Three horrified children witness the burial of another child in the disturbing opening to this series. Decades later, investigator Det.Lottie Parker is called to solve the murder of a young woman found strangled to death with her iPod cord in a cathedral. Just hours later, another crime scene has a local young man hanging from a tree outside his home. At first, the crimes appear unrelated, but then a strange tattoo is found on the legs of both victims. Lottie, a widowed mother of three, soon finds links in the investigation that tie in to her own family history with St. Angela's, a home for wayward children that is now closed. Unfortunately, the killer is not finished yet, and two teenage boys disappear. Lottie is up against a very cold, calculating individual with a twisted sense of justice. VERDICT Irish author Gibney's U.S. debut is a great addition to the crime fiction genre. Readers looking for strong characters with fleshed-out backgrounds, well-drawn small-town Irish settings, and intense, slow-burn pacing will definitely want to add this series to their reading lists.--Bill Anderson, Scott County P.L., Scottsburg, IN