Her Pretty Bones (DI Gina Harte #3) by Carla Kovach
Genre: Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller
Read: 20th January 2019
Purchase: Amazon
★★★★ 4 stars
HER PRETTY BONES is the third in the DI Gina Harte series, but it can be read as a standalone, as I have yet to read the first two myself.
When a young girl falls from a moving van on a country lane and nearly hit by the car travelling behind, Gina and her team are called to investigate. The girl couldn't be more than sixteen though she is badly wounded and very emaciated, and is rushed to hospital where she is placed in an induced coma but sadly never recovers. The only lead the team have was her final words to the driver of the car behind "Help her". Her? Who is "her"? Is there another girl? And who is this girl? What happened to her? Was she kidnapped and somehow escaped her abductor?
Then a few days later another body is found buried in a shallow grave, and questions are raised whether this is a separate crime or that of the same person? When forensics come back regarding a strand of hair found with the remains, DNA tests reveal a link between the two cases. But the final words of the girl from the van lead the team to believe that there is a third girl they must race to find before it's too late.
The reader soon meets Julia Dawson who has been searching for her runaway daughter for 3 months and when she rings the tip line, she is brought in to identify "van girL, as she is being referred to. Is this her daughter Christina?
The chapters alternate between the investigation, Julia Dawson and the third abducted girl, who we soon know as Miley. The shifting POVs are compelling as we try to piece together the jigsaw alongside Gina and her team.
HER PRETTY BONES is an intriguing read, though a little slow in parts, filled with secrets, likes , deceit, duplicity and everything you could want in a psychological thriller. I love the fact that Gina has proved that she is not infalliable and she knows this...particularly with a secret from her past that she holds close and tells no one. If she did, it would change everything, I'm sure.
My only flaw I can think of is Gina and her relationship with her daughter. Though she featured very little in this book, I found her daughter Hannah to be selfish and unreasonable. Her mother has been a detective in the police force for several decades and she chooses NOW to be unreasonable about with regard to her own daughter Gracie. It is a demanding job and there are times I'm sure Gina would much rather be at home, but having to cancel plans with her daughter and granddaughter are beyond her control. She has people abovee her to answer to as well and she can't keep everyone happy. The other thing that irritated me was her obsession with her DCI. I'm really not interested in their relationship, their break-up or the fact she is finding herself jealous he is seeing someone else. Get on with the case and forget about office romances!
Aside from those two flaws, HER PRETTY BONES is gripping and intrguing with twists and turns and an ending that at the end of it all, seems rather sad. And whilst it is part of a series, I believe it can be read as a standalone as I did...but you will probably find yourself wanting to read the other two after this one anyway. Just to familiarise yourself with the backstory and Gina herself.
I would like to thank #CarlaKovach, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #HerPrettyBones in exchange for an honest review.
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