Dot Hutchison | THE SUMMER CHILDREN

Plot (via Goodreads):

This FBI agent has come to expect almost anything—just not this…

When Agent Mercedes Ramirez finds an abused young boy on her porch, covered in blood and clutching a teddy bear, she has no idea that this is just the beginning. He tells her a chilling tale: an angel killed his parents and then brought him here so Mercedes could keep him safe.

His parents weren’t just murdered. It was a slaughter—a rage kill like no one on the Crimes Against Children team had seen before. But they’re going to see it again. An avenging angel is meting out savage justice, and she’s far from through.

One by one, more children arrive at Mercedes’s door with the same horror story. Each one a traumatized survivor of an abusive home. Each one chafing at Mercedes’s own scars from the past. And each one taking its toll on her life and career.

Now, as the investigation draws her deeper into the dark, Mercedes is beginning to fear that if this case doesn’t destroy her, her memories might.

Review:

Dot Hutchison has yet to disappoint me. I featured her first three novels of The Collector Series this summer on my blog and each one was spectacular. While The Butterfly Garden will be my favorite, The Summer Children is right behind in second place.

The plot to this one again is just so different than The Butterfly Garden and The Roses of May, but still has the same immersive writing style that I love with Dot Hutchison. This one was a bit darker than The Roses of May because it involves children and abuse. I was honestly surprised with how quickly this one began. Hutchison didn't waste a minute getting into the gritty police procedural portion of this novel and bring back Mercedes! I loved that this one was more of a police procedural and a thriller than the previous two novels. That aspect always intrigues me with a thriller and Hutchison wrote this gracefully without confusing me as a reader or having this part take over the story as a whole. 

The characters in this one are all characters who return from the previous two books, but Hutchison's way of writing is dazzling and spellbinding and her characterization is a prime example of this. It's fantastic to watch these characters grow and have each novel kind of be a spotlight for them as they progress into their careers and lives. I was mystified with how much I loved reading these characters and happy to see some faces returning. While this one had these characters in a tangle of one hell of a mystery, this one was definitely the most dangerous of the three.

Perfect in time for Halloween, this novel features some really spooky imagery and scenes that made me double check my locks before going to bed. I highly recommend all three of these beautiful novels in The Collector Series...and hurry up, because book four is on its way! 

Special thanks to Amazon Publishing for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5