A Girl’s Mutilated Body is Found on a Portland, Maine Hiking Trail in A Child Shall Lead Them, a Murder Mystery Thriller by Kate Flora –Portland, Maine– When a jogger discovers the brutalized body of a young girl along a park trail, the ever cranky and relentless, Detective Joe Burgess catches the case. With the body lacking head and hands, Burgess and his team face complex challenges as … Burgess and his team face complex challenges as they follow a confusing trail leading to human traffickers exploiting children coming to America as asylum seekers.
As Joe and his team race the clock to identify the dead girl in time to save other victims, Joe’s own niece falls into the hands of the sex traffickers. For detectives hell-bent on finding a killer and busting a trafficking ring . . . it just got personal.
Publisher’s Note: While this story deals with the harsh reality of sexual slavery and child pornography, there are no explicit scenes and only mild vulgarity. The story emphasizes the personal and professional struggles of those investigating the crime.
Winner of the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction
“Flora pours on the intensity in this criminal, legal and moral maze.” ~Kirkus Reviews
“Flora writes cops so convincingly it’s hard to imagine she’s never worn the badge herself.” ~Bruce Robert Coffin, author of Among the Shadows
THE JOE BURGESS MYSTERIES
Playing God
The Angel of Knowlton Park
Redemption
And Grant You Peace
Led Astray
A Child Shall Lead Them
A World of Deceit
more
This book was such a good story. While sad, devastating, and with lots of twists and plots you could not put it down. Love these series and such a great author you can picture yourself in the story with the great characters. Definitely worth reading!!
“I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.”
Kate Flora warned me that A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM is dark, but I was already hooked by then, and as my hero, Joe Burgess, said, all homicides are dark. I was trying to figure out why I could stand the gritty parts of this (book club friends knew to warn me away from some books). I believe it’s because I trust Joe to prevail and to keep sight of the human side of life. Hurt little children need ice cream, and with the sweetness that is their nature, they also offer ice cream to adults they care for. The answer is also in the writing, the focus on the good guys, their promise of justice, their hard work, the attempt to balance horrific work with the warmth and happy chaos of domestic life. That weary “hopeless dinosaur” feeling that had him thinking of retirement reminded me of teachers in May. “My Joe” needs some rest, a vacation, time to recharge for the next battle. Please, Kate Flora, may we have another?
Addendum: the subplot with the spoiled, distracted driver of the little sports car may well save lives, and Joe’s sternness when called for and gentle comfort when appropriate raised him even further in my estimation.
Detective Joe Burgess and his partners, Terry Kyle and Stan Perry investigate the body of a young girl found dumped in a park. Joe is an older cop and is beginning to wonder if it is time for him to move on, while his partners value the experience he brings to each case. The investigation will soon encompass the exploitation of young girls coming to the United States seeking asylum and the criminals that feed off of their desperation. In my opinion, if you are looking for a well-rounded mystery detailing the gritty and daily time-consuming work of detectives pursuing and following the evidence, then the Joe Burgess series is a must read. Characters that don’t give up, sometimes hardened by what they see each day, but compassionate in remembering that they are to “serve and protect.” I did not receive this book in order to review, but I read and enjoy every book written by Kate Flora (I highly recommend her Thea Kozak series as well). (by paytonpuppy)
Mystery/thriller/ suspense… Kate Flora just flat out does it right. I am a huge fan of her Thea Kozak series and now I’m a fan of the Joe Burgess series as well. The very disturbing subject matter is handled incredibly well. While it is shocking it never crosses the line into gruesome for shock value’s sake. Another admirable trait is the way you can pick up book one or six and dive right into the story and still have a good feel for the characters and their lives. This was my first Joe Burgess story but it most definitely will not be my last!
I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.
Realistic characters, good story line, maybe too many words to do the story.
A Child Shall Lead Them opens with the discovery of the beaten, tortured, headless and mutilated body of a young girl, discarded in a wooded park. Detective Sgt. Joe Burgess leads the team trying to learn the identities of the child and her murderers. Painstaking police work leads to another horrific scene — 5 more naked, hungry and abused little girls, chained in a bare basement room and a storage shed, on the brink of death, victims of sex trafficking of undocumented immigrant children. The book portrays the mind-numbing horror of police work, their constant urgency, frustration and depression as the case plods along, the dangers they face, and the toll the job takes on their minds, health and families. Unlike many suspense books that simultaneously switch from the viewpoint of the cops and the perpetrators, each advance in this investigation is revealed to the police and the reader simultaneously. The suspense builds and builds, to a dramatic closure. I couldn’t stop reading, and I recommend the book to anyone who appreciates gritty police facing the worst kind of criminals.
I received this book free from ebook discovery. This is my voluntary and honest review.