The Winter FoundlingsThis is the third book in the series, and I have not read the previous books.
Alice Quentin is a psychologist who decides to study treatment methods at a high-security prison. Taking a break from her hectic London life and from the police work that has left her emotionally exhausted, Alice looks forward to her work at Northwood.
Her attempt to avoid police work comes to an end almost immediately when she is asked to interview Louis Kinsella, the notorious former headmaster who was convicted of killing young girls. Now, someone is imitating Kinsella's methods, and three young girls have been abducted and later found dead. A fourth is missing, but is hopefully still alive.
The killer has not only copied Kinsella's signature, but has sent tokens to Kinsella. Alice is desperate to save ten-year-old Ella Williams, but Kinsella is playing with her. The author plants suspicion about various characters who might be communicating with Kinsella, because when he does deign to help, his predictions about what will happen next actually occur.
Kate Rhodes has some staunch fans, and the book was interesting enough to hold my attention, but I wasn't that taken with Alice, the secondary characters never came off the page, and the plot didn't feel credible.
NetGalley/Minotaur Books
Mystery/Crime. Feb. 24, 2015. Print version: 352 pages
The premise of this sounds wonderful; it's a shame it didn't really "click" with you. I may give this a go, despite flaws in the character development. Thanks for the honest review, Jen!
ReplyDeleteHer series is really popular with some people, but for some reason, I didn't like it enough to go back and pick up the earlier books. :)
DeleteI read the first book, CROSSBONES YARD, and liked it mostly. I have the 2nd on my Kindle, but have not picked it up yet. Plan to soon as I saw this new one coming out. The description of this book is intriguing. I guess I'll have to see how it goes. :-)
ReplyDeleteIf you liked the first one, you probably liked the character better than I did. I didn't dislike this one, but it just didn't work as well for me as some of favorite series.
DeleteThe premise sounds intriguing enough to me. I may want to check this out.
ReplyDeleteThe premise sounded good to me, too. You may like it better than I did! :o
DeleteIt's been a long time since I last read a book with a psychologist as the main character (well, there was that one Michael Robotham book, which I really liked). I kind of lost interest in books featuring this particular profession in the lead. Sometimes one catches my fancy though and I add it to my wish list, especially if it comes highly recommended. Not sure about this one though.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of Robotham's Joe O'Loughlin series! Evidently a lot of readers like Kate Rhodes' series, but for some reason I didn't like it enough to want to read more.
ReplyDelete