Book Review: The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

Naomi is a private investigator who finds children thought lost forever. Propelled by her own lost past, she succeeds where others fail. But taking on a three year old cold case, searching for missing Madison Culver, may bring back memories best left forgotton. 

The descriptions of the wintery forests of Oregon are great, and propelled me into a lost world of bleak white snow, frostbite and survival. The author did a wonderful job of setting the scenes ahead, and I could really feel myself becoming immersed within the cold mountains with trappers and strange locals. 

The writing style is very different to other crime thrillers, with an almost lyrical and whimsical feel to it as we flit between Naomi and the ‘Snow Girl’s’ stories. The story itself is also compelling, and intriguing enough that I wanted to read on without it being overly dramatic or drawn out like a lot of crime thrillers I’ve read in the past. Because of the short length it was fast paced, and flowed well, with enough character development (from both the main and secondary characters) throughout to satisfy my growing questions. 

Naomi is a wonderful main character. Given her past, she’s remarkably resilient, level headed and without any real shadowy demons lurking beneath the surface that’s become the cliche for protagonists of this genre. Yes, she has a past. But it’s displayed in such a way as to support and strengthen the character instead of just as a plot device. It was cleverly done, and well thought out. If anything, I found her backstory a little lacking and wasn’t fully satisfied with how it was concluded. I also wasn’t overly keen on the romantic aspect to her story, which I found lacklustre. I would have preferred more interaction with Mrs Cottle, her foster mother, who seemed like a wonderful charismatic woman. 

Snow Girl I found a little harder to get to grips with because of the altered writing style that’s used for her chapters. It was more childlike and simplistic, and I found myself struggling to get any real emotional connection with her as I was confused with regards to what was going on at first. Clearly, this is just me. I did like seeing how Mr. B’s character progressed through the eyes of a child, and his growth from simple abductor to something far more complex.

I actually preferred the side story involving Danita and her lost baby. I thought it portrayed more emotions, and had more interesting characters (such as Violet, the matriarchal grandmother) than the main plot. The conclusion was utterly heartbreaking and honest, not shying away the harsh realities of real life. That said, the main conclusion itself was also incredibly tense and satisfying, hitting the right note between grief, joy and everything in between. 

Easily one of the best crime thrillers I’ve read (given my limited background in the genre), told in a unique format that raises this above novels of a similar nature. I’d be interested to read more by Denfeld.

 - 4 stars