Thankyou to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author, Katerina Diamond, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Heatwave in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I thought this book provided a good read.
The settings were rich in detail with compelling characters. The storyline was well written . I was hooked from the start. 3.5 stars.
Worth a read.

I love Katerina Diamonds books and have read all the of them. Her last one was by far the best in my opinion. However this one I just could not get into. I think it is because its different to her previous ones as its written in the past and present. I just didn't like the characters very much and part of the appeal for me is the relationship between Imogen and her team in the other books and also the fact they are based in my home town. Great author but this one was just not for me.

Overall I found this book an enjoyable story. It started a little slow but the pace picked up, I also enjoyed the description of the seaside town. Some of the characters action were unbelievable even being teenagers.

One summer… One stranger… One killer…

Sixteen years ago, Felicity fled her home town after a girl went missing and rocked the community.

Now, she finds herself drawn back by the news of another disappearance.

She knows she must return and finally face the truth about what happened all those years ago.

I requested this book on NetGalley as I love the authors Detective Imogen Grey series, and was interested to read this stand alone novel. Sadly, I was left a little disappointed.

I’m not going to go into the plot or characters too much, as for some this will be a ‘blow you away’ thriller. But as this is my favourite genre, and therefore one I have well read, I didn’t think it held the usual wow factor.

The greatest “twist” was obvious from so early on that I almost thought I could be wrong, that there would be another and that the twist would be twisted. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and therefore the big reveal held no suspense or surprise for me.

That aside, this was a well written and easy to read book. If thrillers aren’t usually your thing this one might hold you in it’s grip. If you haven’t read anything by this author before, you won’t have expectations like me and will most likely enjoy this one. If you are a fan, perhaps give this one a miss and wait for the next instalment from Grey and Mills to get your fix.

Tense and gripping, I loved the dual narrative of this book. It was very atmospheric, quite a slow build, but then worked up to a brilliant conclusion where everything slotted devastatingly into place.

Four stars

It's hard to connect with the main character because the people close to her seem not to like her very much, it's clear she's harboring secrets, she drinks a ton and thus isn't even a reliable witness when it comes to her own lived experiences, and she seems generally...shady. Despite these factors, there is an insidious thread of questions that I really want answers to here. I wouldn't say that this novel exists in "I could NOT put this down" territory, but I did remain engaged, interested, invested, and pretty surprised (never a guarantee in works of this genre).

Structurally, this novel really works. We start in the very recent past, and then alternate between the distant past and the present. The distant past comes through a third-person narrator, and the present comes through the main character's perspective, which is a nice added touch. For me the balance and timing related to this set up really worked.

I finished this novel not just with the sense that the author created a series of pretty solid twists, but also with a lot of questions about how I'd approach some of these situations. This is entertaining, but it's also thought-provoking, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Can we talk about the cover of this book is so misleading? One would think this would be a nice murder mystery involving the beach somehow. And the book's title is also not really relevant to the story, other than the fact that the author mentioned the word heatwave in the book a couple of times and kept informing us that it was hot. Alas, that is not the case. Just be warned, as I kind of though it would play in their somewhere.

The story wasn't bad, just a little slow and not really exciting. The "bad guy" was a tad predictable, but I didn't guess the "why" at all. This story is purely plot driven, and the characters were not very developed. I did not feel a connection to any of them and due to lack of characterization, they seemed really flat. The sentence structure was a little too easy and juvenile for me. I am not a flowery type of sentence structure person, but I need a little more structure than the simple sentences this book offered.

Other than those flaws, it was a solid 3 stars. Very easy to read, and I finished in a couple of days. I think this would be a good book for people starting out in the mystery genre, as it's not really a thriller.

*Review copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I’ve read a couple of Katerina Diamond’s books before and really enjoyed them, even though they can be pretty dark (if you’ve read The Woman in the Water then you’ll probably know what I’m talking about 😅), so I was excited to find out she had written a stand alone book that wasn’t part of her detective series. And I wasn’t disappointed! This book is fab - flitting between the past and the present as a missing girl case draws parallels to something that happened in a coastal town when the main character was a teenager, t The main character seems very dubious and unreliable at first, not giving much away apart from a sense of mystery, but as the book goes on, the pieces start to fall into place and all becomes clear. This book provides twists, turns, red herrings and keeps you guessing right up until the very end - a great summer read.

Another amazing book by Katerina Diamond!! I love this author and all of her other books so I wasn't surprised when I finished this one and thought WOW what a book.

It’s getting warm...

Wow! The Heatwave blew me away! Gripped from the first chapter I just couldn’t put this book down!
The vibe of this book was really menacing but it worked perfectly. Loved it!

