Amazon

Release date: September 27, 2018

Publisher: Bookouture

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

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 still keeps her awake at night…

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?

Gripping, fast-paced and nail-bitingly tense, this book will keep you flying through the pages long into the night. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter.

I am so thrilled to be one of the stops on the blog blitz for The Birthday today!

Review:

I am such a huge fan of Wyer’s work and when I heard she was starting a new crime series I couldn’t wait to start it. Something about her style of writing combined with her original and gripping storylines always sucks me in right away and this was no exception, it’s an extremely strong start to a new detective series that I cannot wait to read more of.

Oftentimes I find that the start of a series can be a bit tedious as the author is trying to not only introduce you to a whole new cast of characters but they’re also trying to pique your interest enough to make you want to continue on with the series as well. Nothing to worry about here, Wyer has effectively managed to hook me after just the one book, I warmed to Natalie immediately and there were enough hints about her past that I’m dying to learn more about. The glimpses into her home life were fairly brief but I am definitely interested in exploring that more and then the members of her team were also interesting as well. Let me put it this way, if I could’ve read the next book immediately I would’ve dropped everything and done just that.

The case was also intriguing, you have missing little girls and leads that keep turning into dead end after dead end and Wyer is such a great writer that you feel all the highs and lows right along with Natalie and her team. Per usual the plotting was intricate and well thought out and I never guessed what would happen next. It had the perfect balance between excitement and then slower moments where you learn more about the characters, I was gripped by it all and really cannot wait to see what Wyer has in store for Natalie next.

The Birthday in three words: Meticulous, Solid and Engaging.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.