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The Stolen Girls: A totally gripping thriller with a twist you won’t see coming (Detective Lottie Parker Book 2) Kindle Edition

4.3 out of 5 stars 19,170 ratings

The young woman standing on Lottie’s step was a stranger. She was clutching the hand of a young boy. ‘Help me,’ she said to Lottie. ‘Please help me.’

One Monday morning, the body of a young pregnant woman is found. The same day, a mother and her son visit the house of
Detective Lottie Parker, begging for help to find a lost friend.

Could this be the same girl?

When a second victim is discovered by the same man, with the murder bearing all the same hallmarks as the first, Lottie needs to work fast to discover how else the two were linked.
Then two more girls go missing.

Detective Lottie Parker is a woman on the edge, haunted by her tragic past and struggling to keep her family together through difficult times. Can she fight her own demons and catch the killer before he claims another victim?

The Stolen Girls is a gripping and page-turning thriller that will leave you breathless. Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Karin Slaughter and Robert Dugoni.

What people are saying about The Stolen Girls:


THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN A LONG, LONG TIME! If I could have given it ten stars I would have!’ Goodreads Reviewer

A thrilling mystery with great characters and a dark and disturbing plot.’ Deja Read

A highly engrossing and very emotive story, tension which will keep you on the edge of your seat and not just chewing but chomping at those finger nails.’ Jen Med’s Book Reviews

I absolutely, totally and utterly blinking loved reading The Stolen Girls and I can’t wait to read more.’ Ginger Book Geek

‘Patricia has written another un-putdownable police procedural which is
fast-paced and a page-turner of epic proportions.’ Sweet Little Book Blog

‘This is Patricia Gibney’s second novel, following her amazing debut,
The Missing Ones. I gave The Missing Ones 5 stars, and I liked this one even better, but alas, Goodreads won’t let me give it 6 stars.’ Dark Twisty Books

What a book … Not once is there a lull in the action. Not once did I want to put it down. Bring on the next Lottie Parker book.’ Nigel Adams Bookworm

‘Brilliant!
Patricia Gibney has done it again! This author delivers every time, with every story!’ Renita D’Silva

A non-stop thrill ride! You won't want to get off!’ Goodreads Reviewer

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I didn't think this could keep me as hooked and book one but by heck it did! Amazing, fantastic writing. I didn't want it to end!’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘Excellent book. Great storyline and characters.
A real page turner.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘I absolutely blitzed through this book. The style of writing makes it
hard to put down and I vowed “just one more page” at least a hundred times. Another fantastic book from Patricia.’ Goodreads Reviewer

You seriously do not want to miss it.’ Goodreads Reviewer

This author is one to follow.’ Goodreads Reviewer
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia is the million-copy bestselling author of the DI Lottie Parker series. She yearned to be a writer after reading Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene and even wanted to be Nancy Drew when she grew up. She has now grown up (she thinks) but the closest she's come to Nancy Drew is writing crime!
In 2009, after her husband died, she retired from her job and started writing seriously. Fascinated by people and their quirky characteristics, she always carries a notebook to scribble down observations.
Patricia also loves to paint in watercolour and lives in the Irish midlands with her children.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B071Y84BQK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bookouture
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 6, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.7 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1786812186
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Book 2 of 15 ‏ : ‎ Detective Lottie Parker
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 19,170 ratings

About the author

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Patricia Gibney
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Patricia lives in the midlands of Ireland. She is an avid crime reader so naturally she found herself writing in the crime genre.

A life changing experience in 2009, with the death of her 49 year old husband, meant she had to give up her career, and over the following few years, she rekindled her love of art and writing.

Initially Patricia wrote and illustrated a children's book, but her real ambition was to write a novel. And she did!

In January 2016, she joined with Ger Nichol of The Book Bureau Literary Agency. In July 2016, Patricia signed with Bookouture for four DI Lottie Parker crime novels.

The Missing Ones (Book 1) published in March 2017 and to date has reached a high of number 2 in Amazon UK Kindle charts and number 6 in the US. It also achieved number 1 in all its categories. It is a bestseller in UK, US, Canada and Australia.

Book 2 in the series, The Stolen Girls, published on July 6th, 2017.

