Jane’s daughter is a good girl. What is she hiding?
When thirteen-year-old Savannah Hopkins doesn’t come straight home from school, as she always does, her mother Jane immediately raises the alarm.
Leading the investigation is Detective Natalie Ward whose daughter Leigh is the same age as Savannah. Soon Natalie’s worst fears are confirmed when the teenager’s broken body is found in nearby shrubland.
Evidence points towards a local recluse, but just as the net is closing around him, one of Savannah’s friends, Harriet, is reported missing.
As Natalie delves into the lives of both girls, she soon discovers a sinister video on their phones, daring the girls to disappear from their families for 48 hours.
But Natalie isn’t quick enough for this killer, and she is devastated to find Harriet’s body on a fly tip a day later. The clock is ticking for Natalie. Can she catch this killer before her little girl becomes the next victim?
Review
Parenting seems so hard. It is harder for the parents in this book because their teenage girls are vanishing then being found dead. Who would want to kill such young girls and why? These are the questions that Detective Natalie and her team have to figure out as they take on one of their most complex cases yet.
I enjoy multifaceted cases even if they do give me headaches at times. In this case, I would never have guessed the perp even if I had read the book upside down. I had to work the case with Natalie, follow the clues and the interviews leading to the culprit. I had many suspects along the way but I totally missed the right one. This person wasn’t even on my radar. That is how complex the case was and yes, despite the sensitivity of the case, I enjoyed working on this one with Natalie.
I love how Carol’s books are realistically portrayed. There are no convenient, easy conclusions. The twists are realistic and logic, you get to understand how the unsub committed the crimes and how Natalie put together the pieces. The investigation is systematic as the author takes readers through each day of the investigation. This made the case stand out for me.
The Dare is book 3 in the Detective Natalie series and I definitely recommend reading the series in order. I am finally warming up to Natalie. Now, I can also keep the names of her team straight and I am curious to know what will happen in their personal lives in the next installment. It is for that reason that I believe that this series is better enjoyed if read in order. Definitely recommended.
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