Description from Goodreads:
"The baby stirred in his blanket as the girl held him tightly to her chest; goosebumps covered her arms. Her bare feet were frozen by the icy stone beneath them, and as she inched slowly along the roof’s balcony, her body shook with fear. She wouldn’t let them take her precious boy.
When the broken body of a seventy-one-year-old woman is found beneath the Humber Bridge, a sign around her neck with the words ‘Pure Evil’ spray-painted in red, Detective Hollie Turner can’t help but wonder – who would want this frail elderly woman dead?
As she starts to delve into the victim’s personal life, Hollie discovers that the woman, Sister Brennan, ran a local mother and baby home at the Church of St Mary and the Angels. The unit may have shut down years ago, but the pain and anguish of those who were forced to give up their babies remains.
The case hits an emotional nerve for Hollie, who was barely twenty when she became a mother and is currently picking up the pieces of her broken marriage and shattered home life.
Determined to uncover the secrets in the home’s dark past, Hollie finds an old photograph of four girls who were there at the same time. Each has their babies taken from them; each have their own harrowing story to tell.
But just as Hollie is beginning to crack the case and link vital clues to Sister Brennan’s murder, an elderly priest is attacked and left for dead in his home. Facing her most complex investigation yet – one steeped in decades of betrayal – can Hollie find the killer before they strike again?"
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This is a great start to a new series. It's told from two timelines and two points of view; Detective Hollie Turner in the present and Mandy in 1970's Britain.
Detective Turner has just transferred to a new job in Hull but before she is able to get her feet under the table, the body of a nun is found; it's a horrendous scene but who would want to murder a nun? It's a complex and difficult investigation not helped by her own personal troubles and a bumpy relationship with some of her colleagues.
Mandy is a teenage girl who doesn't have the best home life however, this gets worse when she falls pregnant and ends up in a home run by the Catholic Church which "looks after" pregnant mothers thereby removing the "shame" from the parents and community.
When a Priest who has connections to the nun and the home is also attacked, Hollie has to delve into the disturbing past to try and prevent further deaths.
This is a great story that, unfortunately, holds a strong element of truth in the way that unmarried and teenage mothers were dealt with in the past. It deals with the subject matter via Mandy's voice with compassion but not holding back which is difficult and painful to read at times.
With great characters that are developing very nicely, this is a gripping and enthralling read which ends on a massive cliff hanger which continues to Book 2.
Many thanks to the author, Storm Publishing and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this first book in a new series.
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