The Altar Girls

Detective Lottie Parker, Book 13

By: Patricia Gibney

Narrated by: Michele Moran

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

The little girl looked like an angel in her thin white robe, her long black hair spread around her head like a dark halo on the snow. Her hands rested on her chest, fingers interlaced as if she had fallen asleep while praying. But she would never wake up again....

When Detective Lottie Parker receives news that a child’s body has been found in the frozen grounds of the cathedral, a shiver runs down her spine. She’s terrified it will be eight-year-old Willow Devine, reported missing that morning.

But when she arrives at the cathedral, holding a photo of Willow with her blonde ponytail and gap-toothed smile, she gets a terrible shock. The body is a young girl, wrapped in a white shroud, a rosary clutched in her frozen fingers. But her hair is dark, not fair. This girl isn’t Willow but another eight-year-old, Naomi.

Desperate to find a connection between the two girls and to find Willow before it is too late, Lottie speaks to the girls’ families and discovers that both girls were altar servers at the cathedral. The charismatic priest Father Maguire has a watertight alibi for the time the girls went missing, but Lottie suspects the confused old lady traumatized by the discovery of Naomi’s body is hiding something....

A day later, Willow’s little body is found wrapped in a white robe in the snowy grounds of a church across town. Lottie is devastated, convinced now that she can’t trust anyone, least of all the girls’ parents. Why did Willow’s mother claim the girls didn’t know each other? And why are there no photos of Naomi in her mother’s shabby house?

But when a little boy from the choir goes missing, too, Lottie realizes she must spread her net wider. Can she stop this twisted killer before another precious life is stolen?

If you like Rachel Caine, Kendra Elliott, and Robert Dugoni, The Altar Girls will have you hooked.

©2023 Patricia Gibney (P)2023 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Excellent Author

I have listened to all of her books and have highly enjoyed them.

The same narrator has read each one. She narrates them very well.

Best book in rhe series yet

Patricia Gibney does not disappoint in this latest installment of the DI Lottie Parker series. I've read hundreds of novels in this genre and am very impressed w how smart and fresh every novel is. I'm totally rooting for Lotie and Boyd and hope it won't be long bf they form one big happy family under one roof.

Lottie's uncanny persistence for justice to the victims.

I would like to see Boyd and Lottie haven't tied the knot and started a blend family.

Excellent author and excellent narrator

I have read the entire Detective Lottie Parker series. Love her books and am always waiting in anticipation for the next one in the series. What makes them for enjoyable to listen to is the narrator. She makes the books come alive. Love the accent!

Great story

I love the characters that she has in place, and this story was so great. It gripped me from the start to the finish.

still got it

I thought by book 13 I would be bored but this book was gripping.

I thought I'd figured this one out...

This is, yet another, excellent book by Patricia Gibney. I was so smug towards the end because I thought I'd picked out the killer from the beginning. Of course, as always, I was wrong. I love Lottie Parker and can't wait to catch up with her soon!

The best Lottie

Parker book yet! Wasn’t quite sure who it was until the very end. Excellent narration and can’t wait for the next one. Please could Boyd and Lottie get it together? This dragging out too long!

Excellent Series

This continues to be one of my favorite series. The characters have great depth and continue to grow. I always enjoy the storylines. They are never easy to guess during the story telling and have interesting endings. Looking forward to the next book.

Excellent!

Excellent! Sad but really good. I had no idea of the killer until the end. Also very captivating was the secondary story of Boyd and the search for his son.

I’m so glad that, with this thirteenth book in the Lottie Parker series, Patricia Gibney’s writing gets better and better. Michele Moran’s narration adds another dimension to the story. Brava, ladies!