The Hidden Child by Rebecca Griffiths
Genre: Crime thriller, True Crime, Suspense
Read: 21st February 2022
Audible:
Published: 24th February 2022
★★★★ 4.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Connie splashed through puddles, the rain slapping her face. Everywhere was tarmac and concrete, fog and drizzle, but no sign of her child. ‘Have you seen my daughter? Please, you must’ve seen her?’ Connie’s face crumpled, preparing to cry. But there wasn’t time for tears, she told herself, she had to find her child.
Manchester, England, 1965: In an instant Connie’s life has changed. She only left her daughter Kathy alone for a moment but that was enough for her to vanish without a trace. As Connie desperately searches for her, she has to put the news reports of other missing children to the back of her mind. She is determined to find her safe. She will bring her daughter home.
As local farmer Ronald listens to the news, he is shocked by what he hears. He has spent his life away from the spotlight, quietly tending to his farm. But when a young couple begin acting suspiciously on his land, he knows that trouble is about to reach his door.
And then he sees her. A girl in a bright red coat who looks completely lost. Ronald knows he needs to help keep her safe and find her family. But on the wild and desolate farmland, Ronald has buried his own dark secret. Can he risk it coming to light to save her life?
Inspired by a real-life true crime story, this is an unforgettable and totally gripping mystery thriller perfect for fans of Gregg Olsen, Elly Griffiths and Found.
(Previously titled: The Body on the Moor)
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Rebecca Griffith's new crime thriller THE HIDDEN CHILD (formerly titled "The Body on the Moor").
After reading and thoroughly enjoying Rebecca Griffiths' previous thriller "The Girl at my Door", I was excited to discover her next offering also cleverly blends fact with fiction to create yet another chilling tale. The Moors Murders are well known just as the names Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are in infamy. Their crimes live on long after they both have gone as does the pain and suffering they left in their wake. In THE HIDDEN CHILD, Griffiths builds a fictionalised world around Brady and Hindley, even weaving them into the story as they play an integral part in the both the real and the fictional tales that are cleverly told and woven together.
Black Fell Farm, Saddleworth Moor, 1965: Although the story opens with a prologue in 1941, it's not until we meet Ronald Cappleman twenty four years later as a middle-aged man now running the farm upon which he and his younger brother Thomas grew up on, that the story really begins to take hold. Ronnie and his brother know the Moors. They grew up here. So when a young couple begin acting somewhat strangely inside the confines of his farm, Ronnie knows something isn't right. There is something off about this couple - a fashionably dressed woman with bottle blonde hair and an irate Scot enjoying picnics and taking photos at the same place on a regular basis. Ronnie knows and loves the moors but these two? What is it that draws them to this part of Saddleworth Moor so often?
When the couple notice him in the shadows, they begin calling out obscenities and making threats. But it's when Ronnie sees the irate Scot he's nicknamed "Sporran" (on account of his obvious accent) with a gun shooting haphazardly at bottles he has "Platinum" (on account of her hair) line up for him, Ronnie informs them that they are on private property and to clear off. But who's going to make them? Ronnie has no idea who he is up against as Ian Brady is not one to back down and now he has Ronnie in his sights, he has earmarked him as a challenge.
Manchester, 1965: Young mum Connie Openshaw got herself pregnant at fifteen to a married man who was never going to leave his wife and was then left literally holding the baby. Her daughter Kathy, now seven, has never felt loved or wanted by her mother who complained on a regular basis that she missed her freedom that having "Maggot" (which she called the child) had stolen from her. Little Kathy, who thought her name was Maggot since she was called that more often than her actual name, barely uttered a word probably because she was never really heard anyway. Her mam's friend, Myra (who she was made to call Aunty Myra), was a regular fixture at their new council flat, popping in for a cup of tea and a gossip. But Kathy missed living at her gran's. She missed her gran and grandad. They were kind to her and gave her cuddles. They noticed her.