This book definitely had me hooked from the start. I like the way it goes back and forward and was eager to find out what happens. Definitely a few twists and turns along the way.

This is a stand-alone from Katerina Diamond and I was gripped. The book is written in two time frames. Felicity is happily married and living in the Lake District when she sees a news report about a missing teenage girl in her home town in Devon. Flick decides it’s time to face her past and the memories of her last summer, sixteen years ago, with her best friend Jasmine. The chapters alternate between current day, where Flick is trying to do her own investigation, and her last summer when another teenage girl went missing.
I loved how this unfolded and it kept me guessing right until the last page. A fabulous standalone.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and a NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of ‘The Heatwave’ by Katerina Diamond.

After hearing about the abduction of a girl on the news, Felicity Musgraves is forced to confront her past and return to the hometown she left 16 years ago, as she believes she is the only one who can find the missing girl. Told from the perspective of Felicity (present) and Jasmine (16 years ago) 'The Heatwave' is full of secrets, lies, and a menacing undertone which will have you guessing from one plot twist to the next (none of which I saw coming!)

This is my first Katerina Diamond book and it won’t be my last.

Present day, and Felicity discovers that a girl, Mandy Green, has gone missing in Sidmouth, Devon. She is immediately reminded of 16 years ago when a girl disappeared in Sidmouth, in the same situation. Feeling that only she can help, she persuades Chris, her husband that she must go and she leaves him and the children to return to her old hometown.

Sidmouth – 16 years ago. Jasmine and Felicity are friends – more by default as they exist on the fringes of the ‘in-crowd’. Felicity’s mother is an alcoholic so she spends a lot of time at Jasmine’s home. Unusually this summer they are not going abroad to work on charity projects, so Jasmine will experience the full ‘Summer, seaside experience’; and this year it is a heatwave. Jasmine’s parents have enlisted the help of Tim, as an odd-job man in return for free lodging in their summer-house.

Sidmouth present day. Whilst Felicity seeks out information on the current missing girl she dwells on events of 16 years earlier and the different relationships. She is reminded of her ambivalent relationship with Tim; her jealousy of Jasmine’s blatant sexuality and her confusion about her place in life and relationships with others. She feels compelled to solve the mystery of Mandy Green and the other ‘disappeared’ girl from all those years ago. She is also drinking – a lot.

This is really, really well-written. I read it with a sense of foreboding and hesitant fear. What was Felicity doing – stop drinking – phone your husband – what are you risking here? Did I get answers? All of this plus the heaviness off that heatwave, leaving a sense of suffocation. The perfect location – marred by the abduction of teenage girls. What was Tim doing – was he playing with Felicity or did he have another agenda?

An absolutely brilliant book, well-structured with a carefully revealed twist in the tail. Thank you Ms Diamond.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

When a teenager goes missing in her home town, Felicity returns to the place and life she left, for the girl’s sake. Another excellent thriller with so many twists delivered in the author’s style. Highly recommended.

I have read every book by this author and I love her. This is why I was so excited to receive this ARC from Netgalley.
This is a standalone novel about family secrets and explosive plot twists. It did not disappoint. Thank you.

First book I have read by Katerina Diamond and it will definetly not be my last. I throughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Great twists and turns, the story was well thought out and kept you guessing and wanting more. Will be picking up her previous books and getting stuck in. Excellent read that is highly recommended. Wish I could give it more stars!

Diamond has obviously found a formula. I loved her first novel, and remember it still. However, I can't help but feel that with each new novel, something is lost. This one felt rushed - half way through the first chapter I actually paused to check that it was in fact the same Diamond who'd written The Teacher (it was). It was partly for that reason that I persevered, and as the story got into its stride I found myself recognising her style, her intelligence and the subtlety of characterisation she is capable of. By the end, I'd enjoyed it. But to me it still tasted... slightly churned, and I believe that with time, and some careful editing, it could have been a lot more.

I have read Katerina Diamond before and the Imogen Grey series and thoroughly enjoyed it so was delighted to receive this ARC. This is a stand-alone novel by this author and it lived up to all my expectations.

On seeing the news about a missing girl, Mandy Green, in Devon, Felicity Musgrave decides that she is the only person who can find the missing girl and much to her husband, Christopher’s, dismay she sets off. It has reminded her of her childhood and a similar event.

Told in two times: the present as Felicity explores her old haunts trying to find out what has happened to Mandy and sixteen years ago when the first disappearance occurred.

This is cleverly plotted and full of twists and turns and characters well-rounded and mostly likeable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Katerina Diamond for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Great read, highly recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well written book with good characters, plenty of twists and turns that kept me interested in the story line.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.