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Buried Sins
Introducing Welsh Detective Inspector Emma Locke who appears in her very own upcoming procedural series.
Readers who enjoy books by C.L. Taylor, K.L. Slater, and Rachel Abbott will love this gritty, addictive, standalone psychological thriller.
When Carys returns to her childhood home, inherited after the death of her father, she is shocked to discover the bones of an infant buried in the paddock. Days later, DI Locke’s team uncover the remains of a missing girl, sparking vivid memories of the day Carys was abducted by The Shadow Man.
While the evidence against her father mounts, Carys recalls more of her past. And each new revelation provides DI Locke with the proof she needs to close the cases of several girls’ disappearances.
Sometimes the past refuses to stay buried.
Readers who enjoy books by C.L. Taylor, K.L. Slater, and Rachel Abbott will love this gritty, addictive, standalone psychological thriller.
When Carys returns to her childhood home, inherited after the death of her father, she is shocked to discover the bones of an infant buried in the paddock. Days later, DI Locke’s team uncover the remains of a missing girl, sparking vivid memories of the day Carys was abducted by The Shadow Man.
While the evidence against her father mounts, Carys recalls more of her past. And each new revelation provides DI Locke with the proof she needs to close the cases of several girls’ disappearances.
Sometimes the past refuses to stay buried.
250 pages, ebook
Published October 1, 2019
1 person is currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Louise Mullins
30 books151 followersPublished by Fortress & Aria Fiction (HoZ).
Dubbed the Queen of Domestic Noir, Louise Mullins' titles often delve into the darker aspects of the human psyche where more often than not somebody a little close to home knows more than they're willing to admit. So far her novels involve the murky world of addiction, child abuse, serial killers, missing women, rape, kidnapping, murder, domestic violence, drug smuggling, human trafficking, and arms dealing.
Louise Mullins is a critically acclaimed, international best-selling author of psychological crime and procedural thrillers.
Louise Mullins writes full-time using the experience she gained in a prior life working in the field of forensic mental health and psychological therapy, working with offenders and survivors of serious crimes.
Keep up to date on Louise Mullins' latest releases via GoodReads, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using the following links:
Websites:
https://www.louisemullinsauthor@wix.com/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mullinsauthor/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MullinsAuthor/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MullinsAuthor
Dubbed the Queen of Domestic Noir, Louise Mullins' titles often delve into the darker aspects of the human psyche where more often than not somebody a little close to home knows more than they're willing to admit. So far her novels involve the murky world of addiction, child abuse, serial killers, missing women, rape, kidnapping, murder, domestic violence, drug smuggling, human trafficking, and arms dealing.
Louise Mullins is a critically acclaimed, international best-selling author of psychological crime and procedural thrillers.
Louise Mullins writes full-time using the experience she gained in a prior life working in the field of forensic mental health and psychological therapy, working with offenders and survivors of serious crimes.
Keep up to date on Louise Mullins' latest releases via GoodReads, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using the following links:
Websites:
https://www.louisemullinsauthor@wix.com/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mullinsauthor/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MullinsAuthor/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MullinsAuthor
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 25, 2019
Carys is back at her family farm to sort out the belongings before the place is put on the market. However, Carys has not been back to the farm since she left as a pregnant sixteen year old girl. She didn't keep in contact with her father, even to the point that it was his neighbour Gwenda who contacted Carys to let her know of his death. Carys didn't attend the funeral of her father.
There is obviously some fraught family relationships occuring here, why would you not keep in contact with your parents for so long? And, why would you not be there for their funeral? When it becomes clear why Carys has no love lost for her father, it is very tough to read. The subject matter is dark and at times hard to comprehend. But, such a delicate theme has been handled perfectly by Mullins. And she should be praised for taking a subject like this and bringing it to light.
Whilst out in the paddock Carys uncovers bones wrapped in material. Her father's farm quickly becomes a crime scene and this is when the secrets and mysteries start to be uncovered. The title "Buried Sins" becomes apparent as the story unfolds as the characters we are introduced to each hold a sin.
We get told this story from different characters points of view, which is a format I enjoy. Mainly down to the fact that the story is pieced together as we get further along. Without giving away spoilers to the story, I feel for my thoughts to make sense I must tell you that the subject dealt with is child abuse. Being a mother to two young children I always get emotional when reading anything about children and poor treatment towards them. However, this story doesn't describe the abuse in detail, it is merely suggested and talked about indirectly. Basically, we don't get an in depth descriptive dialogue of what the child has to endure. The story deals with more the emotional and lasting damage that has been caused.
