‘Gripping subjects, brilliantly drawn characters and a twisty turny journey from beginning to end. A tense, thrilling read and definitely 5 humongous ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me’ Angela Marsons.
Someone stole a baby…
One sunny day in July, someone took three-month-old Alicia Owen from her pram outside a supermarket. Her mother, Marie, was inside. No one saw who took Alicia. And no one could find her. No one saw who took Alicia. And no one could find her.
They silenced her cry…
Fifteen years later, a teenager on a construction site sees a tiny hand in the ground. When the police investigate, they find a baby buried and preserved in concrete. Could it be Alicia?
But the truth will always out.
When Alicia disappeared, the papers accused Marie of detachment and neglect. The Owens never got over the grief of their child’s disappearance and divorced not long after. By reopening the case, DC Beth Chamberlain must reopen old wounds. But the killer may be closer than anyone ever suspected…
The latest crime thriller featuring Family Liaison Officer DC Beth Chamberlain, Hush Little Baby is tightly plotted, fraught with tension and impossible to put down. Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter and K.L. Slater.
Praise for Jane Isaac:
‘Jane Isaac knows how to tell a good yarn. Expertly plotted and true to life’ Mel Sherratt on For Better, For Worse.
‘Isaac does a superb job of escalating the tension and dread’ Publishers Weekly.
‘Move over La Plante…’ Susan May, Suspense Magazine.
‘Tense, dark and gritty: perfect combination’ Ian Patrick, author of Rubicon.
‘Crime writing at its best’ David Evans, CWA Debut Dagger-shortlisted author of Torment.
‘Jane Isaac just gets better with every book. Deeply unsettling and unputdownable’ Rebecca Bradley, bestselling author of the DI Hannah Robbins series.
‘Jane Isaac writes unmissable quality crime fiction’ Michael Wood, author of For Reasons Unknown.
‘Gripped from the very first page … and just when you think it’s over, it’s really only the beginning’ June Taylor, author of Losing Juliet.
‘Brilliantly and intricately plotted, Jane Isaac has produced a terrific page-turner’ Lizzie Sirett, Mystery People.
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Fifteen years ago someone took 3-month-old Alicia Owen from her stroller that was outside the supermarket. The mother, Marie, was inside and took never saw who took her daughter. No one did.
Today a girl comes across a gruesome sight. A tiny hand in the ground. When police investigate, the find a baby buried and preserved in concrete.
The family has never recovered their loss. Marie and her husband divorced. One brother couldn’t handle the grief and left shortly after. At the time of the disappearance, Marie was accused of being a bad mom for leaving her baby outside .. a case of neglect. The papers wondered if she had done something to her child … no one actually saw the baby in her stroller.
DC Beth Chamberlain, working as liaison office to the family, reopens the case as the body of the baby has been DNA identified as Alicia. But more than paternity was discovered.
Who would have wanted to take this baby? Who wanted her dead? Chamberlain may be putting her own life at risk as the secrets from the past come barrelling to the light of day.
This is a real nail-biter, full of twists and turns that kept me glued to the pages. The plot is tightly woven and includes skillfully written characters. Everyone seems to have secrets … and some just aren’t who they portray. Although third in the series, it is easily read as a stand alone. I do recommend reading the books in order to find those little gems that make this such an absorbing series.
Many thanks to the author / Aria Fiction / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Jordan, 15, is walking to school and knowing she’s already late decides to slip behind a barrier on a construction site to smoke a cigarette. That’s when she sees the hand on a baby under the dirt. Terrified, she flees.
DC Beth Chamberlain and her boyfriend, DS Nick Geary, are secretly living together for a short while until he can find a place closer to his work. They are assigned to the Homicide and Serious Crime Squad. They learn about the baby’s body and wonder if it could be the 3-month-old baby that went missing from her pram 15 years ago. The baby’s body had been encased in concrete which preserved the body. Now, Beth is gathering DNA from the parents to see if it matches the body. The mother is divorced from the father, remarried, and the mother of a 6-year-old son. The father never remarried.
Another case they are following is the escape of a man who is a serial killer. At one time, he was zeroing in on Beth so Nick still wants her to be fully protected.
Beth has a sister named Eden who is the mother to Lily who Beth loves dearly. Eden is divorced and a bit of an airhead but quite protective of Lily. When Lily appears to be abducted, Beth is frantic with worry. Can she find her precious niece before it’s too late?
This book clearly shows the dedication of the men and women on the police force everywhere. I’m so thankful for them every day. The book is full of the gritty things that go on in life which also makes it quite compelling.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
A good yarn-well worth whiling away an afternoon-
When the body of a child, missing for decade and a half, is found, the never closed investigation is ramped up. First, the must make sure the DNA matches the parents’ DNA, proving the identity of the child. Then, they need to solve the case for the body that’s been entombed in concrete. This British based crime story follows Detective Constable Beth Chamberlain as she picks up the case and faces down the family dismantled by the tragedy.
This is a fascinating character driven suspense read with lots of twist and turns. The main focus is on the still grieving mother of Alicia Owen, Marie Russell, as she has to face up to her fears and the secrets she’s held onto over the many years. The story unfolds in her voice and also that of the newly assigned detective. Beth works in a liaison manner capacity to the family, working to understand the events surrounding the disappearance. Both woman have unique family situations and relationships that complicate their feelings surrounding the discovery. The story is well paced, allowing to reader to get to know each woman and the history. We learn that there’s more than one crime that must be solved.
While this book us part of a series focused on Beth, it’s not entirely necessary to have read the previous books. Hush Little Baby is the first book by Jane Isaac that I’ve read and i was able easily see where the previous stories were playing into this book. I will definitely read more from this author.
Favorite Quotes:
Beth ground her teeth. She’d rather hoped she’d be shot of Andrea after she’d left the team to support the chief, and here she was, returning like a bad smell that refused to go away.
My Review:
This was my second time reading Ms. Isaac’s work and I am duly impressed. As with her last book, there was a deeply troubling and mammoth mystery which lead to an intensely twisty and shrewdly plotted tale that had me blinking hard, rubbing my eyes, and biting my lips. I enjoy her unique writing style with blended storylines that were unpredictable, tragic, multi-layered, complex, and highly textured with compounded issues and long-held and heartbreaking secrets. The writing was compelling, deftly executed, evocative, and set each scene with thoughtful touches and interesting observations of ancillary movements and actions that kept the visuals scrolling smoothly in my mind’s eye. Jane Isaac is a clever and cunning wordsmith.