Little Sister
A Novel
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Two girls went into the woods. Only one came back. . . .
Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens is on the trail in this “riveting” (Publishers Weekly) crime novel from the acclaimed author of She Lies in Wait, Watching from the Dark, and Lie Beside Me
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: BookPage
Jonah Sheens is enjoying a moment of peace in a pub garden on his day off when a teenage girl wanders out of the woods. She’s striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She’s also covered in blood.
When Jonah races to help, the girl insists she’s fine. Then she smiles. It’s her sister he needs to worry about. Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children’s home a week ago. Now Keely is here—but Nina’s still missing. Jonah is sure Keely knows where her sister is—but before she tells him anything, she insists, he has to listen to her story from the beginning.
Is she witness, victim, or killer? And if Jonah follows the trail of clues in her story, will they lead him to the missing girl—or distract him until it’s too late?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Lodge's riveting fourth police procedural featuring Det. Chief Insp. Jonah Sheens of the Southampton PD (after 2021's Lie Beside Me), 16-year-old Keely Lennox, her T-shirt and hands covered in blood, walks into the garden of the pub where Jonah is enjoying a beer. He asks her if she needs help, to which she says she doesn't, but perhaps her 14-year-old sister, Nina, does. Once at the police station, Keely begins to tell her mesmerizing tale of life in the care of Southampton Social Services and of the "three men who had taken her life apart." She does not, however, reveal the whereabouts of Nina, who's believed to be injured and perhaps held captive. With time running out, Jonah and his team look into Keely's story, hitting roadblocks at every turn. The incidents she describes have been investigated by Social Services and declared unfounded. Jonah begins to wonder whether they're dealing with a manipulative sociopath or a teen who has been telling the truth about at least one of her abusers. After the frenzied pace, the limp ending comes as a bit of a letdown. This clever mystery will keep readers guessing to the very end.
Customer Reviews
A Novel of Suspense and Intrigue
"Little Sister" by Gytha Lodge is the fourth book in the series that features DCI Jonah Sheens (or Copper Sheens as his former girlfriend calls him) and his team, who investigate major crimes. This time, Sheens is enjoying an outing with his infant daughter, when a teenager appears, covered in blood - she's one of two girls who have recently gone missing from foster care, and her story is what sets this taut thriller in motion.
Keely wants the police to find her missing sister, Nina, but is unwilling to tell them exactly where she might be found, or who might have taken her or even why (and why is she covered in blood). She wants them to figure out for themselves what happened, and begins to tell her story.....
At its heart this is a story of abuse that was reported by discounted, as well as a tale of revenge. Keely wants the people who mistreated both her and her sister (and their foster brother) to pay for their crimes - even though there is no proof of these crimes, having been investigated in the past.
Without giving anything away, there are a number of Easter Eggs in Keely's story, which Jonah's DC, Juliette Hanson begins to unravel bit by bit as the story progresses.
Ms. Lodge has concocted a riveting story, related from the points of view of both the investigators and the teens.
The conclusion surprised the heck out of me, and I'm not easily surprised considering the number of mysteries and thrillers I've read over the years.
This is a complicated story, and the reader has to pay close attention - something that Juliette, Ben, Johan and the other investigators quickly learn.
Highly recommended, but do go back and read the previous instalments in order to get a good feel for the main characters.