The Birthday by Carol Wyer @carolewyer @bookouture

Book Description:

One hot summer’s afternoon, five-year-old Ava Sawyer went to a party. She never came home… 

Two years later, 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.

My Thoughts:

Carol Wyer is an author whose books I have heard great things about but never managed to get round to reading. Well I have finally remedied that and can wholly confirm the praise that other readers have given her.

The Birthday is a great introduction to an author whose work I haven’t read before. What should have been a happy day ends up a pretty horrific one for one poor child’s parents. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than dropping my child off at a party to only return and them have gone missing. The horrors don’t end there as more children go missing and my heart was literally in my mouth pleading for the police to hurry up and catch the killer.

No one is beating themselves up more than our protagonist Detective Natalie Ward. She is having issues of her own in her personal life with her choice of career seemingly a sore subject. It really gives you a glimpse into what life is like for someone in the force. Their jobs are certainly not 9-5 with work having to take priority to personal life at times. I didn’t envy her one iota.

With any story line involving children, it makes for a definite nail biter of a read and I was second guessing at everyone that comes into the line for questioning. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when it becomes clear as to who is behind the murders. No way did I see that coming!

The Birthday is a tense and gripping read. The story started off strong and just kept it’s memento throughout. My heart was literally pounding by the end as I was so focused on the police closing in on the killer. The ending lived up to my expectations I had built up throughout the novel and has left me desperate to read more.

The Birthday is available to purchase from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an affiliate link)