Scan barcode
A review by mppilk
Little Witness by S.A. Dunphy
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
DI Tessa Burns and her small eclectic team set up to help investigate crimes where children are involved have the makings of an interesting series. Having lost her parents as a young child through murder and brought up in a care home, Tessa is well placed to work with children in similar circumstances. In this case a young girl, Ash, escaped when her parents were abducted. This opens up the world of illegal alcohol distillng, sales and quite possibly more.
A lot happened in this book and the backstory for all the leading characters was set up perhaps a little too much. Might have been wiser to drip feed the backgrounds over a number of books. As it stands it appears that we have the next story ready to go and Tessa has found the link that may help her solve her parents murders. This is were it lost me to be honest. When I realised this tread of finding the faceless killers, based on some mythological Irish ghoul, that I confess I’ve never heard of, would weave through this series I decided I would’nt be reading any more.
I was sorry I opted for the audiobook in this case. I found the narration disappointing. To be fair to the narrator she had a significant number of characters to voice and try to differentiate between and she did a decent job of that. However the accent came across as a bit “Orish” for me and pronunciations such as for TUSLA almost unrecognisable.
Having said all that it is worth a read but I couldn’t quite justify that 4th star.
3.5 ⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this DRC
A lot happened in this book and the backstory for all the leading characters was set up perhaps a little too much. Might have been wiser to drip feed the backgrounds over a number of books. As it stands it appears that we have the next story ready to go and Tessa has found the link that may help her solve her parents murders. This is were it lost me to be honest. When I realised this tread of finding the faceless killers, based on some mythological Irish ghoul, that I confess I’ve never heard of, would weave through this series I decided I would’nt be reading any more.
I was sorry I opted for the audiobook in this case. I found the narration disappointing. To be fair to the narrator she had a significant number of characters to voice and try to differentiate between and she did a decent job of that. However the accent came across as a bit “Orish” for me and pronunciations such as for TUSLA almost unrecognisable.
Having said all that it is worth a read but I couldn’t quite justify that 4th star.
3.5 ⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this DRC