Book 3 in the series, The Lost Child, publishes on October 27th 2017

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
19,170 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a great beach read with lots of twists and turns, and one customer notes it's a page turner from beginning to end. The writing style is fast-paced, and customers appreciate the compelling characters, with one highlighting the strong female lead. The book has a faster pace overall, though some find it slow at the beginning, and while many consider it hard to put down, others disagree. The book receives mixed reactions regarding its violence level, with several customers finding it too graphic.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

418 customers mention "Readability"401 positive17 negative

Customers find the book to be a great beach read that matches the quality of the first book in the series.

"I preordered this because the first book was good and I wanted more of the characters...." Read more

"This is a series you must read in order: Book 2 of the Detective Inspector Lottie Parker and her partner Detective Sergeant Mark Boyd starts with a..." Read more

"...Fantastic series. Can't recommend highly enough." Read more

"I enjoyed the first book, and since this is a 3-book series, I will likely read the third...." Read more

402 customers mention "Suspenseful"356 positive46 negative

Customers find the book suspenseful, praising its intense plot with lots of twists and turns that keep the suspense going until the end.

"...who I will be following closely for more of her intense prose and storylines. I look forward to the next book in this series...." Read more

"...a little more depth in this book, he and Lottie have a very entertaining relationship, I look forward to seeing more of that in subsequent books." Read more

"...There are also minor storylines with Rosemary, Ms. Parker’s mother, and slight mention to the soup kitchen which was in Book 1...." Read more

"...There are lots of twist and turns in this book, but you really do need likable characters to balance out the darkness of the subject matter...." Read more

133 customers mention "Writing quality"108 positive25 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, noting its fast-paced style that keeps readers engaged and makes for all-night reading.

"...The author is a talented writer who I will be following closely for more of her intense prose and storylines...." Read more

"I found the author to have a captivating, engaging style of writing that led me turning pages one after another...." Read more

"...the beginning is tense, and, due greatly to the author's superior and vivid writing style, the opening pages come across as gross...." Read more

"Well written, ultimately very sad but helps bring to the forefront the evil done for nothing but money...." Read more

120 customers mention "Character development"100 positive20 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, finding them compelling and very human.

"...quickly devoured the first 5 of her (now 10) books with this fantastic main character...." Read more

"...Bit of a shame, because I quite like the characters, especially Boyd, but, I would rather not keep being reminded that Lottie is somewhat 'damaged..." Read more

"...However, the good always wins out. Her storyline is around the main person, who is Detective Lottie and her family...." Read more

"I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. It has a lot of characters, but easier to keep them in place. It is definitely a page turner...." Read more

21 customers mention "Page turner"21 positive0 negative

Customers describe this book as a page turner, with one customer noting it keeps readers engaged from beginning to end.

"...because this book grabs you pulls you into the story and has you turning page after page...." Read more

"...It is definitely a page turner...." Read more

"...This is another page turner that has detective Parker facing some of her own demons." Read more

"Page turner. Try it on for enjoyment." Read more

47 customers mention "Pace"29 positive18 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some appreciating its fast pace with twists and turns and short chapters that make it easy to read, while others find it slow at the beginning.

"...There are a lot of twists and turns in the book, it moved along at a quick pace and kept me guessing...." Read more

"I liked Gibney's first book enough to buy this one. It starts off a bit slow, but comes to a point that I couldn't put it down!..." Read more

"...While "The Stolen Girls" is just as fast-paced (well, it goes faster the further you go), action-packed, & as much a psychological thriller..." Read more

"...I had a hard time putting this one down. It moves along quickly and you just want to keep finding out where it's going and what will finally happen..." Read more

24 customers mention "Difficulty to put down"14 positive10 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's readability, with some finding it hard to put down and describing it as gripping, while others say it didn't grab them.

"...It has a lot of characters, but easier to keep them in place. It is definitely a page turner...." Read more

"...However, as I got into it I was unable to put it down. Very suspenseful, graphic and frightening...." Read more

"Very well written and hard to put down, as I was keen to get to the end and work it all out...." Read more

"...Putting that aside in all fairness it was hard for me to put the book down until I got to the end." Read more

34 customers mention "Violence level"0 positive34 negative

Customers find the violence level of the book excessive, describing it as very gruesome and glutted with sexual violence.

