Last Seen is the debut crime thriller by Joy Kluver. Detective Bernadette Noel has moved to Wiltshire from the Met to try a slower pace of life.
But when a 5 year old child goes missing from under her mother’s nose in a playground, there is no way that Bernie cannot get involved. She has to take the case.
But something is not right - the villagers don’t seem to be interested in helping to search for Molly, and Bernie has to try to work with her new team to find out what the reason is. As the case continues other details emerge, and Bernie needs to solve a cold case in order to find Molly.
Kluver has laid down some storylines for Bernie and her colleagues and it will be interesting to read any sequels that she writes.
Thanks to NetGalley and @bookouture for the preview copy.

DI Bernie Noel has recently moved to Wiltshire after working with the Mat resulted in death threats. She rushed back from London after her beloved grandfather's funeral when five year old Molly disappears from a park, her mother having been distracted, changing her baby brother. She is very surprised by the reaction of the people in Otterfield- normally locals are keen to help but this does not seem to be the case here. Things become slightly clearer when she finds out that years ago another child went missing & was never seen again. Suspicions were that Molly's Grandfather has something to do with it.

As this is her first big case it is decided to bring in another detective to assist. Dougie Anderson is a good looking but rather arrogant addition! With pressure from the media, from the higher ups Bernie resolutely picks through the confusion as well as coping with personal revelations.

This is a really strong start to what I hope will be a long series. I loved Bernie- she came across as a warm, caring, strong person. It was a well crafted story with enough red herrings to keep you guessing. I'm looking forward to more soon. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

A child goes missing, but the community is showing no signs of aiding the police? The detective assigned to the case is blown away by the wall of secrecy! The husband is serving overseas and the wife is a stay at home mother.
What clues or what is the mother not telling Bernie and her team? This is definitely one of those books that will keep you turning the pages because the author has written an amazing twists and turns kind of book!
The characters are strong and the storyline is truly not what you would think is going to happen or even be about! I will leave it there so I will reveal no spoilers!

I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

When I started to read this book I wondered how I’d never read any of Joy Kluver’s books before, because I was absolutely addicted from the start. I was so surprised to discover that this is a debut novel. It is a totally superb debut.

I liked Bernie straight away, she’s very real and easy to relate to. It’s her first major case as a DI, and she’s very honest about her lack of experience in the role, and she does make some mistakes along the way. Police procedurals/crime novels are a genre that I’ve only recently started to get into, and I think this one is so well crafted. The case is compelling and dramatic, the tension and suspense are pitched perfectly, but the intriguing characters and the human side to the story are what makes this book the complete package.

I was so drawn into this book, and it had me reading late into the night. I loved the way most of the story is told from Bernie’s perspective but it’s interspersed with little snippets of what is going in the mind of the abductor, it provides just enough little clues to keep you guessing, and adds real depth and darkness into the plot. I didn’t guess who the perpetrator was at all, there are quite a few twists and turns along the way, along with some heart-pounding drama.

I really can’t wait to meet Bernie Noel again, this will be a new favourite series for me. Really can’t recommend it highly enough, you will be totally engrossed in it.

A great first book in the Detective Bernadette Noel series.
A young girl Molly is at the park with her mummy.
Her mummy turns round to tend to the crying baby and when she turns back Molly isn’t there.
Bernadette Noel and her team are called out to search for the missing girl .
There is something going on as the village as none of the locals will not help
Can Bernadette get to the bottom of this and find Molly.
A Brilliant read
Can’t wait for the next in the series
Thanks NetGalley

I want to thank netgalley for the opportunity to read this book, it is my first book from here and hopefully wont be my last.
This book is one of my favourite genre's and the front cover made it look like a great read, as well as the description.

The story line is very heart breaking, and even though I am not a mother yet myself, I wouldn't wish this on anybody. To have your child taken must be completely heart-breaking... (and even worst in the situation the family find themselves in)

unfortunately, this book did not grip me like I thought it would until just over half way through. `For some reason. I didn't find myself sat on the edge of my seat wanting to just read more and more, which is. a huge shame as the storyline is brilliant!!

