I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Dare’, third in the Detective Natalie Ward series and written by Carol Wyer, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Thirteen-year-old Savannah Hopkins fails to arrive home from school, the police start searching and the following day her body is found at a rubbish tip. Then one of Savannah’s friends, Harriet Long, is also reported missing only to be found in similar circumstances. This is a particularly difficult case for DI Natalie Ward as she struggles to find a connection between the girls, and her daughter Leigh who’s the same age as the missing girls also vanishes on her way home from school. Have the missing girls been involved in dares that have gone wrong or is there a serial killer in Watfield?

‘The Dare’ is an exciting thriller and a worthy addition to the DI Natalie Ward series. It’s fast-paced with a tense plot, lots of suspects, and twists and turns. I enjoyed finding out more about Natalie’s private life, how she works such long hours she can’t give her two children the attention they should be getting, and her marital problems with David as he continues to gamble away their money despite promising to stop. Will their marriage survive? We’ll be waiting for book four to find out!

This is an excellent but concerning book. The power of social media is explored alongside the more normal teenage concerns which are linked together to provide a worrying picture of the pressures girls especially are under. Added to this is a brief look at the family life of one of the detectives and a more detailed storyline for the lead investigator which follow on from the previous books.

The part of the story surrounding Natalie's daughter, Leigh, was a bit of an anticlimax and left me feeling a little flat at the end of the book but apart from that it was a really good read and the way one crime uncovers others was very well written.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone following this series or who likes their murder mysteries with a very modern slant.

I get very excited now when I get the chance to read a new novel by Carol Wyer as I always enjoy her police procedurals.

I think The Dare is Carol Wyer’s most chilling crime novel to date and I was kept gripped right from the start. In her latest Natalie Ward thriller, she delves into the dark side of the Internet and explores a terrifying scenario. It does open your eyes even more to what is potentially out there online. Following on from the craze of the ice bucket challenge a few years earlier which took the online world by storm – which I have to say I never took part in, but I know people who did – Carol explores a much more chilling challenge that is encapsulating young people. But as this new craze takes hold, something goes disastrously wrong leaving Natalie and her team desperately hunting a terrifying serial killer who is exploiting young people.

There’s a real sense of urgency right throughout this book which Carol keeps turning up a notch as the case takes each new turn and as people continued to keep disappearing. This is proving a difficult case for Natalie and her team to crack, especially as she has her own problems going on in her home life as well, particularly with her husband. You know that the killer is going to keep killing until they are brought to justice. Carol cleverly keeps their identity under wraps until the final reveals, there are plenty of characters who will keep you thinking and wondering if it could possibly be them.

The plot is well thought out, and it kept me guessing as I tried to work out who could potentially be responsible for the crimes that were happening and this kept the pace flying forward. There were moments when the tension was so high that I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Natalie is a character who is fast becoming one of my favourite detectives. She is a brilliant protagonist who has kept me intrigued over the past three books in this series, and after the final chapters, it’ll be interesting to see how her character develops further from here. And I don’t think she’s going to be given an easy ride any time soon.

This is another excellent addition to this series that just keeps getting better and better. I can’t wait to read the next instalment. If you’re looking for a crime series that will keep you guessing and keep you on the edge of the seat, then look no further than these books.

The Dare is a engrossing thriller that has some great twists. Carol Wyer is a excellent author and I will definitely read more by this author. Great writing and characters.

