Hot and sticky. Had a good read of this while sat in the sun. Great author as read a few books in the past. Thrilling and twisty, not knowing what's going to happen next

Felicity lives in the Lake District with her husband and two children. One day she sees a story on the news about a girl in a seaside town who has gone missing. It's the same seaside town where Felicity grew up, where 16 years ago another girl went missing. Back then, Felicity fled, knowing more than she let on.
Seeing the news story causes Felicity to travel back to her home town to face the truth of what happened all those years ago.

I have a feeling this book is going to be really popular when it's released this summer!

This is a dark psychological thriller with plenty of twists. I guessed some of them in advance, but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment.

The story switches back and forth between Felicity in the present, and Jasmine (who was Felicity's best friend) in the past.

The beginning felt a little confusing, and I couldn't understand why Felicity would drop everything to head back to her hometown. However, there were a couple of interesting twists in the middle which kept me engaged. Then the last quarter was incredible! Really fast-paced with plenty of tension.

As a lot of you know, my TBR list is made up mainly of authors that I want to read rather than books, and Kat was on that list.
With this being the first Katerina Diamond book I have read, I didn’t know what to expect, but I can safely say this will NOT be the last one I read! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I really enjoy books with a dual time line feature and the way this comes together at the crux of the story is brilliantly done. I found this book very easy to get into and instantly got a feel, (good or bad) for the characters.
Although I did guess who the culprits were it wasn’t until I was about 60% in, but, I think that’s just because I read a lot of thrillers. This did not take away the enjoyment of this book at all though because the speed really picks up at this point and the way the book is written makes it feel so tense, and full of suspense. I also have to say there were many times I gasped as the twists were unexpected.

Really, really pleased I’ve now read one of Kat’s book and will definitely be reading more

Felicity is happily married and has two children. But she keeps secrets from them.
One day, when she hears that a teenage girl has gone missing in her home town; a town where 16 years earlier another girl had disappeared, she immediately heads there, confident that she holds the answer to everything.

The story alternates between Felicity's perspective and her friend Jasmine's recap of past events.
It was a good entertaining read that kept me steadily interested. However, I found it short of suspense and a bit slow to get going.
I also felt that Felicity's "investigation" was far fetched, the way everybody spoke to her without questioning her motives was implausible.
Also, the tile was a bit misleading as it had nothing to do with the story apart from a heatwave being mentioned a couple of times.
All through, I was considering giving it 3 stars, but there were some good twists at the end that had me hesitating.
However, after a lot of thought, I decided to settle on 3 stars.
The conclusion was pretty shocking, but since the rest of the book wasn't suspense-packed, it couldn't warrant the raised rating.
It was, however, an easy and quick read, and if that's what you're looking for, then you should give it a go.

Review
The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond
’One summer. One stranger. One killer.’
Felicity fled her hometown after a crime rocked the community. Now sixteen years on, she hears news of a similar crime occurring again in her hometown, and feels compelled to return. It is time she faced the truth about what really happened all those years ago, and confront those demons from her past.
You can always count on Diamond to give you a page turning thriller! This is well written, lending itself to be an easy read. It started a little slowly but picked up pace, building the suspense nicely along the way. The story unraveled well, confirming or negating my many various suspicions as it did. I gradually found myself reading quicker and quicker just to know what the ending would bring!
A few twists are thrown in along the way. Some I guessed at, but some I truly didn’t, which made for an exciting climax to the book. I will say though I did have a few unanswered questions at the end.
Diamond fans will not be disappointed, and if you like quick read thrillers, with a bit of excitement and bag loads of suspicion, pick this one up!
Thank you @netgalley for this early review copy.

I really enjoyed this book is was a nice quick read for me however I do feel like the ending was a bit rushed for me.

I’m a huge fan of Katerina Diamond’s series and even though I didn’t enjoy this standalone as much as I was hoping to, I’m definitely still going to read her future books and I won’t let this one put me off. There’s a few things that I didn’t like about this one. I struggled to get into it as I felt like it took a while for anything to happen, and I wasn’t too keen on the ending. The ending seemed uneventful and it made me dislike the main character. When I became gripped by the storyline I loved it and didn’t want to stop reading. It’s a great storyline and really got me thinking and trying to guess what was going to happen. However I did predict the ending and not much surprised me. I really liked the main character for most of the storyline, but the ending made me dislike her and I found myself getting annoyed at her. I’ve also been left with a few questions about the ending and about what happens next. This book was really easy to read and I got through it quite quickly. I loved that the chapters were from both past and present. Whilst I was reading I was sure that this would be a 4 star read for me, but unfortunately the ending has really effected my opinion of the book. It was still a great read and I will definitely recommend it to people. I can’t wait to read the next book from Katerina Diamond!

Katerina Diamond is an auto buy author for me, I love her Grey and Miles series, so although this wasn't a part of that it was equally as good!

Thanks to #Netgalley and the publisher #Avon Books UK for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. This is an amazing standalone psychological thriller which I could not put down. The story of Felicity and Jasmine set in Sidmouth Devon. The twists and turn in this story where amazing and I highly recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this book - I thought the storyline going forward and backwards in time was cleverly written and worked really well.

