Bones of murdered children are found on land where the remains of a country foster home stand. The land is now being developed and fear grew when residents are getting killed after the bones are found. Hazel Micallef is reminded of her brother Alan, who for the first 10 years of his life lived in a foster home. And, the remains found makes her think back to the fall of 1959 when a Carol Lim, a young girl went missing in the town, and she remembers how her brother Alan was suspected of being behind the disappearance. Now Hazel feels the need to find out the identities of the boys killed and find out who killed them.

I saw the movie THE CALLING with Susan Sarandon a while back. It was the first book in this series and I was intrigued by the movie and wanted to read the books since we all know that books are always better (in most cases). So, when I got THE NIGHT BELL was I thrilled to get the chance of getting to get to know the book version of Hazel Micallef. THE NIGHT BELL is book four in the Hazel Micallef Mystery series, but I didn't have any problems reading the book, despite not having read the previous three books. However, since I have seen the movie do I have some previous knowledge of the characters in the book. But, I don't think you have to read the previous books to enjoy this one.

I really liked the way the book was written. I'm a fast reader, but this one I felt that I needed to take the time to really appreciate the languages. I didn't want to rush through the book. And, I especially liked that the book had flashbacks to Hazel Micallef childhood, to the fall when Carol Lim disappeared. So, at one hand we have the grim reality with the finding of the bones and on the other hand, we have a young Hazel Micallef learning that lives isn't always nice. I liked young Alan, and it saddens me to know that he never really got a happy life and that it ended too soon.

THE NIGHT BELL is a great thriller, it builds up slowly, but I never felt that it got too slow. It has an interesting and sad case, and Hazel Micallef reminiscent retrospective part fitted perfect with it. I liked this book very much and I want to read the previous books in the series!

Book Summary

The brilliantly paced and irresistibly suspenseful new novel in the Detective Hazel Micallef series takes this "perfectly original" (Gillian Flynn) detective into the maelstrom of two murder cases.

The new novel in this acclaimed series is brilliantly paced, addictively suspenseful—the author's best yet.

Hazel Micallef (played by Susan Sarandon in the recent film of the series' debut, The Calling) has become one of crime writing's most memorable detectives.The Night Bellmoves between the past and the present in Port Dundas, Ontario, as two mysteries converge. A discovery of the bones of murdered children is made on land that was once a county foster home. Now it's being developed as a brand new subdivision whose first residents are already railing against broken promises and corruption. But when three of these residents are murdered after the discovery of the children's bones, frustration turns to terror.

While trying to stem the panic and solve two crimes at once, Hazel Micallef finds her memory stirred back to the fall of 1959, when the disappearance of a girl from town was blamed on her adopted brother. Although he is long dead, she begins to see the present case as a chance to clear her brother's name, something that drives Hazel beyond her own considerable limits and right into the sights of an angry killer.