After a previous case ended in a tragic double murder, Detective Lucy Harwin, has been on enforced absence from the force. But when the body of an elderly man is discovered in an abandoned hospital, she is plunged straight back into a case that will test her to breaking point.

For decades, The Moore housed the forgotten children of Northern coastal town, Brooklyn Bay. But ever since a scandal forced its closure, the abandoned building has been left untouched.

Together with her partner, Detective Mattie Jackson, Lucy begins to unearth its terrible history, and soon finds herself on the trail of a killer ruthlessly fixated on avenging the crimes of the past.

As Lucy begins to close in on the killer, a woman is found murdered on her own doorstep. With the attacks escalating, and those closest to her now a target, can Lucy protect them and herself before it’s too late?

This is a really gripping story of revenge and murder, and I think it’s possibly my favourite of Helen Phifer’s books so far. It definitely pulled me in from the first page, and the action never stops. A really grisly murder in an old asylum – how can it not hold your attention and make your heart beat just that little bit faster?
I’m a fan of this author’s Annie Graham books, so I wondered if Lucy Harwin would appeal as much. She did. I could relate to the overworked detective, whose husband had walked out on her for another woman, and whose daughter, Ellie, is struggling with issues around their separation, her mother’s obsession with her job, coping with a new family, and all the other teenage angst that girls of her age have to deal with. Lucy is battling the inevitable guilt over Ellie, sadness over losing her husband, and the aftermath of events in her professional past, which have led to her being ordered to undergo counselling.
When the first murder occurs, it puts added pressure on Lucy’s and Ellie’s relationship, as, before long, Lucy is in the grip of an all-consuming police investigation, involving an old asylum, the people who once worked there, and the patients they “treated” – the lost children. As the body count rises, Lucy and her sidekick, Mattie, find themselves in a race against time. Someone is out for revenge, and the killer is showing no mercy.
My thoughts on who this killer could be changed throughout the course of the novel. It wasn’t until I nearly reached the end of the book that I realised who it was. I’d been led down another path very cleverly by the author.
This is, I believe, the first in a new series of Lucy Harwin novels, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing where the character goes next. Helen Phifer is a gifted storyteller, and I’m half dreading what poor Lucy will have to cope with next. Loved the Stephen King character, by the way! Lovely touch. 5/5

You can buy The Lost Children here.