Mullins uses her experience she has gained in working in the field of forensic mental health and psychological therapy, working with offenders and survivors of serious crimes to her advantage in this book. The main character Carys has no memories of her childhood and refers to The Shadow Man abducting her in her dreams. After reading the author's note at the end of the book it gave more insight and showed how true to life some of the themes in the book can be.
A very tough subject to read but Mullins has excelled at making it an unforgettable tale.
Thank you to Anne Cater for allowing me the opportunity to be on the blog tour. And, thanks to Dark Edge Press for my gifted e-arc in exchange of an honest review.
Biggest thanks to Louise herself for such a fantastic story.
There is obviously some fraught family relationships occuring here, why would you not keep in contact with your parents for so long? And, why would you not be there for their funeral? When it becomes clear why Carys has no love lost for her father, it is very tough to read. The subject matter is dark and at times hard to comprehend. But, such a delicate theme has been handled perfectly by Mullins. And she should be praised for taking a subject like this and bringing it to light.
Whilst out in the paddock Carys uncovers bones wrapped in material. Her father's farm quickly becomes a crime scene and this is when the secrets and mysteries start to be uncovered. The title "Buried Sins" becomes apparent as the story unfolds as the characters we are introduced to each hold a sin.
We get told this story from different characters points of view, which is a format I enjoy. Mainly down to the fact that the story is pieced together as we get further along. Without giving away spoilers to the story, I feel for my thoughts to make sense I must tell you that the subject dealt with is child abuse. Being a mother to two young children I always get emotional when reading anything about children and poor treatment towards them. However, this story doesn't describe the abuse in detail, it is merely suggested and talked about indirectly. Basically, we don't get an in depth descriptive dialogue of what the child has to endure. The story deals with more the emotional and lasting damage that has been caused.
Mullins uses her experience she has gained in working in the field of forensic mental health and psychological therapy, working with offenders and survivors of serious crimes to her advantage in this book. The main character Carys has no memories of her childhood and refers to The Shadow Man abducting her in her dreams. After reading the author's note at the end of the book it gave more insight and showed how true to life some of the themes in the book can be.
A very tough subject to read but Mullins has excelled at making it an unforgettable tale.
Thank you to Anne Cater for allowing me the opportunity to be on the blog tour. And, thanks to Dark Edge Press for my gifted e-arc in exchange of an honest review.
Biggest thanks to Louise herself for such a fantastic story.
November 22, 2019
Carys had inherited the farmhouse that she had grown up in. I can't say that it was a family home. It was a place that her abusive father and God-fearing jealous mother brought her up. Her mother had died years ago and her father recently but she had returned to the farm after his funereal to clear the house and do what needed to be done now he was gone forever.
Carys' husband and their two teenage boys had come with her but the past wouldn't stay in the past. Carys found a bundle of bones, a tiny skull that belonged to a baby and so the police had to be summoned. Soon she could feel herself being thrown back into horrific memories of her own childhood and that of local children that had gone missing and still not been found. The nights began to be the thing she dreaded most of all as sleep paralysis took over and The Shadow Man haunted her nightmares.
The story becomes much darker and more disturbing, impossible to put down as the police take over to try and find some sort of closure for the families all these years later. The story drops back to the past as the horror is replayed. Oh boy! I have never felt so helpless reading a story. This you need to read yourself. There are stories within stories.
This isn't an open and shut case. This is twisted and knarled, explosive and heartbreaking. An absolute huge must read!
Carys' husband and their two teenage boys had come with her but the past wouldn't stay in the past. Carys found a bundle of bones, a tiny skull that belonged to a baby and so the police had to be summoned. Soon she could feel herself being thrown back into horrific memories of her own childhood and that of local children that had gone missing and still not been found. The nights began to be the thing she dreaded most of all as sleep paralysis took over and The Shadow Man haunted her nightmares.
The story becomes much darker and more disturbing, impossible to put down as the police take over to try and find some sort of closure for the families all these years later. The story drops back to the past as the horror is replayed. Oh boy! I have never felt so helpless reading a story. This you need to read yourself. There are stories within stories.
This isn't an open and shut case. This is twisted and knarled, explosive and heartbreaking. An absolute huge must read!
