“When Ellie goes missing on the first day of Schueberfouer, the police are dismissive, keen not to attract negative attention on one of Luxembourg’s most important events.

Probation officer, Cate Austin, has moved for a fresh start, along with her daughter Amelia, to live with her police detective boyfriend, Olivier Massard. But when she realises just how casually he is taking the disappearance of Ellie, Cate decides to investigate matters for herself.

She discovers Luxembourg has a dark heart. With its geographical position, could it be the centre of a child trafficking ring? As Cate comes closer to discovering Ellie’s whereabouts she uncovers a hidden world, placing herself in danger, not just from traffickers, but from a source much closer to home.”

Have I ever mentioned that my TBR is pretty darn scary?  Hmmm…think about it, it may be difficult to remember (hahahaha).  OK, so I mention my #terrifyingTBR in virtually every post I write, and I can guarantee that it’s not getting any smaller.  Hello, my name is Emma and I’m a book addict.  So it’s time to do something about it and I will do that with the help of some incredibly generous, amazing guest bloggers and reviewers.

And the first willing volunteer (notice I didn’t say ‘victim’!) is the very lovely Tracie Delaney over at Passionate About Books.  Not only is she a fantastic blogger but she’s just about to release her debut novel!

Here’s everything you need to know about the very lovely Tracie:

I’ve been obsessed with books for as long as I can remember. As a child, I could be found with one of two things in my hand; a book or a bridle (I was an avid horse rider in my younger years).

Reading is a wonderful form of escape. I love the way books transport you to different worlds and allow you to be a part of so many character’s lives.

I blog and write under the pseudonym Tracie Delaney. My first novel, Winning Ace, is due out in May 2017.

And here’s Tracie’s review of Nowhere Girl by Ruth Dugdall:

When I offered to read and review Nowhere Girl for Emma Welton over at the fabulous damppebbles.com, I had expected a new arrival on my Kindle. So when an actual book arrived in the post, I was super excited. The first thing I did on opening the package? I opened the book and sniffed the pages. Now, to non-book people, that would seem very odd, but to us book-types? The most normal thing in the world!

When seventeen year old Ellie Scheen goes missing at the local fair in Luxembourg, the police don’t appear to be taking the disappearance seriously. After all, this isn’t the first time Ellie has gone missing.

And when a witness at the fair reports that she saw Ellie’s mother, Bridget, hit her daughter and, on further investigation, it doesn’t seem to have been the first time, the police start to focus their attention on Bridget.

Cate Austin, the partner of Olivier Massard, the detective in charge of the case, doesn’t think the police are taking Ellie’s disappearance seriously and so decides to investigate Ellie’s disappearance for herself.

 My Review

The blurb of this book really intrigued me and I was very much looking forward to reading it. However, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. The story is intriguing and all the elements of a great novel are there, but it just didn’t hit the mark.

The present tense style of writing is not one of my favourites, but I can easily get past that for a great story, but in this novel, I found it rather distracting. The pacing of the novel was extremely slow. If 20,000 words had been cut during editing, it wouldn’t have hurt the story; in fact, it would have helped to create a faster paced novel with more tension and intrigue. The pacing picked up as we reached the climax of the novel—as it should—but at least seventy five percent of the novel was too slow for my tastes.

I also found it difficult to connect to any of the main characters, apart from Amina, a young Algerian girl smuggled illegally into Luxembourg in the hope of a better life. It was almost like watching a movie through a pair of net curtains. You could kind of see what was going on, but the detail was missing. I wanted to get deep inside the character’s minds, to really feel what they were feeling and experience their terror, horror and panic at what was happening, but the author fell short in translating that closeness from page to reader.

Despite the novel’s blurb telling us that Cate decides to investigate matters for herself, I found she was very easily persuaded onto a different path. With a few sharp words from Olivier, Cate seemed to oscillate between half-hearted attempts to find out what happened to Ellie, and then, just as quickly, she would decide she couldn’t do anything. In those moments, her purpose in the novel seemed to consist of taking her daughter to school and walking the dog. Again, it was the last quarter of the novel where Cate digs her heels in and, despite her better judgement telling her to leave well alone, she finally finds the grit and determination to bring Ellie home.

This novel deals with very serious subjects; the hopelessness of people in certain parts of the world, the risks they will take to secure a better life for themselves and the horrifying reality of the hidden crime of child trafficking. However, for those concerned with that subject, it is dealt with very sympathetically, and there is only hints of what is going on, rather than graphic description.

I wouldn’t put anyone off reading this novel if, like me, they are intrigued by the blurb. The very parts that didn’t suit me may be exactly  what others love to read.

My heartfelt thanks, once again, goes to Emma Welton at damppebbles.com for giving me the chance to read this novel.

***

Thank you so much for your fantastic review Tracie.  I rather like this guest reviewer lark so if you are a blogger or reviewer and would like to read one of my (many) books then please let me know and I’ll send you my epic book list.

Nowhere Girl by Ruth Dugdall was published in the UK by Legend Press on 31st October 2015 and is available in paperback, eBook and audio formats | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Goodreads |

Ruth studied English at university and then took an MA is Social Work. Following this she worked in the Criminal Justice System as a social worker then as a probation officer. Part of this time was spent seconded to a prison housing serious offenders. She continues to work within the Criminal Justice System, most recently in Luxembourg.
Ruth’s novels are informed by her experience and are “authentic and credible”.

Author Links: | Website | Twitter | Facebook |