The Lost Girl was published on 22 September 2016 by Sphere and is available to buy here
When three men are found hanged in locations around Colchester, Detective Inspector Phil Brennan gets the shock of his life. Not only are the victims dressed to look like him, but each carries a defaced tarot card in the pocket of their identical leather jackets, scrawled across with one name: Phil Brennan.
The bodies aren’t found in random locations – they’re all in places where DI Brennan has caught a murderer. Someone is sending him a message. And he thinks he knows who it is…
Shocking and thrilling, in this dramatic new Tania Carver thriller DI Phil Brennan and his wife, psychologist Marina Esposito, have their lives turned upside down as the past comes back to haunt their present with terrifying consequences.
Tania Carver is the pen name of Martyn Waites
My reviews of ALL of the books in this BRILLIANT series:
Book 1 The Surrogate
Book 2 The Creeper
Book 3 Cage of Bones
Book 4 Choked
Book 5 The Doll’s House
Book 6 Truth or Dare
Book 7 Heartbreaker
My thoughts
I’ve absolutely adored this series. I’ve been meaning to catch up with Tania Carver’s final book, The Lost Girl, for ages. It really is a top crime series; packed with thrills, chills and the delicious duo we all love to bits called Brennan and Esposito. For those of you who have missed this series, Brennan is a DI in the police and is married to Esposito, a university psychologist. This is one series you need to read from the start, to fully appreciate it. This book references crimes from the previous books. So don’t even be tempted to dive into this as a standalone. You have been warned.
A killer leaves a calling card for Phil Brennan. It seems like it is someone from his past. That is impossible though. This evil killer is dead. Brennan has no choice, but to play ball. Three men have been hung, in crime scenes recognised by Brennan and the reader. These men are even dressed to look like Brennan. They mark the spot of three of his major cases in Colchester. Each of them has a hangman card left with the name ‘Phil Brennan’ marked on it. Someone wants his attention badly.
Brennan knows he has to return to Colchester, to assist with the hangman killings. He suspects he is being drawn into a trap. He does not get there. He is intercepted. Caught. With Brennan missing, Marina Esposito is forced to take action to find her husband. She joins forces with a couple of friends to hunt for clues. Who could possibly want to kidnap Brennan? Why is the Colchester police case going no where? Surely they must have some idea of what is going on. Is Phil’s life in danger?
If this is the last in the series, then it ends in an almighty BANG. I raced through the book, keen to find out whether Phil would survive his encounter with a killer. Tania Carver aka Martyn Waites did us proud, giving us a fast paced adventure with his special touch of fear. We soon begin to observe that anyone could be killed. Who will be next? I like that touch of uncertainty. Authors should bump off characters more often. I enjoyed seeing Marina, in the thick of the action.
As you would expect from Tania Carver, this is a strong intoxicating story with some pretty dark themes covered. To give you an idea, we encounter child sexual exploitation and see the effects of death and loss on an adult. This is a fabulous ride. Worth appreciating. The Lost Girl is exactly my kind of dark crime. Read this whole series! Meet Phil Brennan and Marina Esposito. You will not be disappointed. Highly recommended.
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