Feature image credit: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
It’s been two years since the first Lou Alcott novel, Woman, Missing, but in Lou’s world it’s only been a matter of weeks. Having recovered, somewhat, from the climactic events of the previous weeks, Lou is sent back into the field to provide support and assistance to an abused mother and child. In the middle of what should be a simple assignment, Lou is suddenly confronted with the true nature and extent of coercive control behaviours.
Lou is soon deep inside a network of privately operated safehouses, which are not as safe as they seem. There’s an online, underground network of individuals who use sophisticated tech and their likeminded hatred of women to coordinate fatal attacks on ex-partners and their supporters. Following the events of the previous novel, Lou’s prior investigation is twisted into a rallying cry of man-hating and false victimisation. With a target firmly on her back, Lou must take every precaution, including the support of her renowned grandfather, Hamish, to stay alive.
Once again, unforeseen family matters are part and parcel of Lou’s investigative and personal lives, as further truths about her grandfather’s past come to light. Adding to her familial difficulties, her estranged father reaches out with an offer that shakes the surety of Lou’s professional future. With pressure from all sides, plus her own internal determination to protect those she cares for and about, Lou is, once again, forced into a confrontation that will stay with her (and the reader) for a long time to follow.
Sherryl Clark’s All the Dead Girls takes the Lou Alcott series to the next level of slow-build dramatic tension, with various seemingly unconnected tendrils – including some that snake back to Woman, Missing – weaving them all together. The core focus of the story, the rescue and recovery of abused women, is mildly reflected in Lou’s personal investigation, providing a strong balance between the two sides of Lou’s life.
Clark is also no stranger to the services and support networks of abused women, having worked in the field. She has also done her homework on the way in which the developments of the post-Covid era – technology, adverse influencers, AI – have amplified the threat and made this a most dangerous time for both the rescued and the rescuers.
All the Dead Girls is not an easy read, but it is a captivating one, which builds its pace and tension like a coiled spring and whose climactic events are both terrifyingly possible and somewhat gratifyingly resolved. In this sequel to her first adventure, Lou Alcott stands as a powerful character – flawed, genuine and best of all, unrelenting.
Sherryl Clark’s first Lou Alcott novel, Woman, Missing is available now.
Reviewed by Glen Christie
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: HarperCollins Australia
Released: June 2026
RRP: $32.99
The darkest realities of the Dark Web and misogynistic communities are brought to life in this captivating yet tough-to-read thriller.
