Today is the last day for Book 3, Songs of Innocence so I am sharing my review! What is this book about?
Songs of Innocence by Anne CoatesSeries: Hannah Weybridge #3
Published by Urbane Publications on May 24 2018
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 320
Goodreads
Also by this author: Dancers in the Wind, Dancers in the Wind, Death's Silent Judgement, A Tale of Two Sisters, Perdition's Child, Stage Call
A woman's body is found in a lake. Is it a sad case of suicide or something more sinister? Hannah Weybridge, still reeling from her friend's horrific murder and the attempts on her own life, doesn't want to get involved, but reluctantly agrees to look into the matter for the family.
The past however still stalks her steps, and a hidden danger accompanies her every move.
The third in the bestselling Hannah Weybridge thriller series, Songs of Innocence provides Hannah with her toughest and deadliest assignment yet...
This book has packed a punch and a half! Like normal this book is busy without really being busy! In Songs, we have the storyline of the Somalian girls from Death’s Silent Judgement tied up AND the subject of the murdered Asian girls.
We have a dark beginning with two young boys discovering a dead body, a young Asian girl, made to look like a suicide. However, this has and always will be Hannah’s story. The police are doing the police work and we don’t get involved. Instead, we are involved with Hannah as she chases the story with care and sensitivity. As much as I would love to divulge the storyline more I can’t. The one small gripe I had, is that both the kidnappings and murders were wrapped up too quick and easy for my liking, however, Hannah needed the win.
Hannah is adapting better in this book, still raw from Liz’s death in DSJ, she is faring a bit better, Tom is still AWOL in America, although he did make an appearance this time! However, in SOI I have too many unanswered questions, who is Tom secretly talking to on the phone? Who is Rory whispering to? What about Simon what does he know? And will Mark come back again? All very male orientated! ?
Moving a bit more with the times, mobiles are being introduced but the internet still needs to be dialled into, leaving the landline engaged, how I miss those days! Hannah’s work leads her down some dark paths and I am beginning to fear for her now. She doesn’t look for trouble but somehow she is inadvertently always in the middle of it, this time things got a little close for comfort!!
DI Claudia Turner is back and still not quite sure where she sits on the fence with Tom but the friendship with her and Hannah is still budding, well when they aren’t using each other for information.
Have to mention what a godsend Janet is for Hannah. She is there at a drop of a hat to have Elizabeth. Supporting Hannah, now I need me a Nannie like that.
This is book 3 and you should be all means read book 1 and 2. So much is alluded to and the picture isn’t complete if oh don’t read but then you could potentially get away with not reading them, but I wouldn’t suggest it. The books are just way too easy to read! One minute its Prologue….10 minutes later you are reading “The End” well ok maybe not 10 minutes unless you’re short circuit but you get my drift. Anne knows how to pull the reader in, her writing just flows on the pages. You feel what Hannah feels, although I don’t always want to! You are with her uncovering everything piece by piece. We don’t get any knowledge ahead of time and I love that we are in the dark about it all.
Each book is getting stronger and stronger as we progress and the storylines get harder, but Anne tackles everything with care. It is clear she has put in a lot of research to the cultures and religions she writes about and the era. How life seems to really be. I really felt my eyes had been opened with the plight of women in the Asian community, especially in the 90s, arranged marriages are something I still can’t get my head around, especially as this happened to some of my friends. Luckily their stories are happy ones but not so much for one of my friends. I appreciate it is the custom, the way things are to be done and I certainly do not judge but here, in this book, it shows the darker side of the tale.
I can’t recommend this series enough, gritty and dark and just a pleasure to read. Leaving a lot of loose spaghetti flying around, I just hope in Perditions Children some of these threads are tied, see what Anne does. She doesn’t want to leave everything tied up and nice in a bow, she leaves things open, so it not only encourages you to read the book but to keep going with the series. I mean how else are you going to know all the answers to my questions above for starters!!
Until next time xxx
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