Trick or Treat - Katerina Diamond

Reading Challenge Category: Free ARC from NetGalley

Official Blurb:

When six-year-old Marcus is taken from outside his house on Halloween it shakes his quiet neighbourhood to the core.
Everyone was ready for a night of trick-or-treating. Now the unthinkable has happened. TRUTH OR LIES?
As Detective Imogen Grey arrives to question Marcus’s parents, they tell her there has been a mistake. Their son is just fine.
But if that’s true, where is Marcus?
INNOCENT OR GUILTY?
Imogen becomes locked in a race against time to find the missing child and uncover the truth. Can she discover what’s happened to Marcus before it’s too late?

My Thoughts:

So this is a direct follow on in story from the last book in the series. We are a year in the future, but the repercussions from what happened back then are still unfolding.
Unfortunately, I read this back in October 2019 (two years ago now), and I don’t have the best memory, so I did find it hard to get back into the story. I remembered what had happened to Aiden quite quickly as that is something you just don’t forget, but it took me a little longer to remember the circumstances surrounding his attack and who all the other characters were. So, this definitely can’t be read as a stand-alone book and needs to be read as part of the series.
It was a fantastic read, though, once I’d got all my ducks in a row and remembered everything. The way the story weaves lots of different aspects throughout it and brings it all together at the end was cleverly done.
The ‘baddie’ was certainly machiavellian and very interesting. It was great when he became pretty blazon about his endeavours and really gave Imogen a run for her money.
The storyline as a whole was exciting and kept me captivated. One night I’d put the book down to go to sleep but had to pick it up again just to read a little more! It really gripped me. All of the characters were likeable (except Jarvis, but I don’t think he’s supposed to be!) and you feel really invested in what is going on.
I can’t wait for the next instalment of this series; I just hope I don’t have to wait another two years!