"...Murder, sex trafficking, organ theft, sexual assault...all this is interspersed with some scenes in 1999 Kosovo that all gets tied together in the..." Read more

"...She is so rude, negative, and confrontational to just about everyone (her supervisor, her mother, her co-workers)...." Read more

"Well written, ultimately very sad but helps bring to the forefront the evil done for nothing but money...." Read more

"...And I really got sick of the main character, she's so unlikable. And she wonders if she's a bad mother...yes, she is...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2019
    An incredible follow-up to the first book in this gripping series, The Missing Ones. I was hooked on the first book and therefore had to read the second.

    This book is gritty, shocking and gruesome, at times so much so that I had to take a break from reading, but not for long. Detective Lottie Parker has had to deal with too much in her own life from losing her husband to nearly losing herself. She must face raising three children on her own and at the same time hold down a demanding job on the police force.

    Lottie has her own demons to fight while she must find the killer of two young girls. When another body turns up and two other girls go missing she has to pull herself together and get the job done with the help of her fellow officer, Boyd, for whom she has mixed feelings.

    This is a thoroughly enjoyable read that kept me riveted even through all the violent scenes. It was had to put down and get out of my mind until I finished it. I can see this book becoming a movie on the big screen one day.

    The author is a talented writer who I will be following closely for more of her intense prose and storylines. I look forward to the next book in this series. I highly recommend this series if you are looking for a mystery that will hold you in a vise and squeeze tight.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2017
    I preordered this because the first book was good and I wanted more of the characters. From the author's note, it looks like there will be at least one more in the series, so yay!

    I'm going to start with what I didn't like about the book, Chloe. Lottie is the mother to three teenagers (Katie, Chloe and Sean), her husband died of cancer four years prior, and Lottie's job is the family's only income. In the first book, Katie and Sean factored heavily into the story, having both been victims. It worked for the story, but to have it happen AGAIN, this time with Chloe, was too much. It's just too unbelievable to me. I like having Lottie's family part of the story, but please no more being involved somehow with her cases.

    The story is gripping, though like the first book it is dark and depressing stuff. Murder, sex trafficking, organ theft, sexual assault...all this is interspersed with some scenes in 1999 Kosovo that all gets tied together in the end. If possible, Lottie is even more frazzled in this book than the first one. She's back on the job after an extended leave, and her case is the murder of a young pregnant girl. The case leads Lottie to a refugee camp run by a former military officer who knew Lottie's late husband. There are a lot of twists and turns in the book, it moved along at a quick pace and kept me guessing.

    Boyd's character gets a little more depth in this book, he and Lottie have a very entertaining relationship, I look forward to seeing more of that in subsequent books.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017
    This is a series you must read in order: Book 2 of the Detective Inspector Lottie Parker and her partner Detective Sergeant Mark Boyd starts with a little bit of information on what happened at the end of Book 1. In true style of Ms. Gibney’s writing the foundation of the story that would unfold is what you first read. This book starts with a young boy seeing his sister and Mom killed by soldiers, his father killing himself and this young unidentified boy running away from the violence. Soldiers pick up the boy and one soldier in particular tries to protect the boy leaving him the patch off his uniform which will remain with him always. That is till the day a young woman shows up at Ms. Parker’s door with a small child in hand.

    I sincerely hope that you have nothing special planned because this book grabs you pulls you into the story and has you turning page after page. DI Parker and DS Boyd don’t have much time to think about the young woman and child as bodies are being discovered in the streets, and one individual always seems to be at each discovery. While searching for the identity of the girls, Ms. Parker really hasn’t paid too much attention to the home site with children, Katie, Chloe and Sean. What secret does Dan Russell know about Adam Parker and how does his refugee camp figure into the missing girls?

    DS Boyd also discovers that his ex-wife Jackie is back in town and seems to know about the missing the murdered girls, meanwhile a young girl who is friends with Chloe Parker is missing, what does all this mean and can they solve the mystery before anymore are murdered?

    This story Superintendent Myles Corrigan is not causing as many issues for Ms. Parker and Mr. Boyd. There are also minor storylines with Rosemary, Ms. Parker’s mother, and slight mention to the soup kitchen which was in Book 1.

