I love Carol Wyer's books and I love the DI Natalie Ward series so I am always going to be a bit biased in my reviews as I lap up every new instalment!
In this book Natalie is reeling from an investigation that didn't go according to plan. The investigation ended with a man being sent to prison for the Blossom Twin murders but 3 months later he committed suicide and Natalie blames herself for the death of a second set of twins which she believes could have been prevented.
When we join Natalie and her team in this novel we are a few years on and in a different geographical area. A girl goes missing at an open air concert and although she is the only victim and not a pair of girls murdered, there are striking similarities between this murder and the Blossom Twin murders. Is there a copycat murderer on the loose or was the wrong man convicted?
We follow Natalie on her professional journey, long hours, little sleep and office politics, to hunt down the killer and bring him or her to justice. There are lots of great details that make you question who the perpetrator is and lots of wonderful information revealed that help the reader to make all sorts of connections that may or may not be relevant. The story as always pulls you in and encourages you to read on, caught up in the lives of the detectives and the thoughts of the murderer which are interspersed between the ongoing investigation.
We are also treated to more of Natalie's personal life, and things are not going well at home at all.
This book could have been an enjoyable but run-of-the-mill addition to the series but what makes it stand out is the standard of writing, the brilliant characters (boo, hiss to new Superintendent Dan Tasker) AND a development I did not see coming with a taut, time-is-running-out race to prevent further disaster. The ending will also leave fans of this series in shock and upset for Natalie personally. 
Already looking forward to book 6, due out March 2020!

*5 Stars*

ARC kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really good read with good characters. The storyline was interesting and emotional and kept me intrigued the whole time.

Would recommend.

Carol Carol Carol... you did it again! I am amazed by your talent!!!

I want to say that this book was my favorite but then I thought the same about the last one, and I know I'll say the same about the next one.  I love this series!

Well written and captivating from start to finish.  I was into it from page one.  Interesting storyline with many twists and turns, strong characters... you just can't turn the pages fast enough.  A real page turner.

I can't wait for the next one, the next case!  I am addicted to your books, I am addicted to you!  On that note, I also want to wish you and everyone at Bookouture a Happy New Year! 

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book.  This is my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

The Blossom Twins is the latest offering in the DI Natalie Ward series. Having not read any in the series, I don’t think it necessarily matters except to understand her backstory and her relationships with her work colleagues better.
As is often the case with detective series, Natalie is clearly married to her job to the detriment of her family life. She’s coming to terms the end of her marriage when the body of Isabelle Sharpe, a young girl enjoying a free concert put on by her favourite band, is discovered in the grounds.
I found this very readable from the outset and as the investigation gets underway, eager to uncover the culprit. However, complications arise when two more bodies are discovered, both sisters, and Natalie is reminded of her role in the Blossom Twins investigation years earlier. Could this be the work of a copy cat killer or was the wrong man convicted??
I liked the way the author explores Natalie’s feelings of guilt surrounding that investigation, showing her to be a flawed character capable of making mistakes and allowing others to sway her judgement. Clearly she is haunted by the past, unable to forgive herself which perhaps adds to her determination to get it right this time.
Setting doesn’t play much part in this novel which is unusual as often place plays an important role and adds to the overall atmosphere. What happens could be happening in any part of the country but maybe the author prefers the writing to reflect more about Natalie’s character than anything else.
Whilst I found this incredibly easy to read as well as engaging, the red herrings in the plot weren’t convincing enough to put me off the scent of the killer, which of course is disappointing. I want to be fooled and distracted enough to miss the hidden clues and berate myself,when the twists are revealed, for being so easily hoodwinked. Despite guessing the true identity of the killer I was still shocked by the ending, unexpected, sombre and heartbreaking.
I definitely think this is worth a read as it grabbed my attention straightaway and I will go backwards in the series to learn more about Natalie’s character and her colleagues.
Thanks as always to the author and publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

Although this is a book 5 in the series I didn't feel like I was lost.  There were only two things that were mentioned about the past titles.  So I think that as long as that doesn't bother you, that you could read this one as a stand alone.  There were a few parts where the story dragged but overall, the twists and turns kept me invested in the story.  It was mainly in Natalie Ward's POV but there were a few times that I was taken into another detectives.  Natalie was a very strong female lead, she was job oriented, and someone you could look up to.  The killer was very unexpected and when the ending came I didn't see it coming.  I am very excited to see what happens next and I want to go back and read the other 4 books in this series.