Detective Natalie Ward’s third case starts with a frantic mother, Jane Hopkins, reporting that her daughter thirteen-year-old Savannah has not returned home from school at the usual time. She is a single mother and is absolutely distraught. She was late and feels guilty because she wasn’t there for her girl. The Missing Persons team is already on the case but talented detective Natalie is also asked to work alongside in a complementary role, sharing information and expertise.
The next morning the body of Savannah Hopkins is discovered by a passer-by, arranged in a position close to rubbish and that afternoon another girl disappears. It’s red alert time and Natalie’s team is depleted, with no chance of further help. Again the body is discovered the next morning. Both girls had been strangled and placed near rubbish sources, so the realisation that there is a serial killer on the loose is first muted. There seems to be nothing to connect the two girls and the few leads they follow lead nowhere. Natalie is at a loss. The murderer does not leave any forensic clues and the girls seem to disappear into thin air then their bodies are dumped near rubbish collections the very next morning. It’s a baffling scenario.
A third teenage girl is taken that night and keeping to the same modus operandi her body is discovered in a skip placed at a house where the householders are away for the week whilst builders work on their house. In fact it is one of the builders that discovered the body when he started using the skip. What a shocking thing to happen. Natalie and her team are working like beavers and are totally exhausted and without anything else to chase up. Natalie needs to think outside the box. It’s the most baffling and complex case she has had to work on. Every enquiry leads nowhere. She feels as though she is going around in circles. She is despondent and desperate. She has a daughter of the same age as the murdered girls and feels great empathy for the three distraught householders that have lost their treasured children.
When a fourth daughter is reported missing Natalie knows that she must work beyond her elite skills level, but with only a few tenuous links to investigate and a forensically awake, determined and vengeful murderer on the loose, she will need all of her resilience and tenacity to obtain justice for the bereaved families and apprehend the killer before he can take the life of a fourth girl. This case takes on a new lease of life: it’s taken forward to a personal level. The girls are all loners, have experienced sadness in their lives and are vulnerable.
This is a really tense novel full of suspense, mystery and intrigue with social media and mobile phones technology playing a major part in the storyline, Carol Wyer has created and developed plausible and varied characters, each that play a part in the outcome of her thrilling story. The novel is fast paced and totally compelling. I enjoyed learning more about Natalie’s family and colleagues, something I have been looking forward to. I am a fan of crime thrillers belonging to a series, especially involving police teams and this is one of the best. Its modern themes of web activity and technological advances add certain darkness to the story. The suspense and tension of the superb storytelling never once waned and I never once guessed who the perpetrator was either. I thought the story development was very cleverly managed to achieve and maintain maximum interest. I think also this novel is her best in this series and I have read them all. It’s a 4.5* review from me and a recommendation that this is a great read.

When Jane arrives home a little late from work one afternoon, she discovers that her 13-year old daughter, Savannah, never came home from school. It’s after 4 PM and by now, Savannah would be home. Jane frantically searches for her daughter. She calls the families of Savannah’s two closest friends—Sally and Holly—and eventually goes to the police station, after exhausting all other options.

By the next morning, the police have found Savannah’s body in the park strangled to death. Detective Natalie Ward is immediately put on this murder case, along with her team in the homicide department. They start questioning everyone in Savannah’s life from the most important people she interacts with on the daily to the people she only sees in passing. Natalie knows they only have a short window to track down Savannah’s killer and so she doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned.

Jane swears that Savannah is a good girl, always following the rules. But when Natalie questions her school friends and other people that knew Savannah, Natalie learns that Savannah was prone to shoplifting, smoking cigarettes—behavior that isn’t typical for a rule-abiding 13-year old.

The last people to see Savannah were Holly and Sally on their walk home from school, all three still in their private school uniforms. But Savannah’s body was found dressed in casual clothes, not her uniform, which raises the question—who was Savannah meeting after school that she needed to change out of her uniform for?

Everyone has an alibi for the night of Savannah’s disappearance, but the harder Natalie presses each possible suspect, the more their alibis fall apart. And each day that passes, a new victim is found dead. Someone is targeting teenage girls—so how are these girls linked? Natalie’s daughter, Leigh, is 14-years old and if Natalie doesn’t uncover the killer soon, her daughter might be the next victim...