Although this is how I felt, does not mean other people will feel the same, so grab the book and see what you think.. it could just be me.

I will leave a review on my instagram page and and my good reads

Last Seen by Joy Kluver is her debut novel featuring Detective Bernadette 'Bernie' Noel. Set in Otterfield in Wiltshire She came from the Met to escape. Her relocation came with promotion after a successful conviction in London which ended in her receiving death threats. A move to the West Country was to start afresh and to protect both herself and her family. But despite her rank and her stoic exterior, Bernie is as emotional and fallible as the next person. But she cares. And that, and her tenacity, is what makes her a good detective.
When five year old Molly is taken from the park in Otterfield, Bernie is on the case. She discovers Molly's cardigan dumped under a bush in the park. This is the first clue in a chain of clues to be found. Bernie has a gut feeling the cardigan is more than a clue, it feels like a message is being sent. The residents of the village don't want to help, Bernie is stumped and can't understand their behaviour. After speaking to Mollys' mother she finds out that the village community seem to be against them. Bernie wonders why they aren't even interested in finding Molly. Bernie is up against time with no help from the community can Bernie and her team find Molly?
A story told in third person perspective of Bernie, so we really get to know this new Detective Inspector and her views on this case that is her first in Otterfield. We are occasionally given little glimpses from the kidnappers view, so we can attempt to put some thinhs together while we also follow the investigation into who is behind this terrible crime.
Definitely fast moving and with more than just this case, Bernie, it appears is going to be busier than she planned with her fresh start. The amount of times she had to deal with the media doesn't help her to keep her low profile either. I found this new D.I a really interesting one and I am certain we are going to learn an awful lot about her in future books, I can't wait!
Joy Kluver has managed to write a crime fiction story that I just devour so easily. I was planning on just a quick read and sat there all day until I finished it. An addictive and immersive story that brings characters that are very relatable and not perfect. I loved it.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the copy of the book and my place on the tour.

Wow! What a fabulous start to this new police procedural series by Joy Kluver! By the time I got to the end of Last Seen I was desperate to read more about DI Bernie Noel and her backstory as well as wanting to see how things will develop with the other characters we met throughout Bernies investigation into the disappearance of a five year old girl.

There’s a chilling start to Last Seen as five year old Molly is abducted by an unknown person from her local park. Bernie and her team have an uphill struggle trying to get any help from the local community, making the investigation even more difficult for them. There are so many wonderful character creations here especially the team working with Bernie. DC Matt Taylor and DS Kerry Allen bring an authenticity to the procedures and then there’s the FLO DS Dougie Anderson…I’m interested to see where the relationship with him goes and whether or not it will cross the line between professional and personal. I’m not sure I completely trust him and he certainly didn’t help himself here but time will surely tell?!

The case itself was a twisty one, full of surprises around every corner with a shocking and unexpected conclusion! It was cleverly crafted and deftly plotted from start to finish with an addictive storyline full of human interest. The small town mentality was perfectly portrayed and Joy Kluver manages to get all her characters into your head so that they feel almost real-especially the detectives. In fact, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a police procedural as much as I loved this one for a very long time.

I can’t recommend Last Seen highly enough! It’s a brilliantly written, addictive read and I seriously can’t wait to read more about Bernie Noel!

I love starting a new series and this is no exception.

Last Seen by Joy Kluver is a debut novel and I loved it!

The story is exciting, action packed and fast paced with the story keeping you on the edge of your seat through some parts.

The characters have been fleshed out and enjoyed reading about them.

I will definately read more of her books in the future.