    As you finish the book you find out that the 3rd book will not be available until late October. Counting the days.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2021
    What a page turner! I discovered this series centring on Detective Lottie Parker and quickly devoured the first 5 of her (now 10) books with this fantastic main character. Flawed, whip-smart, struggling yet dogged, Lottie throws everything she has into solving the horrible crimes around her and we are right there cheering her on every step of the way.

    Fantastic series. Can't recommend highly enough.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • NicShef❤️Reading
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced, exciting an amazing twist...
    Reviewed in Australia on December 27, 2017
    This was an outstanding novel. I loved Gibney's first book, ‘The Missing Ones’, and I think it's safe to say that I loved ‘The Stolen Girls’ even more.

    Patricia Gibney does it again in this gripping thriller that has you guessing until the very end. I love a twisty story. I love a strong female character, which we get plenty of. This story delves into the horrendous attacks against the people in Kosovo in the 90's with very graphic descriptions of organ harvesting and sex trafficking.

    Detective Lottie Parker’s personal struggles are significant in this book as she and her children struggle since the loss of her husband and the terror they all experienced in Lottie's last case.

    I had a hard time putting this one down. It moves along quickly and you just want to keep finding out where it's going and what will finally happen to these girls, who are fighting for their lives day and night. She draws you in and you fall in love with the characters and you find yourself cheering them on along the way.

    You will love Lottie Parker and her team who are very normal and far from perfect. In fact Lottie’s professionalism crumbles as her family drama becomes involved in the case. Lottie's daughter, Chloe, becomes entwined and Lottie has a full plate, trying to attend to her daughter's troubles and solve this ever-growing case of death and missing girls.

