I didnt write a full review, i adored this book so much - it stands out as one of the best reads, i have since reccomended it to many people and have continued on with the series!

Unfortunately 'The Birthday' for me felt as if it was just droning on and on and not getting anywhere, with an equally unlikable 'heroine' who really just didn't give a crap about her family. With her home life falling apart and kids acting out, she blames it all on the husband and when a break comes up in her work schedule, she goes to call her home and then literally says 'oh no i won't call, work and family don't mix'.. um just call and check on them? haha Obviously this is all fictional but that just really got to me. Anyway i could spot the killer a mile away and i'm sure others could to, so i just didn't get that 'thriller' feel from this novel.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a first in a new series about DI Natalie Ward. It is exciting and has a great storyline. I read it in a day and look forward to the next one.

A great story by Carol Wyer, I thoroughly enjoyed this and was completely baffled by what could have happened! A real thriller of a mystery.

Written by Carol Wyer — Carol Wyer arrived on the crime fiction scene just over a year ago, and since then readers have been treated to five books featuring Staffordshire DI Robyn Carter. Now the author has created a new central character for another series of police procedurals and in The Birthday we meet DI Natalie Ward.

Like Carter, Ward is a woman who puts her career first, but unlike Carter, our new acquaintance is married and has a family to consider. Husband David is a freelance translator and works from home, taking on the cooking and child rearing duties while his wife works her cases. They have two teenagers – Josh, 15 and 13-year-old Leigh – and an added complication is David’s gambling addiction, which almost brought the family to grief and is still a bone of contention between the pair.

But although we discover much about the Ward family as this book progresses, it is a particularly perplexing case that takes centre stage. The Birthday opens in 2015, in a garden centre where a raucous children’s party is being held. Ella Townsend, the centre’s owner has a blinding migraine and leaves two members of staff in charge as she goes in search of tablets to relieve the pain. There are 20 five- and six-year-olds enjoying the fun as she departs – or so she thinks. Upon her return only 19 remain. Little Ava Sawyer has vanished.

Two years later, construction staff working on the site of the former garden centre make a chilling discovery. It’s Ava’s body, and as Ward and her team from Sanford Police HQ survey the scene it’s difficult to know where to start their investigation – could the trail be any colder?

Ward is a newcomer to Sanford, arriving only recently in north Staffordshire after a case she was involved in while working in Manchester went badly wrong. A 13-year-old who disappeared was eventually found murdered and Ward is still thinks that mistakes in the investigation played a part in the girl’s death. Her feelings of guilt make her all the more determined to find Ava’s killer. When another little girl disappears and is found dead the pressure ratchets up several notches. Audrey Briggs knew Ava, she was even at the birthday party where Ava vanished. Now she, too, is dead. And chillingly, her body has been dressed in a yellow party frock, just like Ava was wearing on that fateful day.

The action is interspersed with chapters from an anonymous source, someone who is a loner, obsessed with a fellow pupil at school and is now obviously grown up and targeting young girls. Who is he? You’ll find yourself studying every male questioned by Ward and her team, trying to work out who the culprit is. Wyer has already shown great skill in the art of police procedurals, and the investigation inches forward slowly as the killer becomes more and more unhinged. Who can he be? The answer may surprise you.

You can rely on Carol Wyer to come up with a sneaky cul-de-sac or two as the story progresses. Her settings are spot on and her dialogue has an air of authenticity, but the plot itself posed a question or two – why aren’t the people of Sanford more concerned for the welfare of their children when little girls are being murdered? Why are there no press in evidence to ramp up public concern? Also, there’s little here to separate Ward herself from the myriad other fictional police officers who juggle work and family. She’s not as instantly likeable as Robyn Carter. However, it’s early days for this new creation and I have a feeling Ward may have a skeleton or two in the cupboard, ready to be revealed in future outings!

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CFL Rating: 3 Stars

This is a great book. In fact I didn’t even know who did it until the end. It makes me happy to have real cop type of characters. Ones that doesn’t hold back and does their job. It makes it seem more authentic. I loved how we get the perspective of the one who took the little girls. Definitely mentally unstable. Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
When the body of a young child, who has been missing for two years after attending a birthday party, is found Ward is out to find out who is responsible. A few days after the first child is discovered another child who attended the same party goes missing. Ward works to find the connection before another child is abducted.
The story had its twists and turns but overall it was just an okay book for me. 3 stars

Tense and disturbing The Birthday taps into every parent worst fear, the loss of their child. As ever Carol Wyer takes on a disturbing subject and treats it with a deft and sensitive hand, never losing the knack she has of writing a thrilling and emotive story.


