The Birthday by Carol Wyer

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?

I have only recently discovered author Carol Wyer after seeing an interview with her online. I read her book Little Girl Lost and was instantly gripped and when I saw she had the start of a new series coming out the first of which is entitled The Birthday I was intrigued to see if this one would be as good as Little Girl Lost.

Harriet Downing’s birthday party went horribly wrong when one of the children went missing never to be seen again. Fast forward two years and the body of the little girl Ava has been found. DI Natalie Ward is on the case and is determined to get to find the killer but things have just got a whole lot worse….. the body of another child who attended the party has just been found. Natalie and her team pull out all the stops to try and catch the killer before any more children are harmed but this killer is expertly covering their tracks.

Wow I loved this book even more than Little Girl Lost. If you have read my review of Little Girl Lost you will remember I found it gripping but found that the storyline slowed in the middle part of the book and slightly lost me for a while, well The Birthday is gripping from the very first page right through to the last page. I was completely in the dark right up until the last couple of chapters and I didn’t have even the slightest suspicion until around 75% through and even then I was on the wrong track!

DI Natalie Ward has her own demons from a previous case which we know from little drips of information we are fed from Natalie which helps us understand why it is even more paramount that she solves this case and quickly. We get to know parts of her team members personal life too so we manage to build relationships with the characters which I am sure will develop further in the next book.

I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something to hold your attention with a storyline that will have you sitting trying to piece all the clues together.

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Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer

Her breath rose and fell in fearful gasps but it was too late. She could already see what she dreaded most. The back seat was empty.Her little girl was gone.

Abigail lives the perfect life with her doting husband and adorable baby Izzy. But someone knows a secret about Abigail and they want the truth to be told.

When Izzy is snatched from a carpark, it becomes a case for Detective Robyn Carter. Someone has been sending threatening messages to Abigail from an anonymous number. What is Abigail hiding? 

Robyn’s instincts tell her there’s a connection between Izzy’s abduction and two murders she is investigating. But the last time she acted on impulse her fiancé was killed. To break this case and earn her place back on the force, she must learn to trust herself again – and fast. Robyn is on the hunt for a ruthless serial killer. And unless she gets to the twisted individual in time a little girl will die …

I downloaded Little Girl Lost after watching a live chat with the author Carol Wyer, who was talking about her new release but also spoke about what lead her to write the first in the Detective Robyn Carter crime thriller series and straight away my interest was piqued so I wasted no time in downloading the first book and I started Little Girl Lost that Evening and finished it the following morning I was completely absorbed in the storyline.

The book sets off at an incredibly quick pace and was sure action pact if somewhat disturbing and twisted and had me completely shocked and appalled by the events in the opening of the book that I wanted to stop reading but at the same time I wanted to see if justice was dealt. It sure was uncomfortable reading but boy did it make an impact.

There were some parts of the books which I figured out early on in the storyline but there were others that I assumed I had worked out and were obvious only for the author to take me down a completely different path to show me I was wrong! The author has a wonderful way of introducing you to so many different well rounded characters that you are concentrating on them all as an individual and so are too wrapped up in a way to see the little bread crumbs of clues that lead to the truth. The tension builds as the book progresses and as each tit bit of information is given suspicions soon start rising.

We know early on that Robyn has had a hard blow in her life with losing her fiancé and she is now trying to move forward with her life and devote her time to her career. She has such a comforting and supportive shoulder to lean on in Ross who was actually my favourite character in this book and I loved that he managed to bring a little light to a deep and disturbing read. I have read a few books over the last year with a female DI who has her own problems that is shaping her character but I am pleased although it is mentioned in the book it didn’t take over the storyline making it all about her.

This book will definitely leave a mark on you and have you questioning your morals. I am thrilled I saw the live chat with the author otherwise I would probably have overlooked this book with it not being my typical genre but now I can not wait to read the next in the series.

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