The Heatwave

Another fantastic book from Katerina Diamond. When Felicity hears that a girl has gone missing in her childhood hometown, she immediately heads back as she feels it is linked to what happened when she was a teenager, before she fled. The story changes between the present and the past where we start to find out what exactly happened all those years ago. Is what is happening now connected to what happened back then? What we find out is tense, gripping, shocking, and full of fantastic twists and turns! I actually felt a tingle in my spine as the ending was revealed as it was just so clever and shocking. Absolutely loved this book and can't recommend it enough.

It’s been sixteen years since Felicity was home, She left after a local girl disappeared, but now she’s back and another girl has gone missing. Felicity has no choice but to face what really happened almost 20 years ago. This is an intense psychological thriller with the heat of summer ratcheting up the tension

Another fantastic story from Katerina Diamond. I love her writing. Intelligent and always incredible. A brilliant whodunnit story with an incredible twist x

The Heatwave is a must read summer novel! Definitely did not disappoint!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

a great read by katerina diamond as always .very good storyline lots of twists and turns .one for the sunlounger i think.

#TheHeatwave #NetGalley
Katerina knows how to engage the reader in the book. A good read.
Jasmine and Felicity are two best friends, although they both have different lives and goals, one thing is common between them and that's Tim, a boy who arrived at Jasmine's house to help them in everything. But Tim is not what he's saying he's and Jasmine's parents are hiding a secret from Jasmine.
Told from two POV's of present and past. I can't reveal who's narrating the present because its the twist but Jasmine is narrating the past.
Katerina's writing is good. Although the final ending didn't surprise me but still its a good read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for giving me an advance copy of this thriller.

Felicity and Jasmine are teen friends wading through life, boys and alcohol. Their lives are very different but best friends there for each other. Years later a teenage girl has gone missing and Felicity is the only one who can save her so she returns to her seaside home so she can lay the ghosts of her past to rest.
This was the first book I have read by Katerina and it won’t be my last. She builds a tense story which leads to a very exciting end.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Felicity is shocked when she sees a report on television that a young girl has gone missing from the town where she grew up. She had run away from home sixteen years ago while a search was ongoing for another missing girl.
Felicity feels the need to go home to help look for the missing teenager and find out exactly what happed to the other girl all those years ago.
A thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat with lots of twists and turns.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book starts in a very unsettling way with the kidnap in Sidmouth, Devon of Mandy Green and then switches location to the Lake District where Felicity Musgrave lives with her husband Chris and two children. Felicity knots with tension on hearing about Mandy but why? Even more puzzling is that she leaves the family home to rush down to Sidmouth where it transpires she grew up. She tells Chris that the Mandy case is almost identical to another missing girl case in the Devon town when she was 16. It soon becomes apparent that Felicity has been running from many demons, that there are lies in her background which is intriguing as it seems she’s on a collision course with events in her past. The story is told in the present by Felicity and in the past by Jasmine Burgess who was Felicity’s best friend. Jasmine’s parents are Frank and Lisa who seem very kind as they spend their summer holidays in various world locations doing charity work. Their kindness is also demonstrated by their offer of the family guest house to Tim who needs their help. Tim makes Jasmine feel very uneasy, uncomfortable, if not fearful. Why does he unsettle her so much? These two storylines from the past and present connect very dramatically.

The story is easy to read, you feel Felicity’s tension but it’s hard for a long time to understand why she feels she’s the one that can solve the missing girl cases. Jasmine’s feelings about Tim come across well although as the book progresses I think this point becomes a bit laboured. The links between the characters unravel well as do the revealing of secrets and you come to appreciate the guilt and baggage being carried. As Jasmine grows up a number of menacing, sinister and creepy events occur around her and this comes across well and I found myself immersed in her story. There are plenty of twists, turns and revelations as well as the odd jawdropper surprise that I did not see coming! However, this is a trademark of the author.

Although I really did enjoy the book there is some dialogue which doesn’t feel very realistic p, for example between Jasmine and her father. The plot is far fetched which is fine, it’s fiction after all but there are some ‘disappearances’ that are not mentioned or accounted for in the timeframe in which they occur which seems odd! That aside, it’s a good read and one which the many fans of Katerina Diamond will lap up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the Arc.

The Heatwave is Katerina Diamond's first standalone thriller and as one who has read ,and enjoyed, her entire Imogen Grey series I was keen to find out how she''d fare with new characters and a clean slate. Very well is the answer and this is her best book to date. Ms Diamond's first book was a very good effort and subsequent books just got better and better, The Heatwave puts her right up with the likes of Erin Kelly, Belinda Bauer and Sharon Bolton with it's believable characters , twists and an intriguing page-turner of a plot.

Felicity is a woman with a history, one that her husband is totally unaware of. On seeing a TV news report about a missing girl in the small Devon coastal town of Sidmouth her mind goes back to her own teenaged years and a similar event that she was involved in. Much to her husband's dismay , Felicity decides that only she can find and save the missing girl and needs to return to Sidmouth immediately to do so..

The story has 2 timelines, the present as Felicity goes around her old haunts and in search of information and 16 years earlier when the first disappearance occurred and a 16 year-old Felicity and best friend Jasmine competed for the attentions of the enigmatic Tim who Jasmine's parents let live in their Summerhouse in return for work. Having been gone for so long Felicity finds that she has been all but forgotten by the few former schoolmates she comes across and pumps for information. While initially the disappearance appears unconnected to the girl's lives events spiral out of control and Felicity leaves town very quickly, making a new life for herself until the fateful news broadcast.

The Heatwave is an involving read, I read it in one sitting stopping only to eat. the story is clever and the characters believable. There are a few good twists, the big one I worked out quite a long way before the reveal but then I do read a lot of thrillers and the clues are there if you're paying attention. This is the best book by an author that I first encountered when reading her "great for a new author" first book, "The Teacher" and have seen go from strength to strength until this one which is as good as any thriller by the "big names". Highly recommended.

Thanks to Katerina Diamond, Avon Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I opened this book this afternoon and was hooked straight away, I didn’t put it down again until I finished it! Brilliant story, kept me guessing until its shocking ending; that I definitely had not seen coming at all. Definitely worth reading!,

Excellent book. Katerina Diamond does it again. This is an intense psychological thriller....a must read!
Thank you Netgalley, publisher, and author for the opportunity to read this advanced reading copy.

This was an incredible thriller that drew me in and never let go. I felt emotionally invested in the characters’ lives and couldn’t stop reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for this preview. I really enjoyed the pace of this book & the way in which it flipped from the present time to when the main character was a teenager. It was a great read & very well written

Felicity hears on the news that a young girl has gone missing in her hometown and she knows she has to go back. Her husband Chris does not really understand but he agrees. She heads back, stays in a local hotel and starts to ask questions. What does she know? Why is this her first time back? She moves back through her own past and retraces the footsteps of herself and her friend Jasmines summer when another girl Hannah disappeared during a heatwave.
I really enjoyed this book. It jumps between the present and the past, the summer of the heatwave. There are a number of characters in the past that don't seem to be in her life now. What happened then? Why is Felicity so wrapped up in the girls disappearance now? All these questions are eventually answered and I loved the journey to the conclusion.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

The Heatwave is a novel about teenage passion and friendship, whose effects last a lifetime. When a girl goes missing in Felicity’s hometown, she returns for the first time in 15 years, certain she holds the key to finding the girl alive. To do so Felicity must revisit her most painful memories and unearth truths that have lain hidden since she left.
A fast paced, intense book. Definitely recommend.

The book starts with the kidnapping of Mandy; and Felicity, who hears about the kidnapping on the news back in her hometown that she escaped from 16 years ago. When she hears about the kidnapping she knows she has to return as it feels like history is about to repeat itself.
It then concentrates on Jasmine 16 years ago; her and her parents have just moved into their new house and have taken a lodger in, in the guest house at the end of the garden. Instantly Jasmine is wary of the lodger Tim.
After all main characters have been introduced it jumps from the present day with Felicity trying to work out whether Mandy going missing is in any way connected to a girl called Hannah that went missing 16 years ago and then back 16 years ago to Jasmine and Felicity living out their summer holidays. Things happen during that summer which affects all people involved.
There are a few twists and turns which makes Felicity realise there is definitely some connection between what happened 16 years ago and what is happening in the present day. She knows to unveil the truth she has to go back to where all her lies began.
As usual I absolutely loved this book. There is not one of Katerina's books that I haven't loved! I didn't see the twist at the end coming and couldn't have guessed what Tim was up to.
I already cant wait for her next book!

Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Katerina Diamond is rapidly becoming my go-to author for a top-notch psychological thriller. 'The Heatwave' is further evidence of Diamond's ability to hook the reader from the first page. I read this in one sitting, marvelling at Diamond's pitch-perfect plotting and crisp prose. This is a twisty mystery, indeed. Girls have disappeared in the past and present, and it is up to Felicity to unravel the mysteries that connect past with present events. Although you may think you may know where the story is going, you couldn't be more wrong. This engrossing whodunnit has plenty of surprises in store for the reader, including a final, stunning denouement. A summer read to literally die for. Absolutely enthralling stuff.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This is a stand alone title from Katerina Diamond, having read her Miles and Grey series of books I wasn't sure what this one would be like, but it was brilliant, very cleverly written to keep you guessing and lots of twists along the way. Another definite best seller.

I’m a huge fan of the Miles and Grey series that Katerina Diamond writes so I was worried that I would struggle with a stand-alone that didn’t include some of my favourite characters.
I couldn’t have been more wrong! Fast paced and keeps you guessing all the way through. Although I managed to guess one of the twists, there were still others that snuck up on me!

