4 Stars from me
As the title suggests, Detective Alana Mack and her team are on the hunt for a twisted killer who leaves their victims posed, but who are they and why do they resort to this public and darkly artistic tableau?
As the victims do not share immediate, obvious links, there is little for the team to go on but O’Brien teases out the story in a way that almost builds compassion for the killer. But what is the connection to Casey?
The Puppet Maker was a nicely constructed thriller with some intelligent touches throughout that elevated the story above the norm, and I enjoyed reading about Alan and her team – I imagine there will be more books to follow!
My thanks to NetGalley, the author and Storm Publishing for an ARC in return for an honest review.
Blurb: The scrap of paper looked as if it had been torn from a diary. The words written in faint pencil. The letters rounded, almost childlike. Please look after her. Her life and mine depend on you not trying to find me.
When Detective Alana Mack arrives at Clonabee police station, in a small Irish seaside town on the outskirts of Dublin, she doesn’t expect to find a distressed two-year-old girl sobbing on the floor. Abandoned in a local supermarket, the child tells them her name is Casey. All Alana and her team have to go on is a crumpled note begging for someone to look after the little girl. This mother doesn’t want to be found.
Still recovering from a terrible accident that has left Alana navigating a new life as a wheelchair user, Alana finds herself suddenly responsible for Casey while trying to track down the missing mother and solve another missing person’s case… a retired newsagent who has seemingly vanished from his home.
Forced to ask her ex-husband and child psychiatrist Colm for help, through Forensic Art Therapy, Alana discovers that whatever darkness lies behind the black windows in Casey’s crayon drawing, the little girl was terrified of the house she lived in.
Then a bag of human remains is found in a bin, and a chilling link is made – the DNA matches Casey’s.
Alana and her team must find the body and make the connection with the missing newsagent fast if she is to prevent another life from being taken. But with someone in her department leaking confidential details of the investigation to the media, can Alana set aside her emotional involvement in this case and find Casey’s mother and the killer before it’s too late?
Read and Rated 