wp-1586458103583.jpgWelcome to my stop on the A Child Lost blog tour sponsored by Suzy Approved Book Tours! Thank you to Suzy for the invitation!

About the Book:

A spiritualist, an insane asylum, a lost little girl . . .

When Clive, anxious to distract a depressed Henrietta, begs Sergeant Frank Davis for a case, he is assigned to investigating a seemingly boring affair: a spiritualist woman operating in an abandoned schoolhouse on the edge of town who is suspected of robbing people of their valuables. What begins as an open and shut case becomes more complicated, however, when Henrietta―much to Clive’s dismay―begins to believe the spiritualist’s strange ramblings.

Meanwhile, Elsie begs Clive and Henrietta to help her and the object of her budding love, Gunther, locate the whereabouts of one Liesel Klinkhammer, the German woman Gunther has traveled to America to find and the mother of the little girl, Anna, whom he has brought along with him. The search leads them to Dunning Asylum, where they discover some terrible truths about Liesel. When the child, Anna, is herself mistakenly admitted to the asylum after an epileptic fit, Clive and Henrietta return to Dunning to retrieve her. This time, however, Henrietta begins to suspect that something darker may be happening. When Clive doesn’t believe her, she decides to take matters into her own hands . . . with horrifying results.

My Thoughts:

A Child Lost is part of an established series, Henrietta and Inspector Howard, but I was able to read this as a standalone.

Clive begs Sergeant Davis for a new case to work on and ends up with an easy one, or so he thinks. A spiritual woman is taking advantage and robbing her clients of their valuables. It seems as if she’s guilty, but Henrietta thinks otherwise and actually listens to the woman.

Instead, Clive and Henrietta come on board with investigating Elsie’s concern- they are searching for a lost little girl, which leads them to an asylum.

A Child Lost is a complex story, one that shines a light on the horrors of asylums and the prejudices and misunderstandings of mental health from this historic time period. I really enjoyed “meeting” Clive and Henrietta, as well as the dynamic between them, and I think had I read more of this series, my experience would have only been enriched.

Overall, A Child lost is an entertaining and suspenseful mystery, and I’m grateful I read it.

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

About the Author:

Michelle Cox is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there. Coincidentally, her books have been praised by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others, so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also marmalade.

Have you read A Child Lost, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR