Message Deleted by KL Slater was a page-turner I could not put down as the story unfolded. Fast-paced with a twist I did not see coming! I really liked this one, but the ending seemed a bit drawn out once the twist was revealed. Overall, I enjoyed it! Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. All opinions are my own. Rating: 4 stars Publication Date: March 3, 2025

“Can’t speak.”
“Don’t text or call.”
“Pls just come.”

Saffy has severe anxiety and has lost custody of her son, Fox, to her ex-husband Neil. Her baby sister, Poppy, was attacked three years prior, and Saffy went to such a dark place afterwards that her husband left her and took their son, only allowing her to see him for a couple of hours a week. Saffy is getting better though; she’s been taking medication and has started working again. In fact, she’s at an important job interview when she gets those WhatsApp messages from her best friend. Then, she watches as they are all deleted.

Ditching the interview, Saffy rushes to Leona’s house, but her friend seems confused. She’s making dinner for her husband and child, and says she hasn’t sent any messages. The house looked normal, but Leona felt a vibe that something was wrong. She doesn’t trust Leona’s husband, Ash, and she wants to stay to make sure her friend is okay, but she has to pick Fox up from school. She leaves, gets her son, starts to make dinner, but then she hears someone at the door. It’s the police, telling her that Leona and her family are missing. Their house was in disarray and there was a substantial amount of blood…and since Saffy was the last one to see them, she immediately becomes the main suspect.

These aren’t words that I usually use together, but this is a very suspenseful slow burn mystery/thriller. While the book did feel drawn out a bit, there were several red herrings and plenty of chapter cliffhangers to keep the suspense going. There are a lot of layers to this book, and the author peels them back slowly as you read along. The more you learn, the more confused you may become until everything clicks in the end. It looks like this book was released by different publisher last year but is now being released again? I’m glad it is, because I got a chance to read it! 4.5 stars, rounded up.

(Thank you to Bookouture, K.L. Slater and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be re-released(?) on March 3, 2025.)

Thank you to K.L. Slater, Bookouture, and Netgalley for the e-arc copy of Message Deleted! A fast paced thriller with short chapters! It kept my interest the entire way through and kept me guessing at “who done it!” The twists towards the end of the book and the ending was wrapped up perfectly! This is my first book I’ve read by this author and I’m looking forward to reading more in the future! This book publishes on 3/3/25!

𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒊𝒕? 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑺𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏.

This one started with a bang! Saffy is waiting to go into a job interview when she receives a text message from her best friend, Leona: Can’t speak… don’t text or call… please just come. Then the screen changes to message deleted. Because Saffy has long feared the hold Leona's controlling husband has on her, she leaves her interview, even though she needs to secure employment to regain custody of her son.

When she arrives at Leona's house, everything is fine. Her husband is even cordial, and Saffy leaves, completely confused. But when word gets out that Leona, her husband, and their daughter are all missing, Saffy is the first one under suspicion.

While an enjoyable read, there were times the action either lagged a bit too much for my liking or things got a tad too convoluted. My final rating was 3.5 stars. Thank you to Bookouture for this early read. This title is expected to publish July 18, 2025.

WOW!! This book was SO good! I was completely hooked from the start!! K.L. Slater masterfully weaves suspense, twists, and emotional depth into a story that keeps you constantly guessing until the end. She crafts her characters so thoughtfully that I feel like I know them on a personal level. Seriously I couldn’t put this one down! If you love thrillers this one is a must read!,

If you want a book that makes you
Feel on edge wondering what’s going to happen next .Don’t know what characters to trust or who’s telling the truth with every chapter leaving you in suspense ,unanswered questions and making it hard to put this book down. This one is for you. This psychological whodunnit thriller has so many twists and turns! I haven’t read anything from K.L Slater before, I’m very pleasantly surprised and will definitely be picking up more of her work.

Saffy who is at a job interview received 3 text messages from her best friend Leona saying , can’t speak . Don’t text or call. Please just come. But then the messages are just gone and deleted. Saffy rushes over to Leona house to see her , her husband Ash and daughter Rosie are not in danger. Saffy leaves the family only to find out that they have gone missing shortly after her visit and Saffy was the last one to see them.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC

What an intriguing premise! The book started out strong and kept going with an action packed plot that kept twisting and turning throughout the book. The past and present points of view wove together nicely at the end. The writing style wasn't my favorite, as it wasn't as engaging as some other books I've read. However, it was a good read!

Can’t Speak. Don’t Text or Call. Please just come. When Saffy receives this text from her best friend, Leona, she frantically races to her home, thinking her best friend is in terrible danger. She had previously noticed some bruises on Leona’s wrist – was someone at her home threatening her?
When she arrives at her home, she is greeted by Leona and her husband at the door, and their young daughter laughs and plays in the background. Leona claims she never sent the message. When Saffy pulls out her cell phone to show her the message, the screen indicates that the message was deleted. Several hours later, the police arrived at Saffy’s home to question her. Leona and her family had disappeared, leaving a burned dinner behind and blood stains in the kitchen. A neighbor called the police when they heard the smoke alarms blaring from Leona’s open front door. They reported that Saffy was the person last seen at their home.
Saffy was devastated. Would she ever see her friends again?

Loved this one! Once it got going, I could not put it down! This was my first K. L. Slater book and now I want to get to some backlist titles. Definitely recommend!

Message Deleted is another winner by K.L. Slater! It’s a gripping and fast paced psychological thriller with an intriguing plot, full of twists and turns. Saffy receives an urgent text message from her best friend Leona begging her to come. She drops everything just as the screen changes and the message is deleted. Arriving at her friend’s house, Leona insists everything is fine and she never sent the message. Later that day the police show up at Saffy’s door and inform her that Leona, her husband Ash, and daughter Rosie are missing and there is blood in the house. As the richly layered story emerges, we meet many interwoven and often unlikeable characters with toxic relationships, told from different POVs and timelines. I highly recommend this captivating book! With thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

Buckle up for a ride with this one! WOW!I could not put it down. It was so catching from the start to finish. I loved it. The characters were fantastic as well.

This book was the definition of a psychological thriller. It has me questioning everything, In the best way! I loved that this book took off right from the start. I have a hard time getting into books sometimes if they have a slow start, that was definitely not an issue with this book. I will be reading more from this author for sure!

I have read most of K.L Slater’s books and have adored them. This one is no exception. It’s suspenseful and a thriller that leaves you guessing until the end.
When Saffy receives a text from her best friend that is soon deleted, it sends her into a frenzy. She isn’t convinced after showing up at her friends house that everything js okay- only hours later does her best friend disappear.
This is a book that I binged read in a matter of a few hours. One that I often thought to myself “what would I do?” K.L Slater is a champ at thrillers and I recommend everyone who enjoys a good ride to check it out!
Thank you to Netgalley, and bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance.

What a ride! Saffy and Leona have been good friends so when Saffy gets an ominous text from Leona that is soon deleted, she drops what she is doing and goes to her house. Leona insists all is well, but Saffy isn’t convinced. She returns home with an unsettled feeling and soon after the police arrive to tell her Leona along with her husband and daughter are missing. Saffy was the last to see them.
The story takes off from here with Saffy being a person of interest.

This story is suspenseful and keeps the reader guessing as we follow Saffy as she begins her own investigation to find her friend and god daughter. I found myself captivated by the story and fully on Sappy’s team! The author does an excellent job of drawing the reader in from the start with a suspenseful beginning and likable characters. I have enjoyed all books by this author and this one did not disappoint.

I received an arc from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good suspense story and this book was no diffeeent. I really enjoy the psychological mind games and the characters throughout this story.

What an absolute pleasure to sink into another fantastic KL Slater novel! This one popped me out of a reading slump real quick. A rich cast of characters that hooked at the very beginning and just didn’t let go until the final paragraph. It was a roller coaster ride that had me scrambling with who to trust. Such a great read, do not let this gem pass you by.
Thank you NetGalley, KL Slater and Penguin Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was tense and the plot twists genuinely surprised me! I always love a K.L. Slater book and this one didn't disappoint!

Thank you to NetGalley, author KL Slater and Bookotoure for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

I don’t like to give a bad review. The book wasn’t bad, it just didn’t keep my attention. It bounced all over the place and I struggled with some of the lingo as it was written with UK slang throughout.

The ending was good and wrapped up the storyline but I just felt it dragged on with too much filler and not enough thrill.

2⭐️⭐️

This was one of the very few books from K.L. Slater that I had a difficult time getting interested in. The storyline in the beginning confused me. But once I hit a certain point in the book it made sense and from that point on it was a roller coaster of a ride! Like others have stated- I stayed up way past my bedtime reading this one! Turned out to be a great book and I really enjoyed all the characters and the plot. Definitely another winner from this author! Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and K.L. Slater for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was another hit from the author. There was a good mix of mystery and suspense which kept the reader interested. There was good character development as well as a few twists towards the end. This is a book which I would recommend to all who enjoy a good mystery.