When Connie and her boyfriend Fred go to the Waggon and Horse pub for a couple of drinks, Connie instructs Kathy to stay in the car and play with her dolly while they are gone. Fred, who is always nice to her, promised to bring out a lemonade and a packet of crisps. But whilst in the pub, Connie and Fred draw the unwanted attention of Ian and Myra and, not wanting to be rude, decide to join them. But Ian's self-inflated arrogance boasting his well-versed knowledge grates on the young couple although Myra appears to bask in his self-importance. He spares no one's feelings in his outright insults and, completely under his spell, Myra just laughs along with him agreeing with him wholeheartedly.
But what he says before departing chills Connie to the bone: "What if you were to go back to the car and find the little 'un wasn't there?"
So when Connie and Fred finally do leave over an hour later, they are shocked to discover that Kathy is indeed missing. What was Ian saying? Did he take her little girl? Connie is frantic as she searches and calls for Kathy to no avail. When they call the police, their attention is more on Fred's previous form than they are about finding her young daughter. But with the news of several children having gone missing from the area over the past couple of years, Connie is afraid that her Kathy may be one of them.
While it may be a mystery to Connie where her daughter has disappeared to, it's not to the reader as we discover early on she finds herself up on the moors, by way of a misadventure involving lambs, before escaping some shouting and arriving in the drenching rain on the doorstep of Black Fell Farm. She is cold, wet and exhausted from her travels so Ronnie and Thomas immediately take the girl in, warming her up by the fire and feeding her though it soon becomes clear the girl is ill. Ronnie wants to call a doctor but Thomas wants to keep her. He calls her Gracie after their late mother.
Set within the last months before the Moors Murders gains notoriety worldwide, THE HIDDEN CHILD blends fact with fiction to create a chilling tale intersecting with real-life murderers, Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, who are chillingly portrayed. The disappearances of children in the area, as well as Hindley and Brady's morbid attraction to the moors where they buried their victims, is the perfect backdrop for this missing child thriller. Has Kathy fallen to a similar fate as that of the other missing children in the past couple of years? Or is it just a massive coincidence? Brady loved to stir up trouble and he wasted no time in doing so with Connie, leaving her to believe that Kathy could well have suffered the same fate. He was sinister and evil and I hated his character with a vengeance. But then again, that is exactly how Brady was. He was remorseless and arrogance and quite obviously was a psychopath, before the trait had even been discovered. Myra was a little more ambiguous. Was she an innocent who had fallen completely under Brady's spell? Or was she just as guilty and just as culpable?
And what of Connie? Who didn't care much for her daughter until she went missing? Only then did she realise what she had and her anguish could be palpably felt. The author did a good job of making the reader sympathise with her despite her obvious neglect...but she was still very young herself having had Kathy at 15. I quite liked Fred who was Connie's rock throughout it all, despite her treatment of him at times and harsh accusations. Connie needed stability in her life and Fred offered her that...she just didn't want to know it at the time and sought to punish herself for leaving her child alone. There are several other supporting characters throughout, both real and fictionalised also, which add credence to a thrilling and chilling story.
Although we know how Hindley and Brady's end plays out, readers are left to wonder how the story involving Kathy's disappearance will pan out. Surely it couldn't end well when it comes to light that she's been living up on the moors for the best part of two months without a word? And what of the secret Ronnie has tried to keep buried for twenty four years? What will happen when the police search of the moors lead them onto his land? I did however like how the ending ultimately played out.
THE HIDDEN CHILD is well researched and skillfully plotted as Griffiths weaves fact with fiction. I love how she uses true crime not only as a backdrop to her recent thrillers but also involves them in the story that they become part of the fictionalised tale as well. She did it with John Christie in "The Girl at my Door" and she does it again with this cleverly crafted tale.
I have to wonder which infamous true crime case she will pull from the archives to weave her next story? The Yorkshire Ripper? The Beast of Birkenshaw? Dennis Neilsen? They are the only UK serial killers I can think of off the top of my head just now. But whatever it is, I look forward to delving into that one also...
I would like to thank #RebeccaGriffiths, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheHiddenChild in exchange for an honest review.
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