Playlist For A Paper Angel - Jacqueline Ward

Synopsis:

One child found, one child missing – what's the connection?

DS Jan Pearce is still searching for her missing son. When she finds a little girl, Elise, alone in a pram in a busy town centre, she must unravel a mystery that takes her to the edge of her emotions. Then another child, Dara Price, goes missing.

Lisa Connelly, Elise's mother, has been forced into a life of prostitution and has been leaving her little girl alone. Her gangland boss is holding her prisoner but she wants her little girl back.

Jan finds herself balancing her search for her son with finding Dara. Her right hand man, Mike Waring, is on another case so she and her temporary partner, profiler Damien Booth, must solve the puzzle and find Lisa before time runs out for Dara.

Playlist for a Paper Angel is the second in the DS Jan Pearce series of novels and is the sequel to Random Acts of Unkindness.

Review:

So this book is the second in the series and from where the first book ended I was really excited to see the characters once again. You are thrown into the action nearly straight away and the pace picks up throughout my heart was racing as DS Jan and her team raced against the clock to find the missing little girl, completely weary of what would come to be.

The story is told from two perspectives, one who is Elise's mum whom we meet very early on and or lovely DS Jan Pearce. Both perspectives show the balance between what is true and what is going on and how the police are conducting their investigation and how they see the situation. It is written beautifully. There is also a new character introduced and I think I automatically fell in love with him. His name is Dr Damien Booth and he is a profiler who was bought in to help Jan out, he ends up becoming her new partner in the investigation whilst her best friend and partner Mike is put into another case. The differences of all 3 characters to one another makes the story great, they're opposites of each other, each having their own issues or troubles with their past and its perfect.

The use of the paper angels blew my mind I was actually pretty mind blown abut how it was used and the rest of the issues within the book blew my mind it was all so unexpected and yet great as part of the story. One of the things I love about Jacqueline Ward is that she doesn't sugar coat things, the crimes that are in this book are horrific and she has no issue with telling it like it is. Although the crimes within the book are horrendous and I wouldn't wish anyone in that position, they were well written, the characters reacted with emotions you would expect and it made it so real.

Lets not forget Jan's son is still missing after the end of the first book and she's still being secretly pulled and tempted to take action on her knowledge. The more I read about her the more I just convince myself she is someone living right next door to me who I'm involved with, she just seems so real. All of the plot twists that come were completely unseen by me, I had to put my phone down and take several deep breaths just so I could process it all.  I loved the pace of the book but the build up to the end was completely and utterly worth it and you can really feel the excitement and mystery kick up a notch and you just feel yourself pushed to keep on reading.

Much like the first book its a 5/5 read and definitely worth reading if you're into any level of mystery/crime/thriller books.

Thank you to Faye Rogers who provided me with the copy in exchange for an honest review

Random Acts Of Unkindness - Jacqueline Ward

Synopsis:

How far would you go to find your child?
DS Jan Pearce has a big problem. Her fifteen year old son, Aiden, is missing. Jan draws together the threads of missing person cases spanning fifty years and finds tragic connections and unsolved questions.

Bessy Swain, an elderly woman that Jan finds dead on her search for Aiden, and whose own son, Thomas, was also missing, may have the answers.
Jan uses Bessy's information and her own skills and instinct to track down the missing boys. But is it too late for Aiden?

Set in the North West of England, with the notorious Saddleworth Moor as a backdrop, Random Acts of Unkindness is a story about motherhood, love and loss and how families of missing people suffer the consequences of major crimes involving their loved ones.
Random Acts of Unkindness is the first in the DS Jan Pearce series of novels.

Review:

So I received this book quite a while ago to review honestly, but because I had such a long list of books to read by a certain date that were so soon, I had to put this book on the bottom of the list and plan to read it later on. I cant really explain what I was thinking or expecting going into this book. It turned out to be something I couldn't even think of happening even if I could expect something.

The book comes from 2 perspectives, that of our main character DJ Jan Pearce who's son has been listed as missing. Whilst on her hunt for her son Aiden she comes across a dead body, the body of our second perspective,  Bessy Swain who's son Thomas went missing in 1060's as the horrific crimes of the moors murders were going on.. We are introduced to Jan in a very gruesome way as she enters a house to find Bessy' dead body after reports of a certain smell, she automatically rules the death to be in suspicious circumstances. It then comes to light that Jan actually has an ulterior motive for being in the house, she's following up a lead she has between her missing son and the house owner, criminal mastermind Mr Connelly.

Against police rules Jan goes around the house looking for more clues but she only finds a notebook written in by Bessy which is a journal and inside it contains all the vital information of her life from the moment her son went missing which also provides so many links to Jan's current situation. but ir provides her with more determination and comfort that makes her even more desperate to find out what happened to both boys. As a police officer there are rules that must be followed but Jan defies advice from her superior officer, her best friend and fellow co worker and also her ex husband. Jan just knows that she can solve the mysteries of the missing boys that has plagued the  county for decades. she risks her job, her credibility, her friendships and indeed her life just to uncover the truth at any cost.

I went it completely unaware of all of the twists and turns that were going to come in the story. I loved the pace of the book but the build up was completely and utterly worth it and you can really feel the excitement and mystery kick up a notch when everything gets going and this just pushes you even more to keep on reading. I love how we were able to hear both voices who have struggled with their sons going missing, it was lovely to see them actually sort of bonding and connecting over it.

As this book is the first of a series by the name of DC Jan Pearce series, I will definitely be looking out for what is to come after this 5/5 read. Definitely worth reading if you're into any level of mystery/crime/thriller books.

Thank you to Faye Rogers who provided me with the copy in exchange for an honest review