Perdition's Child (Hannah Weybridge)

by Coates

[zooloo1983]

This is such a bittersweet story when you get to the end of it. Hannah does like to get involved with some hot and dangerous cases without ever meaning to, they just fall into her lap! I do feel for her!

This time Hannah is contacted by Lucy, her friend who lives in the Cardboard city, as she has found her brother dead in his flat. Hannah is the first person on most people’s lips it seems!!! Hannah helps Lucy, all the while discovering something bigger at play.

Upon visiting her local library she hears that an Australian man has died in the library but the librarian has managed to keep copies of what he was looking at. As Hannah looks further into this more bodies keep dropping and they are only Australian men!

The premise for this is a sad one, Hannah is investigating a child migration scheme, where children are “placed” into care by their families for a short while in the 1940-1960s, however, they never come home. Believed to be dead in some cases, we learn that they are shipped off to Australia. I haven’t googled this as I think it would upset me too much because what a terrible situation to have been in. Hannah is a true champion for the people, she always has her heart in the right place and before a story. Although, she does not let go of a story once she has a grip of it!

Hannah has a personal tragedy near the beginning of the book, and you can see this shadow her throughout the case. She is not the spritely girl we have come to know and love, she is a bit withdrawn, people are coming and going in this book and no one person is her main person. Everyone seems to be in the background this time as, I said before, we focus on Hannah. Even the storyline, which was heartbreaking, took a back seat, I was caring more for Hannah and her well being.

I can’t believe this is the last Hannah book for a while, I actually will miss her and Anne’s writing. These books may be over 300 pages long but they never feel like it! They feel more like novellas because they are over before I realise it! This has always been Hannah’s story, Tom and Claudia appear but it’s all Hannah and her investigator work as a reporter. Always a step ahead of the police but with her relationship with them, they work together. But will Hannah be safe this time?

Still loving that we are in the 90s, dialling up the Internet, unplugging the phone line to plug in the fax machine, everything people take for granted these days. I love how this does add to the isolation of things and just shows you how inaccessible people were! This can hinder things completely!

This could be read as a stand-alone but things are alluded to from the previous books and I don’t feel like you would get the full picture of the characters and the history if you don’t read the other 3. Plus, you need to knows Hannah’s story it is worthwhile knowing for sure!

It is another pacey and thrilling book and I don’t think this series is showing signs of slowing down but I do hope Hannah gets a bit of a break in the south of France sunning it up!