The Winter Foundlings by Kate Rhodes

Blurb:

Ella Williams is ten years old. She loves her granddad and her sister and her shiny new red shoes. She's just been abducted by a killer - someone who kidnaps young girls, holds them for a few weeks then returns their bodies clothed in white foundling dresses. The crimes are clearly linked to notorious child murderer Louis Kinsella, locked away in a high-security hospital. Is it a copycat? Or is he giving someone direct orders from behind bars?

To save Ella's life, psychologist Alice Quentin must form a relationship with Kinsella. But he is slow to give up his secrets, and all the while, time is running out...

Review:

Quality of Writing: ♥♥♥♥♥

Originality: ♥♥♥♥

Characterization: ♥♥♥♥♥

Setting: ♥♥♥♥♥

Overall: ♥♥♥♥♥

I've given this book five stars. Why? Because it's the first book in ages that I couldn't put down, not for anything. Alice strikes me as an interesting protagonist. She is shown as a short 'five foot nothing' but her character displays a bigger force. To me, she is brave and smart, and I really found her likable.

As to the plot itself, it was really well paced. It wasn't dragged out unnecessarily, and working out who the killer was slowly revealed at pace to which the reader could keep up. Along with the plot, the setting was perfectly created to suit the mood of the abduction of the little girls, making it even harsher and scarier.

The theme of the novel is hard-hitting, it's certainly not for you if you can't handle brutality. Some bits were written in third person, following the journey of one particular abducted girl. These snippets were cruel and harsh, which is not really nice, but gives great visuals. In this way, the book is unique in giving more than one points of view, and also giving the reader more information than the characters. The only thing I didn't like so much was Alice's first person narrative - her voice is fine, but sometimes it appeared as if it was third-person which got me confused a little.

But overall, I thought this was a pretty thrilling book. Five stars all the way!