Katerina did it again with this stand alone. It was slow to start from what I’m used to from her but the suspense was there. The twist and turns were there. The plot twist was everything. I thought I knew who kidnapped Hannah and then Mandy but every time I did then boom another twist. This was definitely a well written book that I would recommend. I did not see that plot twist coming at all.

This is the new standalone novel from Katerina Diamond, more commonly known for her Grey and Miles series which I love. The Heatwave takes place in two different timelines, Felicity as a grown mother of two and Felicity and Jasmine as 16 year old best friends. Jasmine narrates the "then" section of the story from her point of view. Felicity narrates the "now" section. Jasmine's charitable parent's invite the mysterious Tim to be their new lodger cum handyman. Her parent's are clearly taken with Tim but he makes Jasmine uncomfortable and suspicious. In the present storyline, Felicity has seen a news broadcast that a teenage girl has gone missing from her old home town. For reasons that aren't made clear to the reader, Felicity feels that only she can find her. She tells her confused husband and kids that she's going on a short break and will be back in a few days. She arrives to her home town and starts her own investigation. I found this an easy read but I didn't love this book. It was farfetched in the extreme in parts. I also figured out the big twist about halfway through. Thank you to Netgalley for my advance copy.

Oh wow! I had no idea I was going to love this book as much as I have!! It’s been impossible to put down! Filled with so many twists and turns, it’s definitely a book that keeps you guessing.
I have really enjoyed this one, even been thinking about it whilst not reading. Definitely one I’d recommend! I can’t wait to read more by this author ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have been reading a series by Kat Diamond over the last couple years and have absolutely loved it, so when I saw she had a new book due out later this year and was a lucky enough to receive a copy early I was excited but still unsure as it was a departure from the characters I have to grown to love in her other books.

Have no fear all of you Diamond fans because when the first big plot twist hits it is like a tornado that grabs you and won’t let go until the very last word of the book! It is one of the best crime thrillers I have read and I have read a ton of them and Diamonds creativity is brilliant!

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Katerina Diamond is quite simply one of my favourite authors and I was very excited to see that she had a new book coming out soon and I was thrilled to be approved for it.

This book was really different to her others but just as enjoyable. The book kept me guessing throughout and I was never sure of where the story was going. When everything was revealed, my mind was blown!

This is a fantastic book. I highly recommend this book as well as her other books.

I was excited to read this book and Katerina Diamond is one of my favourite authors and this new book certainly did not disappoint.
I was drawn in by the characters and plot, and raced through the pages desperate to find out the ending.
There were lots of twists and turns, especially at the end to keep me guessing. I would recommend this book.

Katerina Diamond is one of my favourite authors at the moment. This novel is a stand alone and is very different to her Imogen Grey series - however this one didn't disappoint in any way.
This book flits from past to present and is easy to follow.
When a person goes missing Felicity is made to face her past - going back to where she grew up she must find the answers to questions she still has - can she move forward without them.
We meet Felicitys school friend Jasmine and her parents and also the mysterious Tim who is there lodger. Jasmine is more reserved whilst Flick is out there and wanting attention from boys. We learn about their school days, growing up in 2 different families - neither are perfect - but what really happened all those years ago - how is the missing girl linked to all this!
I read this novel in 2 nights - addictive reading

The story is told in past and present bringing it to a conclusion that I definitely didn't see coming!!,
Felicity lives in the Lake District but when she hears about a missing girl in Sidmouth where she grew up she leaves immediately to go back there, it appears she has her suspicions and then the past unfolds through the eyes of Jasmine. A missing girl, a strange lodger who she is suspicious of, her best friend Felicity is the only person she trusts. I spent the whole book wondering what happened to Jasmine was very shocked when realised what had happened.
Will Felicity find the truth before it's too late for the missing girl and can she lay her demons to rest

The story is told of Felicity now and Jasmine then 16 years ago. Jasmine and Felicity were best friends at 16 years old. Felicity's Mum is an alcoholic and as such she would prefer to spend all her time at Jasmine's house.
Jasmine's parents usually go away every Summer helping out charities in third world countries, but this year they're not going so Jasmine gets to stay home and enjoy Summer by the beach with Felicity. Jasmine's parent's have a lodger staying in the garden house called Tim. Jasmine is drawn to him but she's unsure why and not sure whether she should be scared of time or to trust time.
In the present day Felicity is drawn back to the town she ran away from 16 years ago after that fateful Summer. Another young girl has gone missing and Felicity thinks she is the only person who will be able to find out what's happened even though she now lives miles away. As she goes back to her helm town, secrets are revealed slowly.
I really enjoyed the twist that arrived at the end of the book, and the easy read made this a good choice.

Two bad things happened that summer; a stranger arrived and the first girl disappeared. In the wake of the crime that rocked her community, Felicity fled, knowing more than she let on. But sixteen years later, her new life is shattered by the news that a second girl has gone missing in her hometown. Now Felicity must go back, to face the truth about what happened all those years ago. Only she holds the answers – and they’re more shocking than anyone could imagine.

I am a big fan of Diamond's books and was looking forward to reading this however if I am honest, I was a little disappointed. We follow Felicity as she leaves her family in the Lake District and travels south to where she grew up. Her reason for travelling is another missing girl. I did think the book gets off to a bad start as Felicity is not fleshed out and we just follow this mysterious character as she leaves her family behind. I think a little more background was needed.

Then we begin the investigation as Felicity tries to find out the truth about the present day and what happened all those years ago. This is told in the present day and flashback chapters from the perspective of Jasmine. The whole way through Diamond builds a very good atmosphere and I knew something was going to happen and dark secrets would be revealed. However, this was missing some of Diamond's usual magic, there was just an element missing that meant it was not as thrilling as it could have been. This does have some very shocking twists and I truly did not see the ending unfolding the way it does which made for an enthralling ending. However, this read did feel too short to me and I think part of the problem was events were raced through and there was no time to build tension.

Personally I did not think Felicity was ever developed properly and I never quite got to know her enough. The other characters are just there and not really people who are given proper time to. Jasmine was the character I felt most connected to and the one I was rooting for the whole way through which in a way is strange, as you will find out from reading this.

'The Heatwave' is an intense read with a shocking twist. However it suffers from a lack of development and being too rushed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy.

What a book! This was SO enjoyable, I raced through it! I'm a fan of Katerina Diamond and an a fan of the DI Imogen Grey series so was looking forward to this anyway but it did not disappoint!

It kept me guessing until the reveal - which doesn't often happen!

Couldn't recommend this more.

Wow, wow, wow. As always Katerina Diamond has not disappointed! This book had me gripped right from the beginning. I must admit I do love a book that jumps back and forth from past to present. I find it keep me interested. Fantastic twist at the end that I did not see coming. Would 100% recommend 😁

4.5 stars
Since I read my first book by the author last fall, I’m now addicted to anything that she’s writing.
Who wouldn’t want to know anything about a missing person if they appear on the news? Was she found? Is she dead? Was the killer caught? All these questions and so little answers so many times.
I enjoyed this book in one sitting because I got caught up in the story so much that I couldn’t stop until the last page. And what a whirlwind ending!
I had so many theories in my head along with the chapters but none as even close to the truth and that’s the best thing that I’m looking forward in my mystery/crime /thrillers.
Another gripping edge of your seat story from a favourite author

Katerina Diamond is a brilliant author! I was drawn in by the enticing premise, and I wasn’t disappointed. I found the beginning a bit difficult to get in to, but it soon picked up. Will look for others by Ms Diamond!

This is the first book I have read by this author and it is smashing!
I hope I will find time to read more books by Katerina Diamond.

I want to thank NetGalley and Avon books for an ARC copy of this book.

Everything in this book appealed to me and kept me interested/hooked from beginning to the end.

The characters are well developed, very well and you can't tell at any point of time if they are all bad, guilty, turned innocent, then again switch to being the guilty party, etc. They simply and effectively intervene with each other that you can just be in awe how every piece of a puzzle finds itself in the right place even though you didn't see it coming.

And the story! It is told in the present and the past, it's not confusing to follow the story and with every chapter you get a little glimpse of the whole picture and I had to devour the book in 2 nights to find out what is going on!

The twists - they are not what you would think at all! The story is constructed in that way that you can see that everyone has secrets, that everyone is maybe guilty, makes you choose a guilty party and then crashes everything you ever knew about thrillers because the twists are just brilliant!

They come one after another and the whole truth hits you and I had a goofy smile on my face over 40 minutes because I was in genuine awe of author's writing. Even though it is a horrendous story I could not not admire what great writing does to you. :)

It was so easy giving this book a perfect score.

Well I started this Wednesday and im not a fast reader but this book, wow! i loved every second, you kept me guessing and lots of twists and turns. i love your Miles and grey books and now I love this one. i can see i am very much on your wave length as i slip into your books like a comfy pair of slippers after a day on your feet. Top marks and I cant wait for more books from you well done katerina xxx

This is the first book I have read by this author and it certainly won’t be the last.

What a story! So many twists and turns and an excellent ending that I didn’t see coming. I look forward to the next one.

This is an honest review in exchange for an ARC from the Publishers.

This book was highly readable and I read it only three sittings over two days. I love Katerina Diamond’s narrative voice and she really knows how to inject darkness into the every day. I loved the Devon setting in lovely Sidmouth which I visited last year for a Hen Party, and this book really made me feel like this seaside town could have a seedy underbelly! (A note for the publishers - the cover does make it look like it’s set somewhere abroad rather than Devon, so this wasn’t quite the book I was expecting).

The storyline was very intriguing, in terms of Flick returning to her home town to find out what happened to a kidnapped girl - an echo of something that happened just before she left home in her teens - and to confront her past. I also enjoyed the points of view in terms and the ‘then’ and ‘now’ structure. There was also a great pace, and an unsettling feeling of oppression in Flick’s head the closer she gets in the present to finding out what happened in the past.

While I guessed one thing about the main character (no spoilers here!) I honestly didn’t see the ending coming in terms of who the serial killer is, which is unusual for me.

Without giving anything away, I would have liked the ending to be a bit more drawn out for dramatic effect, and for there to have been more in there about Flick’s new family (children and husband) but that’s just a personal preference.

Overall I really enjoyed this story and am excited to read more Katerina Diamond books.

It would be hard to imagine the devastation a Tsunami would reek upon a sleepy Devon coastal town. That exotic monster more at home in the Pacific Ring of Fire, that superimposes itself on the twice daily ebb and flow of the sea. Lulling us until the very sea pulls back like the pulling of a rug ‘neath our feet, destabilising whilst we gaze in awe and dread at that wall of water set to engulf us. So it was with The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond the majority of which was like the summer susurration of a pebble beach until the sea pulled back. As unlikely as a Tsunami might be on a Devon coast, so was the climax, the glue which gave the novel a purpose and in a way the solvent which lost it credibility. You must forgive my extensive use of metaphor because it would take but a sentence to spoil the plot.
If you like a novel which all hangs on the last couple of chapters, then this one is for you.

Y’all... I loved this book! At first I was’t too sure but then once some suspense was thrown in there, it immediately captured my attention. I recommend it!

I love Katerina’s books, they always hook me in so I want to devour it in one sitting and The Heatwave was no exception. Flick lives up in the Lake District, and while watching the news one day, sees a report of a missing girl in Sidmouth, Devon - her hometown. It brings back memories of the summer she was 16, and memories that she’d rather forget. The disappearance of the girl is too similar to the disappearance of the girl back then. She knows what happened then but thought that she’d put a stop to it, so who has taken the girl now?
Flick travels down to Sidmouth to find the girl and put a stop to the demons that plague her from her past.
The story progresses using flashbacks between now and then, it’s pacey, and draws you in encouraging you to keep reading. 5 stars from me.

This is a stand-alone from Katerina Diamond and I was gripped. The book is written in two time frames. Felicity is happily married and living in the Lake District when she sees a news report about a missing teenage girl in her home town in Devon. Flick decides it’s time to face her past and the memories of her last summer, sixteen years ago, with her best friend Jasmine. The chapters alternate between current day, where Flick is trying to do her own investigation, and her last summer when another teenage girl went missing.
I loved how this unfolded and it kept me guessing right until the last page. A fabulous standalone.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and a NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of ‘The Heatwave’ by Katerina Diamond.

After hearing about the abduction of a girl on the news, Felicity Musgraves is forced to confront her past and return to the hometown she left 16 years ago, as she believes she is the only one who can find the missing girl. Told from the perspective of Felicity (present) and Jasmine (16 years ago) 'The Heatwave' is full of secrets, lies, and a menacing undertone which will have you guessing from one plot twist to the next (none of which I saw coming!)

This is my first Katerina Diamond book and it won’t be my last.

Present day, and Felicity discovers that a girl, Mandy Green, has gone missing in Sidmouth, Devon. She is immediately reminded of 16 years ago when a girl disappeared in Sidmouth, in the same situation. Feeling that only she can help, she persuades Chris, her husband that she must go and she leaves him and the children to return to her old hometown.

Sidmouth – 16 years ago. Jasmine and Felicity are friends – more by default as they exist on the fringes of the ‘in-crowd’. Felicity’s mother is an alcoholic so she spends a lot of time at Jasmine’s home. Unusually this summer they are not going abroad to work on charity projects, so Jasmine will experience the full ‘Summer, seaside experience’; and this year it is a heatwave. Jasmine’s parents have enlisted the help of Tim, as an odd-job man in return for free lodging in their summer-house.

Sidmouth present day. Whilst Felicity seeks out information on the current missing girl she dwells on events of 16 years earlier and the different relationships. She is reminded of her ambivalent relationship with Tim; her jealousy of Jasmine’s blatant sexuality and her confusion about her place in life and relationships with others. She feels compelled to solve the mystery of Mandy Green and the other ‘disappeared’ girl from all those years ago. She is also drinking – a lot.

This is really, really well-written. I read it with a sense of foreboding and hesitant fear. What was Felicity doing – stop drinking – phone your husband – what are you risking here? Did I get answers? All of this plus the heaviness off that heatwave, leaving a sense of suffocation. The perfect location – marred by the abduction of teenage girls. What was Tim doing – was he playing with Felicity or did he have another agenda?

An absolutely brilliant book, well-structured with a carefully revealed twist in the tail. Thank you Ms Diamond.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

When a teenager goes missing in her home town, Felicity returns to the place and life she left, for the girl’s sake. Another excellent thriller with so many twists delivered in the author’s style. Highly recommended.

I have read every book by this author and I love her. This is why I was so excited to receive this ARC from Netgalley.
This is a standalone novel about family secrets and explosive plot twists. It did not disappoint. Thank you.

First book I have read by Katerina Diamond and it will definetly not be my last. I throughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Great twists and turns, the story was well thought out and kept you guessing and wanting more. Will be picking up her previous books and getting stuck in. Excellent read that is highly recommended. Wish I could give it more stars!

Diamond has obviously found a formula. I loved her first novel, and remember it still. However, I can't help but feel that with each new novel, something is lost. This one felt rushed - half way through the first chapter I actually paused to check that it was in fact the same Diamond who'd written The Teacher (it was). It was partly for that reason that I persevered, and as the story got into its stride I found myself recognising her style, her intelligence and the subtlety of characterisation she is capable of. By the end, I'd enjoyed it. But to me it still tasted... slightly churned, and I believe that with time, and some careful editing, it could have been a lot more.

I have read Katerina Diamond before and the Imogen Grey series and thoroughly enjoyed it so was delighted to receive this ARC. This is a stand-alone novel by this author and it lived up to all my expectations.

On seeing the news about a missing girl, Mandy Green, in Devon, Felicity Musgrave decides that she is the only person who can find the missing girl and much to her husband, Christopher’s, dismay she sets off. It has reminded her of her childhood and a similar event.

Told in two times: the present as Felicity explores her old haunts trying to find out what has happened to Mandy and sixteen years ago when the first disappearance occurred.

This is cleverly plotted and full of twists and turns and characters well-rounded and mostly likeable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Katerina Diamond for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Great read, highly recommended.

This is a stand alone story from the author of the Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey series, which I really loved, so I was keen to read this one. It didn't disappoint. Felicity left her home town in Devon after the disappearance of girl in her year at school. It is clear from the start that she knows more than she has ever told. When another girl goes missing years later, she decides she has to go back and confront her past. This is a story told in 2 different time frames, and is full of twists and turns. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

I read this along with a friend and we had great fun chatting about the story and guessing what would happen next. Safe to say, we were wrong about pretty much everything!

The story alternates between the past and present which I really enjoy in a book. It is interesting to see both stories slowly unfold and gradually come together for the big finale. One of the things I loved about this book is that there are huge twists in both that you just don't see coming.

I'm sure my neighbours heard my jaw hitting the floor numerous times! This is such a gripping and shocking thriller, with plenty of twists to leave you doubting yourself until the very end.

I love a good Katerina Diamond book and The Heatwave definitely lived up to the mark. A stranger, a killer, secrets and lies and some great twists and turns along the way. This book certainly has it all and will entertain from beginning to end. I would rate this book 4.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

Another amazing book by Katerina Diamond!! I love this author and all of her other books so I wasn't surprised when I finished this one and thought WOW what a book.

It’s getting warm...

Wow! The Heatwave blew me away! Gripped from the first chapter I just couldn’t put this book down!
The vibe of this book was really menacing but it worked perfectly. Loved it!

This book definitely had me hooked from the start. I like the way it goes back and forward and was eager to find out what happens. Definitely a few twists and turns along the way.

Tense and gripping, I loved the dual narrative of this book. It was very atmospheric, quite a slow build, but then worked up to a brilliant conclusion where everything slotted devastatingly into place.

Four stars

It's hard to connect with the main character because the people close to her seem not to like her very much, it's clear she's harboring secrets, she drinks a ton and thus isn't even a reliable witness when it comes to her own lived experiences, and she seems generally...shady. Despite these factors, there is an insidious thread of questions that I really want answers to here. I wouldn't say that this novel exists in "I could NOT put this down" territory, but I did remain engaged, interested, invested, and pretty surprised (never a guarantee in works of this genre).

Structurally, this novel really works. We start in the very recent past, and then alternate between the distant past and the present. The distant past comes through a third-person narrator, and the present comes through the main character's perspective, which is a nice added touch. For me the balance and timing related to this set up really worked.

I finished this novel not just with the sense that the author created a series of pretty solid twists, but also with a lot of questions about how I'd approach some of these situations. This is entertaining, but it's also thought-provoking, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

I’ve read a couple of Katerina Diamond’s books before and really enjoyed them, even though they can be pretty dark (if you’ve read The Woman in the Water then you’ll probably know what I’m talking about 😅), so I was excited to find out she had written a stand alone book that wasn’t part of her detective series. And I wasn’t disappointed! This book is fab - flitting between the past and the present as a missing girl case draws parallels to something that happened in a coastal town when the main character was a teenager, t The main character seems very dubious and unreliable at first, not giving much away apart from a sense of mystery, but as the book goes on, the pieces start to fall into place and all becomes clear. This book provides twists, turns, red herrings and keeps you guessing right up until the very end - a great summer read.

Finally a thriller that actually delivers thrilling pages and a few big twists towards the end. I read this very quickly because it is one of those books that you really want to know how they end. I had a few suspicions and some proved to be right but the twists were many and some quite unpredictable.

Felicity lives in the Lake District with a lovely husband and two kids, she hears on the news that in the village where she lived with her parents a teenage girl goes missing. She decides to go back to investigate because a girl went missing there 16 years before and she thinks the cases could be linked. Strange as the person who she thought was the killer of the first girl died, or so she thought.
This is a complex story with plenty of dark secrets that will keep you awake.

It is a psychological thriller but it is also one of those books with two timelines one set 16 years earlier and the second one follows Felicity in the present trying to solve a mystery linked to the past. It is the second book I read by Katerina Diamond and I will certainly read more, it might not be great literature when all is considered but in the psychological thriller genre is definitely well above average.

This is not my first Katerina Diamond book. I've read all her books so far, but this book is a standalone. I was excited and a bit nervous reading this one,but Katerina did not disappoint.
The book flits between past and present, at first i got confused but after a few chapters, i was on track.
The story centres around the abduction of 2 girls in a seaside town 16 years apart. Throughout the whole book i had a hunch, and much to my surprise i was totally wrong!! Katerina delivers twists and turns in this book that in my opinion were completely unexpected.
Im a huge fan of Katerina's books, and my heart has always been with Miles and Grey, but The Heatwave really shows what a great author she is. After having such a successful series, Katerina has gone for a standalone which did not disappoint. I didnt find this book as dark aa her other books, but The Heatwave was still a brilliant piece of writing. 100% recommend if like me you are a Katerina fan.
Thanx to net galley for allowing me the chance to read in exchange for this review

Exciting book to read. Started with a bang which had me hooked from the off. It was well written. Great plot and I really enjoyed reading it,

Firstly a big thank you to Avon for approving my request to read on netgalley. I am a huge fan of Katerinas books so was excited to read her first standalone thriller!
It didnt dissapoint and this will be a roaring success.

Fast paced and completly unpredictable.

Will have you hooked straight away.

Chilling yet steamy as set in a blistering heatwave. Atmospheric writing that captures these elements and transports you there.

Relatable characters and we all have skeletons in our closets dont we?

Highly recommend whether you are new to her books or a loyal fan.

This was a really dark gripping psychological thriller, with a twist at the end which I just didn't see coming.

In this book you follow a woman called felicity, who lived in a town where one hot summer a stranger arrived and a girl disappeared. 16 years later, another girl goes missing and she goes back to her home town to face the truth of what happend all those years ago.

This was a really well written pacey psychology thriller. I love Katerina Diamonds books and this one certainly didn't let me down.

This would be such a perfect read for the summer. I can defintely see this being a popular thriller this summer season. The setting, of the heatwave makes this a perfect pool side read.

If you love the trope of following someone coming back to their home town to solve a mystery a long time later, I bet you will love this book.

I did not see the ending coming. There was a massive twist. But there was some smaller twists throughout the book which I thought were really clever.

I loved that it was set in a British seaside town too, I could really picture the book in my head while reading.

Overall, I really enjoyed this dark psychological thriller. I really recommend you pick it up this summer!

TW: inappropriate adult minor relationships, suicide, violence and murder

I’ve read a couple of Katerina Diamond’s books before and really enjoyed them, even though they can be pretty dark (if you’ve read The Woman in the Water then you’ll probably know what I’m talking about 😅), so I was excited to find out she had written a stand alone book that wasn’t part of her detective series. And I wasn’t disappointed! This book is fab - flitting between the past and the present as a missing girl case draws parallels to something that happened in a coastal town when the main character was a teenager. The main character seems very dubious and unreliable at first, not giving much away apart from a sense of mystery, but as the book goes on, the pieces start to fall into place and all becomes clear. This book provides twists, turns, red herrings and keeps you guessing right up until the very end - a great summer read. The Heatwave is published on June 25th 2020 in the UK and is available for pre-order now.

Katerina Diamond is one of my favourite authors I was very surprised this book wasn't in the Grey and Miles series that I have grown to love so much. But in reality that didn't matter because this book was fantastic, full of twist and turns throughout. There were so many moments when I found my self saying out loud 'what, no way' and that was throughout.

The heatwave follows two characters Jasmine and Felicity. We are in teo different time zones Jasmine is telling us the past and Felicity is in the present. Felicity finds herself drawn to a news broadcast about a local teenager who has been kidnapped. The reason she is drawn to this story is because the very same thing happened 16 years earlier. Throughout the story we get to learn alot about Felicity and Jasmine, their friendship and why Felicity had left 16 years earlier. The two stories come together extremely well.

As always Diamonds writing is fantastic I love the way the chapter flip seamlessly from first to third person when description are being used. She does such a great job to convince us that our versions of the characters are correct. Ha how wrong I was. .

I absolutely lived this book for it so easy to get hooked on and I constantly found myself wanting more. Even when it ended I felt I want more to find out more information, even though everything had been explained and explored. I felt I wanted to just be a fly on the wall of the future.
Highly recommend if you want a summer read, but like me love a good psychological thriller this is the book for you.


Thank you Avon books UK and netgalley for allowing me to have an early copy of this book

I have to admit Katerina Diamond is one of my favourite authors, so I was jumping for joy to get the chance to review this book.

Felicity is dismayed to see on the news, a young girl going missing in her home town of Sidmouth in Devon. She hasn’t been home for 16 years and left when another girl had disappeared . She returns home to find out about the missing girl and see if there is any connections between the two girls.

The story is told from Felicity’s point of view and of her childhood friend Jasmine. Jasmine’s parents Frank and Lisa often go abroad to do charity work, they have offered their cabin in the garden to Tim a homeless man, but he unsettles Jasmine.

Loved how the stories merge together in a nail biting way that had me completely hooked!!

An author I couldn’t recommend enough!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed the story, it gripped me from the start and kept me guessing throughout. Well structured plot with a twist.
Recommended to fans of mystery/ thrillers.

Wow! This is one gripping psychological thriller! I absolutely devoured this in an afternoon, seriously could not put it down. Katerina Diamond’s stand alone The Heatwave is just as intense and twisty as her Miles and Grey series. You need to read this book, you really do. This book deserves to be a massive hit.

The story begins with Felicity watching a news story about a missing 16 year old girl in her hometown of Sidmouth in Devon. A hometown that she never talks about. She immediately packs her bags and leaves her husband and kids and heads back to the beachside town. She is convinced that this disappearance is somehow connected to her and wha happened when she was 16..

From here the story jumps between the present with Felicity looking into what happens to the girl and the past, told by Jasmine, Felicity’s best friend growing up. Slowly the truth of why she has returned becomes clear. The demons of her past are coming back to haunt her, a past that she has tried she hard to forget.

Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

Wow!
I felt that at the start of this book I kept getting easily distracted, it did take a bit of time for me to start getting drawn in and understand what was happening.
The book flips between Now and Then and pieces of the puzzle gradually start falling into place.
Then everything is blown out of the water and it just gets crazy!!!
Twist after twist until your head is spinning - I absolutely loved the second half of the book when I couldn’t put it down. Well worth the build up to get to the point of complete free fall into psychotic thriller world!!!! Yes a new genre called psychotic would fit the characters in this novel quite well!!
I would recommend this as a fabulous summer read and rated it 4⭐️.

This is an odd mystery in that it is difficult to discern the ending...usually this doesn’t happen. The protagonist returns home to face the ghosts that formed her life...the guilt and the memories. As the reader journeys with her, there are surprises at every turn. Although it would have been better to k or more about her present life, the story is totally in the past. Characters come and go and one doesn’t get to know any of them well. That being said, this is a mystery that makes the reader want to know more.

The story is told from two different timelines, present by Felicity and past by Jasmine. It definitely played with my head as how those two timelines will merge together. Felicity decided to go back to her hometown when she heard about missing girl in the news just like what happened sixteen years ago.
Absolute brilliant story !!!

My first book by this author and it certainly won't be my last. I was so invested in this story and I was shocked with the twists and turns. Shockingly good.

No1 Thriller Read of 2020.
This story is epic, I read this book on a day I was hooked from the first chapter, a very special book to do that. It's the most exciting take I have read for a long time. I have read all Katerina's books and really enjoy them so I had high expectations of this book and it exceeded my expectations.

The story and Jasmine is told in the past and your never quite sure who is telling the now story. The deaths are fascinating, really they are how and why and not until the end do we find out who did it as any good book aims. I was so confused trying to work out who did it all the way through, it's why I could not put it down. I had to know.

Beautifully written with excitement and intrigue in buckets, character development is A plus, you get to feel like your in Jasmine's shoes willing her to seek and find. This is straight into number 1 in my 2020 reads. Fantastic Thriller, anyone who loves a who dunit will love this book.



#heatwave #NetGalley #bookreview
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The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond is another intriguing thriller from an author who never fails to miss her mark. This one drew me in immediately, and continued to keep me enthralled throughout.

Told in alternating timelines of 'then' and 'now' which, as a sidenote, I find most effective, we learn that Felicity has returned to her hometown sixteen years after the disappearance of a young woman. It seems that history is repeating itself, and once again a young woman has gone missing. Are the two cases connected? Felicity suspects that she might very well be the link to unravelling the mystery, and must revisit a past that has haunted her for so many intervening years.

This is a well-crafted mystery, and more than once I could feel a trickle of dread running down my spine, in both the past and present narratives. Well done Ms Diamond for a highly enjoyable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC.

As ever, Ms Diamond writes tremendously well even with the dual timeline (not always my favourite) which she labels 'Then' and 'Now'.

The book open with Felicity travelling from her home in The Lake District to her childhood home of Sidmouth in Devon where she is made to face her past - following the disappearance of a teenage girl. A similar event happening sixteen years ago when Felicity was living with her parents.

The schooldays past is where we meet Felicity's school friend Jasmine and her parents and the mysterious Tim who is their lodger. Jasmine is more reserved whilst Felicity is out there and wanting attention from boys. Different characters but great friends. No stone is left unturned by the author in characterisation of these three, Flick, Jazz and Tim - superb.

A slow, meandering start to the book with Felicity trying to piece together the two events. Plenty of twists in this believable, classy psychological thriller with a brilliant ending which I did not foresee!

I am not sure about the title - mine would be "Sunshine and savagery in Sidmouth'?

Thanks to Net Galley and Avon Books for the chance to read and review.

This was not the best of Katerina Diamonds books but I still enjoyed it, thank you netgalley for giving me. The opportunity to read an early edition of this book.
Felicity ran away from her home to escape the terrible things she knew.
Sixteen years later she is married and with two children, but felicity knew she had to go back to her childhood home to,see if she could put right all the terrible things she knew.
On her return felicity had to face her nightmares and try to find the missing girl.

I am left speechless! Brilliantly written suspenseful thriller! The story jumps from past to present with ease. I can not believe how many twists and turns this book had. If you have not read this book, then why not?!?! Go! Buy it now, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Katerina Diamond has very quickly become one of my favourite authors and when I found out that the new book would be outside of the realms of the regular Gray and Miles series I was intrigued and thankfully I was not disappointed.

Following 2 separate timelines we meet Felicity and Jasmine, two best friends from Devon, whose lives change dramatically over one long hot summer. Set in the present Felicity is completely shell shocked when she learns of the disappearance of a teenage girl from her childhood hometown. She knows that this is not just a one off and becomes intent on returning to the past to try and get to the bottom of this mystery but how does her past life have any impact on what is happening now? Jasmine's narration, on the otherhand, takes us back in time to the summer of the first disapperance in their home town and introduces to the mysterious and suspicous Tim. Jasmine is automatically suspicious of Tim when her parents move him in as a lodger. Could he have something to do with the disappearances? As both timelines reveal more and more detail suddenly the story twists in the most spectacular way and the true story is revealed in the most shocking way.

As always Katerina Diamond knows how to keep the reader hooked and hanging on her every word. I mean you get a twist and then the twist twists again! Bravo! Definitely made my lockdown a lot more interesting.

This writer conned me from the start. The deception was so brilliant that I had to back to the start of the book to check how deceived I was and so carefully. Clearly, Chris didn't know, but he was only the husband. So many times I believed what was coming next, sometimes it did and often it didn't. This novel takes a twisted story view of now and then to bring the deception together.

The twists and turns make the novel a wonderful read. I always wanted to turn the next page. It offers various options at each stage of the story and the reader wonders what will happen next.

I wonder how a girl keeps such a pack of secrets for so long. I'm pleased I wasn't there when the various confrontations brought the story to a head. I would have exited quickly..

Each character has at least two sides. This excellent writer shares each side as the reader wonders how the most recent evolution will bring out more clues.

A mystery and thriller, the unravelling must be read quickly. I can't wait to read more by this writer.

This is the first book by Katerina Diamond I have read and I enjoyed it for most of the time. I found it a bit over descriptive in parts but that was easy to skim through. Felicity hears that a 16 year old girl has gone missing from her home town in Devon. She feels the need to leave her home in the Lake District and travel back to try to save the girl if she can. What secrets from her childhood s she hiding? How is this affecting her marriage and family?

The book keeps you guessing throughout and you can't wait to find out how it ends. The ending is very good with lots of twists and turns along the way. A good thriller of a read.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending this book to me in exchange for an honest review.
The book begins with Felicity returning to her home town when a girl goes missing. She hasn't been home for 16 years, as she fled when her life was turned upside down by a stranger, and another girl going missing.

To say that I was gripped by this book is an understatement. I couldn't stop reading it, and every chapter left me wanting more information. The transitions between past and present were smooth and well done, and the writing was excellent. The only thing that I didn't like about this book so much was that some of the plot twists and turns felt a bit far-fetched and unrealistic. However, this wasn't much of a problem for me when reading.

As a fan of the other books Katerina Diamond has written, and gripping thrillers in general, this book was perfect for me, and definitely one I will be buying when it is out!

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books UK and the Author Katerina Diamond for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
OH MY GOSH! All I can say is WOW! What an awesome book.
This book is the epitome of a psychological thriller.
Never ending twists and turns.
My first read by this Author and certainly won't be my last!

This is a very good book to read. I couldn't decide whether to give it 4 or 5 stars but decided on rounding down. The book offers alternate chaptering (not sure if chapter can be used as a verb!) between 'now' - Flick's return to Sidmouth and 'then' - details of the build up to what happened 15 years ago and why Flick left Sidmouth so abruptly.
The book is very clever and has a number of good twists and turns. I think I may have spoiled the book a little for myself as I had surprisingly managed to work out/guess the main twist at a fairly early point.
I have not read any of Katerina's previous books but I would certainly like to do so in the future.
Highly recommended

This is an amazing read. I was hooked from the beginning trying to work out who the murderer was. Definitely did not see the twist at the end coming - it’s a rabbit out the hat moment! I’ll definitely be recommending this book to my customers.

The Heatwave # Netgallery
It's 5.43 am and I have just finished reading the heatwave. It's another book that is the fight pace that keeps you wanting more and mote. I don't know if done of you get !like myself. I am tired and if at just one more chapter,at the end of that chapter you quickly glance at the click however you say again just one more chapter. Knowing full well when yor finish that chapter you are going to say it again and again, with a book so gripping like this one you just keep kidding yourself each time you say it. The twists and turns just keep coming like you have been whizzed around on the Walters in fairground after Tim tells Jasmine what he thinks it's not surprising she really is a bit messed up not wanting it to be right, there are times when you think no I i know who it is only to find yourself being wrong again. Although I neververw expected the final twists so once again another cracking book From such a brilliant writer Katrina diamind. Ps I am making a few brilliant

The Heatwave is a fantastic British mystery/thriller that kept me reading late into the night. I haven't read anything by Katerina Diamond before and have to admit I had never heard of her. After reading Heatwave I want to read all of her books! Felicity, a mum of two, returns to her hometown after she finds out a teenage girl has gone missing. Felicity hasn't been home since she was sixteen. She left town, never to return, after a teenage girl from her school disappeared. Somehow the disappearances are linked and Felicity wants answers. With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

I had heard very good things about this author so I jumped at the chance to read her new stand alone novel. I was not disappointed.
The story alternates between a very hot summer during which a young girl goes missing (from the perspective of a teenage girl) and the present day in which her (now grown up) best friend tries to unravel the truth about what happened back then after another girl disappears in similar circumstances. It's fair to say that every time you think you know what's going on you soon discover that you've jumped to conclusions.
I did deduct 1 star for the adult man seducing teenage girls as I felt it didn't seem to fit with his character in later chapters.

Another great book from this author. This time we follow Felicity who is travelling back to the place she grew up in and left 16 years ago due to the disappearance of a young girl. As the story echos one of her past she is forced to confront her demons and finally face up to the past as she tries to solve the mystery not only of the current missing child but also what happened 16 years ago. Are these disappearances connected and if so what is the link to Felicity. Dark and twisted it will keep you hooked till the very end.

Tense chilling Katerina Diamond is an author’ who never fails.A true page turner multi layered kept me guessing to the end.A thriller Inwill be recommending.#netgalley#avonbooksuk

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really like this author and this book did not disappoint, fast paced, page turning thriller that will have you hooked all the way through.

Well, this book is a slow growing, hum dinger!

The story picked me up, spun me round, and dropped me back in my reading chair! 

This was a slow burner for me, with the first chapter feeling a bit weird. Like I had been dropped into a swimming pool to suddenly find that I needed to sit an exam in five minutes  - a bit surprising, out of blue and took me a while to settle in after this. But I am so glad that I kept reading.

The story is dark, emotional and so so clever. I love the snips of information that are drip fed for a reader ‘a-ha’ moment. The range of emotions portrayed is done so with an authentic telling. And I love the darkness which sits within the final pages!

The characters are deep, complex and have their own dark, if not sinister, secrets. Each character is fully developed, with a meaningful background. The revelations at the end of the book are ground breaking and shocking. This ending shows the strength of some and the evil in others. Sometimes evil can hide in the kindest of places.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for asking me to read and review.
This story was a wonderful read.
It is well written with some great characters and as a reader you feel you are right there with them. The plot draws you in and keeps you turning those pages.
A brilliant, heartwarming read.

I really enjoyed the story and the authors way of writing . Entertaining and twisted , everything I love In a book !!I would like to read more by this author !!

WOW!! Don’t start this one at night! You’ll never get the first wink of sleep! What a well written thriller!

It starts out pretty mundane with hubby, wife and 2 children in English suburbia (???). The wife sees something distressing on the TV news and knows that she must go back where she grew up to find out just what’s going on and to lay to rest the demons from her own life. This is the same situation that happened 16 years previous when she was living in that place.

The story is told in a series of alternating first person memories by our protagonist and her best friend who (we learned) died in that fateful time 16 years ago. This aspect of the plotting was confusing from time to time and I had to remind myself just who the speaker was. However, in the end I realized the author’s genius for doing it that way! Well crafted!

My only complaints about this book were the title and the artwork on the cover. Neither had anything to do with the story. I’ve noticed a couple of other new books lately with titles that have nothing – whatsoever – to do with the plot and have wondered about that.

I will definitely look for more books by Katerina Diamond! I’m so very thankful to have discovered her.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes psychological suspense.

Since The Teacher came out I have been an avid fan of Ms Diamond's books. This is a stand alone book that I got as an ARC from NetGalley.
My rating is 3, 5 stars but I gave 4 as unable to split stars and 3 seemed too low
The book starts off really well with the prologue and then is good but not top notch. The story flips between the past-Jasmine story and the present- Felicity story. This works well and the plot is well written and crafted. There are occasional Americanisms which jar slightly and the usual spelling, layout errors that will doubtless be tidied up before publication.
I did have a problem with the characters-well drawn and fleshed out they were all loathsome. I felt I should have been able to empathise with Felicity more but somehow I just couldn't. I also had a problem with "believability". Quite a few things didn't ring true. I also felt the last few pages were a bit rushed

Wow, don't really know how to describe this book. It starts of innocently with a woman who wants to, needs to return to her hometown after another young girl disappears from there, like one did many years ago. As soon as she returns to the town things start happening that the reader, every time you flick a page over, can't keep up with! There is twists and turns galore, and I did not see the final twist coming, well done! Recommended.
TB

This truly is the most riveting book you will read this summer, I began reading, then did not put it down until I finished. This is so intricate, complex, exciting and totally unguessable, for me anyway, that I felt as if I could not risk stopping, that I was living the story. I am very familiar with Sidmouth and that too made the whole event come to life even more, I knew where she was, where she sat, where the events were happening, at times I felt that I was having a too real dream! Great storytelling, great writing, I must read more from this author...but only when I have time to read from start to finish. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC and the author, Katerina, for being so good.

This book is exactly why Katerina Diamond is my favourite author. Shocking twists and turns if ever there were any!

Why has a girl gone missing 16 years ago and again recently? Flick has to go back to Sidmouth and try to figure it out but she must overcome her own fears from the memories of that summer. What happened to everyone?

Told from the perspective of Flick but then also from Jasmine's. Just as you came to a gasp-out-loud moment, Katerina starts a new chapter with the opposite narration. Brilliant. Flick is first person narrative and Jasmine is out with. You have to get used to that change.

So much going on but written with such ease in order to follow the plot. I was very much looking forward to reading a standalone novel by Katerina to see if there was a difference to her series but this is just as gripping.

Once again I highly recommend this book

A great whodunnit as always from Katerina Diamond. A young woman leaves her home town. Sets a new life with a husband and family. But what are the secrets from her past that she can’t share. When she hears on the local news that a girl has gone missing from her old town, she knows she has to return and face the demons of the past. It’s a painful journey for her to relive but she’s knows she must do it. A clever crime thriller with a massive twist at the end. Really enjoyed it! A page turning read during lockdown.

Utterly engaging, could not put this book down. I kept thinking I had it all figured out then another clue would drop to make me realise I had it all wrong.

First, a thank you to @netgalley and Avon Books UK this ARC!

Well this book hit me like a heatwave! Totally unexpected, nail-biting, gripping, twisted, crazy, keep you guessing who dun it kind of story! I devoured this book in less than a day and a half and loved how I kept wanting more! The story goes back and forth between then and now which I thought was interesting and kept you paying attention as you didn’t want to miss what happens. One day, Felicity, gets up and leaves her family to head back to her home town when she hears about another missing girl 16 years after the first one - when she left the town to start a new life. She is on a mission to figure out if the two killings are related and it is then that she finds out what really happened or didn’t happen. I highly recommend this bad boy if you’re looking for a crime-filled, psychological thriller! Get this book on pre-order ASAP if you are!!

In Sidmouth, Devon, best friends Felicity and Jasmine are typical teens doing what typical teens do – underage drinking, smoking, boys... However, something happened that fateful summer that changed their lives forever. Fast forward 15+ years and Felicity now lives with her husband and two children in the Lake District. Despite moving to the other side of the country, she has not managed to outrun the shadows of her past. When a girl goes missing, Felicity finds the memories of that summer flooding back and she heads back to her hometown to hopefully banish those demons once and for all.

The tale is a dual narrative, see-sawing between past and present. The reader is gradually led to understand what happened all of those years previously and how those events are connected, if indeed they are, to the recent disappearance.

Written in an engaging style, there is an overriding air of menace to the story and the hot, muggy weather described by the narrators adds a sense of heaviness and claustrophobia. I found myself quickly drawn into the tale.

This is a book full of twists and turns, with a shock or a surprise around every corner. Whilst some elements may have seem somewhat farfetched, it certainly makes for a great story! The book is intense, dark and very compelling.

The Heatwave is another great book from Katerina Diamond and I fully expect it to be one of 2020’s top summer reads.

Big thanks to Avon and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book.

Two friends who's youth was intertwined. What happened when they were teenagers will shock you. What happens when one returns to her hometown 16 years later will shock you even further. Gripping.

I loved this book. Katerina Diamond never fails to deliver with her excellent psychological thrillers and this was no exception. I would whole heartedly recommend this book, you definitely won't be disappointed.

I finished reading The Heatwave yesterday, and it was everything I wanted in a novel: intense, fast-paced, had me guessing constantly and also was easy to read - I don’t have a huge amount of time with a toddler on the go and so a book that I don’t need to delve into to find meaning within paragraphs is perfect.

The story is told from a 2-person and dual-timeline narrative: Felicity is an adult in the present who returns home to help solve the mystery of missing girl Mandy Green, and Jasmine is a teenager in the past dealing with dark secrets surrounding a previously missing girl.

The plot kept me absolutely hooked, and I only just guessed the twist a few lines before it was revealed - in fact I shouted it to my son, who really didn’t care as he was eating blocks at the time - it was such a good twist!

I can’t wait for Diamond’s next work!

Thank you netgalley for allowing me an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for a copy of The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond. This is a dark, compelling thriller with a surprising twist at the end that you do not see coming.
Felicity lives with her husband Chris in the Lake district with there two kids. She has a happy marriage, but she is keeping some dark secrets from her past. She sees a news report about a missing girl Mandy Green. This is not unusual but, the girl has gone missing from her childhood town of Sidmouth in Devon. As soon as she sees she decides to pack her bags and go to Sidmouth to find the girl as she reckons it is her fault that she has gone missing.
The story goes back and forth in time to tell the story of when Felicity was 16 then named Jasmine and the events that leads up to the fatal day.
This is a slow burner of the story that you do not get the full picture until the last third of the story. Of Jasmine (now Felicity) and her life with her parents and the lodger Tim that from the instance she sees him, something just is not right. I found this story is tense and creepy. I really enjoyed this as it just the right kind of book to take my mind of the current situation we are in. 4 stars from me.

I hadn’t previously read a book by this author, Katerina Diamond, but thought this one would be a good introduction.
The Heatwave is told I through dual narrators, many years apart. In both timelines, a young girl mysteriously vanishes. What links the two girls and the narrators?
I couldn’t put this book down and would recommend it. I’ll will now be looking for more by this author.

Well that was unexpected and a very good read. Twists and turns and a very well written plot. You know it's a good book when you can't warm to all of the characters.

A great read that kept me gripped . I got totally absorbed in this and did not see the end coming. I had not read any of Katerina Diamonds work before but I will now!

Thanks Net Galley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest opinion!

I have read other books by Katerina Diamond and loved them so I was really excited to have the chance to read “Heatwave”. This book did not disappoint! So full of twists and turns you don’t want to put it down.

This is a must summer read!!!! A brilliant whodunnit which got me tapping my kindle faster and faster. Full of tension and suspense. In places my heart was racing and I just had to keep on reading I HAD TO KNOW THE TRUTH!!!! This read gave my grey matter a real workout, I love the way this author tells a story, gets you well and truly hooked then WHAM you are reeled in. Another fantastic five star read from the Queen of Crime.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the ARC.

Really enjoyable book with lots to keep you guessing throughout. You often think you know what is going on, but there are plenty of surprises and curveballs right to the very end!

I have read and enjoyed this author’s previous books and this one certainly did not disappoint.

After a fairly slow start, it then drew me in at speed! It was an intriguing story with complicated characters.

I highly recommend.

The book starts in an unusual way. There is a kidnap in Sidmouth, Devon. Then it switches to the Lake District to a family who seem to be quite ordinary and well balanced. Suddenly, the mother, Felicity, decides to go to Sidmouth on the spur of the moment. Quite out of character apparently.

We find out that Felicity used to live in Sidmouth and she left when she was 16. From the writing, the reader gets the feeling that Felicity has run away from something dreadful that happened there all those years ago. Felicity hates being back.

The story jumps from the present when Felicity is the narrator to the past, when Jasmine becomes the narrator, Felicity’s best friend. The two storylines come together nicely in the book, in a lovely dramatic fashion.

