Review: Her Last Cry - Paul J. Teague

Review: Her Last Cry - Book #2 Detective Hollie Turner Series - Paul J Teague - January 2024

You know that feeling when you're in a reading slump so deep you're considering taking up knitting instead? That was me before diving into this series. Romance after romance had left me feeling like I was chewing literary cardboard, until Book #5 reminded me why I fell in love with mysteries in the first place. Naturally, I had to go back to the beginning—and honestly? I wasn't prepared for the emotional gut punch waiting for me.

This isn't your cozy mystery where the biggest drama is who stole the church bake sale funds. We're thrust into the aftermath of Sister Sophia Brennan's murder, a crime that unravels the dark secrets of an unwed mothers' home. The story follows Hollie and her sidekick Jeannine as they dig into a conspiracy involving five young women whose babies were illegally adopted out—their lives forever altered by a system that claimed to do "God's work."

The mystery centers on identifying the fifth girl, known only as "Twiggy," but when she's kidnapped, the investigation becomes a race against time. What I wasn't expecting? That absolutely brutal cliffhanger that had me screaming "NOOOOO" at my Kindle at 2 AM. Thank God I had Book #3 ready to go because there was no way I was sleeping without answers.

Here's where this review gets personal, and why The Phantom Paragrapher always keeps it real with you: this book hit me like a freight train. While reading about these institutional horrors, news broke about 800 infant bodies discovered at a demolished unwed mothers' home in Ireland. The timing was eerie and heartbreaking.

But it was more than just current events that made this story resonate. My own mother was 21 in the early 1980s when a hospital declared her "unfit" and took her baby for adoption. I learned this devastating family secret when I was seven, and I've watched the invisible wound it left on her ever since—a piece of her soul that never quite healed.

This book doesn't just entertain; it forces you to confront uncomfortable truths about how society has historically treated vulnerable women. The author masterfully weaves a compelling mystery while highlighting real injustices that echo through generations.

Is it perfect? No. Could the pacing be tighter in spots? Sure. But does it deliver emotional impact while keeping you frantically turning pages? Absolutely.

Fair warning: If you're looking for light beach reading, this isn't it. If you want a mystery that'll make you think, feel, and maybe ugly-cry a little, then clear your schedule because you won't be putting this down.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3I6MBEV