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Her Dark Heart: A totally gripping crime thriller (Detective Gina Harte Book 5) by [Carla Kovach]

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Carla Kovach

Her Dark Heart: A totally gripping crime thriller (Detective Gina Harte Book 5) Kindle Edition

by Carla Kovach (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Rory is waiting at the door of the pre-school – a painted picture of his mother Susan in his small hand. But Susan isn’t going to see the picture, because she has vanished.

Susan Wheeler is a devoted mother. She would do anything for her three children. She drops them off and picks them up every single day. Until one day when Susan kisses them goodbye and then never comes to pick them up.

Susan’s mother Mary is worried. Susan is recently divorced and has been finding things hard recently, but she loves her kids – she’d never leave them.

Susan’s sister Clare is furious. It’s just like her to go missing. It’s not the first time, either. Susan has always been a troublemaker. Always seeking attention. She knows Susan has been lying to the family for years. And she knows that Susan has been sneaking out of her family home for weeks…

As the hours turn into days, even Clare becomes fearful for Susan. And, when Mary discovers Susan’s diary, she begins to uncover a dark secret from her childhood. Something no one in the family knew. When the final diary entry leads the police to a man who is discovered dead in a local park, they’re left wondering whether Susan has vanished because she is a victim. Or because she is a suspect…

An explosively compelling crime thriller from bestselling author Carla Kovach – if you love Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you’ll love Her Dark Heart.

What readers are saying about Her Dark Heart:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Oh my!! This was such a great book that I just could not put it down!!... So suspenseful, dark and creepy good. So many twists and turns It just kept on like a roller coaster ride until the very end.’ Netgalley Reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book blew me away!!’ Crossroad Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘What a book!Let me take a minute to catch my breath!... Fast-paced and easy to read, this is a thrilling, chilling tale.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Another cracker from Carla Kovach! This series gets better and better... Yes, Carla Kovach has wowed with another fantastic story.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This is a MUST read! I HIGHLY suggest that you read that you read all of the Gina Harte books!!!’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Detective Gina Harte has become one of my favourite female lead characters.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Really quick to get into and fast paced… Another 5-star read for me.’ Netgalley reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Detective Gina Harte has become one of my favourite female lead characters.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wow! As always, Carls has done it again!... Nothing less than 5 stars from me!’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Engrossed from the first page… I read it in a day!’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Another brilliant episode in this series.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘What an exciting thriller! Definitely one of my favorite books of 2019!’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Why, oh why did it have to end? I love Gina, I love her team, I love all of the books in this series… Absolutely amazing read.’ Netgalley reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read.’ Blue Moon Blogger

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Excellent read. 5 Stars.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This is a fast-paced, enjoyable yet thrilling story that had me gripped to the last page.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Plenty of action, suspense, a great mix of characters and a final, shocking reveal that I didn’t see coming.’ Goodreads reviewer

Print length

326 pages
Language

English
Publication date

19 November 2019
File size

2139 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07WZMKTB6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bookouture (19 November 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2139 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 326 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 4,053 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 44 in Vigilante Justice Thrillers
- 137 in Serial Killer Thrillers
- 241 in Police Procedurals (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
542 ratings

About the author

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Carla Kovach

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Carla Kovach is a USA Today bestselling author from the UK and is published by Bookouture, Sphere and Boekerij. Her DI Gina Harte series has been translated into Dutch.

As well as novels, she has also written stage and screenplays.

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Top reviews from Australia

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Liz

Not recommended.

Reviewed in Australia on 19 December 2019

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Disappointing and I wouldn't recommended this book. Written to a formula which may have worked previously but was empty, repetitive with a lot of unnecessary padding.

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Tanya N

Another Brilliant novel.

Reviewed in Australia on 5 January 2020

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I absolutely love the Gina Harte series. Could not put this book down. The mystery, twist and turns kept you on the edge of your seat until the very end. So excited to see where this series leads, I hope there will be many more!