One of a mother’s worst nightmares is of her child to go missing, and though I would hate to experience it in real life, I was curious and intrigued enough to want to read about it in Last Seen. As I knew I would be, I felt emotional when reading this; sympathy, empathy, remorse, scared, frustrated, angry. Feelings of frustration and anger were most prevalent, I cannot imagine how it must feel to experience the lack of effort from the team who should be looking into the disappearance of my daughter, I would be beside myself. Even Bernie, who is part of the team, harbors similar feelings. I found it ironic and fitting that the book seemed to be drawn out as we, too, continued page after page expecting, wanting, and even craving progress on the case - I needed to know what happened, why, and by who!

To me, one of the definitions of a good book is one that keeps you engaged throughout, enough to tempt you to turn page after page until you reach the end. I did just that with Last Seen, my interest and curiosity kept me going until the very end.

I would be interested in reading more about Bernie, I have a feeling she has a lot to offer and I would like to get to know her more.

I received this arc through net galley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book in a series featuring Bernie Noel, and we foillow her journey tracking down a missing child in the park.in the hope that she can solve the case before a more experienced detective is bought in to finish the job.

The relationship between her and her team is very good and strong and I look forward to seeing how this develops over time, I will be eagerly awaiting Joy Kluvers next book about Bernie as I think this is another series I can really get in to, I stayed up till quite late in the night to finish this one as I had to know the ending before I went to sleep.

Good start to a new detective series, easy to read and good strong characters. The plot was good and had me engaged enough to get angry with the way the villager were at news of a missing child. I look forward to the book.

Last Seen is Joy Kluver’s debut novel and on the strength of this book I am really looking forward to reading more of this series.

Detective Bernadette Noel was on a fast track programme with the Metropolitan Police when a case she was working on forced her to leave London. Now she is in rural Wiltshire and keeping a low profile so as not to attract attention. She’s achieved her promotion to Detective Inspector and suddenly finds herself in charge of a case that is as awful as it is puzzling. A 5 year old child has disappeared from a children’s playpark in the small village of Otterfield and it looks like abduction.

There’s no obvious motive, but one thing is really strange. As you’d expect, Bernie is organising house to house questioning and search parties to look for little Molly – but it’s clear that no-one in either her village, nor the neighbouring one, want anything to do with the police investigation.

Bernie is puzzled. Apparently Molly hadn’t made any friends at school either. Her mother is at a loss as to why she might have been taken and is distraught. She doesn’t know why the village is so unfriendly.

Largely told from Bernie’s perspective, Last Seen presents a convincing portrait of an intelligent police officer in charge for the first time and seeking to solve a serious case into the bargain. Bernie is still grieving for her grandfather, recently laid to rest, and with a lot on her plate her confidence is not reassured when her boss tells her that she may not yet be ready to command such a high-profile case.

Joy Kluver does a great job of introducing us to the investigations team of Detective Sergeant Kerry Allen and Detective Constable, Matt Taylor with whom she is already establishing a great relationship. There’s a fly in the ointment though when her boss foists on her a new team member, DS Dougie Anderson, transferred in from Birmingham and who is hardly in the door before he starts doing things his own way instead of taking his orders from Bernie. That’s the last thing Bernie needs on this case and she has to work hard to keep him in line. Not only that, but it looks like the force’s Press officer for the area is no ally and is pushing Bernie to accept her view of how she should handle the public facing side of this disappearance.

When her boss tells her that if she doesn’t get results soon he is handing the case over to a more experienced officer, Bernie is determined that her team will find Molly before that happens.

The imposition of a deadline adds urgency to an already pressing case and as Bernie and her team race against time to work out who has taken Molly and why, we get a real sense of D.I. Noel’s shrewd and extremely capable thinking processes. She’s not flawless, but she is a good detective and that comes across as she handles this investigation.

As the team battle to find Molly the tension is high and there are many false leads and wrong paths to go down. As Bernie comes to realise that the silence of the villagers is a clue to what has happened to Molly she has to re-think her whole understanding of this case if she is to find Molly before it is too late.

