One Left Alive – Book Review

Hey all! Here’s a book review for today–One Left Alive by Helen Phifer

She knelt down by the side of the first girl. She had to force herself to breathe as she lifted the soft white cloth covering the girl’s beautiful face…

When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them. Lying huddled together in the dark basement, each of their faces covered with a small cotton cloth, their bodies cold to the touch.

But as Morgan kneels beside the family, she realises that one of the girls is still breathing. As she holds Bronte’s fragile hand in hers, begging her to hold on, she vows to find out who has done this.

Every day Morgan wakes at 4.25 a.m., her old insomnia now mixed with a new fixation on the case. But every clue about the murdered family leads to a dead end. Until, trawling through old files, she discovers a link to a cold case from years ago. Another family was murdered in this house, and the killer was never caught.

When Morgan returns to the scene of the crime to discover more about this forgotten case, she finds another body. With Bronte still unconscious in hospital, Morgan must act fast to solve this case and lay two families to rest, before the killer returns for the girl left alive…

A chilling and gripping crime thriller that will have fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Patricia Gibney glued to the page.

No. of pages :- 332 pages

Date published:- Will be published on 1st September

Genre:- Thriller

I live in a small town called Barrow-in-Furness, England and have done since I was born, it gets some bad press but it really is a fab place to live. We are surrounded by beaches and very close to the Lake District where I tend to spend at least one of my days off from work, sitting in a coffee shop in Bowness-on-Windermere or checking out the second hand shops. I have always loved reading and writing and started my writing journey back in my twenties after reading a book I thought was not that good, it inspired me to see if I could write my own. I also love to read scary books but after I devoured every Stephen King and James Herbert book there was along with many more I decided that there weren’t enough of the books out there that I love to read so I set out to write The Ghost House.
I am a member of the Crime Writers Association and the Romantic Novelists Association.
I love tattoos, scary films, listening to my IPod shuffle when I’m writing, coffee, cake, chocolate, wine. My five almost grown up kids and my three year old granddaughter.

Thank You Netgalley and Bookouture for the copy of this book!!! This review is completely based on my honest opinion.

In a nutshell, Morgan Brooke, a rookie and a first timer, comes across a body hanging on a tree in front of a house and she was the first on the scene. The woman’s name is Olivia Potter and she was dead for a while. And while investigating the house, Morgan and her boss Ben discovers the other family members down in the cellar–both the father and the younger sister are bludgeoned to death and the other daughter, Bronte barely survived and is in coma. With the secrets surrounding the house, including another murder that happened in the very same house some forty years ago, Morgan starts investigating the crime, as a first timer working along side with Sergeant Ben.

This is the first time I have read from this author and I was not disappointed at all. I was so hooked into the story. The writing was great and the author did a good job showing the inside of the character’s lives–Morgan’s insomnia and her relationship with her alcoholic father Stan and Ben dealing with the death of his wife Cindy. It was actually gripping, emotional and was a thrilling ride as I read the story. Characters in this book are quiet favorable. The writing was good and the ending was good as well, though I kind of expected that type of ending. I also like how some parts of the story are realistic–Morgan being a new member of the team was finding a bit difficult to cope up with the crime, all those turmoil and emotions she is going through that threaten to wreck her and at the same time trying to maintain a brave face in front of the colleagues was a bit realistic to me.

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this book–totally unputdownable, a thrilling adventure and really a great story with a great plot line! This book is the start of the Detective Morgan Brooke’s series so I can’t wait to read more!! This book will be published on Amazon on 1st September 2020 so you can pre-order your copy now! Worth four stars!