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robyn wensley

Shows how team was formed

Reviewed in Australia on 11 December 2019

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I really love this series and this book shows how the team came together

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Kindle Customer

Loving the series!

Reviewed in Australia on 22 January 2020

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Loving the series!

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A detective that cares

Reviewed in Australia on 19 November 2019

Her Dark Heart by Carla Kovach is book 5 in the Detective Gina Harte series - a series that I am absolutely loving. And can we talk about that cover - gorgeous! I love the colours - so dark and intriguing. Gina is still battling her demons, she has had a rough life but that makes her a fantastic detective. She. cares about her cases, her victims and her colleagues. Anybody would be lucky to have Gina working on their case. There is not a lot of a personal .thread in this book, it focuses more on the case than Gina herself.

Susan Wheeler is reported missing by her mother when she fails to pick up her young son Rory from nursery. This is not the first time that she has gone missing and her sister Clare thinks she is just attention seeking. Her husband Ryan is the initial suspect. The couple are in the process of getting a divorce and it is not friendly. Clare's mother is scared for her daughters safety. Then more people go missing that have connections to Susan - who is targeting these people and why? And could the box from Susan's past hold the clues to finding her alive?

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

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Gina Harte is Fast Becoming One of my Favourite Detectives!

Reviewed in Australia on 2 January 2020

Although I am still yet to read the first two, I have now enjoyed the last three books in this series by Carla Kovach and DI Gina Harte is fast becoming one of my favourite detectives. I absolutely loved the previous book "The Liar's House" and I wondered how Kovach could better that one but HER DARK HEART was just as brilliant! And while it is the fifth in the series and it's generally preferable to read them in order, I do believe they can still be read as a standalone. Each mystery is enigmatic, each story is unique...but each book is engaging throughout you will not want to put them down.

The story opens with a prologue that sees Susan Wheeler returning from a reunion amongst old friends at the pub to which her husband Ryan had followed her, convinced she was having an affair. After thumping the male friend of the group, Ryan and Susan returned home where he then started in on her. It was obvious from the beginning that Ryan was a controlling and abusive husband and Susan did her best to shelter her children from the violence.

Five months later, Susan is in the process of divorcing Ryan, living in their marital home with their three children while Ryan has moved to a small two bedroom flat. Since kicking her husband out, Susan has let her hair down, started going out with friends and enjoying the freedom to be herself and relax as she was never allowed to married to Ryan. Her mother Mary babysits for her on these occasions which, in her sister Clare's eyes, are becoming more frequent. It seems Susan is returning to her rebellious teenage years.

So when Susan fails to pick up her two year old son Rory from nursery one afternoon, there are mixed reactions. Her mother Mary is concerned while her sister Clare is not. Then they discover that she hadn't collected her daughters, Phoebe and Jasmine, from her Ryan's place either. Mary is adamant that Susan would never leave her children - she loves them and would not have left them voluntarily. Clare is of the opinion that this is another one of Susan's disappearing acts where she will swan back in after a few days as if nothing has happened. After all, she's done it before.

But Mary is worried and insists on calling the police although Clare maintains that her sister is just attention seeking while her husband Howard placates her with endless cups of tea. The soon-to-be ex-husband Ryan thinks Susan has just run off again and isn't particularly concerned...in fact he lays the blame solely at Susan's feet. Clare, it seems, shares his opinion and also blames her sister for everything that's gone wrong in her own life. But Mary is convinced there is something wrong...

Enter DI Gina Harte. For the initial contact with the Hudson family, Gina takes along PC Kapoor who has incredible instincts as well as a certain empathy. But Gina isn't prepared for the shock that is about to befall her when Mary Hudson opens the door. For Mary is the spitting image of her own mother who died many years ago, sharing even the same mannerisms which throws Gina momentarily when questioning her. I found this an interesting side aspect and wondered if it would be explored further, throwing up the revelation of her mother having had a long lost missing twin or something...but it seemed that Mary was just a doppelganger that spooked Gina each time she came into contact with her.

