I didn't hate this book, but I don't feel like it did a great deal for me. It had a great ending, but the journey to the ending was just a bit average for me. Not my favourite book of Katerinas

Why does a married woman with two children suddenly feel compelled to go to Sidmouth in Devon? This is the start of a compelling mystery that takes us back in time to a summer heat wave and two teenage girls both with problems. There is a mysterious house guest at Jasmine’s home that her friend Felicity is also interested in. Child abuse, missing girls and a murder in the community are the backdrops to this story. We shift between that summer to the present day when one of those girls comes back to try and save a new missing teenager. She identifies herself as Felicity but it is obvious that this is Jasmine and she finally ends the mysterious goings on by facing her mother to gain the answers she and the town need.
This is an amazing read and you need to go back and forth to work it all out. This is the best crime novel I have read this year and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys crime novels and also to those who enjoy family stories with a mysterious element.

This is a story set in Sidmouth, Devon and told in two different time scales, then and now.

Sixteen years ago, a girl disappeared, and Felicity ran away from home. She's been running from her past ever since, living a quiet life in the Lake District. That is, until she hears of another girl disappearing. Felicity knows that she could be the only one who can solve these cases so she drops everything and returns to Devon.

This book has lots of twists but the end seemed to be rushed to tie everything up and this book didn't grab me like the authors other books. I found it quite slow going and there was just too many unbelievable happenings.

For me it lacked the heart pounding thriller aspect that I like about this genre. All in all I liked it but didn't love it.

I loved this book so much that I devoured it in a matter of days and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it!
It’s a really gripping page-turner with some fabulous twists that had me gasping out loud.
A must-read for who-dunnit fans.
I’ll definitely be looking up more books by this author.

History is repeating, Felicity comes home after 16 years and another girl is missing. Felicity has to face the truth.
Shocking and twisted. Dark who-dunnit thriller.
Must read summer novel.

I only requested this earlier today and I gulped it down in one sitting shortly afterwards.
The prologue really draws you in. It sets the scene well and gets you ready for the twists and turns that are in store. I loved the whole dual timeline thing it had going on; ‘then’ and ‘now’. You really get a feel for the characters as a result and how they adapt through the storyline. The leading character has to face past demons and it is a right riveting read following her on that journey. It’s blinkin’ brilliant overall and well worth dedicating an evening to read it.

OMG what a page turner. I could not put this book down. It had amazing plot twists and turns- , enough to make your head spin. This is a fast pace thriller and needs to be on everyone’s summer reading list. Katerina Diamond does not disappoint. This has best seller written all over it.

Felicity is watching tv with her husband in the Lake District when she sees a news report about a girl who has gone missing in her home town of Sidmouth, She immediately gets in her car and heads back to fight the demons she ran away from many years ago. A very dark and addictive thriller with great twists some I guessed some I didn’t. I love Katerina Diamonds books and this one didn’t disappoint.

This was a very mysterious and incredible read. There are so many secrets, twists and turns in it. It was very hard for me to figure what was going to happen and who did what. It had an incredible shocking ending. I had an idea (about half way through) of something going on in the book but I did not think my idea could be right but in the end it was. However, there was so much more that I could never have guessed. This was a very well written book and everything went together so smoothly. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

It took me a while to get into Felicity’s story but was much easier to get into Jasmine’s story. I couldn’t put it down and was not expecting the final twists of the book. A very suspenseful read that I enjoyed.

I'm a big fan of the Miles and Grey books by this author, but this was not what I expected. I'm not keen on unreliable narrators, but this wasn't as bad as some. I think that this will be really popular, as Girl On The Train was. But unfortunately it's just not for me.

After a few disappointing reads, I was in desperate need of a great thriller. You know the ones; the kind where you don't even realize you've spent hours reading because the plot is so compelling. I picked up The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond because I saw a friend with similar tastes had recently left a promising review about it. It absolutely did not disappoint! Books like this make me happy and remind me why I love to read in the first place.

The storyline alternates between the past and the present through the use of two narrators. Felicity is a wife and mother of two who drops everything to return to her hometown when she sees on the television that a teenage girl has mysteriously disappeared there. This strikes a nerve with her because when she was growing up, another teenage girl went missing under similar circumstances. For reasons that aren't immediately revealed to the reader, Felicity feels like she is the missing link that connects these two disappearances. She sets out to do some investigating on her own, hoping to get answers to questions that have plagued her for years and save the latest missing girl. This is the first time she's returned home since she left as a teenager after having done something terrible. Jasmine is the narrator for back "then" when the first girl went missing. She is best friends with Felicity and lives a privileged life, spending her summers with her parents traveling the world as they do charity work. This particular summer, however, plans have fallen through and Jasmine is excited by the prospect of actually getting to experience a normal summer vacation. Jasmine's family has recently relocated and taken on a renter, Tim, who lives in a small garden house in the backyard. Jasmine can tell immediately that Tim is not the picture-perfect man her parents believe him to be. She embarks on a dangerous journey when she decides to find out what Tim might be hiding. Felicity and Jasmine's stories interweave seamlessly to tell a thrilling tale full of deception and depravity.

This book was just what I was hoping it would be! I have never read anything by Katerina Diamond before, but she is definitely an author I will be following from now on. I don't typically think too much when I read mysteries. I'm not a reader who is constantly trying to figure out the twists before they come. I simply read it and let the plot unfold as it may, but I wouldn't have been able to figure out the ending of this book no matter how hard I tried. There were several twists and reveals that I never saw coming. This book was just so...effortless. It was so easy to get sucked in and before I knew it, I had finished it! This would definitely make a great summer beach read and has been one of my favorites of 2020 so far.

My Rating: ★★★★★
At the time of this post, this title is set to be released on June 25, 2020.

