Where Secrets Lie

Detective Karen Hart, Book 2

By: D. S. Butler

Narrated by: Henrietta Meire

Beneath a quiet village, dark crimes lie buried.

When decomposed human remains are discovered in a suitcase behind a locked door in the home of an elderly man, Detective Karen Hart thinks the facts speak for themselves. That is, until she finds the warning: It’s time to pay for your crime.

The body belongs to a former teacher, Oliver Fox, who vanished from the village thirty years earlier. Hart’s instincts tell her there is something untoward about this rural Lincolnshire community—especially when she uncovers evidence suggesting that, although Fox was a victim, he certainly wasn’t innocent. As the extent of Fox’s crimes becomes apparent and the web of lies continues to unravel, almost nobody in the village is above suspicion.

When there are whispers of child abuse in connection with the case, it’s clear someone is willing to do anything to keep the sinister truth buried. Can Hart find the culprit before more lives are lost?

©2019 D. S. Butler. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

love this series

was a little skeptical at first, I listened to half and then moved to a different one, but wish I had stuck it out it really is a good series likeable characters and pretty good cases so far!!!

Struggled!

I listened to book 1 and barely made it through it. Book 2 I tried! The potential for this book is there, the story is good, but I'm struggling with the characters. The young detective us a whiner and I can't listen to or watch anything with whining. I can't finish series.

Enjoyed it!

I listened to the audiobook of this. It was pretty awesome! The British Accent took a bit to get used to but the language itself would have been harder to read I think!

I started this one instantly after finishing Bring Them Home. I just needed more of DS Hart. This one was wow, maybe the secrets should have stayed buried? I never would have guessed what really happened, but not to worry, you will find out at the end.

Mouth breather

The story was fine but the reader taken a breathe in every few words ruined it for me. If the next book is the same I’ll will have to abandon the series which is sad.

Probably way too long .....

What happened in the prologue was not addressed until way later in the book when I had completely forgotten about it. A decent story but there was so much back-and-forth, back to your desk to look at files, hop in the car to go interview somebody, back to your desk to review files and notes. Plus there were three or four side stories to hear about. All in all it was OK but not a memorable book. I love the narrator, Henrietta Meire, and have listened to her on several other books. She had to deal with so many different voices as well.

Good police procedural

What started off as a routine well-check call turns into a murder investigation when human remains are discovered in a suitcase. DI Karen Hunter and her partner find themselves investigating a case that has many twists and turns that are 30yrs old. How does that tie in to a rash of suicides with acquaintances of the victim? The first few chapters are a bit slow but it gets better once you stick with it.

Cold case with the British police force

Getting to the bottom of a cold skeletal case when secrets were hidden for thirty years.

Narrator:
Henrietta Meire is a British performer. She is the voice of all the characters in this story. Her solo performance was top notch. Her performance out scored the writing and plot. Had it not been for the performance my interest in this book would have diminished. In fact, I read this book prior to investing in the audiobook. I’m glad I purchased this audiobook because the performance was splendid despite my lack of interest in the story.

An unexpected discovery opens up a cold case from thirty years ago. DS Karen Hart is the Sergeant working with DI Morgan to solve this unusual case.
Several people seemed to have motives for wanting Oliver Fox dead. Much to speculate with very few clues to investigate. Technology from thirty years ago was limited leaving investigators empty handed shelving this case as unsolved.

Let me introduce you to the characters:
DS Karen Hart a Sergeant in this case.
DI Scott Morgan an inspector in this case.
DC Sophie Jones a constable in this case and junior detective.
DC Rick Cooper a constable and junior detective.
These were UK police rankings.

Overall:
There were cracks in the system with the mixing of business with personal lives. A few disgruntled workers let their personal lives interfere with the investigation. While I understood the reason for these characters flaws I was disappointed by their complaints or grievances to the job. These minor supporting characters didn’t offer anything substantial to the story. It felt like nonsensical information to fill in the pages adding to the word count.
I was disappointed with the execution of this case. This plot had the potential to be a great story if it hadn’t got sidetracked with the personal lives of these disgruntled officers.

I appreciate the complication of this cold case having very little to go on. A very confusing investigation. Progress was slow leaving an opening for a story about the personal lives of these officers.

Had I known that the opening scene would take a backseat until sixty percent into the story my opinion of this story would have been better. It’s kind of jarring getting a suspenseful scene from the beginning with no answers until later.

Great Story!

The story is always engaging and the reader's voice is easy on the ears. I love the characters and the mix or criminology with the fiction.

Procedural Crime Story but a Bit Dull

This was the second book I read by this author and honestly I kept falling asleep after the first few chapters. The characters of the police characters are not very entertaining or inspiring. The first part of the story involves the death of an alcoholic who died in a fall from an 8th story balcony. Then nothing else is known about this character for ages. In fact I had pretty much forgotten about him. Meanwhile the plot plods along.

The narrator is ok. Not terrible.

Slow and Methodical

A grim tale in this series. I do appreciate the “slower” pace of British storytelling. It allows the characters to seep into my imagination and become real. Let’s see how book three goes!
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