A good read although a bit drawn out in parts but it was a well written book with a good storyline and characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for this ARC.

When Stacy was a teenager, she was kidnapped as a child. Not only was she traumatised but she lost part of her ear and her finger in the process. Her father her judge refused to pay the ransom money and she only survived because the police found her.
Thirty years later now an investigative journalist still has nightmares of her time. But some of the memories are now hazy as her body has blocked some of the memories out after all she went through.
She gets a frantic knock on the door. It’s her ex-husband Jack. His daughter Lyra that he has had from a previous relationship, who also has a bond with Stacey has been kidnapped and they are asking for half a million pounds ransom. After what he was told with Stacey’s experience, he doesn’t want to involve the Police. So, he asks Stacey to help with her contacts she uses as a journalist. As Jack hasn’t got all the ransom money they are asking for. She even uses a hypnotherapist to reveal some of the events she went through to help jack finding Lyra. But things are still niggling at Stacy’s mind. What is Jack not saying and why does he not want the police involved?
Thanks, you Amazon for a copy of the standalone novel Behind closed doors by Carol Wyer. This is another compelling read from the author. A bit more gritty than other books from the author I have read. Although the author kept me engaged throughout. I found the ending a bit predictable and kind of guessed the ending. 4 stars from me.

The concept of this book intrigued me from the start. A girl is kidnapped and tortured and her father does not pay the ransom demanded, the kidnapper was never caught. Many years later her step daughter Lyra is taken and the kidnapping very much resembles her own.

The book gripped me from the start, it deals with Stacey the woman who was originally kidnapped, Jack her ex and Lyras father a toxic manipulative character and various people Stacey calls to help with the search, along with Stacey's father Henry who suffers from dementia but holds answers to her past.

Although action packed the book develops the characters well and I enjoyed their interactions with each other. The plot was clever and the ending very unexpected but satisfying. I enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more from this author. Highly recommend.

Carol Wyer is a phenomenal crime writer. its like magic when she writes and you just get pulled in.
i feel like i am sat having my own viewing of a film and watching the events unfold in front of me,
This book was great with all the investigating and piecing things together as secrets start to unfold.
fast paced page turner.

This was perfection! I wasn't sure about it at first but then I started to suspect someone and I was hooked. I love that. Right or wrong I love just hating a character and finding reasons to keep hating them.
This was great for that. It starts off in a terrifying way and then it gets weird.
Thank you for the ARC.

5 stars to Carol Wyer for this treat! 30 years ago, Stacey, a 13 year old at the time, was kidnapped and tortured by her capturer for her father, a judge, did not pay her ransom. Stacey was finally rescued by a passing member of the police.
Now 30 years later, her ex-husband, Jack asks for her help after his daughter, Lyra is also kidnapped and receives a ransom demand. Jack makes Stacey promise not to contact the police. As an investigative journalist, Stacey uses her skills and contacts to help locate Lyra. Previously regressed memories start coming back and a whole heap of secrets and unravelled from her past.
With a gripping plot, well developed characters and a mega twist, this book will make you want to consume this story in one sitting.

Some thirty years ago, Stacey is kidnapped and the criminals responsible are never caught. Fast forward to present day, and Stacy receives a visit from her ex-husband, Jack, telling her that his daughter Lyra has also been kidnapped. What follows is a race against time to find out who has kidnapped Lyra, and what a thrilling race it is!

This is another absorbing (and chilling) read from Carol Wyer. The characters are well developed and believable - I took an instant dislike to Jack, who frequently displays conflicting behaviours which upped my suspicions that all is not what it seems… That said, even I didn’t guess the whole twisted story.

All in all, this novel is compelling and intense (with some graphic content), worthy of all five stars.

Fantastic new book with new characters twisted to the new kept me on my toes. Well written as usual by Carol Wyer high you expect when reading her work.
A kidnapping gone wrong years ago springs up again with Lyra Stacey’s stepdaughter being kidnapped. But all along something is not quite right. Stacey is forced to bring back painful memories of her own ordeal 30 years ago but is it the same person?
Fantastic plot which kept me guessing right to the end.
Highly recommended read

I found the beginning of this book a bit slow to start, but it's worth reading once it gets going. There are plenty of twists. I partially guessed 'who did it' but that was mainly because the way the character was written made them seem 'off' (at least in my opinion), which was probably the intention. One to re-read to see if I missed any other clues

Two kidnappings, thirty years apart. Can Stacey face her own dark past in order to save her stepdaughter?
When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough…
Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.
Lyra’s kidnappers have made it clear the police must not get involved. But Stacey can’t shake the eerie similarities between the two cases, and she’ll use whatever she can, from her journalistic powers to her shady contacts, to save Lyra from the same nightmare. Desperate to find any link between Lyra’s abduction and her own, Stacey forces herself to revisit her forgotten, traumatic past for clues.
But can she make sense of the terrible secrets she unearths in time to save Lyra? And if she does, is she ready to face her own tormentor?
Really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing Uk
I just reviewed Behind Closed Doors by Carol Wyer. #BehindClosedDoors #NetGalley

For the most part I enjoyed this book. It took some dark turns that I loved. But it also held some things that felt . . . A bit too far fetched. I hated the dads. And the story dragged in so many places that I struggled to Gey through. In the end, an okay read.