Though perhaps a little slow to start as Kluver establishes the scene and her characters, the pace and tension ramps up mid-way through the book and holds the reader’s attention well and there are many pieces to this puzzle which all fit neatly together in the end.

There’s a great deal we still have to learn about this team and their backstories before they become fully fleshed, but that just adds to the intrigue in this book and makes us want to read more about the team. Joy Kluver drops just enough nuggets of information to make us curious and want more.

Verdict: A strong start to a new police procedural series with well thought through puzzles and characters that intrigue. I really enjoyed reading this knotty case and am actively looking forward to the next in the series.

In Last Seen we meet Detective Inspector Bernie Noel who has recently moved to Wiltshire from London and is having to prove herself to her new boss and team. She instantly relates to the family that has lost their toddler and becomes emotionally invested in the case of missing five-year-old Molly. The trouble is, she and her team simply cannot seem to make any progress.
Author Joy Kluver knows how to keep her readers hooked. This easy-to-read, fast-flowing detective story has all the elements that make up a gripping tale. Fabulous believable characters – both good and bad. Fascinating links both to past and current cases. A lead cop with her own baggage. A new guy on the team who’s charming and good-looking, but can he be trusted? Good old-fashioned police work, ‘office’ politics, suspicious deaths and, at the heart of it all, young Molly who remains missing for far too long. And scattered throughout are twists and turns and red herrings. A perfect recipe for a great read.

First, I want to thank Joy Kluver, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

Every parents worst nightmare and the unthinkable happens in Joy Kluver’s purely intoxicating debut novel Last Seen. Abduction stories are my constant craving to read. Joy’s satisfied that craving with her twisted, intense and heartbreaking read. She is an incredibly gifted writer in the crime genre. Luckily for me this her first book in what I hope is a very successful series for her. I surely want to continue with it. Needless to say she gained a new fan!

Last Seen discusses some topics that may trigger some readers. I always point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Joy discusses child abduction, suicide, murder, pedifile ring, gambling debt, cheating, etc.

Immediately I was hooked from the prologue. It was a passage written by the abductor which you would see passages like this throughout the book.

This is one book you will need to clear your schedule for because let me tell you once you start this book you just can’t put it down!

Out of all the books that I have ever read this year none of them shocked me as much as this one had. There was one twist that I literally was yelling and screaming at the character!!!

The people of the town really upset me how rude they were and how they wouldn’t help the detectives find sweet little Molly. Why would they treat this family or this little girl this way? Later we find out and it makes sense. However, it was still sad.

The investigation part of the story took the detectives and the readers into all different directions. It was a very fascinating part of the story. Side note they sure did get a lot of free baked goods lol.

Half the book I had an idea of who could have abducted Molly. However, Joy threw us a big curveball and nope didn’t see that one coming.

This is one book I would love to see played out as a series on Netflix!

The graphics for the book cover of Last Seen was so cool. It looked like the little girl was 3D in between the letters. The colors on the cover were so bright and the picture was spot on perfect for the story! Great job to the graphic designers.

I love embarking on a new series from the very start, and this one certainly intrigued me enough to do just that. DI Bernadette (Bernie) Noel came to Wiltshire from the Metropolitan Police to escape. Following her involvement in a high profile prosecution resulting in her receiving death threats, she is hoping that her move to the West Country will put all that behind her and protect herself and her family. Now it is six months later and Bernie is on her way back from her grandfather's funeral in London when she receives a call to attend a crime scene. Racing there, she finds a search already underway for 5-year-old Molly Reynolds who has gone missing from a playground in the little village of Otterfield. When she finds Molly's green fleece under a bush she thinks that maybe someone is leaving a message, but why are the villagers being so tight-lipped and unwilling to help?

The story is told mostly from the perspective of Bernie with the occasional snippets every so often from the POV of the perpetrator. The investigation is a complex one and Joy Kluver cleverly weaves everything together. The investigation begins quite slowly mainly because of the community's unwillingness to help, but it soon picks up pace. There are some shocking reveals as the police look into the pasts of the victim’s family.