Go Into This One Knowing: Murder, Abduction, Death of an Infant

Isabella Sharpe, a fourteen year old, goes missing at a free concert in the park. The next day her body is found on the grounds, with flower petals over and around her.
Thirteen year old twins Ivy and Erin Westmore who had been camping out in a tent in their backyard are gone the next morning.
DI Natalie Ward is called out to investigate their disappearance with her team.
When the girls bodies are located close by, positioned with layers of pink flower petals, Natalie's fear grows. These deaths remind her of a previous case where the killer was finally caught and imprisoned.
Do they have a copycat or is the real killer still on the loose?
Natalie's new boss puts the pressure on. He assigns DS John Briggs to her group, they had worked together previously on the first blossom twins case and had a contentious working relationship. But she tries to get along, they need to solve this case before other girls are murdered.
Natalie is also burdened with her collapsing marriage. Husband David has lost her trust with all his lies, and she doesn't feel she can ever get it back again. Because of the urgency of her investigation, she is spending less time at home with her teenagers Josh and Leigh.
When the killer makes his next move, it won't be one she is prepared for.
This police procedural/mystery/thriller had it all for me! I loved the realistic and fascinating way it followed the investigation, looking for the clues and the next lead. Natalie is a complicated character, she evokes both compassion and frustration! She is someone you want to know.
The ending just blew me away, how can I wait for the next book?!
Thank you to Bookouture for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

The fifth book in the Detective Natalie Ward series by Carol Wyer. In this book, Natalie investigates the case of murdered sisters that resembles an older case that was supposedly solved. Natalie questions if they caught the right guy the first time around. As Natalie investigates, the killer continues to target other girls.

Natalie is a smart and strong female protagonist. She's got a lot of strengths, but she also has flaws. The combination of her work life and personal life makes for a compelling read. I'm always intrigued with the mysteries in this series, and this book has one of the most difficult cases Natalie has worked.

This book is part of a series, but it can be read as a standalone. Each book has a different case that Detective Ward investigates, but the personal storyline advances and adds another layer to the stories. This is a fantastic series, so I recommend starting with the first book, <i>The Birthday</i>.

A dark and complex crime thriller. Good for fans of police procedurals. Gritty, intense, and fast-paced.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing! It was so interesting and intense, and I couldn’t put it down!! It was so unexpected!l, with unexpected twists and turns!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Another set of twins turn up dead !!! WOW WOW WOW !!!! A gut wrenching , throat clutching thriller that is a MUST read ! Another winner in the Detective Ward series ! Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book ! #Netgalley #Bookouture #TheBlossomTwins

I have been enjoying this series of books by Carol Wyer immensely and this book is the latest one.  It was absolutely brilliant and extremely well written again. These books keep you guessing throughout and the ending of this one was shocking.  I look forward to the next one and particularly look forward to seeing how Natalie’s personal story develops.

A murder of a young girl occurred, and Natalie was called to investigate. Something about the case was similar to her old case of Blossom Twins 4 years ago. The stakes were raised when another twin girls were murdered and left posed. Natalie was pulled further into her convictions. She investigated…

A police procedural like no other with my favorite Detective Natalie Ward written by author Carol Wyer. The book pulled me apart in various ways. The author gave my thriller-y heart a nasty twist and then pushed me down the cliff. There was only free fall and I broke.

This was most unexpected. A brilliant piece of writing, Carol was detailed and clever. Giving me hints of the killer’s life, she wrapped me in a box filled with cotton where I was most comfortable. I went soaring through the book thinking it to be a routine police procedural. Then came the time when the aura changed. I felt I was stepping into a minefield. I was slow and careful, watchful for the danger. And I stepped right on the bomb…

And the words destroyed my world. I felt sideswiped. Shock filled every part of me. My world of Natalie and her team was kept delightfully enthralled with the identity of the killer, and then destroyed, one molecule of me at a time. The author was so freaking brilliant at the way she wrote this book.

Absolutely rocking, jaw-dropping, heart-wrenching thriller of a police procedural. I have read many this year, this one is at the top of the list. One of my best midnight reads.

The Blossom Twins by Carol Wyer is the fifth in the Detective Natalie Ward series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

 
Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
DI Natalie Ward is a strong female detective, but also a woman who is trying to juggle her job and her home life. Her husband has a gambling problem and lost all their savings.  Then he lost his job, and he is now working from home. He is feeling inadequate, and Natalie finds herself constantly having to massage his fragile ego. Although she tries, she feels like she is neglecting her two children, even though they know that if she is on a murder investigation, it has to take precedence. She is often torn. Natalie’s team consists of: DS Lucy Carmichael, DS Murray Anderson and PC Ian Jarvis.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

When the dead body of a girl is found covered in rose petals, Natalie can't help but remember The Blossom Twins case.  The case that will always haunt her, where she blames herself for not capturing the perpetrator fast enough to prevent a second set of twins from being murdered.   But he was caught, wasn't he?

Now another set of twins have turned up dead, the positioning of their bodies and other identifying markers are identical to the original case.  As the team is a man down, Natalie's new boss has brought in DS John Briggs, her old partner on The Blossom Twins case, to assist her.  While her boss thinks he's right for the job, Natalie has always had  problems with him.  This case won't be any different.

Meanwhile, Natalie has now given up on her marriage, the gambling and lies becoming more than she can handle.  She is even searching for a place of her own.  The problem is going to be telling her children.

My Opinions:  

Well...this is the second series in which an author has taken a chance and totally surprised me.  Messing with a primary character is risky, but it was done really well.  The twist, when it came, shocked me.

I have definitely been enjoying the series, and loving the characters (except David, who is despicable). Sometimes I believe that Natalie's family comes into the story lines too much, but it has definitely made things interesting.

The plot was great, and the pace relatively fast, with lots of action, and a lot of suspects.  I had a pretty good idea who the perpetrator was early on, but it didn't detract from the story at all.

The book seemed to be a reminder that teenagers can be a little secretive, a lot gullible, and act differently at home than they do in public.  But I think one of the main topics could be to show what loss can do to a person who already has issues.  I am not, in any way, defending the perpetrator, but his background definitely contributed to his crimes.  On the other hand, I think he was just evil, and wanted revenge.

Anyway, I think this one was the best in the series....and you really can't read this as a stand-alone, because you can't really get a feel for Natalie without reading the other books.

Definitely interested in how things are going to move forward.

Rating:   5 stunning stars

Carol Wyer’s fifth installment in her Inspector Natalie Ward police procedural mystery series is a gut-wrencher.   Each book in this series gets stronger and stronger.   I’ve really grown to like DI Natalie Ward.  She not afraid to make tough decisions both on and off the job.   The crime in this book is the murder of young teen-aged twins.  For Natalie it harkens back to similar cases when she was a detective on the Manchester police force.   However, that crime was solved.  The murdered was put in prison.    Is there any connection between these murders?  

DI Ward and the killer both share the narration role in this book.   Through earlier snippets of the killer’s point of view, we see the police getting closer and closer to the truth as the story progresses.   Will they catch the culprit before more girls die?  As Natalie is working heads-down on this case, she still has to deal with her home front.   How can she stay better connected to her teenaged children?  Should she leave her husband David?  What is the best way to find work-life balance while working for a new boss who clearly has a different set of priorities than she does?   How much harder do you have to work to be taken seriously when the new boss has a clear favorite, and it’s not you?  

The ending --- oh – the ending!   I am not going to spoil it.   Just let me say that I think that this is a very brave author.   She is willing to go places that other writers might not be willing to go.  The identity of the murderer was pretty much a surprise to me until the very end of the book.   Yay!  That is a great thing in a mystery.   Did I mention the ending?   I would especially recommend this for mystery aficionados.   This series is a wonderful British police procedural featuring a smart female Detective Inspector.   You can pick this up as a standalone book.  I would recommend starting at the beginning of the series though.   The background stories of the police team members, and the Ward family continues to be refined and developed in each book.   This background information adds to the richness of the next book.  

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Bookouture; and the author, Carol Wyer for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fifth book in the Natalie Ward series, and the best so far. Natalie juggles her chaotic home life with her even more chaotic work life, and this gripping fifth book brings everything crashes down. Fast paced with lots going on, it really is the best in the series! I would recommend the other four books are read before this one.