October 1, 2019
Carys left home at sixteen after falling pregnant and has never returned home since, not even keeping in touch with her widowed father. She has very little memories of what was clearly an unhappy childhood much of the time growing up on a farm in Wales. When she receives news of his death from his neighbour she does not even return for his funeral but is forced to visit her family home in order to clear it out ready for putting on the market. There, with her husband and two sons, she discovers the bones of a baby buried in the paddock. Later the police led by DI Emma Locke find the skeleton of the baby's teenage mother who went missing when Carys was a child. Suspicion falls on her late father and more grim discoveries are made about the past, and Carys suddenly finds herself recovering memories of dark hidden secrets that she had blocked out for over twenty years. Memories of abusive treatment and strange behaviour from her father and of her mother's apparent ignorance of events that she surely must have been aware of before she died. And most of all Carys starts to dream about the Shadow Man who took her away at night. This is so much more than the unravelling of the story of the abduction and murder of young girls. It deals with repressed, false and recovered memories, childhood abuse and revenge, with those involved never being free of the past and the guilt of what they had done or had covered up. The story is narrated by Carys describing events both in her past and the present, jumping back and forth in time as we read chapters about each of the main characters and their actions. It is skilfully done and gradually the truth about the events that took place is revealed as Carys herself remembers more about that time. Even at the conclusion of the book the author still retained the ability to surprise the reader one more time. I know there are some people who cannot bear to read any book that contains child abuse but I have to say this author tackles the subject extremely sensitively from all sides and the content is never graphic or gratuitous. An absorbing and fascinating story with some very interesting and well researched subjects included. 5*
November 17, 2019
5 Stars from me
In a lot of ways, Buried Sins is a horrible story about horrible people who do horrible things, yet among the rubble of the depravity there sits a little girl called Carys who somehow manages to create a family and a life for herself.
On the cover, this is described as a 'gritty, addictive, psychological thriller' and I would have to agree that is a pretty fair assessment, for Buried Sins is certainly addictive and I think a lot of this is to do with the clever way in which the story unfolds - it flits back and forth between childhood Carys and adult Carys and reveals layer by layer of truth along the way.
There is a lot of information regarding childhood abuse and some effects on of trauma on memory - this was very tightly woven into the story and did not feel gratuitous or out of place. As much as is possible, I felt this whole aspect of the book was dealt with sensitively.
I think what I found most disturbing about Buried Sins is the air of authenticity it has, especially when describing the family dynamic between Carys and her parents - both of whom seem as equally messed up as each other!
The miracle for me throughout this dark and disturbing tale is that Carys has managed to sustain a marriage and keep together a family of her own. In all honesty this stretched the realms of reality the most for me but then I remembered how much I enjoyed Harry Potter and Twilight and that this was also fiction and I shut up!
DI Locke and her team were background players for me and I wonder if we will learn more about them in future books; I hope so.
My thanks to Random Things Tours and to Louise Mullins for letting me take part in this blog tour.
In a lot of ways, Buried Sins is a horrible story about horrible people who do horrible things, yet among the rubble of the depravity there sits a little girl called Carys who somehow manages to create a family and a life for herself.
On the cover, this is described as a 'gritty, addictive, psychological thriller' and I would have to agree that is a pretty fair assessment, for Buried Sins is certainly addictive and I think a lot of this is to do with the clever way in which the story unfolds - it flits back and forth between childhood Carys and adult Carys and reveals layer by layer of truth along the way.
There is a lot of information regarding childhood abuse and some effects on of trauma on memory - this was very tightly woven into the story and did not feel gratuitous or out of place. As much as is possible, I felt this whole aspect of the book was dealt with sensitively.
I think what I found most disturbing about Buried Sins is the air of authenticity it has, especially when describing the family dynamic between Carys and her parents - both of whom seem as equally messed up as each other!
The miracle for me throughout this dark and disturbing tale is that Carys has managed to sustain a marriage and keep together a family of her own. In all honesty this stretched the realms of reality the most for me but then I remembered how much I enjoyed Harry Potter and Twilight and that this was also fiction and I shut up!
DI Locke and her team were background players for me and I wonder if we will learn more about them in future books; I hope so.
My thanks to Random Things Tours and to Louise Mullins for letting me take part in this blog tour.
November 20, 2019
Set in Wales, Carys has returned to her childhood home after the death of her estranged father, Bryn. She’d not had any contact with him for many years and only found out about his death from his home help, Gwenda.
She is clearing the farm so that it can be sold, but she trips over something and finds it to be a child’s skull. The police are called, they search the farm and find more remains. Did her father have anything to do with these?
Carys starts having flashbacks to her childhood on the farm, her father’s punishments and a nightmare of abduction by the Shadow Man starts to recur. What secrets has she kept hidden for all these years? Was her father responsible for the missing girls and the remains buried on his land?
