The Winter Foundlings

Alice Quentin is a psychologist and she is usually based in a large London hospital, but has accepted a secondment to Northwood high-secure psychiatric hospital where she is carrying out a research project.

Young girls are being murdered. Four youngsters have gone missing, three bodies have been found and the fourth girl is still missing. The disappearances and killings bear the trademark of Louis Kinsella, a serial killer who is a patient at Northwood. Alice is asked to interview him, to try to get him to shed some light on what is happening.

The book isn't for the faint hearted. The murder and abduction of children is always difficult to read about, in fiction and in real life yet this novel actually felt like real life. It was a very realistic tale and that makes it all the more haunting, hard hitting and leaves one hell of an emotional impact.

Despite being the third book in the series Rhodes does a fantastic job of continuing Alice Quentin's story for returning readers but at the same time she doesn't alienate new readers and there was never a time where I felt out of place in the book. Moving at a quick pace with increasing tension throughout the pages turn themselves and before you know it the book is over however this is a story that will remain with you long after you have finished reading.

I don't usually read books out of sequence, but I had no idea that The Winter Foundlings was actually the third instalment in a series, added to that I had never heard of Kate Rhodes before and now I have read this book I will be going back and reading the other two.