The Birthday

Detective Natalie Ward, Book 1

By: Carol Wyer

Narrated by: Diana Croft

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 center, 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 center 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 listening long into the night. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, and Karin Slaughter.

©2018 Carol Wyer (P)2018 Bookouture

What?

This book was too full of different characters. I had to keep rewinding to figure out who was talking, what their role was in the plot, etc. Are usually don’t have trouble with books that contain a lot of characters, but this one was really a struggle to get through. When I got to the end I felt a tad disappointed in the storyline.

Love the cover design, made me want to read the book!

Listened to audible version, excellent narrator. Good plot. Enjoyed book. Will read or listen to more of the author's books. Late in book it became confusing if it was in present or past. Surprise ending, at least it was a surprise to me. Good mystery.

The Birthday Killer

This audiobook was excellently written & by Carol Wyer & gracefully narrated by Diane Croth.
Story

Storyline and blot was robustly written with oranization. Great weekend thriller....waiting on Book two.
A DeAnn DeVille Review

read if you want to try and guess the villain!

it was suspenseful, intriguing and didn't know who did it until the very last. Carol Wyer made you feel anxious, I had to start cleaning to get to the end while listening. She gives you enough details if you go back and relisten to the book to see her clues. Very exciting and thrilling.

The Birthday could be a 4.5 easily

This story about a murder of a missing birthday girl, Ava, whose body is discovered two years after the party. Not missing, dead. Tragic enough, but little girls are being abducted and murdered at an alarming rate. The girl's are dressed in similar party dresses as Ava was dressed at her party. But they also attend same schools and more connections between the victims. Natalie and her team rush to save the most recent abducted girl. The author created scenes that stunned me (wait for the bedroom with the dolls) took my breath away. It wasn't gore, it was story telling genius. My body wanted to feverishly run with Natlie, DI, and her police team and find the last little girl. This is suspense at its best. I'm a new fan.

Great storyline but

Dragged on way too long. Ending wasn’t very exciting but the story itself was a really good one.

First in a new series

The shoes on the cover kill me. So sad. The book involves the murder of children so it can be disturbing.

I’ve read the author’s first series and enjoyed those books. All are a bit dark but interesting. I didn’t care for this book as much. I listened to the audiobook, as I had with the previous series, (which was done fairly well) but I had a hard time keeping the characters straight. It’s not as easy to go back and find earlier mentions of a character. I listen to over 100 audiobooks a year so it’s not that I’m not used to them. This book just made it difficult for me.

The main character, DI Natalie Ward, is determined to solve these crimes especially because of a similar crime in her past. She seems like a typical working mother, trying to juggle career and family all in the midst of a murder investigation. I look forward to seeing how she manages and to learning more about her team.

One thing I did notice with the narration (and this occurred in an earlier book by the same author): Nike trainers were pronounced like Bike. Is that a British thing?

Overall, a captivating book which could have ended in any of several ways. It kept me guessing through most of the book.

great murder mytery

love carol wyer books and her narrations my Diana croft make the book for me

The Birthday

This book kept me on the edge of my seat for the duration.It reminded me of 'Broadchurch' in a way.I loved it! Diana Croft was an excellent narrator. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

page stopping

I really enjoyed the story
very entertaining . impressed with the narration how the narrator used all the different voices of each character. really an enjoyable listening