I’m still reeling from reading this! The book grabs you right at the start and doesn’t spit you out until the very end. This is another series that I’m late to the party for, this is book 3, but you absolutely don’t need to read the earlier books to enjoy this one - although I might just go back and read the first two anyway.

There is a lot going on in this story. We start with the aftermath of a brutal killing of a husband wife, Lydia and Gabriel Kensington. Their 17 year old daughter Addis and her best friend Emerson drop in lateish to grab some clothes so Addis can spend the night at her friend’s place. They walk in to a slaughterhouse. The girls are just processing this horror when they realise they are not alone!

Detective Alyssa Wyatt and her partner Detective Cord Roberts and the team swing into action. Gabriel was a private detective - one line of enquiry is a possible link to one of his cases but, of course, there are many other theories. And there are many cases and someone has gotten to his files before the police.

It’s a race against time as the Albuquerque PD tries to solve a double homicide, find the missing teenagers and follow up on a possibly related attempted murder. The pace is relentless, suspects are many and do watch out for those red herrings. The scenes with the girls trying to escape their captors are gut wrenching and you start to wonder whether they will actually make it out alive.

This was a well written book with very relatable characters. It was a pleasant change to find detectives with no murky backgrounds, no internal dilemmas and no romantic distractions. There was some clever and quite subtle misdirection which made the plot even more twisty. This case has its roots firmly in the past if only the detectives can work it out in time. You will not want to put this one down until the final twist! Recommended for all thriller lovers. Thanks to Netgalley, Hera Books and Charly Cox for providing me with a copy to review. My opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

I am really enjoying this series and Alone in the Woods is a great follow on from The Toy Box. The main character is so very believable and likeable I found myself on her side straightaway and rooting for her throughout the book. I love reading of her working rapport and friendships with her colleagues and thought the book got off to a great start with the opening chapter and just got better the more I read. It was full of tension, suspense and was a very fast paced read full of plot twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. And the big reveal at the end as to who the murderer was shocked me..... wow, I didn’t see that coming! I hope there will be another book to follow. A brilliant, very well written series so far and one I would highly recommend.

5 stars

Be ready to read well past your bedtime! Charly Cox, once again, brings the team back in another tense, exciting story. Right from the beginning a gruesome double murder and two missing teens kick it all off and Alyssa along with her team are on the case. Twists and turns kept my attention throughout. This is the third book in the series. Be sure and start with the first book in the series because they are all fantastic! A seriously addictive series and if you haven’t discovered it for yourself yet, then now is the time. Thank you NetGalley and Hera Books for an opportunity to review! Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Alyssa and her team race to find Addis and Emerson after the brutal murder of Addis's parents. Why were they targeted and why take the girls? If the team can determine why then hopefully they can fnd the girls before it's too late.

This nail biter is told from multiple perspectives giving the reader insight into the characters while increasing the tension. Well written and full of interesting characters,  this was another great book in this wonderful series. I look forward to many more.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Alone in the Woods is the third book in this amazing series following Detectives Alyssa and Cade through another twisty turny case.
In this book the officers are still sickened and reeling from the Toy Box case they had previously. When they attend a gruesome murder scene and discover two teenage girls have been taken the detectives are sickened by thoughts of their previous case and are up against time to find the teenagers alive.
This book has lots of small twists that build to an ending I didn't see coming.
Charly Cox is fast becoming one of my favourite crime fiction writers! The books so far have been gripping with likeable characters and great researched and plotted story lines.

Alone In The Woods has to have been one of my most anticipated reads. I absolutely love this series and the previous two books have been absolutely fantastic. It has been well worth the wait for the newest addition that’s for sure.

A new book and a new case for Alyssa. What an adrenaline rush of a read it turned out to be. So much is riding on Alyssa, Cord and their team finding out who is behind the double killing. I ended up reading this in two sittings as it was such a compulsive read and with every new revelation, I was desperate for more. We flick between Alyssa working on the case as well as the girls who have been taken whose future looks uncertain to say the least. This is an author who really knows how to get the characters feelings and emotions across to her readers. It had me racing through the pages for that all important conclusion.

Wowzers this was one thrill of a read. The twists knocked me sideways of which the final one nearly had me flying up off my chair in shock. This is one seriously addictive series and if you haven’t discovered it for yourself yet, well I’m telling you now, if you love crime thrillers, you need to dive straight into these books. My only problem now is the agonising wait until the next book!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hera Books for an advance copy of Alone in the Woods, the third novel to feature Detective Alyssa Wyatt of the Albuquerque PD.

