Book: The Case of
the Broken Doll
(Book 4 in The
Inspector David Graham Series)
Author: Alison Golden
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Number of pages: 230
pages
Publication date: 3
December 2016
ASIN: B01N6D4GKY
The Case of the Broken
Doll is the third book in the Detective Inspector Graham Series by Alison
Golden. The book can be easily read as a standalone.
Inspector
David Graham is a tea-loving detective in the small British island town of
Gorey. He heads the Gorey Constabulary which includes three other members:
Sergeant Harding and Constables Roach and Barnwell.
The Case of the
Broken Doll is
different from the rest of the books in the series as Graham stumbles on a cold
case that has pained the citizens of Gorey for years. Graham learns that 15-year-old
Beth Ridley had disappeared one morning on her way to school almost 10 years
ago.
"People don't just vanish into thin air, Marcus.
I know the world is a strange and mysterious place, but I'm still a big fan of
cause-and-effect when it comes to explaining what people do and why."
Graham
decides to sleuth around the case but ultimately reopens it. He discovers a
story Beth had written featuring animal characters but soon Constable Roach
determines that the characters represent people in Beth's life and attempts to
solve the mystery of who is who and Beth's deductions and secrets about the people
around her.
One
of the things I like about the series is seeing how the sergeant and two
constables are developing. Graham is already a developed and insightful
character. In The Case of the Broken Doll, Graham acts as a kind of teacher to
his constables. I liked the way he explained that the evidence they had would
not be admissible in court and so on.
"You're culpable of putting two and two together
and getting seven. Fascination doesn’t equate criminality. Obsession doesn't
connote murder. And his preoccupation with Beth Ridley shouldn't lead us to
assume guilt." (Graham to Sergeant Harding)
Soon after this comment,
Sergeant Janice Harding realizes her mistake and tells Roach – on a similar
note pertaining to the case: "We've both
been fixated on the person and not on the evidence." This is character development within the course
of the book and it's excellent!
In addition to the
mystery of the missing Beth Ridley, there is a second minor mystery at play,
where Graham instructs Barnwell to investigate. This adds to the
already-suspenseful novel.
I
literally couldn't put The Case of the Broken Doll down. I gobbled it up in 24
hours! I stopped doing everything else – including work – and just had to read
and finish it. It's been a while since I've found a book I couldn't stop
reading like that. Thanks Alison Golden!
What Graham uncovers in
The Case of the Broken Doll will leave you gaping and stunned. The story is
amazing, unputdownable and the best in the entire series!
Overall rating for
Alison Golden's The Case of the Broken Doll: 10 stars.
Add the book on Goodreads.
Other
book reviews in this series:
The Case of the
Missing Letter
Start reading the first book in this series, The Case of the Screaming Beauty when you subscribe to Alison Golden's newsletter. I downloaded The Case of the Broken Doll when the author made it free for a week as part of her #StayHomeReadBooks series.
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