Murder, child abuse, drugs, family secrets and psychologically damaged characters turn up on just about every page in this book, the fifth featuring Ireland Detective Lottie Parker. Fairly early on I ran into an ongoing obstacle: A few too many characters and plot "angles" that made it a bit hard for me to keep track of who was who and how he or she was connected to which story line. I decided to just settle back and let my mind go with the flow, though, and before too long things started to fall into place. I've read only one book in this series (The Missing Ones, which I totally loved), and the writing I enjoyed when reading that one is here as well. It stands alone, but I'm sure I'd have felt more "clued in" had I read the other in-betweens. That said, I'm pretty sure die-hard fans who have followed the series from the start won't be disappointed.
For openers, an obviously disoriented and bloodied young woman wanders into the police station claiming she may have killed someone - then passes out and is transported to the hospital. It's clear she's just given birth; but before anyone can speak to her, she escapes. Not long thereafter, Lottie's not-yet-teenage son Sean and his friend find a dead newborn near the short where they've gone fishing (authorities assume, of course, that it belongs to the bloodied girl).
Following closely on the heels of that is the disappearance of a young socceer player - a close friend of Sean's - who in short order is found murdered. And just days later, another young boy is found murdered in similar fashion. All these cases end up on Lottie's plate, but a few personal issues get thrown into her mix (and added to my confusion) as well, such as moving into a new house with her family, an uncertain "romance" with another department detective, a jealous very pregnant co-worker, an overbearing boss and a mysterious man from her past.
Perhaps the only thing that gets resolved in the end is the identity of the murderer (I'd narrowed it down to two characters, one right on the button); otherwise, I'm left scratching my head with this question: Just how much blood can one woman lose before there's none left? The rest of the goings-on will, I assume, carry over to the next book, which I certainly hope to get my hands on. For now, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this one.
Tell Nobody by Patricia Gibney (Bookouture, October 2018); 458 pp.
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