Book Details:

Book Title: A Child Lost (The Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series #5) by Michelle Cox
Narrated by: Jayne A Entwistle
Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
Category: Adult Fiction
Genre: Historical Mystery
Content Rating: Rated R for 2 sex scenes that are somewhat explicit but which are tastefully done. There is periodic swearing (not excessive), religious profanity but no violence.


Book Description:

A spiritualist, an insane asylum, a lost little girl...

When Clive, anxious to distract a depressed Henrietta, begs Sergeant Frank Davis for a case, he is assigned to investigating a seemingly boring affair: a spiritualist woman operating in an abandoned schoolhouse on the edge of town who is suspected of robbing people of their valuables.

What begins as an open-and-shut case becomes more complicated, however, when Henrietta, much to Clive’s dismay, begins to believe the spiritualist's strange ramblings.

Meanwhile, Elsie implores Clive and Henrietta to help her and the object of her budding love Gunther locate the whereabouts of one Liesel Klinkhammer, the German woman Gunther has traveled to America to find and the mother of the little girl Anna, whom he has brought along with him.

The search leads them to Dunning Asylum, where they discover some terrible truths about Liesel. When the child Anna is herself mistakenly admitted to the asylum after an epileptic fit, Clive and Henrietta return to Dunning to retrieve her. This time, however, Henrietta begins to suspect that something darker may be happening. When Clive doesn’t believe her, she decides to take matters into her own hands...with horrifying results.


In May, I read the ebook copy of this book, the fifth one in a series that I have been enjoying very much! So, of course, I was thrilled when the opportunity came up to listen to the audiobook too. I already listened to the audiobooks of the first book A Girl Like You, the second book A Ring of Truth, the third A Promise Given, and the fourth A Veil Removed, all of which I enjoyed as much as when I read them in print format. So far this one is my favorite!
It has all the characters I have come to know well, an excellent mystery with a great twist and, of course, the 1930s Chicago setting. But what I loved the most is how the author has fleshed out, even more, the characters of our dynamic sleuthing duo, Henrietta and Clive. We get to see more of their vulnerable sides within the context of the realities of married life.

In this aptly titled Book 5 of the series, Henrietta and Clive have informally begun to solve cases together. There is a spirit medium who has settled in an abandoned schoolhouse and she may be defrauding her clients. Henrietta's sister Elsie seeks their help in locating the mother of Anna, a 4-year old child who was left in the care of Gunther, the custodian Elsie is falling for. Their search leads them to the infamous Dunning insane asylum.

I've always had an interest in mental health, especially when it's a topic in historical fiction because so little was understood in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the author's notes, Cox mentions that Dunning Asylum actually existed, and she did a good job of including the depravity that went on there without turning the novel into a horror story. I blazed through the last hundred pages as the suspense built, much like it did in the first book of the series.

There is not a dull moment in this book. Cox's characters are so well portrayed in their physical traits, their manner of speech, their actions, their personalities as well as through their dilemmas and moments of joy. Cox sure knows how to create characters that are memorable and distinct. And they stay true to character throughout the story or series.

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Michelle Cox is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as "Novel Notes of Local Lore," a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago's forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there. Coincidentally, her books have been praised by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others, so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn't have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also marmalade.

Connect with the Author: website ~ facebook ~twitter ~ instagram ~ goodreadsJayne Entwistle is an award-winning audiobook narrator known most notably for her narration of the Flavia De Luce series by Alan Bradley. She received the prestigious Odyssey Award for The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and the Odyssey Honor Award for The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry. In addition to several Earphones Awards, AudioFile magazine has included her narration on their list of Best Audiobooks of the Year. When not immersed in fabulous books, Jayne can be found on-screen in television shows such as The Good Place, Feud: Bette and Joan, You're the Worst, and Maron. Originally from the North of England, Jayne currently lives in Los Angeles.

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