Mary has enough to deal with at the moment what with Clare having moved back home with her two year old son who, with a vast array of behavioural problems, is beyond difficult. But Susan's little Rory is like a breath of fresh air and is a sweet content little boy. Another bone of contention with Clare - it seems Susan can never do any wrong, and even has the perfect child. This sees a jealous and exasperated Clare continually dumping her often screaming son in her mother's arms and leaving the house to destinations unknown. She may have been the older sibling but Clare often behaved like a spoilt teenager, in my opinion.

From the beginning Gina believes that Mary and her family are keeping secrets and she endeavours to find out what they are and get to the bottom of them. Requesting permission to search Susan's house, Gina and her team are only allowed a cursory look before Mary ushers them out and then sets about cleaning the house from top to bottom. But Mary comes across a notebook that appears to be Susan's diary of sorts and in it, two appointments for the day she disappeared and a post code. Handing them over to the police, Gina then calls on the appointments - both of whom weren't home - and discovers the post code was for a general area nearby...but apparently none of Susan's clients were from that postal code area. And where was her car? Wouldn't it have been parked outside her last appointment?

Then a body is found by a man and his two boys out walking their dog and immediately she fears it to be Susan. However, it turns out the body is male. One Dale Blair - who turned out to be Susan's last appointment. Upon searching his house, Gina's team find a photo of a teenage Dale with an obvious teenage Susan and another teenage girl. It seems Susan and Dale knew each other before the day she disappeared. And then they discover he was the man Ryan had punched in the face for having an affair with his wife some 5 months before. But that was not possible for Dale was openly gay. The mystery deepens as Gina wonders what the hell it means and where it all leads.

Was Susan kidnapped? Or is she guilty of murder?

Gina doesn't know what to believe anymore as she battles with her own guilt and grief over losing her mother and her deepest darkest secret she has carried for more than 20 years.

And then Susan's daughter Phoebe disappears...

A complicated case and a complex thriller, HER DARK HEART is a well-written page turner that will have you reading long into the night - just one more chapter! I love how it's not just a police procedural but a crime thriller as well as we are privy to all aspects of the story - from the police to the victim's family to the villain - with clues given at just the right time.

As for the characters themselves - I found Clare and her son irritating and obnoxious, Ryan was ignorant and arrogant, Howard was indifferent while Mary was so completely guilt ridden and yet she continued to make the same mistakes again and again.

As the story shifts between perspectives in the search for Susan and Phoebe while at the same time given a glimpse from the villain's viewpoint, HER DARK HEART unfolds at an even pace that soon accelerates gaining momentum as it nears its climax. And even as it did so, I was completely surprised at the revelation, only guessing just moments before.

While HER DARK HEART is the fifth in this series, it is my third having only read the last three. Despite this I am thoroughly enjoying all that I have read so far and Gina Harte is fast becoming a favourite. I know that I will not be disappointed with these books. I do, however, have a slight misgiving I feel I ought to mention.

While I don't like my protagonists to be too perfect, too damaged, too bossy and bitchy or too flaky and irritating, I do feel that Gina does often frustrate me. She has spent the past five books torturing herself about killing her abusive husband in self defense some 20 years ago and ambivalence about her feelings for her boss DCI Chris Briggs, and their non-starter affair. Not to mention the complicated relationship she has with her daughter Hannah. Without fail by the end of each book, she seems to have sorted herself out with promises and placations but by the next one she is back to where she was previously. This oscillating is like watching a ceiling fan as she continues her annoying cycle of self pity and self loathing. I just want to see her sort herself out once and for all and move on. We know what happened, none of us can change the past, so there is nothing to gain by harping on it. I just wish she would move past it and either get together with Briggs or move on. I did like the part near the end where she made a confession to her mother's grave, unburdening herself at last. Maybe now she CAN move on.