    Gibney's writing style is fast-paced, exciting, and unpredictable. A MUST read with an wonderfully written twist.
  • Ginger Book Geek
    5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting case for DI Lottie Parker and her team.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2017
    This is the second book in the series featuring DI Lottie Parker.
    I have a confession to make (don’t hate me).  Although I have Patricia’s first book ‘The Missing Ones’ on my ever increasing ‘to be read’ mountain, I haven’t actually got around to reading it.  Needless to say that after finishing ‘The Stolen Girls’, reading ‘The Missing Ones’ has become one of my top priorities.
    As usual I don’t really want to write too much about the storylines as I have an annoying habit of giving far too many spoilers away about books that I have enjoyed and boy oh boy did I enjoy this one.  The body of a pregnant woman is found.  The same day a woman and her son go to DI Lottie Parker’s house to ask for help in finding their friend.  Is the body their friend?  Then a second body is found by the same man, who discovered the first body which makes the police suspicious.  The second body bears similar hallmarks to the first body and Lottie has to work out if the two bodies are linked, if so how and who murdered them?  The case is made even more urgent by the fact that another two people go missing and there are serious concerns for their safety.  Who advised the woman and child to go to Lottie’s house?  Are the two deaths linked? Who is killing these people and why? Can DI Parker and her team find the killer before it is too late?  Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves.  You won’t regret it.
    I absolutely totally and utterly loved the character of DI Lottie Parker.  She is a woman close to the edge.  After horrific events in her recent past, which are hinted at in this book, Lottie is trying to instill a sense of normality back into her life.  Her husband has passed away.  Her family is fractured and to be honest she doesn’t enjoy the best of relationships with her children although she does try hard to get through to them.  Lottie goes back to work but I think that she would rather stay home with the children but as she is the main (& only) breadwinner in the household, she has to bring the pennies in somehow.  Lottie doesn’t always play by the rules and this has got her in trouble with her superiors on more than one occasion.  She is certainly sailing close to the wind.  Although some of her actions are questionable, Lottie’s heart is in the right place and she works tirelessly to solve the cases assigned to her team and to get some sort of justice for the victim and for their families.  Lottie is also not afraid to speak her mind and you could say that several times she opens her mouth before she puts her brain in gear.  Lottie Parker certainly kicks some arse.  DI Parker remains loyal to the memory of her husband but I think that there is definitely some unresolved sexual tension between Lottie and DS Boyd.  DS Boyd reminded me a fair bit of DI Robbie Ross from the popular television series ‘Taggart’.  Boyd is a bit of a ‘Jack the lad’, his actions sometimes get him into trouble and he just can’t say ‘no’ to his soon to be ex-wife.  Like Lottie, Boyd is determined to get to the bottom of these murders and he doesn’t seem to mind if he cuts corners every now and then as long as the murderer is apprehended.  Boyd’s behaviour does cross the line on occasions and Lottie pulls him up on his behaviour several times.  However, in my opinion Boyd has more than a soft spot for Lottie and if she is (or her children are) in trouble, she only needs to ring Boyd and he will immediately come running to her/ their aid and to her/ their defence.  I think I developed a bit of a soft spot for Boyd.
    This book is hugely, fantastically and immensely well written.  The story is told in two strands- one being present day and the other strand told in the form of flashbacks to events that happened in Kosovo some years ago.  How this ties in with the first strand becomes clear as the book continues.  I have to say that this is a real ‘CPID’ book and my Kindle sort of glued itself to my hand and came everywhere with me.  I begrudged having to take my two Labradors out which didn’t go down well at all.  ‘The Stolen Girls’ grabbed my attention from the very first word on the very first page and I wasn’t released from its grip until the last word on the last page.  It was almost as if the book had hypnotized me.  I just kept reading on and on and didn’t break off for anybody or anything.  This shows me that it was a good book as I usually have the attention span of a gnat and I am easily distracted, but not in this case.  I managed to shut out everybody and everything.  I simply had to get the book finished and I even delayed going to bed, which again didn’t go down well with my two Labradors.  It’s true to say that ‘The Stolen Girls’ hits the ground running and the pace is relentless.  Reading this book was a bit like going on a rollercoaster ride with all the twists, turns and stomach churning moments.  Just when you think that the action has stopped and you can catch your breath, off the action would go again.  On more than one occasion I had to read the book through my fingers as I genuinely feared what was going to happen next and I genuinely feared for the safety of DI Lottie Parker, her children and her team.  More than once, I thought that I had figured out who the murderer was and their motives, then along would come a curveball, which would send me off in another direction entirely.  I just couldn’t see the twists coming.  This book can be read as a standalone but with all the references to past events, I would strongly recommend that you read the series in order.
    In short (and if you haven’t already guessed), I absolutely, totally and utterly blinking loved reading ‘The Stolen Girls’ and I can’t wait to read more from the ridiculously talented author, Patricia Gibney.  Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long for book three in the DI Lottie Parker series.  In the meantime, I am going to go and dig out ‘The Missing Ones’  out of my huge ‘to be read pile’ and get to know Lottie, her family and her team even better.  I strongly recommend that you read ‘The Missing Ones’ and ‘The Lost Girls’.  You will certainly thank me for the recommendation.  I award this book an easy 5* out of 5* but I would have awarded it more stars if I could have because it really is that good.
  • Karine D.
    2.0 out of 5 stars DNF because of the topic
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on May 24, 2021
    I’ve started this second installment in the series because I found the first one very enjoyable. I should have read the blurb though as human trafficking isn’t my favorite topic to say the least.
    But I started anyway and was immediately confronted with a brutal rape and torture scene. Ik kept on reading as I hoped it would be more about Lottie, and it did for some time. However, the brutality kept coming back and Lottie wasn’t as interesting as in the previous volume, making silly mistakes and not paying attention to neither her family or the case.
    DNF shelf after 25%
  • Cliente Kindle
    4.0 out of 5 stars Much better than the first
    Reviewed in Italy on January 11, 2018
    I wrote a rather negative review to the first book about Lottie Parker. This one is certainly better. Some of the defects of the first are still there, in particular the senseless behaviour of some characters (who often decide to pursue an obviously insane course of action just to enhance the story's suspense). I also find that Lottie is always too angry, and towards the wrong people.
    But the pace is much more effective, and the story works. Less predictable, as well, and rather well constructed.
    Report
  • Russell Kelly
    5.0 out of 5 stars Pacy thriller led by Lottie Parker, detective.
    Reviewed in Germany on December 19, 2019
    Enjoyed this page Turner. Better than Lottie One. Perhaps the main character is too resilient with the drugs, booze and exhaustion. Can't see how she would carry on through this story. Find the involvement of the daughters although crossing from books one to two also bit overdone.

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