Hush Little Baby (DC Beth Chamberlain #3) by Jane Isaac
Genre: Crime fiction, Crime thriller, Police procedural
Read: 10th September 2021
Published: 23rd July 2020
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
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.
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.
MY REVIEW:
A crime thriller that's a police procedural with a touch of domestic suspense, HUSH LITTLE BABY is the third in the DC Beth Chamberlain series. I was glad to find this book so much better than the previous one although it still felt a little drawn out in parts, weighing it down in the middle. Still, it was a relatively enjoyable read.
Teenager Jordan skips registration and skives off school to hunker down at a building site for a cheeky cigarette. She did not expect to make the discover that she did. The bare arm of a child protruding from the the rubble surrounding a block of concrete. She screams, alerting the construction crew on site, and scarpering as the builders approach.
DC Beth Chamberlain is enjoying a day off with her sister Eden and her daughter Lily when her mobile rings. It can only mean one thing. Work. Her sergeant and lover, DS Nick Geary, informs her of the discovery of a infant's remains encased in a block of concrete. Almost at once, her superiors recall a case from fifteen years previous. Alicia Owens disappeared along with her pram after her mother Marie, not wanting to disturb the sleeping three month old, had left it unattended to pick up a few groceries. When she returned, Alicia had gone alone with her pram. A search prevailed the pram but the attachable car seat and Alicia's change bag were nowhere to be found.
Could this be baby Alicia?
The investigation into identifying the infant's remains lead to Beth and Nick informing the Owens family to prepare them for the possibility of it being Alicia. What ensues is the re-examination of the old case and the opening up of old wounds. Acting as Family Liaison Officer to both parents despite the couple divorcing twelve years before, Beth takes Marie and her former husband Daniel's DNA to assist in identifying the remains. But what none of them expect is what the tests throw up...
But the case at hand is not the only thing on Beth's mind. At the conclusion of the previous book, they had learned that the serial killer they had imprisoned had somehow escaped custody and no one knew where he was. If he was smart, Dale Yates would be a long way from here. But then he had a score to settle and his own sense of warped justice to deliver. Since receiving this news, her superior DCI Freeman had ensured that Beth was never alone with Nick always remaining close by. But since his promotion to acting DI for the investigation into identifying the child's remains, his work hours have been somewhat extended leaving Beth to return home at night alone. Then little things started happening. Her side gate left unlocked. The sense of someone having been in her house. The care with the cloned plates tailgating her. Was this all just a coincidence? Or has Yates come for her?
As the first case is solved and wrapped up, Beth finds herself thrust to the forefront of another investigation...this time with her as a victim. The twist, which sees an unexpected turn of events concerning her sister, is a shock and leaves Beth reeling.
HUSH LITTLE BABY is a gripping thriller which focuses on both the police investigation as well as those of the victims and an anonymous person seemingly stalking the investigation. It's page-turning and entertaining enough to keep you engaged but the pace did dip a little in the middle before it raced to the end.
An enjoyable read, HUSH LITTLE BABY can be read as a standalone though it probably helps to read the preceding books to get a full understanding of the ongoing backstory.
I would like to thank #JaneIsaac, #Netgalley and #AriaFiction for an ARC of #HushLittleBaby in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Jane is author of three bestselling detective series: DCI Helen Lavery, DI Will Jackman (based in Stratford upon Avon), and DC Beth Chamberlain (a Family Liaison Officer). Her novels have been nominated as best mystery in the 'eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook awards' and selected as 'Thriller of the Month' by E-thriller.com.
2021 sees Jane's first foray into psychological suspense with the release of One Good Lie in June. A further psychological suspense novel will follow in 2022, along with a new DCI Helen Lavery book.
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