The Dare by Carol Wyer is the third installment in the Detective Natalie Ward series. The story follows the same formulaic procedure as the first two books in the series, comprised mostly of interviews between Natalie (and her team) and all possible suspects in the investigation. There’s something about that setup that hooks me—I love putting the pieces together and seeing if I can figure out who the killer is before Natalie does. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but is better if you read the whole series, as you get to learn about Natalie Ward’s background along the way too. If you’re a fan of the police procedural genre, I’d highly recommend The Dare—3.5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Carol Wyer for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love love loved this book and would read it again. I loved the way the reader didn't know more than the characters. We had an insight into the murder but had no idea who it was! I loved trying to figure it out myself!

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the chance to review this book!

As a huge fan of BBC Crime shows, such as Luther, The Fall, Marcella, etc), I was absolutely delighted to find a crime novel along a similar vein, set in England, in THE DARE, by Carol Wyer. Although I have not read the first two books in this series, the author provides ample background info on all the main players; providing a sense of their lives and the conflicts they've dealt with in the past. THE DARE can certainly be enjoyed as a stand alone.

Natalie, leading the cast of detectives, is such a great example of a mom trying her darnedest to do her very best - juggling an extremely challenging career, a husband with gambling tendencies, and two teenagers who really would rather not be bothered by their mom, at any time, for anything. Ms. Wyer is adept as capturing the nuances of teen life - the need for privacy, their language, and of course, the often scary (for parents) world of social media.

THE DARE is faced paced, thrilling story line, covering the heartbreaking events of kidnapping and murder of teens, occurring over just a few days. Ms. Wyer manages to give a genuinely perfect police procedural. with All the the mind boggling investigative details are highlighted, while maintaining the rush - the element of time being the essence; the high suspense, edge of your seat dark and twisty race to find the killer.

Reading THE DARE was truly like watching one of my very favorite BBC crime shows - only better! I loved THE DARE and would highly recommend it to crime fiction fans. I'm really looking forward to reading all of of Carol Wyer's books!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Carol Wyer for the ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first Carol Wyer book (I know - odd that I jumped in at the middle of the series, but I'm so glad I did.) I had no idea what to expect, and I was shocked at how much I loved The Dare. I am now going back and reading the first two books in the series (I just started the first).

There was so much that I loved here. First, the way Carol Wyer writes is amazing. I really felt like I was a part of the investigation team, and we were actually in the midst of a serial killer. Wyer lets you in on each stage of the investigation, and it makes it feel hauntingly real.

Second, I loved Natalie Ward. She was an amazing character to read through/focus on. I loved the contrast between the intense situation in her work life with the drama of her home life. She was complex, flawed, and fiercely dedicated. This made for a great main character.

Last, let's talk about, you know, the actual mystery here. I flew through this one - it had me hooked from the very first chapter. The plot is complex, and I didn't know the killer's identity until the book revealed it (and then, it felt like I should have known!) During the middle of the book, the plot felt a bit slow and hopeless as the team was left with so few clues. Yet, I felt like this was unintentional. It was a bit slow and frustrating as a reader, because it was slow and frustrating to the team. This just added to my connection with the story as it felt like I was in the thick of it with them.

Overall, I gave this one a 5/5. If you love thrillers and suspense or are a fan of crime TV (CSI, Criminal Minds, SVU) then you will love this one.

Full review will go live on my blog/socials next week. This book releases on April 25, 2019. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read The Dare in advance in exchange for an honest review.

#TheDare #NetGalley Although my favourite genre of book is crime thrillers, I stumbled on this author when I was looking for something lighter to read when my husband was away and I was on my own in the house. What Happens in France was brilliant. I was therefore very interested when I saw that Carol Wyer also writes crime books and I wondered whether she could be just as brilliant in two totally different genres. Well the answer is most definitely a resounding YES!! Carol is obviously a very talented author. This book was gripping - fast paced with lots of twists and turns and an ending I didn't guess until right near the end. I had not read the previous DI Natalie Ward books and whilst reading them would probably have given me more background on Natalie and her team, it was perfectly capable as being read as a stand alone. I will certainly be very keen to read more books in this series but right now I am off to read Carol's new offering in her alternative genre - Suddenly Single. A very well deserved 5 stars for The Dare!