This is the first Natalie Ward story.  I'm a bit late to the party for a few reasons (book 3 is already on its way). Firstly I'm waaaayyy behind on my reading (so many books, so little time) but also I'm again finding myself throwing my toys out the pram over a favourite character seemingly put to pasture. The Robyn Carter stories were some of my favourites so reading this felt almost adulterous. But I should have known that the author and Bookouture wouldn't fail me. I couldn't put this down, I literally read it in a few hours. In a saturated genre this stands out as a great read, and I look forward to reading future instalments.

The Birthday – Carol Wyer

Carol Wyer has done it again, another blinking good psychological thriller and as always when it involves children it drew me in so that at times I found I was holding my breath with my fingers crossed and a takeaway for dinner.

Before I go any further with this review please let me introduce you all to DI Natalie Ward a driven police officer, a wife and a mother of two typical teenagers who drive her to distraction as they do but who she loves with the ferocity of a mama lion with her cubs. Her husband has recently been made redundant and is walking about with a face like a slapped bum, he really does need to get over himself, he’s certainly easy to dislike.

In two thousand and fifteen Harriet and nineteen other children are at a garden centre/petting zoo birthday party. Imagine going back to collect your child only to be told that she has gone missing, you left her thinking she would be safe, how wrong could you be? Ava five seemed to disappear off the face of the earth, that is until two years later and the garden centre is sold and building work is undertaken that her body is found and she’s still wearing her pretty yellow dress.

New to the area of Samford her first assignment couldn’t be of the worst kind for her as she’s SIO on this one as her last case was a missing young girl that she didn’t manage to save. Before she can catch her breath two more girls from Harriet’s school who also attended the party disappear both and turn up murdered, wearing a similar yellow dress. Natalie is soon off and running she really doesn’t take long to start joining the dots, both her and her new team are determined to catch the culprit. With enough suspects to cobble dogs they have plenty to be getting on with. For a new team they seem to know which jobs are expected of them and its usually something that play to their strengths


I would recommend that if you buy this book I suggest that you get a cuppa with some chocolate curl up and lose yourself for a couple of hours (just don’t leave anything on the hob).

Read for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Bookoutre Publishers

Sorry I have gone back and tried to get into this book a few times, but I'm afraid it's just not for me, so I can not leave a review

Ava Sawyer goes missing from a birthday party and her body is found two years later. That year another partygoer is killed. What is their connection? Great story with twists and turns that keep you guessing at who the killer is.

was a gripping thriller that took you to every aspect of trying to figure out what was really going on and what was going to happen next! This was such an amazing book and I can’t wait to see what else is released from this author!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

This mystery detective book stars Detective Natalie Ward, who was challenged with a difficult case surrounding the recent discovery of a child who went missing several years ago in a birthday party. A few weeks later another child turns out dead, wearing a similarly yellow dress.

This book was like a lot of other mystery novels: it's interesting, has a premise that is not per se unique and feels like has been done before but with a different twist. The detective in this story reminds me of another book I read last year, Her Final Hour by Carla Kocvach (my review here) and to be honest I don't really see their unique personalities, they both and a lot of other similar detectives really cold together into one. It takes a lot of skills to make a detective series focusing on one female detective that really stands out. A previous read of this month, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (or Veronica Mars), succeeded more than this one did.

The story itself isn't at all bad. It's compelling, there is always something going on, and the clues unravel slowly throughout the novel and makes you wonder who really did it. The writing style isn't anything special, and neither are the other characters surrounding the case. The victims and the victims' families felt very bland and boring, mainly probably because I could care less about children in general so I don't really have an emotional connection with the main character's drive to find the killer.

