The Butterfly Garden and The Roses of May were great, but there is something about Dot Hutchison’s third instalment in The Collector series, The Summer Children, that had me stuck right in there. With the quick pacing, dark storyline, compelling plot, fantastic characters, and jarring detail, it will be impossible to put down.

Content Warning: The Summer Children contains themes and direct mention of child abuse, child molestation, drug use, homophobia, kidnapping, rape, sexual abuse, sexual assault, and trauma. If these are sensitive topics for you, or you do not wish to read about them, this is not the book for you. If you are unsure, I would suggest leaving it for another time.

This FBI agent has come to expect almost anything—just not this. When Agent Mercedes Ramirez finds an abused young boy on her porch, covered in blood and clutching a teddy bear, she has no idea that this is just the beginning. He tells her a chilling tale: an angel killed his parents and then brought him here so Mercedes could keep him safe. His parents weren’t just murdered. It was a slaughter—a rage kill like no one on the Crimes Against Children team had seen before. But they’re going to see it again. An avenging angel is meting out savage justice, and she’s far from through. One by one, more children arrive at Mercedes’s door with the same horror story. Each one a traumatised survivor of an abusive home. Each one chafing at Mercedes’s own scars from the past. And each one taking its toll on her life and career. Now, as the investigation draws her deeper into the dark, Mercedes is beginning to fear that if this case doesn’t destroy her, her memories might.

This is a book that deals with a lot of heavy, dark, and frankly disgusting themes, but it does so in a way that is sympathetic to the core. The characters are deeply responsive and respectful, the interactions are comforting yet don’t belitting the children or their experiences, and there is a genuine understanding that is explored, not just with the children, but one of our main characters. The Summer Children handles these themes with grace and efficacy, and is a testament to crime fiction that empathises and integrates such themes throughout the series over the spectacle and sensational one-off inclusion for interest.

This groups of F.B.I. agents and their adopted few are the found family trope to a t, and not just on a simple matter either. Their bond is felt throughout the book, deeply and keenly in each and every one of the relationships, and it is a pleasure to read what they get up to and how they are there for each other. Even the girls from previous books are reaching out to their agents and checking in with them, and it is heartwarming and tear-jerking to read. There is a depth to all these characters that transcends the individual books, and I am thoroughly enjoying reading each of the books in the series for that very reason. No matter the content, the case directions, or the elements at play, these characters are always emotional intelligent, receptive, and quick-to-act when the time comes.

I like the ‘diary entry’ style passages in The Summer Children, providing that context and layer of creepy crime that hooks you in yet also fleshing out the story in a way that is different to how it has been done in previous book. There is a musicality to the passages, drawing out the images and making them painfully clear for the reader. It honestly hurts to read them given the content but they are such pivotal pieces of the story. I think out of all the parts of this novel, the passages are definitely the bits that could impact the reader the most emotionally. Even those who say they are made of sterner stuff.

Dot Hutchison’s The Collector series has been my spring addiction, with The Summer Children firmly showcasing the fantastic parts of this series. The Vanishing Season is staring me down from my library tbr pile, and I might have to give into the pressure and read it in the coming days long before I should. I can’t believe that will be the end of it for now though – I am crossing my fingers for more novels in the series, because these are just too good to put down!