Thanks to Avon Books and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love this author’s books, and the cover and description of this book immediately drew me in. This is the story of Felicity who fled her home town following the disappearance of a girl 16 years previously. Now living many hundreds of miles away from her home town of Sidmouth in Devon, Felicity hears on the news of another girl who has gone missing, just like all those years ago. Leaving her family at home, she returns to Sidmouth to see if there are any connections between the two girls, and to face the truth that she has been hiding.

The story is told from Felicity’s point of view in the present day, and from her best friend, Jasmine’s point of view 16 years previously. The older Felicity is a puzzle! She is married with children, but the relationship with her and husband seemed to be very strained despite her obviously loving him. Leaving on a whim when she hears the news of the missing girl, you can’t blame her husband for ignoring her calls. The storyline from 16 years previously showed us Jasmine and Felicity who were just two typical teenagers. However, when Tim (a stranger who Jasmine’s parents invited to live in summer house in exchange for work around the house) arrives, the storyline takes on more of a darker feel.

I have to admit, the storyline did begin slowly, building up the suspicion, tension and mystery as to what had happened all those years ago. The characters added to the uneasiness which seemed to surround both timeframes, from the mysterious Tim 16 years before, to the old friends who Felicity finds when she returns. At some point in the book though, the storyline just turns a corner and you wonder what the hell happened!! From that point, the pace picks up and all the secrets from 16 years ago come flooding out, tying up all the loose ends with one big shocker which I certainly didn’t see coming!

This was a dark and twisted story of secrets, mistrust and lies spread out over many years. With many twists and turns you won’t put this book down until you’ve reached the very end. Would definitely recommend!

I can predict this will certainly be a huge summer hit like 'Gone Girl' and the plot does have a huge twist in its tale that did throw me off course about possible suspects for the mysterious missing girls that link 16 years across the cosy seaside town of Sidmouth in Devon.
The author is able to describe the angst of teenage girls really well and the complex emotions that deal with their burgeoning sexuality. I was thinking there was a case of mistaken identity all along and that the narrator would be revealed to be far more sinister than she was.
But something troubled me about the settings and the families and an awful lot of stereotyping of people. Single drunk mothers, fairground wasters of men with tattoos and the exploitation of male teachers by seemingly innocent young female pupils.
However I am sure this will be a big hit and the backdrop of the searing heatwave makes it a sexually hot thriller that writhes about it many ways.
But not one of my favourites.

Not really a book for me. Was a bit disappointed in the storyline and found the writing a bit too simple for me. Could just be that I enjoy more structured characters and a faster paced storyline. From the reviews there are obviously lots of people that did enjoy this book but sadly not for me.

Thank you Avon Books and Netgalley.

Is anyone who they say they are or who you think they are? This story has a creeping sense of unease, an inevitability that something isn't quite right and where even the reader can't quite put their finger on what that is. The truth will out seems certain but keeps you guessing at what price that will come.

Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

Felicity lives a charmed and privileged life, but this wasn't always so. Her childhood has always felt like an inescapable weight, despite the miles and years that separate them, but never more so than with the current headline screaming at her from every newspaper and news station: a girl has disappeared.

Felicity does not know this teenage girl, but she does know another who vanished in the same place and in the same way. Felicity feels called to save this unknown teenager and hopefully quieten the unavenged from her own past that won't keep quiet, in the process.

Whilst this provided a series of intriguing and interlinked mysteries I did guess at the central one before the grand reveal. Much featured to keep me engaged however, and I felt more satisfied than disappointed at knowing this one ahead of time. My engagement with the story was also heightened through the split chronological format, which featured the present crime along with the many mysteries of the past. On the brink of gaining some knowledge the perspective switched and it always left me eager for more, in both areas.

One small source of discontent for me, however, was the willingness of various individuals to reveal information about the missing girl in their area. Perhaps this is a personal issue, but if a stranger questioned me about a crime I would hesitate to provide ANY knowledge I had about the case or the girl in question, especially details such as her name or where she resided. This happened on a few occasions and was never a prevalent enough issue to spoil my enjoyment, but did feature enough for me to mention here.

Despite this small niggle, I was impressed with the many twists and how much was incorporated in the narrative. My reading of it also coincided nicely with a British heatwave, and I spent a few restless nights when sleep evaded me, sweating my way through these pages with the characters instead.

Having read and enjoyed several of Katerina Diamond's earlier novels, I am looking forward to reading this book.

This stand alone story is, like previous books packed with a range of superb characters. Each of the characters is well crafted and develop as the narrative progresses.

I need to be careful not to spoil the story, suffice to say that this novel has more twists and turns than the Maze at Hampton Court. There is a veritable shoal of red herrings along the way.

I really liked the clever use of the dual timeframe, as slowly events from the past merge with the current day.

I give my thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

Wow fantastic book, I've read all of katerina diamonds books with detectives adrian and imogen and loved them and was a bit dubious about reading a stand alone. I needn't of been this book is great lots of what! Moments and twists making me rethink what I thought the ending was. Definitely a great summer read. Thank you for my advanced copy I'll also be buying a paperback to support the author.

When Felicity hears that a girl has gone missing from her home town, it forces her to to confront her past by returning to her hometown.

Since there are too many similarities between this case and what happened 16 years ago. She believes only she holds the answers – and they’re more shocking than anyone could imagine.

This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it!!

It is so well written that initially very little information is revealed so it keeps the reader guessing and adds to the suspense. It is nicely split into chapters told by the two main characters, Felicity (now) and her best friend, Jasmine (then). It starts slowly but then it gathers pace and intensity.

This is a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat and had some very surprising twists, some of which I guessed and some I didn't expect!! Overall this book was brilliant and I read it in one sitting.

Thank You to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC!!