The Birthday by Carol Wyer
Series: ,
Published by Bookouture on September 27, 2018
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thrillers
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon
One hot summer’s afternoon, five-year-old Ava Sawyer went to a party. She never came home…
When five-year-old Ava Sawyer goes missing from a birthday party at a local garden centre, the police are bewildered by the lack of leads. That is until two years later, when Ava’s body is found and another little girl, Audrey Briggs, goes missing. Audrey also attended that party …
Leading the investigation is Detective Natalie Ward . A mother of two teenagers, this case chills her to the bone, and is a disturbing reminder of the last job she worked on. One that ended very badly.
Natalie soon discovers that Ava’s mother has some worrying gaps in her alibi and as she digs deeper, she’s sure Ava’s father is not telling the full story. And what did the owner of the garden centre Elsa see that day? Something that she’s not telling Natalie …
Just as Natalie is facing up to the grim possibility that Ava and Audrey were killed by someone close to home, another little girl from the party doesn’t come home from her ballet lesson. Can Natalie find a way to stop this killer before more innocent lives are taken?
I’ve been reading a lot of digital books from NetGalley lately, and in particular, I’ve been compelled to read mysteries, thrillers and suspense stories…. there are SO many good ones out there lately and in fact, I recently read one that had a pair of baby shoes on the cover. When I was posting my review on Goodreads, I saw someone mention how the shoes were similar to those on the cover of the book, The Birthday by Carol Wyer. I looked up this book, read the synopsis and immediately determined that the similar shoe subject was irrelevant, and that I definitely wanted to read this book. Lucky for me, they actually had it available for review on NetGalley, so I requested it and was approved.
The Birthday is book 1 in a brand new series involving Detective Natalie Ward. She’s the mother of two teenagers. She recently moved to a new station hoping to put her last case behind her.
We learn about Ava Sawyer, a five-year old who went missing from a birthday party at a local garden center two years ago, without a trace. Two long years go by with no other occurrences of child kidnapping happening. Detective Ward’s first case comes along when the body of little Ava is found buried on a building site. Then, it suddenly seems like the killer is awoken when Ava’s body is found, and another little girl goes missing. Murder after murder happens
Detective Ward quickly discovers that Ava’s mom seems to have gaps in her alibi. In fact, she’s not sure Ava’s father is even disclosing everything he knows. And then the owner of the garden center – she’s holding back information and Natalie can tell.
The crazy thing is that there are similarities in this case: the first thing is that they are all girls. Next, they were all at that same birthday party. Even stranger, they all went to Uptown Primary School and all of them had attended Little Stars Dance Academy. These similarities then result in a lot of suspects.
This was my first novel by Carol Wyer and it won’t be my last. This is also the first book in a new series. I think it’s going to be awesome and intriguing. The story is quick paced and complex, the Detective Natalie Ward series is clearly going to be an exciting new adventure. I can’t wait for book 2!!
Carol E. Wyer who also writes as Carol Wyer is an award-winning author whose humorous books take a light-hearted look at getting older and encourage others to age disgracefully. More recently she has chosen to write for the “dark side” and embarked on a series of thrillers, starting with the gripping best-seller, Little Girl Lost. Her book Grumpy Old Menopause won The People’s Book Prize Award for non-fiction 2015.
Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ‘Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’ featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and for The Huffington Post. Carol is a signed author with Bookouture and Delancey Press.
You can connect with Carol on social media:
WEBSITE // FACEBOOK // TWITTER // INSTAGRAM // BLOG // YOUTUBE
I was provided with a complimentary electronic advanced reader copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley in exchange for my post. I was not required to post a positive review, but have chosen to do so because it was such a great story!
It would be great if you would stay connected with me!! You can follow me on Twitter @DebiL1611, like me on Facebook at 2014 and Beyond, circle me on Google+, follow me on Tumblr, Instagram and Bloglovin’, subscribe on YouTube, or connect with me on LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Please make sure to visit my homepage and subscribe to my blog for more great posts on running, fitness and lifestyle topics as well as food, product, music and book reviews, and more!