A phone call from teenager Addis Kensington to her aunt alerts the authorities to the murder of her parents, but when Alyssa and her team get there Addis and her friend Emerson Childress have disappeared. It soon becomes clear that they have been abducted and the hunt is on for the girls before the killer strikes again.

I enjoyed Alone in the Woods which is a tense read with a few twists. It is told from various points of view, notably, Alyssa, Addis and the kidnapper. I’m not always a big fan of this approach but in this case it works really well, ratcheting up the tension and urgency.

Alyssa’s investigation has a sense of urgency about it, not just to find the girls but to stop a vicious killer. They rather quickly identify a suspect but where that suspect is now is a harder question. Addis’s narrative is more concerned with staying alive. I thought it was particularly well done as the girls alternately veer between optimism and helplessness with them cheering each other on when one gets down. My time with teenage girls is long in the past so I don’t know how realistic it is but it certainly feels it, full of emotion, high and lows and lots of tears. The kidnapper is not all he seems and it was interesting to see his thought processes.

I must admit that I guessed the big twist fairly early in novel, so that when it arrived it was anticlimactic for me, but it didn’t spoil the read as I liked the premise of Alyssa’s time pressed investigation playing out against the girls’ real time experience and I think gives the reader a good sense of why investigations matter. It held my attention.

Alone in the Woods is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Really tense thriller. Who was the murderer? Why were they murdered? Who kidnapped the children? Why were they kidnapped? Excellent police teamwork and trust. Colleagues who were also friends. A very descriptive book. I could here the noises in the mountains. I could smell the blood in the house. I could feel the pain of the broken leg.

This is my first book by Charly Cox and I will be sure to read the other books in this series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. We follow Detective Alyssa Wyatt and her team throughout this book. There has been an horrendous murder, two parents killed in a slaying at their home and their daughter and her best friend are missing. The book swaps between Alyssa and her team and the two young girls. It is quite intense at time as the young girls are in quite a predicament but a really good read. I recommend this book to others if you like a gripping, edge of your seat read.

Two parents are brutally slain and their daughter and her friend have been kidnapped. Detective Alyssa Wyatt must solve the mystery of the killings so that she can discover who has kidnapped the girls.

I read the previous book in this series and as soon as I saw that there was a new one I had to read it. I was not disappointed, another brilliant book! I would say that while this book could probably be read as a stand-alone, it does help to have read the previous book as it gives some idea of some of the minor characters. I liked the way that the book went back and forth between the missing girls, the killer and the detectives, it gave a really good sense of the whole story and there was still plenty of mystery and reveals to come throughout the book. There was plenty of action as well author has such a good way of writing strong ‘victims’ who fight and don’t give up. Can’t wait until the next one comes out now.

This is the third book in the Alyssa Wyatt series by Charly Cox. It is suspenseful and well-written like the others and I love the banter between Alyssa and her partner Cord. I must say that I didn't like it as well as the others in the series and I can't really pinpoint why. But, all in all, a good read!

Thank you Hera Books and #netgalley for allowing me to read an arc of Alone In The Woods by Charly Cox. I just bought the first two books in the series so that’s probably a review in itself! You have until the release date of February 17th if you want to read them before Alone In The Woods is released and I recommend you do.

I loved the characters. Alyssa is such a great leader, and her relationship with her team is inspirational. I can’t wait to read the first two books and learn more about the team. I also loved the friendship between Addis and Emerson and how they took care of each other. Because of the great characters, some events were so touching I *might* have teared up a bit.

The writing was great, and I felt like there was not one wasted word.

The story is so good. There were lots of characters and things going on but they all came together in the end in a way that made perfect sense.

If you want a crime thriller with great characters, an intense story, and wonderful writing this is the book for you!

Loved this book. Could not do anything this morning until I reached the end. It's an 'unputdownable' There is a lot of content to this story as well as twists. It is well worth reading.

