Her Dark Heart by Carla Kovach
Published by Bookouture
Publication Date: 19th November 2019
Police Procedural
My thanks to Bookouture for the opportunity to review this book ahead of publication and to be part of the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.
Book Description:
Rory is waiting at the door of the pre-school – a painted picture of his mother Susan in his small hand. But Susan isn’t going to see the picture, because she has vanished.
Susan Wheeler is a devoted mother. She would do anything for her three children. She drops them off and picks them up every single day. Until one day when Susan kisses them goodbye and then never comes to pick them up.
Susan’s mother Mary is worried. Susan is recently divorced and has been finding things hard recently, but she loves her kids – she’d never leave them.
Susan’s sister Clare is furious. It’s just like her to go missing. It’s not the first time, either. Susan has always been a troublemaker. Always seeking attention. She knows Susan has been lying to the family for years. And she knows that Susan has been sneaking out of her family home for weeks…
As the hours turn into days, even Clare becomes fearful for Susan. And, when Mary discovers Susan’s diary, she begins to uncover a dark secret from her childhood. Something no one in the family knew. When the final diary entry leads the police to a man who is discovered dead in a local park, they’re left wondering whether Susan has vanished because she is a victim. Or because she is a suspect…
Susan Wheeler is a devoted mother. She would do anything for her three children. She drops them off and picks them up every single day. Until one day when Susan kisses them goodbye and then never comes to pick them up.
Susan’s mother Mary is worried. Susan is recently divorced and has been finding things hard recently, but she loves her kids – she’d never leave them.
Susan’s sister Clare is furious. It’s just like her to go missing. It’s not the first time, either. Susan has always been a troublemaker. Always seeking attention. She knows Susan has been lying to the family for years. And she knows that Susan has been sneaking out of her family home for weeks…
As the hours turn into days, even Clare becomes fearful for Susan. And, when Mary discovers Susan’s diary, she begins to uncover a dark secret from her childhood. Something no one in the family knew. When the final diary entry leads the police to a man who is discovered dead in a local park, they’re left wondering whether Susan has vanished because she is a victim. Or because she is a suspect…
An explosively compelling crime thriller from bestselling author Carla Kovach – if you love Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you’ll love Her Dark Heart.
My Review:
I came into this series part way through at book 3 and have been hooked ever since. I love the way we are presented with a new case in Gina Harte's police career as the focus of each book yet have the back story of Gina and her ongoing battle with the demons from her past - plus her personal/professional relationships with colleagues and the overlap therein.
This book sees little Rory at nursery where mum Susan has left him for his regular day care session. The other children are all collected and closing time draws near then passes, leaving the staff no option but to ring the emergency contact number for Rory's grandmother in order to arrange for her to pick him up. Hours pass and there is still no sign of Susan - but not all of her family members seem concerned that she seems to have vanished.
As readers we have an insight to what has happened to Susan - only snippets along the way, but enough to know that Mary's instinct is right - as the author drops in an occasional chapter portraying events from an anonymous yet dangerous voice from Susan's past. The remainder of the book is told from Gina's point of view. She knows the family is holding back on disclosing some vital piece of information but cannot seem to find the key to unlock the case. There are a few possible villains set in the frame, including Susan's abusive soon-to-be-ex husband however I was rocked by the events leading up to the end of the book, which set off at a much faster pace once Gina and her team eventually made their breakthrough. Nothing prepared me for the whodunnit in this book though.
Some people may not like the way Gina continues to refer to her emotional past throughout this book, but having read the earlier books I felt it good to know that she is finally facing the ghosts of that past and dealing with them in a much more positive way than before. The feelings of the various different characters are explored well in this book both in the present day and in years gone by. Longstanding differences and misunderstandings between the family members involved in the case are brought to light in the hope that the whole family will come together as a much stronger unit in the end.
Overall I found this to be a very emotional book as the flip side to the police procedural side of the missing person case at its core. I do feel that, although this can be read as a standalone book, it is better to have a knowledge of what has gone before in order to understand why Gina acts the way she does.
A great series to get immersed in.
I came into this series part way through at book 3 and have been hooked ever since. I love the way we are presented with a new case in Gina Harte's police career as the focus of each book yet have the back story of Gina and her ongoing battle with the demons from her past - plus her personal/professional relationships with colleagues and the overlap therein.
This book sees little Rory at nursery where mum Susan has left him for his regular day care session. The other children are all collected and closing time draws near then passes, leaving the staff no option but to ring the emergency contact number for Rory's grandmother in order to arrange for her to pick him up. Hours pass and there is still no sign of Susan - but not all of her family members seem concerned that she seems to have vanished.
As readers we have an insight to what has happened to Susan - only snippets along the way, but enough to know that Mary's instinct is right - as the author drops in an occasional chapter portraying events from an anonymous yet dangerous voice from Susan's past. The remainder of the book is told from Gina's point of view. She knows the family is holding back on disclosing some vital piece of information but cannot seem to find the key to unlock the case. There are a few possible villains set in the frame, including Susan's abusive soon-to-be-ex husband however I was rocked by the events leading up to the end of the book, which set off at a much faster pace once Gina and her team eventually made their breakthrough. Nothing prepared me for the whodunnit in this book though.
Some people may not like the way Gina continues to refer to her emotional past throughout this book, but having read the earlier books I felt it good to know that she is finally facing the ghosts of that past and dealing with them in a much more positive way than before. The feelings of the various different characters are explored well in this book both in the present day and in years gone by. Longstanding differences and misunderstandings between the family members involved in the case are brought to light in the hope that the whole family will come together as a much stronger unit in the end.
Overall I found this to be a very emotional book as the flip side to the police procedural side of the missing person case at its core. I do feel that, although this can be read as a standalone book, it is better to have a knowledge of what has gone before in order to understand why Gina acts the way she does.
A great series to get immersed in.
Buy your copy:
Amazon:
https://geni.us/B07WZMKTB6Social
Apple
Books: https://apple.co/347kkWi
Kobo:
http://bit.ly/326Hsmb
Googleplay: http://bit.ly/2MJQLEP
About the Author:
Carla Kovach was born in Birmingham, UK and now
resides in Redditch, Worcestershire. Author of supernatural drama 'Flame,'
psychological thriller 'To Let,' crime thriller 'Whispers Beneath the Pines,'
and holiday comedy, 'Meet Me at Marmaris Castle.' Carla also writes stage and
screenplays, some of which have been produced in the Worcestershire area. Her
feature film 'Penny for the Guy' is being made and is set for release in 2019.
Her latest book, Her Dark Heart, has been published by Bookouture. It is the fifth book in the DI Gina Harte crime series.
Her latest book, Her Dark Heart, has been published by Bookouture. It is the fifth book in the DI Gina Harte crime series.
Author Social Media
Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CKovachAuthor
Website: https://griffbuck.wordpress.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment