Changeling (Six Stories #3) By Matt Wesolowski

*This review contains minor spoilers.

Publication Date: November 15, 2018

Publisher: Orenda Books

Pages: 320

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 5/5

This is the third installment (or episode) of my favorite podcast mystery series. Changeling is an emotional and gripping read about a child who went missing 30 years ago. The six stories series follows the format of having six podcast episodes (or chapters) where the listener/reader gets to hear from a different person who has a different insight or perspective on the mystery each book is trying to solve. Changeling tackles the difficult topic of gaslighting and abuse of all kinds while trying to figure what exactly happened to 7 year old Alfie on Christmas Eve in 1988.

In between each podcast “episode” we also follow along with our podcast host, Scott King, as he is doing some further investigation into the disappearance of Alfie. I really enjoyed the importance and the weight his private investigating had on the case and the story as a whole. Wesolowski does such an incredible job writing these podcast stories that I am immediately gripped from the first couple of pages so much that I don’t want to put them down. The further we got into the disappearance of Alfie the more emotional and horrific the story ended up being that I actually shed a few tears. This book is not an easy read and Wesolowski doesn’t shy away at all from showing the reality of what an abuser can do. While the story is difficult at times to read it is also incredibly important for people to see how insidious abuse can be.

I know this is a relatively vague review but I really think it is best just to go into this book expecting a hard hitting mystery about a missing child so you can see the story unfold before you. I don’t necessarily think you need to read the first two books in the series to read this one. They are both great reads that I recommend but if Changeling sounds like something that you are interested in then you can definitely read this one and then go back and read the first two. I own the next two book in this series and I will for sure be reading at least the next book in April because I am blown away by how talented Wesolowski is and I can’t wait to see what he does next time.

~Cassie