I really do love Carol Wyers crime novels and characters. Behind Closed Doors is a standalone book, and yet again she had me turning those pages as fast I as I could, needing to know what would happen. I had some ideas of what was happening but as always, I was way off the mark on most of them! Another compulsive and clever story that I highly recommend.

30 years ago, Stacey was kidnapped. She was left traumatized and missing body parts. He father, a well-known and respected judge, refused to pay the ransom and she has never forgiven him for that. Her memories of what happened during that time are hazy, with small snippets coming back to her at random times. She is now working as an investigative journalist in Lancaster. When her ex-husband, Jake, knocks on her door frantic with worry, she isn't sure what to do. That is until she discovers that his daughter, Lyla, has been taken and the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of half a million pounds. Stacey and Lyla always had a close relationship, despite them not being blood relatives. Now Stacey must use all of her contacts and knowledge to find the girl before she is hurt...or worse. The situation feels far too close to her own experience, and she needs to remember in order to help Lyla.

An explosive ending will shock and disturb you. I was worried for Stacey and her mental health, but she was the kind of person who could not let it go. Another fantastic read from Carol Wyer.

Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy to read. Published on December 6th.

A reporter who was kidnapped thirty years ago finds herself racing against time to save her stepdaughter who seemingly was also just kidnapped for ransom. Is this coincidence or does her kidnapping from all those years ago relate to this?

I enjoyed this book but found myself kind of speed reading through it at times. The concept was good but the writing just didn't hold my attention. I found it a little obvious who was involved right off the bat. Overall I don't like giving negative reviews but this one was just "meh" for me. Two and a half rounded up to Three Stars because it wasn't terrible, just okay.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC.

A tense thriller that was great to read. However, it felt a little bit too long and dragged out for me towards the end.

This was a DNF (did not finish) at the 30% mark. I struggled to connect to any of the characters, and Jack's straight out instance that there be no police involvement was very suspicious and grew frustrating really quickly. The plot was slow, alternating between flashbacks for Stacey and what was currently happening to Lyra. With no real forward movement in the plot, unlikeable and unreliable characters, I was unable to generate any interest in continuing to read to find out if there was any connection with Stacey's past and what was happening to Lyra.

Behind Closed Doors is the novel from Carol Wyer. Having enjoyed her previous books I was eager to read this standalone thriller and was not disappointed. I was hooked from the beginning and found it to be fast paced, gripping and unputdownable. Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and the author for the chance to review.

Stacey's past abruptly comes back when her former stepdaughter is abducted and her ex husband asks for her help. She will have to live her trauma again and discover much more than she'd expected.

Carol built a solid plot based on how relationships evolve and work in real life, sometimes taking people to very dangerous situations. Stacey's story is a reminder of how callous people suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder (trigger warning!) can be.

What I appreciated most is Carol's ability to totally throw you off the scent with small psychological details that make your mind change quickly about who's the culprit.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book by Carol Wyer.

This is the second book which I have read by Carol Wyer and it didn't disappoint!

I loved Stacey's character, she is so very strong and wanted to get to the bottom of the kidnapping but in doing so, she had to deal with lots of demons from her past, as well as events happening under her nose. She couldn't even rely on her ex husband - yes he is definitely an ex for a reason and also couldn't rely on her father.

This book had lots of twists and turns in it, all of which I didn't see coming, so thank you Carol Wyer for a great, gripping read!!!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. This is the first book I have read by this author.

We follow the protagonist, Stacey, as she is on a chase against time to save her daughter in law from her kidnapper, being forced to work together with her estranged ex-husband who continues to manipulate and take advantage of her.

As a child, Stacey herself was kidnapped and her father was blackmailed to pay a ransom to release her, which he reluctantly didn't pay. Living with the disappoint and lack of trust in her father, memories of her past come back to haunt her - is her childhood kidnapper back for more?

Stacey and her therapist try hypnotherapy to delve deeper into her locked memories to help find clues about the identity and whereabouts of the kidnapper. As we uncover her past, we learn of her mother and fathers tumultuous relationship and the disaster that came of their betrayel.

This book was fast paced, pulls you in from page 1, really keeps you guessing until the very end and ends with a punch! I particularly enjoyed reading about her ex-husband Jack and his narcissistic, abusive personality and how he plays on Stacey's emotions to manipulate her.

Would highly recommend if you're into crime fiction and books that really keep you guessing whodunnit!

As a teen Stacey was kidnapped and held for ransom, losing a finger and part of her ear in the process. She always blamed her father for not paying the ransom, and police the police for suggesting he shouldn't. Thirty years later her ex-husband, Jack, asks for her help after his daughter is kidnapped for ransom. He thinks she can help because of her experience being kidnapped and because she is an investigative journalist.

Ugh, I so dislike writing bad reviews but this book just didn't do it for me. The fact that none of these fathers want to go to the police just didn't fly with me. I also found Stacey's amnesia hard to believe. And the flickering "cinema" images of her memory coming back was a little over the top. The book takes place over four days and the chapters are separated by each day. It is told in the present tense with "flashbacks" of Stay's lost memories. The storyline was really out there, I mean how many times can one person get away with kidnapping teenage girls!!?? I found this really slow-going, unbelievable, and repetitive. I am really sorry to the author who put so much into this work of fiction but it really wasn't my cup of tea.