Overall it's an okay book. It didn't serve to impress me whatsoever, and did not manage to blow my mind. I will probably not look for other books in the series in the future, but if you're looking for a fun, compulsory, classic (in the plot sense) mystery involving detectives, serial killers and the hunt of catching a twisted person, feel free to pick this one up.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my copy of The Birthday by Carol Wyer.
I am such a fan of Wyers writing whether it be the laugh out loud Rom com or detective series I am well and truly hooked. The Birthday is an intricately plotted psychological thriller that follows Natalie Wards investigation after the body of missing child Ava Sawyers is discovered. Detective Ward is committed to solving this case as we find out she is still deeply affected by her last missing child case. We find out Natalies character is strong and dedicated as her team set out to find out who the killer is . There are so many suspects, twists and turns the story had me utterly gripped. I highly recommend The Birthday, I have enjoyed choosing it as book of the week on radio Tamworth.

This is the first book in Carol Wyer's brand new series. A little girl goes missing from her friends birthday party at a local garden centre and her body is discovered two years later and then another girl who was also at the birthday party also goes missing and when both girls were found they were both wearing yellow dresses. Then when a third girl goes missing it becomes obvious there is a serial killer on the loose Detective Natalie Ward and her team have their work cut out for them to find the killer before another girl gets murdered. I was kept guessing the whole way through thanks to many suspects having shaky alibi's. A great pyschological thriller that leaves you thirsty for more and longing for the next installment of this fantastic new series.

Thank you to Bookouture, Carol Wyer and NetGalley for the arc of The Birthday my review is honest and unbiased in any way.

A 3.5 star read for me. This was my first read from this author and the story flowed freely keeping me guessing throughout but for me there were just a few too many characters and I got a little lost with who was who.

Young girls go missing and are found dead and Carol was very clever not to drop hints at who was guilty throughout the book. I can normally guess who it was but this book kept me guessing until the end.

An enjoyable read and many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for an advanced copy in reply for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader copy. I am voluntarily leaving a review. Ava Sawyer goes missing at a birthday party for her classmate. Five years later, renovations on the center where she disappeared unearth her body. She is wearing a yellow dress. Natalie Ward is assigned to the murder investigation. Two other little girls from the same party start going missing after Ava's body is found? Are they connected? Can Natalie solve the mystery before another little girl dies? This was a good, twisty story. I did not see who did it coming. An enjoyable read.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

This is the first book in Carol Wyer's Detective Natalie Ward series, but not my first time reading Carol Wyer. I loved her DI Robyn Carter series and while I was bummed to see that series come to an end, I am excited to see her create a series with another strong female lead!

I think this is a great start to a new series. Detective Natalie Ward is a dynamic character, one that is flawed with many issues in her personal life. She also feels that she needs to prove herself with this latest case. She's got a good work ethic, but might this need to be the most effective be her downfall in future cases? I loved that Carol Wyer provides us with just enough background on Natalie for us to get to know her but dangles a few things about her past that leave us wanting to know more...and I can't wait to see how this is explored in future books.

This case was very intriguing. Children that kept going missing and all having a connection from a birthday party years ago? Talk about a case that gets under your skin! And having chapters every once in a while that are from the killer's head from when the killer was a young child - not only did this give you insight into the killer, but it totally adds to the creep factor of the story overall.

This book moves at a pretty good pace. It's well-balanced between the case work and character development, where we meet the characters, some of which will be the bread and butter of this series. I think this was handled well as some events were hinted at that I am excited to see explored more fully.

I'm glad I picked this one up and will be reading the next book in this series, The Last Lullaby, very soon!

Man. From the get go this book was heart wrenching. I could feel the tension at the birthday party, and then years late when a body was found. It’s horrific what happens to some children. The writing in this book was really good, and the perspectives were interesting.

As an avid mystery reader, I'm always looking for a new author/ series to read. This story is an excellent start to a new series by an accomplished author. A child goes missing from a birthday party. The police cannot find her. Two long years later, her body is found. The police still have no clue who killed her...and then another child is missing. BUT, this child attended the birthday party two years prior. How will the police stop the killer when they do not have any clues? The detective assigned to the case after the second child is missing is determined to solve the children's killings, but another child...who attended the same birthday party...is missing and Detective Ward must use every resource to stop the killer now.
The author is building characters that will continue in this series so she has spent the time and effort to let the reader know Detective Ward and her family. The story line may seem familiar but the story is original and not predictable at all. One of the best parts of a mystery is figuring out "who did it" and Carol Wyer has displayed the skill of a seasoned professional in keeping you guessing until the last minute.