The Next Girl by Carla Kovach

She thought he’d come to save her. She was wrong.

Deborah Jenkins pulls her coat around her as she sets out on her short walk home in the pouring rain. But she never makes it home that night. And she is never seen again …

Four years later, an abandoned baby girl is found wrapped in dirty rags on a doorstep. An anonymous phone call urges the police to run a DNA test on the baby. But nobody is prepared for the results.

The newborn belongs to Deborah. She’s still alive.

I am not a big crime thriller reader but every now and again after reading a lot of women’s fiction I like to read something completely different. I loved the Angela Marsons books which kept me guessing and had a strong female protagonist so I was looking for a book that offers another strong heroine but that will keep me guessing so when I saw the appealing cover of The Next Girl by Carla Kovach I read the synopsis and couldn’t wait to see what this author had in store for me.

When a new born baby is left outside in the freezing cold night air and a call is made to Detective Inspector Gina Harte little does she know that a case that she never managed to solve was about to re-open and this time she is determined to get to the bottom of the case.

Deborah has been missing for over four years, her husband and their two children have had to move on with their lives never knowing what happened to Deborah. When Luke receives an unexpected visit from Gina with news that Deborah it seems is still alive he is full with mixed emotions. 

Deborah having given birth to a baby girl is desperate to be reunited with her family but she has no way of escaping her capture and she is growing weaker by the day. 

Will DI manage to find any clues to lead her to Deborah’s whereabouts?

This was a captivating read that had me hooked from the first page. The book is told from Luke, DI Gina, the capture and Deborah’s point of views which gives us a big insight into what is going on and has the reader shouting at the characters desperate for them to act on things that could lead them to Deborah. 

There was continuously something happening in the book and it flowed at a fast paced, each time with the perpetrator getting too close for comfort. The desperation which Devorah felt flowed through the pages and I was willing for her to be able to escape or be found.

Because this is going to be a series of books we also begin to find out DI Gina Hartes’ background and although it did give depth to her character and made us see why she was so determined to put this case above and beyond everything at times I did get frustrated reading about her as I was desperate to get back to the case! I love how we are kept guessing as to who has Deborah captive right up until the last few chapters. I had my suspicions as to who I thought had her and what their motives were but we are given a few clues that slightly led us down the wrong path which made us keep guessing!

I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be looking to read more in the series as they are released.

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