The story is told in chapters by various characters, with Carys in the present and past, as these progress there are some truly dark moments, where child abuse had taken part (nothing graphic) as the story and events all falls into place.
Incredibly atmospheric with a gradually building, almost smothering tension that will leave you gasping at the last chapters. A dark, twisty, utterly compelling psychological thriller.
Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour, for the promotional materials and a free copy of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.
She is clearing the farm so that it can be sold, but she trips over something and finds it to be a child’s skull. The police are called, they search the farm and find more remains. Did her father have anything to do with these?
Carys starts having flashbacks to her childhood on the farm, her father’s punishments and a nightmare of abduction by the Shadow Man starts to recur. What secrets has she kept hidden for all these years? Was her father responsible for the missing girls and the remains buried on his land?
The story is told in chapters by various characters, with Carys in the present and past, as these progress there are some truly dark moments, where child abuse had taken part (nothing graphic) as the story and events all falls into place.
Incredibly atmospheric with a gradually building, almost smothering tension that will leave you gasping at the last chapters. A dark, twisty, utterly compelling psychological thriller.
Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour, for the promotional materials and a free copy of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.
October 25, 2019
When Carys, a photographer returns to her childhood home after the death of her father..she is shocked to discover the bones of an infant in the paddock. Once the police are informed, Carys, along with her husband Lewis and their two young sons Iefan and Rhys are told they must leave the farm immediately so that the forensics team can do a thorough search of the area. As Carys and her family settle elsewhere..the remains of a young girl are found..and for Carys snapshots from her past in black and white begin to surface. From her cold, cruel father..to her mother a devout embittered Jehovas Witness who chose to close her eyes to events around her. As the night terrors begin and all fingers point to her father..D.I.Emma Locke and her team know they must investigate several girls disappearances spanning many years. Seen through the eyes of an innocent child, a wicked sinner..and a woman who will stop at nothing to find the truth..Buried Sins is a story that kept me engrossed from the start. A story that as it unfolds will make you realise that though there is beauty in life..Monsters really do walk amongst us. I cried for the child whose life was stolen and the beautiful girl in the emerald dress..Heart breaking and Harrowing..I finished this in the early hours of the morning..I could not put this down..Five stars .Tread softly for you tread on my tears ..
October 23, 2019
Cerys has returned to her former home. Her father died a few months ago and this is the first time she has been in his house for twenty years. She has returned with her husband and two teenage boys to clear out the house before it is renovated. We know she has some terrible memories of when she was a child that ultimately led her to leave as soon as she could due to her father. Whilst in the garden she stumbles and uncovers something that sets of a chain of events not only in real life but in memories of her past. One find leads to another and Cerys also finds someone who knew her father in more ways than one. This is one of those books that slowly but surely draws you in. You think you know where it is going but then takes a different turn. In some ways this is a complex plot albeit well written with the simplicity of having not too many characters so it was easier to follow. We are introduced to DI Emma Locke in a small way who will then appear in her own police procedural series. A well researched novel with some dark subjects handled in a very sensitive way without too much detail (child abuse/incest) . We jump back and forth in time as Cerys remembers her past and again this is done very well and easy to follow, unlike some books doing the same! An enjoyable, different read.
December 31, 2019
This is really interesting read, it is a hard read but well worth it.
The story follows Carys as she returns to her childhood home after the death of her estranged father. She now has a family of her own and brings them with her. It isn’t long before a human bone is found in the paddock, and Carys immediately calls the police.
As the police investigate, Carys delves back into her past and her relationship with her father. When a child’s body is discovered DI Emma Locke takes charge and looks into who the child is and how she died.
At the same time Carys is dealingwith the fact that the father may be a murdered and she has to unlock the secrets her brain holds. As no secrets stay buried forever.
The story follows Carys as she returns to her childhood home after the death of her estranged father. She now has a family of her own and brings them with her. It isn’t long before a human bone is found in the paddock, and Carys immediately calls the police.
As the police investigate, Carys delves back into her past and her relationship with her father. When a child’s body is discovered DI Emma Locke takes charge and looks into who the child is and how she died.
At the same time Carys is dealingwith the fact that the father may be a murdered and she has to unlock the secrets her brain holds. As no secrets stay buried forever.
March 1, 2020
Loved this. I was already a huge fan of this author's writing style and this one was so good. Dark in places but the subject was handled brilliantly. Def 5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews