out but then I don’t have the patience for solving clues. However there is a certain amount of dark humour between Adrian and Gavin as they go about their “investigation” which did keep me interested. So what to me, felt like plodding along for an eternity, the ending more than made up for it. I think I probably enjoyed the last 20% of the book more than the first 80% but overall for someone who is never over excited by crime fiction it was a good read.

A solid 3-star read!

This story follows a series of kidnappings of young girls by the elusive "Lollipop Man." Throughout, I was completely hooked, constantly trying to guess his identity. However, when the reveal finally came, it wasn’t as thrilling as I’d imagined. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of uncovering clues—the suspense, the hunches, the excitement—but the killers themselves didn’t feel as compelling as the investigation itself. They didn’t seem like the masterminds capable of evading capture and leaving cases unsolved for so long.

Interestingly, I found myself more invested in the personal life of Adrian. I appreciated the focus on his character, as it gave me a chance to understand him better, as well as Sheila, who was also well-developed. I especially enjoyed the strong friendship between Adrian and Gav. Their bond was portrayed realistically, with the two of them standing by each other through all challenges. The story even depicted a realistic reaction to Adrian’s sexuality, set in the context of 1995, which added depth and authenticity to the narrative.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read!

In 1986, a spate of child abductions sent a West Yorkshire town into a frenzy, as children were snatched off the street and never to be seen again. Only one child escaped, and eight years later he has rebuilt his life and begun a job as a journalist.

But when another wave of abductions seemingly begins, and with Adrian doing everything in his power not to let his secret come out, it could bring him and TV journalist face-to-face with the Lollipop Man for one final time.

This is a very good first novel - the characters are all very fleshed out and as a period piece (I know, the 90s are historical record now!) it is very true to the time period. A solid 4* book for me.

A good storyline, and character, and setting. So why do I feel confused? (3.5 stars rounded up)

The problem I face this morning is, admittedly, one that's about as first-world as problems get. But it's a problem nonetheless. I had been gifted a copy of Daniel Sellers' forthcoming novel, The Lollipop Man by its publishers, Alison & Busby, and had promised to read and review it before ARCs became available on 11th November. But I've sat down at the laptop a few times since finishing the book and each time, struggled at the first hurdle with the question: where do I even start with this one?

On the one hand, it's a compelling mystery. Eight years ago, three young girls disappeared without trace. Except that they appeared to have been abducted by someone masquerading as a lollipop man. And that each time, items of their clothing were found publicly displayed a few days after they had been taken. But after a fourth failed attempt, the abductions seemed to have stopped ... until now, when another young girl has disappeared. Can it really be that the same kidnapper has resurfaced?

It's also a very good character study into the one surviving victim. Eighteen-year-old Adrian Brown has changed his name and done his best to bury his past since being The Lollipop Man's only surviving victim. But now that another girl has been taken, one local TV journalist in particular is desperate to interview him again. Which is something that Adrian is equally desperate to avoid. Because what he, and the reader, but very few other people in the book know is that there are parts of his present life, as well as his past one, that he wants to keep secret ...

And then it's also a fine portrayal of life in a Yorkshire village community, which thrives on gossip and where stories are spread, and truths distorted, like wildfire.

That's the key ingredients sorted then, and it's all good so far. The problem for me was the way they were all blended together.

For a book such as this to really work, the characters and the setting have to complement the main storyline. But in this book, I thought that one distracted from the other. Add in - and I'll keep the level of detail to a minimum to avoid spoilers - another death and another disappearance that appear unrelated, and more than one police officer behaving in a way that I found unconvincing and the effect was that, instead of being as gripped as I really wanted to be, I was left feeling confused.

This is something that might be compounded further by setting the book in the mid-1990s. I understand why it's important for the plot that this was the case. And it was fine for me, because I'm old enough now to have been a teenager at that time, growing up in a village community not dissimilar to that described. But there'll be readers of this book that weren't even born in 1994, and who will need to understand how life then was similar to, and yet different from today. Does the book manage to portray that? I'm not sure.

On the plus side, I really enjoyed the ending. After the various strands of the plot had come together, and the reasons for the behaviour of some characters explained, the book became a frantic, race-against time story that I really wished it had been from the outset, and I devoured the last quarter in a single sitting.

Overall, though, I'm still not sure I quite got this book. The best way I can think to describe it is this. Think of three very different, but all enjoyable meals. Let's say for the sake of argument: a fish and chip supper, an Indian takeaway and a Sunday roast. You'd quite happily have each one for dinner on consecutive days. But if you were served with a dollop of each on the same plate at the same time, you'd be a bit perplexed. And you'd struggle to enjoy it in the same way no matter how good each mouthful tasted.

The Lollipop Man is the first book by Daniel Sellers that I have read, and I understand that it's the first instalment in a planned new series. Viewed in that light, it's probably done enough in the sense that I'd quite happily read another novel that had the same characters in it. The author has proved that he can tell a story, and portray a character, and describe a setting very well. Like I said, the way all of these came together didn't quite work for me this time. But I hope it's something he can remedy next time around.

My thanks to Alison and Busby for the advance copy of this book, which will be published on 20th April 2025. I have reviewed it voluntarily and honestly.

Daniel Sellers has just earned his way on to my 'ones to watch' list with his new book The Lollipop Man. It's an intriguing story of what happened to 'the one who got away' from a kidnapper of young children some 8 years previously.

Adrian Brown is finding his feet as the newbie in the office of local newspaper. He's basically a dogsbody, watching and learning from the reporters and photographer who he's tasked with ferrying around. But a job comes in that takes him back to the worst time of his life, when everything changed including his name. A young girl has been taken from the garden of a house - surely the Lollipop Man can't be back? The local news team are despatched to find out what is going on.

Within hours Adrian finds himself to be the centre of a attention, not least from journalists digging into the past, the local constabulary and a random "crazy lady" named Edna Wormley who herself becomes headline news for all the wrong reasons.

Daniel Sellers has created some great characters in this book, with unlikely allegiances made and friendships tested to breaking point. I had all sorts of possibilities running through my head as the plot developed - even asking myself whether Adrian was closer to the Lollipop Man than could possibly be true.

Vivid descriptions of places and characters make this an engaging read, which earns itself a very strong 4 star rating from me.

Oh I lapped this up, absolutely loved it!

The premise is great and the story is told really well-I particularly enjoyed the interesting touch of a survivor.

Read if you like a head down, no nonsense thriller.

April 1994, the small community of Toller Bridge is thrown into chaos when a young girls clothes are discovered next to the Rochdale canal a week and a half after 11 year old Sarah Barrett went missing. The same community that eight years previously had been torn apart by the abduction of three girls and a boy all from the local area. An eyewitness saw one of the girls with someone dressed like a lollipop man prior to her disappearance and picked up by the media, the name stuck. The girls were never seen again but the fourth child, a boy called Matthew was released a couple of hours after he was taken and the abductions stopped. The lollipop man was never caught and the case remains unsolved.

The press are having a field-day, TV anchor for Yorkshire Tonight, Sheila Hargreaves had been there as a rookie reporter for the first abductions and she's determined to be front and centre for this one too.

Working for a local newspaper is Adrian Brown and he's also got a keen interest in this one, but unlike Sheila he shrinks away from the spotlight not wanting anyone to focus their attention on him, he used to be called Matthew.

A fast moving novel with a colourful cast of characters this novel was a good portrayal of a small community where gossip reigns supreme, everyone has their suspicions and away from the spotlight Matthew helped by friend Gav is looking for answers.

My thanks to Allison & Busby and NetGalley for the advance review copy, all opinions expressed are my own