I couldn’t put this down. It was really fast paced and kept me guessing. I’ll definitely read more from the author.

This book drew me in and held me delightfully-captive from beginning to end. The palpable tension held me in thrall. The characters were realistic, likable and identifiable. And, every setting was described in such a way as to make me feel like I was an actual bystander in that scene. Once I started reading this story, I knew this was a book I wasn’t going to be able to put down!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Carol is one of my favourite authors. I love the way she weaves a story that makes you want to keep reading. I think she manages to get to the heart of emotions and how being a parent changes your life forever. I liked the female detective and the whole story was readable and believable.

Thank you for the advance copy

Omg wow this book is amazing it's full of twists and turns it will keep you up all night I really enjoyed this book

A good book with an interesting storyline. The writing was good, a bit confusing at times but overall good. Good for fans of crime books.

I really loved this book! It kept me reading and wanting more from the very beginning! I can’t wait to read more from the author and more in the series!

This book introduced me to Carol Wyer but it will not be the last. Every parents nightmare is realised in this book with the abduction of a child. This is a fast paced easy read that will appeal to anyone who enjoys plot twists and the development of most characters, not just the main ones. I really enjoyed it and found it hard to put down.

Reading books like this one is absolutely heartbreakingly difficult for me. I cannot imagine bringing my daughter to a birthday party and then having her disappear. I know I will be that overbearing mom who attends every birthday party she attends until she is like 12. Carol Wyer is such an phenomenal writer I absolutely try to read every single books she writes.

This is the first book in the Natalie Ward series.

A community is rocked when a little girl goes missing at a birthday party held at an animal center. Two years later, her body is found at the same location. The next day, another girl who had attended the birthday party two years ago is found murdered. Immediately the exact same scenario is repeated. Detective Natalie Ward is heartbroken by the case. Cases involving children are always devastating, but they make her all the more determined.

I enjoyed the character of Natalie. You can relate to as she balances work and home life. You can feel her frustration throughout the book. I definitely recommend reading this series!!

Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Birthday is the 1st book in the Detective Natalie Ward series. I enjoyed this book. There was nothing wrong with it. But I have read other female-lead police procedural books that I liked better. The story was suspenseful. It kept me guessing. With all the plethora of characters, the killer was unforeseen.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture cand Carol Wyer for a copy of "The Birthday" in exchange of an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story! It kept me guessing with so many suspects. The characters were all relatable but i loved the dance teachers best!! I rate this book a 3.9

Another promising new series by Carol Wyer featuring DI Natalie Ward. The Birthday grabbed my attention from the first chapter and held it all the way through.
At a birthday party two years ago Ava Sawyer went missing.
Ava Sawyer went missing 2 years ago at a birthday party and now her body has been found. DI Ward is put on the case and soon another little girl is missing who had attended that same party. It's a race against time to find a killer and I was glad to go along for the ride.
This book is very well written and has a great plot - what more could you ask for? I did guess part of the ending, but overall you are left in the dark most of the time. I will definitely be looking out for more DI Natalie Ward books. I thoroughly recommend this book.
Thanks to Bookouture for allowing me to read this in exchange for a review and shares.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book kept my interest the whole way through. I loved the characters and getting to know them. There is alot of books with the "missing child" storyline but this book really stood out for me. I was always changing my mind about "who did it" , so it had me guessing the whole way through.

Carol Wyer! You made an impression with me with The Birthday. I want to read any mystery thriller and crime fiction that you put out on the shelves! I was immediately pulled deep into this chilling investigation of missing children and surprise bodies. I never guessed the ending or who was behind all the ominous criminal attacks, and that is something I give credit to Wyer for doing so well. She does not give too much away at any given time and is definitely about that kill shot. She executed this book so well! 4 stars and I am definitely on the lookout for more from Wyer in the future.

Disappointing. I wanted to like this book, I really did. The concept/plotline sounded so good. I kept anticipating some form of evil twist - the leads to so many potential characters was there, but they were almost instantly crossed off. The timeline was terrible - a killer that just randomly goes from 1 kill years ago to a spree within days seems at loggerhead with the ultimate villain. And what a pathetic excuse for a villain. A "normal" character that no one has noticed is so out of touch with reality that he can't even be lucid when caught yet they've been lucid the entire book so far? Annoyingly anti-climatic to say the least. I honestly was hoping in the last few pages for some sort of hail mary that they would turn out to be merely a crackpot and the villain was framing them........and yet was disappointed. I struggled to finish it just in the hopes it would improve yet never did.

I'm so divided on whether to give this a 3 or 4 star rating that I could probably fill a review with just that internal debate!

The Birthday is a British police procedural - one of my mainstay genres -that centers around a missing child; when she's finally found, a chain reaction begins that DI Natalie Ward is determined to halt in its tracks.

So! The writing itself is fairly middle of the road - it's a certain voice that seems relatively common in particularly the British police series; straightforward, matter of fact, mostly short, simple sentences that make for nice easy reading. We've got a team of police to work alongside our DI, and while she's still with her husband, it's clear our protagonist has a rocky home life. The central mystery centers on missing and (spoilers?)murdered children, but it's not in any way overly detailed - I didn't find it distressing.

That might sound like I'm damning with faint praise, but honestly, I LIKE standard British procedurals. They're calming. And this does exactly what it promises, which is to deliver a solid mystery and keep the reader entertained for the duration. I think, had the ending not meant some iffy timelines and psychology, that this would be getting that four stars - as it is, this is a three star that genuinely means "I liked it" - and I'll absolutely be coming back for the next one.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This book had me from the very beginning. I love that it kept me engaged the entire time. I couldn't wait to see how it ended. I would highly recommend to all my fellow readers. Thank you for the chance to review this book!

Detective Natalie Ward is investigating the murder of a five-year-old girl called Ava Sawyer. She went missing from a birthday party at a garden centre two years previously. Her body has only just been found. Natalie and her team soon realise that other girls who attended the same party have also gone missing, but they struggle to find another link.

As a mother herself Natalie devotes herself to finding the killer, to the detriment of her own family. She works round the clock, persuing the slightest lead and managing her team with ultimate professionalism. There are dead ends aplenty and you can feel the frustration building in this tense, well-written police procedural. The book is primarily written from Natalie's perspective but there are short interludes which contain the perpetrator's thoughts and that of his victims. I felt this added another dimension to the plot. Natalie herself is a flawed character with a troubled home life and a professional point to prove. This perfectly sets the scene for other books in the series, where I hope to find out more about the personal side of Natalie's life.

Well paced, intelligently written and I'm sure it will be the start of an excellent crime series.

The Birthday although a dark story about children being murdered, it was a fab book that I loved. I enjoyed the twists and turns and I struggled to put it down.