The only bit I didn’t really like was not understanding why Felicity ran down to Sidmouth when she heard about the disappearance of the young girl. Even though you knew you would find out, it wasn’t written well in my opinion. In order to enjoy the book I just had to forget my feelings and read what was in front of me.

As Jasmine grew up, a lot of bad things happened around her. The links between the characters are unveiled well as is the revealing of secrets. There are plenty of twists, turns and surprises to be revealed. It’s a good read, although I didn’t feel the book related to the title or the beach on its front cover.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon books for the opportunity to read.

This review will go live on 29 May. I will copy it to Goodreads and Amazon afterwards:
Hi and welcome to my review of The Heatwave!

I know there’s a bit of a contradictio in terminis going on on my little blog, ‘cause I keep telling everyone who will listen that I’m on a NetGalley ban, yet I keep posting NetGally ARC reviews. I have SUCH a good reason though: books from authors I love keep popping up and I cannot walk away from that, I am not made of steel!

So today I have another review of a book by one of my auto-buy authors, namely Katerina Diamond. Back in 2016 I read Ms Diamond’s debut novel The Teacher and I knew I had a winner on my hands. I haven’t looked back since, Imogen Grey and Adrian Miles – the protagonists of her police procedural series – are two of my favourite people and every time a new Katerina Diamond novel comes out, I’m there to snap it up! Book by book, I have witnessed how much both the author and her characters have grown, and each new book is an absolute treat.

The Heatwave is not a new instalment of that series I love so much, it is Ms Diamond’s first standalone novel and I was fully prepared to miss Miley and Imogen, but before long I was entirely caught up in The Heatwave and there was no time nor space to miss anything or anyone.

The Heatwave goes back and forth between now and then. The past storyline is told from the POV of Jasmine, a teenage girl with a best friend and a bit of a teenage crush, who is about to grow up a whole faster than she bargained for. During a very hot summer, one of Jasmine’s classmates goes missing, forever casting a shadow on their picture-perfect little seaside town. The present storyline is told from the POV of Felicity, who grew up in said town, and fled it. But now, sixteen years later, she has to go back, because another girl has gone missing and she might be the only one who can help. Going back, however, means facing up to what happened sixteen years ago…

The Heatwave starts out as a bit of a slow-burner, building up the tension. One thing is crystal clear from the start: there’s a plethora of juicy secrets to unravel! Both storylines are absolutely shrouded in mystery, not just the missing girls, if anything they melt a little into the background, but also Jasmine and her suspicions and Felicity who is obviously hiding something, or multiple things even, and I couldn’t help but wonder just how reliable a narrator she really is.

I had an inkling about one secret. At times I felt it was blatantly obvious, other times Ms Diamond deftly made me question not only my gut feeling but everything else with it. She made me wait for it, that’s for sure, but in the end I was proven right and it was all I could do not to punch the air and scream HA I KNEW IT from the top of my lungs. Funny how sometimes seeing a reveal coming is a total kill-joy and other times it makes you feel triumphant and on top of the world, only adding to your enjoyment. Having said this, there were many other reveals I had not seen coming AT ALL, one rendering me positively speechless (translation: I was totally blubbing like a goldfish again 😂).

The Heatwave is the perfect summer thriller to read by the pool this summer, or on a pebbly beach, or by the pond like I did, or if this lockdown persists, in your bathtub, wherever you read it is absolutely fine ‘cause odds are you’ll end up forgetting all about your surroundings anyway! Recommended!

Felicity is living a seemingly happy life in the Lake District with her husband and two kids but when she learns about the disappearance of a young girl in her hometown she decides to leave everything inmediately and go there as she suspects that disappearance may be related to another missing girl 16 years ago.

Told in dual lines, we follow Felicity in the present time as she tries to uncover what happened to the missing girl and Jasmine, her best friend, in the past line, when we learn baout everything that happened when the girls were teenagers.

From the beginning it's made clear that Felicity has many demons and is hiding lots of things. While both lines held my attention I think the past one dragged along a bit around the middle part. It's not till the last 20% that everything starts to unravel and then we got twist after twist after twist (some of them I guessed, some I didn't). One of the problems I found was that the resolution, although answered all the questions, felt little credible (that confession conversation sounded anything but heartfelt and come one, I'm sure the author could find a better motivation than a difficult childhood!).

Anyway, in spite of all this, it was a fast and entertaining read so I will check some of the author's previous work.

3,5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slow-burner of a read. It took me quite a while to get into it. However, once it gets going, it is a killer of a book and certainly worth persevering through the start!
We are alternating between now and then chapters. In the ‘now’ chapters, we are following Felicity, a very troubled character. She has seen something on the news that has set the hairs on the back of her neck off. She knows this means she is going to have to revisit her past but will she get all the answers?
The ‘then’ chapters are following Jasmine, another morose character, telling us the story of both hers and Felicity’s past. What happened that summer that changed everything?
I really didn’t know what direction the book was going to take. I guessed one of the surprises, but the reasons for this I had no clue and they came out of left field and hit me over the head. I just didn’t see them coming at all. At this point, I was devouring the book so fast to get all the answers I think I finished it in record time.
It was brilliantly written. It gets you hooked slowly and builds up the story, so you are getting to know the characters. At one point with all the school friends, I was getting a bit lost of who was who but the main characters were easy to keep up with. The ’then’ and ‘now’ was clearly marked and wasn’t confusing at all.
Overall, a brilliant and engaging read that I’m glad I requested on NetGalley after only having read one other book by this author. I will certainly be reading more.

I was a little disappointed when I realised that this was a stand alone.

I was so WRONG!

This book is absolutely brilliant. Going from the past to the present day we learn about Flick and her teenage years.

I was gripped from
The first paragraph and did not see the twists and turns coming. I tried to guess what was going on, but was far from the mark.

Another fantastic read from Katerina Diamond.

Thank you for letting me review this title

Rates this book over a few days it was so good . Highly recommend this book to all . Defiantly worth a read .

Wow what a fantastic book with a brilliant twist . I loved the characters and the great friendship with the 2 different lives of the friends . Just goes to show you never know what goes on behind closed doors and the perfect looking families are rarely that at all . I will be looking for more from this author,I highly recommend this book

A girl Felicity reads about the disappearance of a girl from her hometown which she had left many years previously . This leads to her going back home for the first time since she left . Her childhood had appeared happy , with her parents being well thought of and spending their holidays going around the world helping out with charitable projects . The family moved into a new home and allowed a young man , who had been homeless and sleeping in his car move into an annexe ., in exchange for help in doing work on the property .
At first this seems to be going well until the daughter suspects he is up to something strange. A teacher at her school gets fired for sexually assaulting her and later appears to have committed suicide . Her best friend has a drunken mother and it appears and is jealous of her supposedly happy family life . All is not as it seems as this exciting story unfolds with catastrophic discoveries from before and the present .

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.

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.

I haven't read any of Katerina Diamond's novels before, so was very pleased to be introduced to her writing. Felicity returns to the town she was brought up in, but left in mysterious circumstances 16 years ago. What prompts her is news of a missing girl. Throughout the book we are teased with more information about why she is connected to this disappearance and how she could find the girl. This is a real page turner with twists and turns to the plot even through to the last page. I really enjoyed the book, although one or two points were rather farfetched. A good read and highly recommended.

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

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.

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’m a huge Katerina Diamond fan and I’ve been loving her Miles and Grey series which I have followed religiously since The Teacher. So I was thrilled to see that she had written her first standalone psychological but also worried that it wouldn’t live up to the series I love. But if you feel the same then please don’t worry-The Heatwave is a brilliant read that grabs you from the very first page-rather like the fate of the girl we first meet as she is drugged and abducted by an unknown assailant.

The Heatwave is a duel timeline thriller set in the present, when a missing girl forces Felicity to confront her past by returning to her hometown, and in the past where Felicity and her best friend make a shocking discovery. Felicity was a difficult character to take to initially especially as I found her sudden departure from her home in the Lake District a very strange decision to make! Her family are left in the lurch as she rushes back to her hometown the moment she hears a girl has gone missing in similar circumstances to a disappearance that happened 16 years previously. It’s obvious that something personal has dragged her back but who or what was the real puzzle for me here. Looking back there were clues sprinkled throughout the storyline but I hadn’t connected all the dots before the big final reveal so what a shocker it was! Katerina Diamond leads her readers through a maze of intrigue before distancing herself and leaving us to find our own way out of the tangled mess she left in her wake.

I read this in one sitting whilst spending an afternoon reading in the beautiful sunshine. It was the perfect setting for a book set in a heatwave and so I just couldn’t stop until I got to the last page! The Heatwave is a gripping thriller, stylishly plotted with a setting that rang true. The teenage characters especially felt authentic and were well developed, their actions may not have been the right ones but it made for realistic choices being made…and possibly regretted!

I absolutely loved this book and hope Katerina Diamond writes more standalones in the future.

#Theheatwave runs two parralel stories at the same time- then and now. A girl disappears and Flick seems to know the answer, because there are too many similarities between this case and what happened 16 years ago. She doesn't quite know all the details and she is shocked to discover them.

This is the best thriller I have read in a long time. It grabbed me from the very first word and didn't let me go until I finished it.

As soon as I thought I cracked it, there was a twist. Kept me guessing right until the last pages and it was shocking to discover the whole truth at the end.
Thanks #netgalley and Avon publishers for this book. I highly recommend it.

