#Blogtour Don't Let Her Go by Willow Rose

It's my turn on the Blogtour Don't Let Her Go by Willow Rose - book 1 in the Detective Billie Ann Wilde series.

About the Author

Willow Rose is a multi-million-copy bestselling author of more than 90 novels. Several of her books have reached the top 10 of all books in the Amazon store in the US, UK, and Canada. She has sold more than seven million books, which have been translated into many languages. Willow's books are fast-paced, nail-biting page-turners with twists you won't see coming; that's why her fans call her "The Queen of Plot Twists". Willow lives on Florida’s Space Coast. When she is not writing or reading, you will find her surfing and watching the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Follow @madamwillowrose on X

About the book

A missing five-year-old girl is the key to unlocking a detective’s terrifying past…

When Detective Billie Ann Wilde receives a desperate call that five-year-old Emma Wilson is missing, she rushes to the family home. But inside the picture-perfect house surrounded by Florida marshlands, she finds no children’s clothes or toys, no photos of the innocent child Emma’s mother Marissa describes. Billie suspects Marissa Wilson is hiding from someone.

It’s a race against the clock to find Emma. But Marissa refuses to tell Billie anything about her past, and before long, she also disappears…

And then Billie realizes who Marissa is. She’s the ten-year-old girl Billie failed to find in her first ever case fourteen years ago. The leads went cold because Billie made a fatal mistake.

As more bodies turn up in the same marshlands, Billie must revisit her past and face up to her demons to find Marissa and her child. But she is unknowingly putting herself in the path of a terrifying serial killer…

An explosive new crime series from multi-million-copy bestseller Willow Rose. Fans of Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Kendra Elliot will be on the edge of their seats, unable to put this book down!

Review

Detective Billie Ann Wilde is on the cusp of change and is boldly taking a step forward to acknowledge her true self, simultaneously she is thrown into the chaos of a missing child who possibly didn't exist in the first place and the murder of a young girl. With a battle at home and people questioning her professional accuracy and suspicions about the current cases - it's both frustrating and a wild crime ride.

It could be a little smoother, but that might just be a choice of storytelling or author style. Overall it is the kind of story that has important nuances when it comes to safeguarding, abuse, exploitation, trusting your gut and never forgetting about the victims swallowed up into the darkness of the system and crime.

I have a side-note about the way the reactions and perceptions of one of the victims though, just because it rankled me a wee bit while I was reading. It's the way the reactions are written in a way that could be interpreted as mutual arousal. Grooming, especially long-term targeted grooming, often creates a sense of guilt because attraction and consent are falsely loaded onto the victim, ergo no blame lies with the groomer. A vulnerable neglected child is vulnerable to any person who gifts them any type of affection.

I enjoyed the personal aspect of the Billie Ann's character, it sheds a light on the devastating and often hypocritical reactions to her discovery of self. Suddenly her sexual orientation is equated with being a bad mother, an awful human being and oh gosh get ready to burn in the pits of hell. Strange how a hurt ego can manifest into something so destructive - I'm sure that saga will continue in the next book. Looking forward to it.

Buy Don't Let Her Go at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Bookouture pub date 2 Feb. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.