A well written, easy to read page turner. After the brutal murder of a mother and father, followed by the kidnapping of their daughter and her best friend from the crime scene, I was intrigued to read on and find out the reasons why. Not so much a who dunnit rather than a why dunnit. Detective Alyssa Wyatt discovers enough clues in order to sustain the reader's interest throughout without getting bored. Just when I thought the investigation was complete and the events were starting to fit into placr, a major twist was revealed which I did not foresee and left me shocked. The characters were believable and relationships were developed throughout the book which helped to sustain my interest as a reader. I am looking forward to reading more books with detective Alyssa Wyatt as the main character.

"I've learned monsters are not ogres who hide beneath our beds or in our closets. They live in plain sight all around us". Addys Kensington
Alone in the Woods, Alyssa Wyatt #3, by Charly Cox is a non-stop suspense thriller with lots of twists! The many levels of this story are woven so intricately until your interest is captured until the very end.
Teenagers Addis Kensington and Emerson Childress walk into a scene of the savage murder of her parents and then to their horror, discover someone is still in the house! Addys is able to call her aunt Grace and whisper for help and before the girls can escape, they are abducted.
Detective Alyssa Wyatt and her partner Cord Roberts not only have two homicides to solve but are now racing against the clock to locate the girls. What could be the motive for the murder of a private detective, his wife, and the kidnapping of teenage girls?
I won't post spoilers, but I will say this is a book I could not put down once I started reading! The author had me worried about those girls and all they suffered. I also was shocked toward the ending of the book when the murderer is revealed. I was not expecting that twist. A very good thriller to help pass a dreary winter day.
Publication Date: February 17, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley, Charly Cox, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Alyssa Wyatt and her team are back in book 3 of one of the best series! Last year, All His Pretty Girls and The Toybox were two of my favorite books and what a great way to start off the 2021 reading year with Alone in the Woods! Charly Cox has brought the team back in another tense, nail biting, twisty turvy story. Starting off right from the beginning with a gruesome double murder and two missing teens, Alyssa and her team are right on the case. They need to find Addis and Emerson before they become the next victims. Charly Cox tells the story in such a way that you can see it like a movie in your mind. I truly hope there are many more books to come in this series. Love this series!! Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for the ARC!!!

Book #3 in the Alyssa Wyatt series and let's just say you might need to make sure you have nothing else to do when starting this book. You will NOT be able to put it down!! This series just keeps getting better! Literally from the very first pages this author just grabs you and makes sure she keeps you captivated. Emerson and Addis are missing after they find Addis's parents dead, Who killed Addis's parents ? Why did they kidnap Emerson and Addis? So many questions that you need answered. I love Alyssa and Cord and look forward to hopefully reading more books in this series. Every single book in this series has been so good! If your a fan of suspense and mystery you will not be disappointed in this book!!!! Read it! You won't be disappointed!

A small and strange plot, expanded into a big story with lots of dialogue and descriptions that aren't moving things forward. The language and the characters are very good, but the entertainment value isn't there for me.

Fantastic read. I have been completely unable to put this one down. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Full review to follow on publication.

Addis Kensington and best friend Emerson Childress had spent a typical evening together after Addis's mom, Lydia, had yelled at her and she'd headed straight round to her home away from home. When the of them went back to pick up some clothes for a hastily arranged sleepover Addis is horror-struck to find her parents dead on the kitchen floor.

Gabriel Kensington's sister is the local district attorney and after the teenager calls her Aunt Grace she rushes to her niece's aid only to find there is no trace of either girl in the ransacked home.

Detective Alyssa Wyatt is well placed to understand the agony Grace is experiencing; both her children have been targeted in the past and she knows speed is of the essence if the girls are to be found alive. With a team she trusts implicitly behind her Alyssa begins her investigation but partner Cord is distracted by his personal life and another member of the team is definitely hiding something. As the stakes get higher Alyssa finds her own family thrown into the spotlight once again and wonders if her trust has been misplaced.

Wow, what a book! I was a little concerned that once again the main storyline centred around a child abduction but it was immediately so good that after a couple of pages it didn't matter a bit! I found myself wanting to read faster to find out what happened but not wanting it to end either as the whole story was spellbinding. I love Alyssa and Cord; their partnership, banter and mutual respect leaps off the page and is just so right as is the working relationships and reactions of the rest of the now familiar team. The difficulties they experienced this time was also realistic, and added another level of tension.

I have to admit I would like to see Alyssa investigate something other than abductions just to see how this brilliant author would deal with it. That said if the next book is also centred around a similar theme I'll still be all over it.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. This is absolutely recommended as a must read book and series for any fans of this genre.