Review: No Safe Place by Patricia Gibney

No Safe Place (D.I. Lottie Parker, Book #4)
by Patricia Gibney
Release Date: March 22nd 2018
2018 Bookouture
Kindle Edition; 440 Pages
ISBN: 978 -1786814098
ASIN: B078JZZPFJ
Genre: Fiction / Mystery
Source: Review copy from publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
As funeral mourners stand in silence at Ragmullin cemetery, a deafening cry cuts through the air. Lying crumpled at the bottom of an open grave is the bloodied body of a young woman, and Detective Lottie Parker is called in to investigate.

Knowing the body can’t have been there long, Lottie wonders if it could be Elizabeth Bryne, a young woman who vanished without trace just days earlier. And with a new boss who seems to have it in for her, Lottie is under pressure to solve both cases quickly.

As two more women go missing from Ragmullin, Lottie and her team fear there is a serial killer on the loose. And the disappearances are strikingly similar to a cold case from ten years earlier. Could history be repeating itself?

As journalists begin to interfere with Lottie’s investigation, she fears the killer is about to strike again. Lottie is in a race against time to find the missing women, but the killer is closer than she thinks. Could Lottie be his next target?

My Thoughts
No Safe Place is the fourth book in a very good police procedural series feature Detective Inspector Lottie Parker. I actually have the next two books in this series for review, but having read this series from the beginning, I thought I should go back and read this entry before continuing the series in order to get the full scope of Lottie's continuing story.  And that is something that I would recommend for anyone interested in this series, start at the first book.

I love police procedurals but am always hesitant when trying a new author as they can be a bit of a hit or miss situation.  So when I do find a new one I like, I tend to be very loyal and this author does a great job at describing a complex mystery but also intertwining the personal lives of the investigators into the story.  Lottie is a favourite of mine and I think it's because of her flaws that she is so likeable. Don't get me wrong though, she can be just as tough as any lead investigator; I don't think you can be a lead investigator without having some bite, but there is a softer side to her as well, one who is struggling with managing her family after her husband's death and I like this about her.  The earlier books focus a lot more on Lottie's personal life, so it was good to see a bit more emphasis put on the case and the investigation in this one and I like the better balance here.  And Lottie has a lot on her place this time; an annoying boss, rape, women disappearing, fires, and an aggressive crime reporter who seems to have it out for her.  The author also takes the time to develop the secondary characters although I would love to know even more about them as they seem pretty interesting. 

Lottie is definitely the focus of the book and I like her a lot.  She is a bit of a mess in this one, popping anti-anxiety meds to help her get through the day and I wondered when it was all going to come to a head but that didn't quite happen so I need to wait for the next book.  The investigation itself however, kept me interested enough that Lottie's issues weren't at the center which was kind of nice.  And while there is always closure for the investigation, the reason I tell readers to start from the first book is the author has this way of keeping some things dangling at the end and this book is no exception.  However, the concept was started in earlier books and people may not fully understand the significance unless they had read the earlier books.  Normally I'm not a big fan of these types of endings but it seems to work in these books. 

Verdict
No Safe Place was a pleasure to read and I am looking forward to continuing this series.  The plot was fairly intricate and I really enjoy the secondary characters, although I would like to see even more character development with them as the series continues.  It also moved fairly quickly, with lots of twists and turns, and although I figured out who did it fairly early on, it didn't diminish my enjoyment one bit.  I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes good police procedurals.