Bernie is grieving the very recent loss of her beloved grandfather and the insights given into both her personal and professional life are interesting. Joy Kluver prudently reveals enough about her to ensure she comes across as a switched-on, believable woman while holding enough back to keep readers wanting to learn more. I also liked the friendships between Bernie and her team, and I think the author builds on this really well, though it's not all plain sailing as there are some power struggles and office politics. The mystery of Molly's disappearance is exceedingly compelling and there are several false leads and red herrings to fox the reader however, it's the response of the local community which is most baffling, further darkening this absorbing story. Joy Kluver never rushes the plot, but cleverly introduces a deadline for Bernie which exacerbates the tension so that it is sometimes palpable.

Last Seen is a fantastic start to a new series, which I’m sure will see readers coming back for more.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Bookouture via NetGalley at my request, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

I have to say that I am delighted to see that this is the first book in a planned series because I thought this book was brilliant.

The author has woven a story that had me hooked from the first few pages, if I hadn't had to go to work it would have easily been a one-sitting read. When a child goes missing from a park you would expect locals to go out of their way to help. Why then does it take longer for them to gradually rouse themselves?

This along with some other clues is the start of a mystery thriller that introduces Detective Bernadette (Bernie) Noel and her team racing to make the links to find the girl. Time is of the essence in a missing person case and trying to drag information and help is a real waste of time but is also an integral part of this storyline.

I do like a story that has a sense of distrust and that hints at past events. This story has those and not just for the local community. The author weaves various threads of her tale and I really enjoyed it as they were gradually drawn together.

For a debut, this is a fabulous read and one that had me eagerly turning the pages as I not only wanted to know more about the crime but also about the investigating team. They are a definite mix of characters and each has specialities. Although as I have alluded to, there is something about some of them that hints at things being amiss.

I adored this story and it is a series I am looking forward to and discovering more about some key characters. A story that takes a dark turn, has several surprises and kept me on my toes. One for crime, thriller and mystery readers and one I would definitely recommend.

Molly, a toddler was last seen in the park--she was with her mother and the next minute, she was gone. DI Bernie starts investigating Molly's abduction in this small neighborhood but it seems as if no one in the town wants to help with the investigation and there was another abduction that happened some twenty years ago, the main suspect being Molly's grandfather Derek...

To me, this was a fast paced thriller--with some twists and turns. The writing was great and the author did a good job drawing the reader into the story. The characters are all likable, particularly the main character DI Bernie Noel, who seems to have a past. Finding Molly was so dramatic and realistic that I actually felt like I was in the part of that search with the police team! The ending was great and did not expect that ending!

I really enjoyed reading this book and I cannot wait to read the series--this is the first book of the DI Bernie Noel series.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC--this review is based on my honest opinion--worth four stars!

This is a great read and I hope it is the first of a series centred around DI Bernie Noel.
Bernie is called when a school girl is taken from a local park and she is determined to find her.
The family seem to be loners and people in the village don’t seem too concerned about the missing child, so Bernie starts to dig a bit deeper into this.
She has a good team to support her but with the arrival of a new team member, it takes them a while to get used to him.
This story is fast paced and the secrets and revelations come thick and fast throughout the book.
I didn’t guess who the abductor was and thought it was a very clever storyline.
Bernie has her own personal problems but these are only touched upon in this book, so I hope we find out more in future books.
This is a brilliant read that I highly recommend.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the first instalment of what I can safely say is going to be a promising and exciting series. The first book can make or break and for me this has definitely been a hit!

I have found this completely intriguing and a book which has a great plot. I have been completely pulled into the pages and unable to put this one down.

As a reader, we have found that the villagers are unwilling to disclose secrets. This has definitely kept me gripped and wanting to see how this plays out.

This is the debut novel for this author and this has definitely converted me as a fan of this author. This is a five star read and one I highly recommend.