Detective Natalie Ward continues to struggle with the balance between her marriage/family and her work. The disappearances of 3 young women end in the discovery of each one's dead body. Natalie's team is tasked with the job of catching the criminal responsible for these gruesome crimes. With several possible suspects and no real solid evidence, the team races against time to prevent more deaths. When Natalie's own daughter disappears, the intensity is almost too much. In her typical style, Wyer moves between past and present and between the murderer's perspective and that of the detectives. The finale is unexpected and keeps you reading to the last page. While the denouement seemed a bit too quick and easy, those who love Natalie will enjoy the story and eagerly await the next book in the series.

I love Carol Wyer's Detective Natalie Ward series. I do not read any other series as I just can't make the commitment, but I will NEVER miss a DI Ward book! I had just finished book 2 so I was lucky enough to be able to jump right into book 2 - The Dare. You don't necessarily have to read the previous books before reading The Dare, but I highly recommend doing so. Its not that the case is related to the previous books, its the lives of the characters. Detective Natalie Ward is going through family things that extend through the series as well as the lives of her coworkers. The lives of the characters are as interesting as the case they are working on each book.
They are such good people and Ms. Wyer does an excellent job at bringing them to life for us.
I cannot wait for the next book! This is 10 stars from me!
Thankyou #Netgalley, #Bookouture, and Carol Wyer for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Also - 5 star for the cover. I love ho each book in this series has a simple image that really packs a punch about what the book is about.

3 teenage girls all addicted to social media dares and all reported missing, is this a social media dare or something sinister
Will Natalie Ward discover them before its too late ???

Just wow! This book was absolutely amazing I loved it. I was hanging on to every word, it was thrilling straight out of the gate and kept going with the punches right to the end. It had me totally captivated. Carol Wyer sure knows how to write a story that sucks you in and makes you feel like you are there living it. It’s tense, emotional and deeply disturbing in places. And boy that ending! This book is superb, i’m a big Carol Wyer fan and this did not disappoint it was excellent. I’m giving it a very well deserved 5 stars.

I love this authors books, and this series in particular. Natalie is such a complex character with huge issues in her home life. Not only that, but she has to deal with yet another set of disappeances. These hit home for Natalie as they involve children.

For an author to keep me guessing until the actual reveal is quite something, and this one kept me guessing.

A great read and brilliant addition to the series. Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for providing a copy.

Carol wyer is in my opinion in the upper class of this genre. She creates gritty mysteries fillled with believable characters and fast paced plots and this was no exception.
I’ll continue to read more by her
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

This is a pretty good mystery/thriller, but the ending is a bit of a letdown and some of it is a bit too coincidental. I think maybe there are too many threads regarding the personal lives of the detectives. I'm not quite sure what's missing, but it didn't quite grab me.

The Dare by Carol Wyer is the third book in her Detetive Natalie Ward series. DI Ward has a husband and 2 children but recently found out her husband had a gambling addiction and that has caused tension and arguments at home. She has a great investiagtive team who have been very successful in finding the bad guys. In this story a young girl had gone missing and then her body was found the next day. This happens again the next day. And again the next day. The investigation is exhausting and everytime the team thinks they have a viable suspect evidence is found that their viable suspect is innocent. There are many twists and turns and some surprises as the story unfolds. This is an aexcellent murder mystery and I really enjoyed the characters and how they work together.

The Dare is the third book in the DI Natalie Ward series.

When an young teenage girl goes missing and is found dead within 24 hours, Natalie and her team are called to investigate. Within the next two days, another two teenage girls suffer the same fate. Natalie needs to up her game to find the killer. As the investigation continues with a growing list of suspects, will the team be able to find the killer and bring them to justice?

A clever and fast-paced thriller with plenty of twists and turns. I had an inkling who the killer was halfway through but it didn’t spoil the outcome. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Great police procedural. This book really fleshes out the police characters from the first novels. The domestic dramas and everyday lives of the police characters and their character development are as important as the 'whodunnit' element. Hanging on the edge of my seat for the next one in this series.