I am delighted to be sharing my thoughts today on She Lies Hidden by C.M. Stephenson as part of the Blog Blitz by the publisher Bloodhound Books, my thanks to the publisher for my ecopy of this book, my thoughts are my own. You can get your copy of this book from AMAZON UK or AMAZON US.

Synopsis:

How far would you go to find your missing sister?

When DI Thomasine Albright is informed that the remains of her fifteen-year-old sister have been found, she has the tragic responsibility of breaking the news to her mother. Thomasine promises her mother that she will be the one to find Karen’s killer.

But Karen Albright wasn’t the only girl to go missing during that weekend in 1973… Veronica Lightfoot disappeared too. They’d lived barely four miles apart, yet apparently never met. Suddenly there is a new question, was Veronica involved in Karen’s death? Is that why she vanished?

DI Mel Philips is handed the original case file and begins a new investigation. Unwilling to be side-lined, Thomasine decides to go it alone.

As the case unfolds, Thomasine realises that there may be other victims. Can she find them too?

My Thoughts:

DI Thomasine Albright’s sister went missing many years ago. Finally the family know what happened. Finding the killer of her sister is going to be difficult for Thomasine as she is not allowed anywhere near the case. New developments come to light and nothing will stop Thomasine finding the truth.

This is a story that has several subplots running through it as I was soon to discover. I found that there were a few characters that I had to get to know but I soon started to recognise as the story unfolded, and they became recognisable. Also their role in the grand scheme of things, making them even more memorable.

As the story evolved I did wonder what sort of route this book would take, it became darker and caught me out when I started to discover where it was heading as questions and threads were being pulled together. At this point my reading started to quicken as the pacing seemed to speed up as well.

This story has good descriptions for the setting, a bleak, cold, isolated farm that was once a family home added to the story line, and increasing the tense feeling as I read.

This did require a little more concentration in the early stages as I had to get a grasp on the seemingly unrelated threads. Once the characters had cemented themselves and the threads of the story started to be woven together I had a better understanding and could really enjoy the story.

This is a story that would appeal to crime, thriller and mystery readers and is one I would recommend.

About the Author:

After growing up in a small Lancashire village, Christine Stephenson left school at fifteen. Four years later she moved to Cornwall.

In her late teens she met people whose lives were complicated, fuelled by drugs, and filled with violence and aggression. There were others too, in her mid-twenties, everyday people, educated, with careers, who had decent parents; people who you wouldn’t look at twice in the street. They were worse; she knew the victims of their crimes too. These experiences continue to influence her writing.

Her career can be described as eclectic. Jobs ranging from office junior to dental nurse, management consultant to executive and corporate coach. She ran her own training consultancy for over twelve years. It was there that her love of writing bloomed. She went on to produce an extensive portfolio of work which included resource packs, case studies, role-plays, games, presentations and academic texts.

In 2008 her husband’s job dictated that they move to South Gloucestershire. This in turn, lead to a brand-new life. They now live just outside a small medieval town, set between Bristol and Bath.

In 2009, she decided it was time to study the craft and undertook the A215 in Creative Writing with Open University, and later followed that with an MA Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, graduating in 2016. She gained representation with Andrew Nurnberg & Associates soon after. She spent the following eighteen months writing and editing what is now her debut novel. In May 2018 Christine was delighted to accept a contract with Bloodhound Books. ‘She Lies Hidden’ is due for release in September 2018.

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