Sleeping Dolls (Morgan Brookes #6) by Helen Phifer
Genre: Crime fiction, Crime thriller
Read: 8th June 2022
Published: 13th June 2022
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The beam shines around the dark room, lighting up the woman in sky-blue pyjamas lying on the couch. But she doesn’t wake under the bright glow, she isn’t sleeping at all…
When a concerned neighbour reports a woman missing, Detective Morgan Brookes squeezes through the stiff front door to find the woman dead. At first, the case appears unsuspicious, but something about the scene unsettles Morgan. Every clock in the house has been stopped, every mirror covered, and the woman seems physically unharmed except for one missing lock of hair.
Shirley Kelly was loved by her friends and hated by her ex-husband and his new wife, but they have an iron-clad alibi, and Morgan is certain that the scene-staging holds a vital clue. She’s devastated to be proved right when another woman is killed, and her home arranged in the same way. The only difference is that the second victim has been stabbed, using a knife from Shirley’s own kitchen…
The team can’t find a connection between the two women, but Morgan is sure that there is a deadly pattern to the killer’s actions. She hunts through each woman’s past until she finds the link: years ago, they both worked for a woman called Evelyn Reynolds, before tragedy struck her young family. But what has made them targets now? Morgan knows this twisted case is far from over, can she find the final clue before the clock stops for the next name on the killer’s list?
An absolutely gripping, mile-a-minute read. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Lisa Regan and Rachel Abbott!
MY THOUGHTS:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Helen Phifer's latest crime thriller SLEEPING DOLLS.
I'm a huge fan of Helen's Dr Beth Adams series as well as this one and always eagerly await the next installment. She can always be counted on to deliver a spine-tingling thriller that has readers on the edge of their seats gripped by the unfolding events with every page. SLEEPING DOLLS is no different in that it is gripping, addictive and fast paced from start to finish. But for me, I found it surprisingly lacking the usual elements that draw readers in at the start and leave them breathless by the end. Don't get me wrong, I still loved it but I was a little disappointed at the same time.
DC Morgan Brookes is back after her near fatal attack at the end of the last book which saw her biological father and escaped serial killer Gary Marks die in her arms. Finally relinquishing her tenancy on her flat, Morgan has moved in with Ben as the two have finally stopped dancing around the inevitable. I have to say I missed Morgan's quirky neighbour from upstairs (whose name escapes me just now). She was always an interesting addition to the story.
After arriving at the station and the newly rebranded CID to CAST to find the office empty, Morgan hears about a call to check on the welfare of a woman after a neighbouring rang in complaining about a smell emanating from her flat. She advises Control that she is also enroute and she fears what she is about to walk into. Squeezing through the small opening of the door that has a rug preventing it from opening fully, Morgan finds the lifeless form of Shirley Kelly laying on her sofa. At first glance, nothing appears suspicious but something in Morgan's gut tells her that something is off. Something about the scene unsettles her. Then she see the clock has stopped at six and the mirror has been covered. And although the woman seems physically unharmed, a patch of hair that has been cut from her head. Very unsettling indeed.
A short time later, a second woman is killed. Even more chilling is that her house is arranged in the same way. But what is troubling is this woman had called police just an hour before believing there to be someone in her house but everything was deemed sound and the house clear of intruders. So what had happened to this woman in the short time between when the police had left her and when they returned? Was someone hiding somewhere in the house after all? And, more importantly, what connects these two women?
Morgan and Ben are baffled by the unfolding events and who could possibly be behind them. They question friends and witnesses in an effort to glean any information about the two women they can. Whilst in the midst of everything they are dealing with comes their new DI, Marcel Howard (Marc), who arrives a week before he is due to start as well as in something of a flurry. All the women in the nick are immediately drawn in by hus charm and good looks whilst Ben isn't so sure. And the Marc ruffles a few feathers and steps on some toes leaving Ben livid. Who is this man and where has he come from? And who the hell does he think he is?
Just when Morgan and Ben think they are never going to catch a break, they are thrown a lifeline in some intel Morgan has garnered in passing. Then it's all systems go as the team take their places in the respective takedown of the person behind these unsettling murders. But nothing is as it seems and of course nothing goes according to plan in this fast paced twisted tale that is both chilling and creepy.
With plenty of red herrings and twists, SLEEPING DOLLS is an addictive fast paced thriller that is the sixth installment in the brilliant Morgan Brookes series. There is plenty going on but with Helen's easy style it is still very easy to read and follow the story. It does differ to her previous books in which there is little from other aspects, which I missed greatly from this installment. I love how the reader is usually given glimpses from other perspectives throughout and with the exception of one of the victims prior to her death, a few flashbacks to 1989 and the killer themselves near the end, the book is mostly from a procedural perspective. It is the one aspect I found disappointing in this book. The only other disappointing factor was the identity of the killer. Without revealing any spoilers, I felt it was a bit out of nowhere with nothing really linking them to murders or the story. Maybe if there were more of the various aspects peppered throughout, like in previous books, the loose ends that lead to the killer would make more sense.
Despite my disappointment, I did enjoy SLEEPING DOLLS and it certainly reflected Helen's usual fast paced addictive writing complete with her easy style. Not to mention her element of creepy undertones she likes to throw in now and again. The old house that features in this story reminded me Lake View House in her standalone thriller of the same name.
With its creepy undertones, SLEEPING DOLLS will definitely pique readers' curiosity and have fans cheering for their heroine. And although I was a little disappointed, it didn't ruin my enjoyment of what it is essentially another spine-tingling thriller from this talented author!
I would like to thank #HelenPhifer, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #SleepingDolls in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Helen lives in a small town in Cumbria. Surrounded by miles of coastline and only a short drive from the beautiful Lake District.
She has always loved writing and reading since the days she learnt how to in infant school. She loves reading books that make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and make her afraid to go to the toilet, alone in the middle of the night. She is eternally grateful to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert and Graham Masterton for scaring her senseless in her teenage years.
Unable to find enough of the scary stories she loves to read, she decided to write her own.
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