I absolutely love the Detective Ward series and this latest does not disappoint.

Natalie and her team are called in when a girl goes missing from an open air concert. Her body is discovered some hours later and something about the crime scene is bringing back memories for Natalie.  

Another call comes in and twin girls have gone missing whilst camping in their back garden.  All of this is too much of a coincidence for Natalie and she starts to think there is a copycat in the area, or did they get the wrong man for the killing of four girls a few years ago ?

This really is a great Detective series and if you haven’t read the previous books then what are you waiting for ?  There is a lot of the story that you will miss out on by not reading the previous books but this could be read as a stand-alone.  This really is a great book with a shocking ending !!

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

I'm broken after reading this.  What a fantastic book.  I have read all the Detective Natalie Ward books and this one Number 5 is as good as, or better than them all.  A fast, riveting read with so many legitimate suspects. A real whodunnit.  You race through to find out who the cruel murderer could possibly be.  The characters are so relatable and I love the relationship with Natalie and her team despite a new detective joining them creating animosity in the team.  Natalie's homelife is in tatters but it doesn't stop her working with a vengeance to find the culprit.  Such a fantastic read.

I’ve been lucky enough to have read all of this series and thoroughly enjoy them.  This instalment has many surprises and twists with an ending I didn’t see coming.

Many thanks to the publishers and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Why! Why would you do that!!!!!!! I had a feeling something like that was going to happen, but I so badly wanted to be wrong!!!!!

Natalie Ward is back....but for how long? I have no idea where the series will go from here. I mean, Carol Wyer delivered a huge blow to her characters and, even though we all know that Natalie is made of strong stuff, theres only so much one person can handle!!

This probably goes without saying, but 'The Blossom Twins', like many psychological thrillers/crime novels, is as much an uncomfortable novel to read as it is addictive. The premise of the storyline and the way it was centred around the deaths of multiple young girls, was very difficult to digest. With that in mind, it was also incredibly gripping and made me want to turn into Hulk just to nail the fluffy chicken...(amazon wont accept my review if I say what I really think!!)

John Briggs was an outright twat. I cannot stand egotistical, arrogant, selfish people like him. Kudos to the author though for nailing his character personalisation!

As dark and as cut throat as this novel may be, the suspense was like fireworks in my mind! Carol Wyer has got a mind that I really wouldn't want to delve into, yet she knocks each and every one of her novels out of the park! In a way I didn't want to enjoy it given the circumstances, yet I ended up thoroughly blindsided by this christmas cracker of a read that left me wanting more.

I feel so sorry for Natalie at the end of each book, and this one is no different. Do I think things will get easier for her? Hell no. Do I think she will come back ready to fight? Possibly, although I dont envy anyone who finds themself up against her!

In the words of Oliver, 'please sir, can I have some more?'

Outstanding. Emotive. Gripping. Intense. Devious. An absolute belter of a read!

A wonderful past paced; sit at the edge of your seat read! 

"Eeny, meeny, miny....oh! This pair. They would be perfect."

A free concert by a popular boy band ends in tragedy for Kerry when her sister Isabella disappears and is subsequently found murdered. 
DI Natalie Ward is put in charge of the case and her new boss wants results quickly. Something about the case feels familiar to her. Then 13 year old twins Ivy and Erin disappear and it turns Natalie's world upside down. Is the Blossom Twins murdered back or is there a copy cat out there.
Her new boss brings in her old partner that worked with her on the original case. He is arrogant and not a team player. Her personal life is also a mess.

A thoroughly enjoyable read that keeps you guessing till near the end! Although this is book 5 in the series it didn't feel like I've missed anything. The storyline is well developed and there is good characterization. 
I will definitely look out for more books by this author. 

Thank you to #netgalley and #bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book, without a doubt, was the most emotionally charged book of the series thus far.

Natalie is trying to track down the killer of twins. As she investigates, she finds some eerie parallels with a previous case, a case where the killer ended up in prison. So, how could this be?

As the stress mounts for Natalie both at home and at work, the killer taunts her at every turn. Despite his brilliance at covering his tracks, Natalie is like a dog with a bone and pursues him until the end. No matter what the cost to herself.

The big twist at the end had me in shock and I shed a few tears there.

Brilliant book. Can't wait to read the next one.

5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.