Little Sister: Is she witness, victim or killer? A nail-biting thriller with twists you'll never see coming

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Very clever, and full of twists. Nothing is as it seems and the story twists until your head is spinning' 5***** Reader Review Once we get further into the story, things just get more confusing and complex. Keely holds the key but time is running out. This is another fascinating entry into a really good series. Now I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Keeley fascinated me. She has all the makings of a psychopath, the ability to manipulate others, lie, and she shows no signs of remorse. But as Lodge scratches away at the layers of this complex character, there’s a hint of vulnerability that allows the reader to feel a great deal of compassion for this troubled character. You feel she is very much in charge of the narration, which constantly throws doubt on her story. It felt like she was playing a game, taunting Sheen at every opportunity. The girl, Keely, assures him she is fine. It's not her blood. It's her younger sister Nina he needs to be concerned about. From the pen of a skilled storyteller, this is perfectly paced, with twists and turns to keep you hooked, and beautifully written -- Amanda Jennings

This book is told in alternating time-lines. Aurora in the past and her experiences during the camping trip and in the present as Jonah investigates what happened in the woods that lead to Aurora's death. Have the group members changed over time? Are they still the cohesive group? Do any have secrets? Does anyone have any new information? The book focuses on trust and friendship. Six teenage friends go camping and only five return. But not all the relationships have held up, so the stories coming out now are different than they were at the time. I’ve long been a fan of Gytha Lodge’s crime series featuring DCI Jonah Sheens so awaited the latest instalment with enthusiasm.If you really pay attention (a top tip to solving this mystery!) and with hindsight to the clues cleverly intertwined within the narration, you too could spot them and I was quite pleased with myself when I started to understand how Keely’s mind worked. Lodge lives in Cambridge with her son. [1] Bibliography [ edit ] DCI Jonah Sheens series [3] [ edit ] The reader is frustrated along with the police team as they try to figure things out and figure out where her sister is before it is too late.

Gytha Lodge is a multi-award-winning playwright, novelist and writer for video games and screen. She is also a single parent who blogs about the ridiculousness of bringing up a mega-nerd small boy. The story is built out in a very compelling way. As the Reader you get entire chapters of Keely telling their story from the beginning. She has a profound addiction to tea, crosswords and awful puns. When not writing, she heads up a copywriting team at a global translation firm, where she generally tries to keep all the video-game writing to herself. Her story is convoluted, and her motive for telling it is in question. Some team members are conflicted about the truth of her story. Maybe she is just playing games with them and enjoying the attention while giving herself a feeling of superiority. Others, like Jonah, are more inclined to believe her but fluctuate as to her reliability. She is bent on revenge on three men who abused them while in the system. Without proof, the girls were not believed when they reported this to authorities. The plot is straightforward except for Keely's puzzling and disturbing tale.Gytha Lodge is a playwright, novelist and writer for Video games and screen, best known for the DCI Jonah Sheens series of novels. [1] Education [ edit ] Little Sister” is the fourth in the Detective Jonah Sheens series and having myself read the previous instalments, I couldn’t wait to read this intriguing sounding novel. This is the forth book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series and I'm hooked on the series because I like following Sheens and his team. I enjoy the crimes they work so hard to solve but I also like knowing about what is going on in their lives. They can be working non stop on trying to stop more bad things from happening, be so focused on stopping criminals, but we do get time spent in their heads, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little, where we see their hopes, fears, regrets (so many regrets), and their dedication to moving on, doing better. There was a lot going on here and I enjoyed the detectives figuring out the clues (though some of them felt like a bit of a stretch). I enjoy a story with an unreliable narrator and you get this in Keely. I’ve seen others say that the twist was too confusing but I didn’t feel that way- I also didn’t see it coming at all, which is rare for me. There were a couple additional twists as well, and the entire story was fast paced from beginning to end. Sheens has been very involved in the care of his six week old baby, especially since his partner is struggling with exhaustion and depression. Now he's not able to take his share of the load off his partner. He wants to make this relationship work although his heart is not completely in the relationship. Still he's bending what he wants to fit what is right. He wants to do the right thing above all else.

Nina is one of two sisters who disappeared, but Keely turns up in a pub garden covered in blood. From the off there’s unsettling suggestions that’s something is amis. Is Keeley an innocent victim? Where’s Nina now? Why is keeley covered in blood? So many questions to hold the readers’ attention. What follows is a dark, riveting tale of resentment, jealousy, manipulation and control and revenge. Thank you so much to the publisher, Random House, for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review. One thing I have always loved about this series is the detective team. They work so well together and each of them is interesting, bringing something unique to the table. I love the dynamic among them. It works so well. Their story is horribly sad. The two girls became wards of the state after the tragic death of their mother. Since that time, they've been bouncing around within the system. Recently the two girls went missing from their care home. The story is told from the point of Jonah and a few of his colleagues, but we also hear from Keely, who tells a terrible story about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her foster carers. Through Lodge’s careful story crafting, we are led to believe that perhaps Keely is not at all what she seems, and there is enough suspicion with the young, troubled, Keely, that the story she tells could be completely fabricated. It is not until the final chapters when we discover the truth, and all of the plot lines are tied up in little bows, leaving no questions unanswered.

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Overall, the characterizations of the main characters need a little work, but other than that, this is a solid start to the series. I liked it well enough to give the second installment a try. Present Day: A young girl camping with her family, stumbles upon the bones of a human hand in a small cavern at the base of a tree. At first I didn't like listening to Keely. She seems robotic in the way she relates her story, not to be coaxed off the path she has set for herself. Cold, clever, and possibly a psychotic mastermind? It's so hard to know. There is talk of jealousy, revenge, hurt feelings, and cruel and unjust punishments. These girls might have been abused in so many ways and no one listened to them. Or they might be making it all up and now Nina could pay if Keely doesn't get what she wants. I almost stopped reading this book because I found the story so contrived. It really seemed like a plan that an author would come up with, not a 16 year old girl. I did finish the book, but I remain unconvinced about the credibility of the plot. 3,5 stars which I am rounding up because at least I haven’t read this plot before.

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?With no trace of Aurora found, suspicions of foul play circle the group of friends for the next thirty years. What I enjoyed the most about this book was Aurora's timeline. For me, this was the most interesting part of the book and I found the teens to be more interesting (in the past) than they were as adults. The narrative alternates between Jonah, Juliette Hanson, a member of Jonah’s team and the young woman.