One of the smaller twists I worked out quite early on - but the major twist, I had no idea!!

There were times when I felt the main character was a bit whiny and I couldn't work out whether I liked her at first, but I grew to like her by the end. Everything pulled together and made sense by the end.

I would definitely recommend this book!

I’ve read other books by the author and have really enjoyed them, so I’ve been looking forward to reading this. The premise sounded like something I’d really enjoy. The book moves between the past and present. This is my favourite structure for a novel, and it works really well here to build suspense and intrigue and show how events are linked. There are also plenty of twists and turns which delighted me. I was confused, suspected everyone and had no idea what the truth was. I love those kind of books. I had no idea how it was going to play out and the ending stunned me. This is sort of brilliant!

I love this author. I have read every other book written by her and I’m never disappointed. She write the most gripping novels that you just can’t put down. This one is no different. So many twists and turns in the story, such great detail in all that is written. You feel like you’ve stepped in to the scene. I was totally gripped by the young girl in this book- you just have to read the book to find out the horrors she has seen. As the story unfolds, prepare for a shocker!!!

I love Katerina Diamond but this was an extremely so burner and took forever to get going. I think I was 60%/70% into it before I sat up and started to take notice and thought this is it now. Once it did get going I was completely enthralled and it didn’t disappoint. Although the ending was unbelievably rushed considering the long drawn out build up. If you stick with it you will enjoy but not everyone would stick it out to the point of when it becomes a page turner.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mandy Green has been kidnapped. Felicity lives with her husband and two children, bu feels, due to an incident in her past, that she must travel to Devon, where Mandy Green was taken. I have to say that this book just fell apart for me because it began to read like a YA novel at about the 20% mark. It just wasn't for me.

I really struggling to get into this book, I couldn't feel any connection with the characters or the storyline.

Oh. My. Goodness. That was a cracking book 4.5 stars. It was the summer that changed everything. 16 years ago a young man, Tim, came to town and by the end of that summer people had died and people had disappeared. Felicity (Flick) fled the town never to return. Until now. Now living in the Lake District Flick hears on the radio one morning that another young girl has gone missing from her hometown in Devon in a horribly similar way to back then. She feels driven to return and confront the ghosts of her past. So she kisses her family goodbye and drives off.

The story is told from two points of view (POV). In the present tense we get Felicity’s story as she retraces the steps from her past with mounting dread. We get the feeling that something terrible had happened. In the past we get the story from her best friend Jasmine’s POV and it was at Jasmine’s house, in the guest cottage, that the stranger, Tim, was ensconced. Jasmine felt straight away that there was something odd, something not quite right, with Tim but her parents seemed to like him and he was doing some renovations at their house for his board.

During that hot summer tension simmered between the young friends and Tim. Jasmine felt drawn to him but still didn’t fully trust him. But one fateful day blew everything wide open. If you picture the COVID-19 curve, it was pretty flat and only rising slowly for a long time at the start. Then it shot upwards. That was this book - a long slow burn that got suddenly hotter and ended with an almighty bang. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it.

Slow to start, told from past and present, I preferred the past chapters and I really liked Jasmine as a character.

The book had plenty of tense moments and I did not guess the ending, which I do feel was a little rushed.

Overall, above average book, 3/5 stars.

When I first started this book I wondered why someone who left their home town so many years ago was compelled to go back when a crime was committed. However, this rollercoaster of flashbacks and current events soon got me sucked into the story. It is a typical Katerina Diamond book with twists and turns and a flawlessly orchestrated plot which tied up very well, but without being overly flamboyant or convoluted. A recommended read.

Well, holy heatwave. I live in Phoenix, so I am not really sure what a heatwave is, but I do know that this book sucked me in from the getgo!

After Felicity sees a news report about a missing teen girl in her hometown, her mind goes back to a time when another girl went missing. Through Felicity and her best friend's eyes, we get to see what truly happened to the missing teen all those years ago.

I will say, after getting the song "Heat Wave" stuck in my head for the first half and then "La Isle Bonita" in my head the second half, I was questioning whether I was really into the book or no. Turns out I was and am to glad I stuck with it.

There were soooooooooooooooo many twists and "holy shit" moments I am still left feeling dizzy! Thank you for a much needed distraction from the world and the heat that never seems to falter here! Arc received with thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

Thanks to Netgally for the loan of this book.
Having read all other books by Katrina Diamond I was looking forward to this book, and although it was a good story, with a shocking twist, I prefer her previous books with the detectives storyline.
That said, this book was still a great read, and a brilliant story. I love Katrina's way of writing And this was no exception. The story centres on a young woman who after reading a news report about a missing girl, suddenly leaves her family to visit the town she grew up in to investigate the girl who's gone missing. Why is she so interested in this missing girl? Is she somehow linked to her? The story flicks between past and present and grows more intriguing page by page. The ending is shockingly brilliant. A must read.