The Silent Dolls

Detective Ellie Reeves has spent years hiking, appreciating and searching the Appalachian mountains. A dangerous place for the unsuspecting and unprepared, the mountains are home to the lonely, the forgotten and the lost. When a young girl is reported missing from the trail, Ellie fears the worst. But then Special Agent Derrick Fox turns up with information suggesting Penny Matthews is not the first young girl to disappear and she knows she must do everything she can to make her mountains safe.

This was a middle of the road police procedural with a touch of romance and a bit of psychological suspense. At times it ventured into the ridiculous but for the most part is was a decently written mystery with a persistent and caring detective. show more

Ellie Reeves was an odd duck. I liked her for the most part but she irritated me at some points. Her lack of trust in Cord, who was supposedly her best friend bothered me. I mean she's know him for years? She could've tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Especially when she was so reluctant to share her mental health concerns. I also wasn't a fan of the relationship between her and Derrick. It felt contrived. Does a book always have to have a love interest? It wasn't excessive and they didn't profess love or anything but it's obvious where the whole thing is headed. To be fair my annoyance is probably also that I preferred Cord as the love interest, so there's that.

Derrick was mostly okay. A bit quick to jump to conclusions without any rational thought which was annoying. His judgements of Ellie were unfair. I loved Cord. I wanted to know much more about him. I was confused mostly by her relationship with her parents. She went on and on about how she was so close to them and knew them so well but the lack of communication painted a much different story. I didn't really like either of them very much. Her mum was batshit crazy. And her dad seemed weak. One thing I did hate though was how many times Ellie took a hit to the head. I'm pretty sure she should just be unconscious or dead at this point.

As for the plot it was decent. The mystery was interesting and kept me reading. The pacing worked well, driving towards the final reveals. There was nothing particularly shocking or surprising but it was entertaining. At first I was amused by Hiram being her brother. And then I loved the reveal that Ellie wasn't related to any of them. The poor hits just kept coming for her. I was appalled at the whole mental illness storyline. The whole thing about Ellie being Mae being who knows who was a bit excessive. I would've preferred it was actually her twin who died than her disassociating. But it wasn't a dealbreaker.

One other thing that I hated though was the touches of supernatural or hallucination ghost stuff. If I'm reading a procedural, I want a procedural not, I see dead people. I could've done without it and frankly it added nothing to the plot.

A solid police procedural with a decently complex mystery. 3 stars. show less

First I want to says thanks to NetGalley for this complimentary arc! I really appreciate it.
Y'all this book was amazing!
The plot & ending was simply brilliant!

Ellie Reeves is a Detective in a small town of the Appalachian mountains in Geroiga!

Penny Matthews, a seven-year-old girl goes missing in the mountains while having a picnic with her mom and dad!

Ellie is called to the scene and she knows all too well that the mountains’ endless miles of dark forest and winding rivers are the perfect place for a criminal to hide. Racing against the sub-zero temps.... she has got to find this little girl!

When they discover the remains of a small body buried with a carved wooden doll, it’s clear they’re up against a deadly serial killer show more preying on innocent little girls.

As the weather turns worse can they can Penny & uncover the truth that lurks in thoes mountains?

This book is filled with twists, turns, the unexpected!
Had me hooked.... to where I could not put it down till I finished and seen what happened next!
I honestly dont think I've read a book this year with so much twist to it! But this one here packed the punches!

Now I'm going to gonna have to be on the lookout for the second book of Eliie Reeve!

Pub Date- July 17th 2020 show less

This book was so damn good! I just couldn't put it down until I finished it!

When Penny Matthews, a seven-year-old girl goes missing in the Appalachian mountains, Detective Ellie Reeves is called straight to the scene. According to Penny’s parents, their daughter vanished after a picnic by the creek. All that’s left behind is a pink friendship bracelet etched with “Penny”.

Special Agent Derrick Fox is determined to join the hunt. His younger sister, Kim, disappeared in the same area twenty-five years ago––on the day he was meant to be watching her. He’s certain the cases are linked and that over a dozen girls have vanished in the last decade. Ellie refuses to believe that their tight-knit mountain community could be home to show more a deadly criminal, but even she can’t deny the similarities in the cases. And when they discover the remains of a small body buried with a carved wooden doll, it’s clear they’re up against a deadly serial killer preying on innocent little girls.

This book had me hooked on right from the start. All the characters were well written and the twists and turns were really good. I kept guessing but I couldn't get it right at all. The ending was just bang on.

It was an amazing start to a new series, I can't wait for more books in this series. Highly recommended!!

Thank You to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!! show less

Ellie is investigating a missing child on the Appalachian Trail. An FBI agent is helping Ellie and she learns his sister disappeared a number of years ago. Ellie's father, now sheriff of the county was the investigator on that case and the girl was never found. After another child disappears, Ellie believes she has a serial killer on her hands. A snowstorm is headed for their area, so time is of the essence to find the two girls.