The Secret Voices (Cora Lael #1) by M.J. White
Genre: Crime fiction
Read: 24th April 2022
Published: 28th April 2022
★★ 2 stars
DESCRIPTION:
They said they’d keep me safe.
They said, ‘It’s okay, Hannah. You know you can trust me.’
They lied.
When eight-year-old Hannah Perry goes missing in the small Suffolk village of St Just, the community is rocked. Heading up the investigation is Acting DS Rob Minshull, but he’s out of his depth in a case that seems to mirror the disappearance of a young boy, seven years ago. That search ended in unimaginable tragedy…and Minshull is praying that history won’t be repeated.
But with an investigation full of dead ends, and a kidnapper taunting the police with sinister deliveries of Hannah’s belongings and cryptic notes, the young girl’s life hangs perilously in danger.
Until Dr Cora Lael enters the picture. A psychologist with a unique ability, Cora’s rare gift allows her to sense emotions attached to discarded objects. When she is shown the first of Hannah’s belongings, she hears the child’s piercing scream.
With few leads on the case, could Cora prove Hannah’s only hope? And as time runs out, can they find Hannah before history repeats itself...?
A twisty, original and utterly gripping detective thriller that fans of James Oswald and LJ Ross will love. Don't miss the crime thriller debut from the bestselling women's fiction author, Miranda Dickinson.
MY REVIEW:
When 8 year old Hannah Perry goes missing in the small Suffolk village of St Just, it bears a striking resemblence to the disappearance of another young child, a boy, seven years before...with the search for him ending tragically. The community and the police alike are reminded of 10 year old Matthew Cooper and hoping that this case will have a much happier outcome.
Hannah was on her way home from school with her friend Ava and Ava's mother when she announced she was meeting her mother at the Easter Markets. They reluctantly left Hannah to make her way into the village as they made their own way home. Hannah, though, had other plans. She didn't want to go home. Her mum was at work and only her mother's boyfriend Shaun would be there so she decided to wander to the markets instead. She paused to look in shop windows - an estate agents, dreaming of a nice house; the house shop; a pet shop, longing for a dog of her own which she would name Amber. And then she saw the yellow balloons...and made her way over to the smiling face holding them. She would get one for her sisters Lily and Ruby.
And then she vanished.
DS Rob Minshull in heading up the investigation into Hannah's disappearance, as acting DS with the top brass looking to fast track him to DI by the end of the year. His superior, DI Joel Anderson, remembers his father...and not all that fondly. But having failed with the Cooper case, Anderson has been forced to hand the SIO reigns over to Minshull in the hope that history doesn't repeat itself.
And then there is Cora Lael. She is brought in as a civilian consultant on the investigation due to her unique abilities to sense emotions, thoughts and voices attached to discarded items. When given something of Hannah's she hears the girl's piercing scream. Can Cora's unique ability help the police find Hannah before it's too late?
I'm going to be in the minority here with my review but unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I found it hard to get into and incredibly wordy. And I know it's about someone with a "supernatural gift" but I felt so much focus was placed on this that it took away from the crime story itself. Every time Cora was in a scene, it was all about the screaming voices from discarded detritus as she passed...blah blah blah. She hears voices from those who once held those items...we get the picture. There was a lot of excess fluff I felt didn't belong...maybe that was because this is the first book in the series and it somehow needed an introduction of sorts, I don't know. But I felt there was too much that just didn't need to be there.
The concept was intriguing as was the premise but I didn't find the story as gripping as I usually do with crime fiction. In the end, I found myself skimming most of it just to get to the end. Maybe it's just me, but I just couldn't get into the story and found many of the characters irritating.
THE SECRET VOICES was an OK read but I wouldn't be rushing out to read another.
I would like to thank #MJWhite, #HeraBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheSecretVoices in exchange for an honest review.
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