Only Girl Alive (Detective Eve Benett series Book 1) – ARC Book Review

As day breaks over the Tanner family home, the house is deadly silent and the door is firmly closed. Upstairs, the whole family lie cold and lifeless in their beds. All with the same look of fear in their unblinking eyes…

Detective Eve Bennet takes a steadying breath as she enters the main bedroom of the Tanners’ modest home in the tight-knit town of Hilldale, Utah. Mrs Tanner’s high-collared nightgown and her long plaited blonde hair are soaked in blood. Next to her, Mr Tanner’s hands are clasped together in a final prayer.

Filled with dread, Eve forces herself towards the children’s rooms. But instead of two children, she only finds one. Where is the youngest daughter, Hannah? And why are there long scratches across the walls?

Eve tracks Hannah down to her uncle’s house nearby. But he won’t let her step foot in the house. Eve knows what it’s like to be held captive by a family member, and fears for Hannah’s safety. What is he terrified Hannah might reveal?

Back at the Tanner home, Eve makes a shocking discovery in the dust covered attic. Mr Tanner was hiding a dark secret from the rest of the community—the kind of secret someone would kill for.

Realizing another family could be in danger, Eve runs from the house and stumbles into the path of the one man she spent years trying to forget— and he won’t let her get away this time. Can Eve escape the evil that has haunted her whole life? And will she catch the killer before another innocent family is murdered?

Wow! I have to say, this is one of the best series and unusual detective series I have read in a very long time!

Detective Eve Bennet is called to a crime scene in a fundamentalist Mormon community in Utah, where a family is brutally murdered. Upon investigation, they find that their youngest daughter, Hannah is missing. Eve Bennet, who also used to belong to this fundamentalist group before escaping to live with her mother is haunted by the past memories and the fact that she had to work with her stepbrother Aaron, with whom she doesn’t get along. As the police start investigating the case, they realize that the community is refusing to speak up, and that they are protecting someone. What are the secretes this community is hiding and who are they trying to protect?

Few months ago, I watched a docuseries on Netflix called Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey and talked about the Fundamentalist Mormon Group, polygamy and underage brides. Reading this book actually reminded me of those series and the things that Eve Bennett went through as a child while being in the community was too horrific to read, knowing that these things did happen in real life in that community. The author as mentioned at the back, tells how much research she had done about this community who are isolated from the world. Other than that, the story is fast paced, though not much twists and turns, but still the author manage to make the reader hook into the story and make the reader feel like they are part of the story as well. Overall, I cannot wait to read the next book of the series and worth 4.5 stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.