L.E. Luttrell

‘Small Sacrifices’ by L.E Luttrell is the third book in the series featuring Detective India Hargreaves. I have read none of the previous books but found this book to be a worthy standalone.

Set in New South Wales a place called Windsor we join Max and Ellie Gibson and Joshie, their five-year-old son. A household similar to a lot of others these days, purse strings are tight, with Max keeping them tight as well. The one luxury they do keep to is the Power Ball Draw, Ellie hears on the news that the jackpot has been won and is unclaimed, it piques her interest. She hopes Max has put the ticket on for the week and goes in search for a ticket. Upon finding it she takes Joshie to the store to check the numbers. Miracles never cease! They are the winners of the unclaimed jackpot.

Upon receiving the brilliant news Ellie takes it upon herself to grab the limelight for once. This does create a massive press attraction, she allows them to take pictures of herself and Joshie. This is done without thought of what the outcome may be. Max gets home to a flurry of media outside his home and is puzzled as to what’s going on. He immediately sees the downfall of allowing all the press around and letting them have pictures of Joshie as well as Ellie.
Ellie pays no heed to Max and arranges an interview the following day. She sends Joshie to play in the yard to play while she does the interview. Little does she know that she will regret this move from this time onwards. Joshie is kidnapped and Detective India Hargreaves is brought in to investigate the case.

I thoroughly enjoyed India’s character, a strong female Detective who lets nothing interfere with her career. The characters were intriguing and an interesting if a rather weird bunch. Ellie with her need for being the main attraction alongside Max, a pretty normal bloke made for a stressful relationship and created a tension in the story that built up nicely.

A very skilfully plotted and beautifully written story. I loved feeling like I was a part of India’s team out in the Australian outback, as they attempt to fit the jigsaw puzzle together that is Joshie’s kidnapping. A fantastically paced story that had me glued to the book until I got to the last page.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources and L.E Luttrell for the copy of the book to write this review today.