The #Bookvent Calendar 2022 – Day Ten

#Bookvent – Celebrating my top reads of 2022

My day ten #bookvent selection is part of a series of books that I came to kind of late. I’d say it’s definitely a case of better late than never has I have been loving it, and loving getting to know the protagonists. This latest edition is an absolute belter, one where it’s better to make absolutely no assumptions, and to pay very careful attention as the author has played a blinder. Packed with tension, and with a very high stakes case that may not be all it first seems, my tenth pick is …

Little Sister by Gytha Lodge

A teenage girl wanders out of the woods.

She’s striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She’s also covered in blood.

Detective Jonah Sheens quickly discovers that Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children’s home a week ago. Now, Keely is here – but Nina’s still missing.

Keely knows where her sister is – but before she tells, she wants Jonah’s full attention . . .

Is she killer, witness, or victim?

And will Jonah find out what Keely’s hiding, in time to save Nina?

This is a book that puzzle lovers are going to love. Pay very close attention because, from the very first page, readers are drawn into a mystery that is shocking, enraging, full of tension and totally and utterly addictive. Featuring themes of abuse and grooming it’s also a story that will make your blood boil, but written in such a perfect way that you are kept slight at bay from the graphic nature of what happens and, whilst the anger rises in you, so does the need for answers. It’s a ticking clock mystery of the first order and one which I tore through, loving and hating every single page. With characters who are duplicitous and whose testimony you rarely feel you can trust, you can feel the sense of urgency in the team to try and get to the bottom of what this case is all about. Set over just two days, the pacing of the book is pitch perfect, reflecting the speed at which Detective Jonah Sheens and how team need to investigate. It gives you just enough room to digest the story without being overwhelmed, but still leaves you completely perplexed. Whatever you think is happening quite probably isn’t. It’s complex, multi-layered and just about one of the best mysteries I’ve read this year. I love the characterisations and whilst one of the key witnesses, Keely, is completely detached and almost clinical, the more we learn of her past, the harder it is to feel anything but compassion for what comes to pass.

This is a story of manipulation, a game of smoke and mirrors where nothing and no-one can be trusted. An absolute humdinger of a story and an absolute must read that will leave puzzle lovers with a mad grin on their faces.

You can read my full review of Little Sister right here.

Happy #bookvent reading all

Jen