I'd also like to know a little more about her team, as all we seem to know about them are their names. And even those are seemingly insignificant at times because none of them has as much depth as Gina herself does in the books. These characters are recurring but without any real development.

Despite those two misgivings, they are but small elements that do not deter my enjoyment of this book or the series. I will happily continue to follow Gina and her team as it really is one of my favourite series.

The plot was dark, the twists were skillful making HER DARK HEART a clever complex and brilliant thriller that kept me intrigued throughout. I have no hesitation in recommending it!

I look forward to seeing what happens next...

I would like to thank #CarlaKovach, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #HerDarkHeart in exchange for an honest review.

Helpful

Excellent

Reviewed in Australia on 17 March 2021

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Excellent detective story within another detective story. People who love detective stories that are not straight forward would love this book.

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Top reviews from other countries

phil price

It's Getting Darker

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2021

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Another great book from the Gina Harte series. A woman goes missing, the police unable to fathom why. Her ex-husband is angry, but could he be the killer? Then, other's start to drop, Harte and her team trying to piece together the clues before it's too late.

Is there a darker link? You'll just have to find out...

I really loved this book. Kovach keeps putting Gina through the mill, this book feeling darker as we see more of the protagonist's thoughts, feeling and emotions spill out.

I loved the setting too, almost able to reach out and pull it towards me.

One person found this helpful

Pat O'Meara

Plenty of action and suspense!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2019

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Her Dark Heart is a fabulous crime thriller and another case for DI GIna Harte and her team.

Susan Wheeler aged 34 is reported missing by her mother Mary. Susan had failed to collect son Rory from nursery the day before.
Susan was going through an acrimonious divorce, there was certainly no love lost between her and her soon to be ex husband Ryan and she and her sister Clare didn't exactly see eye to eye either.

Could Susan have just run off , it wouldn't be the first time or had something far more sinister taken place.

Still struggling with her own troubled past Gina must try and put personal matters aside to solve the case.

So with plenty of action, suspense , a great mix of characters and a final shocking reveal I didn't see coming, Her Dark Heart is another brilliant addition to the already superb DI Gina Harte series.

Loved it and look forward to the next!

Gill Elliott

Decent story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 June 2020

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Well written and a fairly plausible story, if I have one criticism it’s the constant breast beating from Gina over her Mother and dead husband. Personally I think that the author should be moving the heroine in a new direction as we’ve had this theme through every book and it’s getting a bit old. Also she complains about being lonely and having no friends and there’s a guy who loves her and she loves him! So what’s the problem get them together and take this story on.

2 people found this helpful

Mystery Reader

Amazing thriller.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2019

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Wow, yet another cracking read in one of my favourite police procedural series. Love, love, love Gina Harte and her fabulous team. Book five in the series and they feel like family now.

Once madly in love, Susan and Ryan’s marriage is now in tatters since they had the children. Their son Rory is left at nursery when Susan neglects to show up. The nursery rings her mother and she in turn rings the police sensing something is seriously wrong.

In comes Gina and her team to unravel what’s happened to Susan when dark secrets appear That have shaped her past and a future.

This book had everything, intrigue, page-turning plot which I read within a couple of days and yes, I’m an extremely busy person. One of Bookouture’s better authors IMHO.

Can’t wait to read more about Gina’s personal life in future books.

A gripping read, one not to be missed.

2 people found this helpful

Marnie L.

Wow, what a page turner!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 November 2019

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Have just finished ‘Her Dark Heart’. Read from Chapter 12 to the end today - totally unputdownable (if that word doesn’t exist it should). This is the best Gina Harte book yet, and the darkest, based on a subject dwelling in the past that’s coming to the forefront regularly nowadays. Where will the next book take Gina I wonder, as the secrets from her past are being laid out. Carla’s books just keep on getting better and better and can’t wait for book 6.

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Her Dark Heart: A totally gripping crime thriller (Detective Gina Harte Book 5) Kindle Edition

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