I’ve read several of Katerina Diamond’s books and they are all without exception truly brilliant! This is a stand-alone book.
I read this in a couple of days, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn’t know at all where this was going and loved that! I was completely immersed and I wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s dark, full of twists and an ending that I did not see coming!

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books UK and the Author Katerina Diamond for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A slightly slow start but very soon I could not put it down. A wonderful psychological thriller with some surprising twists; most especially at the end. I did not see that coming.
My first read by this Author and certainly won't be my last! I highly recommend this book.

Another fantastic read from Katrina Diamond

We meet Felicity who upon seeing a news report of a young girl going missing embarks on a journey into her own past as she tries to discover what has happened to Mandy. What connects them
She leaves her family and travels back to her childhood hometown.
This story is told from 2 perspectives. Then, in the voice of Jasmine and now,as Felicity.
It is cleverly put together and at times I couldn’t put it down

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review

As expected from Katerina Diamond, this book was another brilliant read. As if the title and cover didn't already give you a clue, this is the perfect summer read, a book to take to the beach with you and get completely lost in.

Straight from the first page there was an air of mystery about Felicity and her life, the latest kidnapping in her home town bringing back images of the past and compelling her to travel home to see if her suspicions are true. 

Full of twists and turns, this book kept me guessing right up to the end, with regular flashbacks to the first disappearance rounding the story out nicely, and giving me plenty of suspects to turn my attention to! It was impossible to put this book down, I think I devoured it almost in one sitting.

My favourite read of 2020 so far! The sad tale of Felicity and Jasmine’s adolescent friendship that had tragic and stomach turning events. I really connected with this book, the small seaside town setting, characters, adolescent emotional and friendships all resonated with me. I’d never have guessed the main twist and some of the smaller ones were well thought out! I can not recommend this book highly enough! Thank you Katerina Diamond!

I love Katerina Diamond and devoured her previous books with the Miles and Grey partnership. I couldn’t wait to get stuck into this one, but it was a slow burner. Flick has moved away from her childhood home, like many before her, but when she hears of a young local girl’s disappearance is compelled to return to her former town, leaving her stable and loving family life behind.
The novel teases with suggestions of why she has returned and it becomes apparent she is connected to another disappearance, just before she moved away. Just how much does she know and why does she feel she can solve the mystery of the young girl’s vanishing before it is too late.
This book really comes together at the end when the twist is revealed and everything Flick thought she knew is altered.
Thanks to Avon books and #netgalley for the chance to read it.

Wow! I was blown away with this book. I thought it was going to be good but didn’t realise how good. It is slow building but as it gathers pace and the intensity increases you won’t be able to put this book down. And it really does keep going with plots twists and turns right to the end, It was a real bonus that I used to live near Sidmouth where the events take place so I could picture the story so vividly. The story is told through a series of flashbacks and real time action.

Felicity sees on the news that young girl has gone missing from the town where she grew up, but this isn’t the first time this has happened, a girl went missing under similar circumstances 16 years ago. Felicity decides it is time to go back to her home town and try and face the truth of what happened all those years ago.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book, it had a slightly different feel to others that I’ve read as it had underlying tensions set all the way through. As the title suggests you can feel the heat all through the book which adds to the story, it was brilliant. I haven’t read any of Katrina Diamon’s books before but I will in future if they are as good as this one was.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

"There is a tiny part of me that hopes I am wrong, a part of me that hopes there is no connection between the two disappearances. The news report has forced me to remember that summer when everything changed. I try not to think about that time and I have never spoken about it since, especially not to Chris. It's a secret I have kept locked away. But there is no hiding from it anymore. I have to go back."

When Felicity hears of a missing teenage girl in her hometown of Sidmouth in Devon, she leaves her husband and children and makes the journey from her home in The Lake District to tackle what she ran away from all those years ago.

It is summertime again, like it was when she was a teenager and another school girl went missing, someone from her class. Felicity (from a disadvantaged background with an alcoholic and drug-dependent mother, Caroline) and best friend Jasmine (from a wealthy background, living with parents Frank and Lisa), spend their summers together. When a formerly homeless man, Tim, comes into Jasmine's life, as a handyman, she is immediately suspicious of his attentions. When a girl from their class, Hannah, goes missing Jasmine wonders if Tim is involved.

Split into chapters told by Felicity (now) and Jasmine (then), this enables the gradual piecing together of what happened during the heatwave when the first girl went missing and what is happening now Felicity has returned, during the heatwave now. Part nostalgia, from the teenagers' perspectives and part coming-of-age for Jasmine, there are red herrings interspersed with clues to unravel who is responsible, whilst Felicity tries to put right past wrongs. Some I was beginning to guess, but the culprit caught me (and the other characters) by surprise and is shocking and horrifying. A twisty, now and then mystery, great summer reading for fans of psychological thrillers.

Wow! Another great read, with lots of shocks, thrills, twists and turns, and chills! I found myself fully emerged in this book, yearning to find out what was going to happen and when! I found myself getting a bit of a whip lash with all the twists and turns! I highly, highly recommend even if you are new to thrillers or Diamond, as this is definitely one heck of a great read!
Will make sure to buzz this book up on the different platforms and use low Amazon reviewer number on release date!

I couldn't stop reading this. I loved the synopsis. The story is told by 2 different characters. Its great how the story is told by two different characters and how the story merged altogether. It had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't stop reading it. Twists and turns galore . You will not see the twist at the end coming !!

A scorcher of a read with more twists than a corkscrew!

The Heatwave is my first Katerina Diamond book and it most certainly won’t be my last!

One hot summer in Sidmouth, a local girl Hannah goes missing from the fair. 16 years later history repeats itself, when another local girl, Mandy, mysteriously disappears too!

Sidmouth was once Felicity’s hometown, but she is now living in the Lake District happily married with two children. As the news reaches her about missing Mandy, Felicity’s memories of the past come tumbling back. Realising she may be able to help find Mandy, she packs her bags and returns to the place she once lived.

The chapters switch perfectly between Felicity in the present and her best friend Jasmine in the past. I was hooked from the beginning and flabbergasted come the end. Even though I partially guessed the outcome, I still found it utterly shocking and brilliant.

I really like the way Katerina only provides tasters of revealing information initially. It helps keep the reader guessing and makes for a more suspenseful read. I found I was more gripped to Jasmine’s story from the past than Felicity’s in the present, but I think that is purely because that is where the main part of the story lies.

Well, I read The Heatwave during a heatwave and all I can say is that this will definitely be a must-read this summer, for any lovers of a mystery/suspense thriller.

My reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is only because I felt I still had a couple of unanswered questions come the end.

I can’t finish my review without mentioning the front cover of this book. I found it so eye-catching and it’s totally the kind of cover that would make me want to read the book without even knowing what it’s about!!

Thank you so much to Katerina Diamond, Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my ARC of this book.

I was intrigued to read this stand alone novel by Katerina Diamond as I had only ever read her DS Imogen Grey series of books before.

I was not disappointed!! This book is full of twists and turns and told from the prospective of the main character and when she was a teenager.

There were so many twists and unpredictable twists at that! In fact I never could of predicted the final twist. It totally shocked me, especially I had thought I had it all worked several times before, only for there to be another turn.

I'd most definitely recommend reading this book to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers with more twists and turns than a roller-coaster. Make sure you have plenty of time to read the book as I could not put it down and I was reading it at every chance I got!

Can;t Wait for the next book!

This is one of my favourite books this year - and I was slightly worried beforehand as Katerina Diamond deviated from her usual series with this one... but it worked and this standalone thriller was an excellent read!

I really enjoy books that carry an equal weighting of past and current times and getting to know the history of the main characters was entertaining throughout this. Mainly because Katerina does what she does best and keeps her cards close to her chest as she writes - dropping in little nuggets of information that mean you absolutely have to keep on reading to find out more.

This was full of twists and turns and plenty of darkness, which is what Katerina is known best for I think. There’s something about her series that will always have me rushing out to buy the latest book but equally it’s nice to know that if that ever comes to an end Katerina will not let us down!

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.

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

I have read every one of the Imogen Grey series and enjoyed them all, This is different, a one off thriller with a different pace and set in two different times. I wasn’t sure at first, as it changed between time frames, but it quickly pulled me in with its slow burning tension and many questions unanswered until the end. A creepy plot and a totally unexpected ending; all very satisfying and an ideal holiday read. I really enjoyed it.

The Heatwave was a compulsive read that I found impossible to put down. The prologue immediately hooked me and from that point, I devoured the book in less than three days.

Flick refuses to think about that summer where she escaped from her old life. Nobody knows her past and she'd like to keep it that way. Until she sees the news - a young woman has gone missing from her hometown. The circumstances are hauntingly similar to a kidnap that happened 16 years ago, that last summer. Unable to forget, Flick must go back and face the past. But is she ready to admit what really happened?

This was a fast-paced thriller, with a slow build-up as the author gradually revealed the past with flashbacks to that summer. In the present day, Flick must piece together the events of the summer in order to save the missing girl. But the sleepy sea-front town is harbouring more secrets than Flick can count.

I really enjoyed the plot and thought it had quite a unique angle. It was realistic and written well enough for me to think that this could actually happen in real life. I guessed one of the twists quite early on but there were plenty of others that I didn't see coming. There was a good mix of characters and red herrings, just enough to have a handful of suspects. The writing style was strong with short chapters that always left me wanting to read on. I wouldn't say it was the cleanest narrative in the world but it didn't detract too much from the overall story. The ending was a little too neat but I was glad to see all the loose ends tied up and not rushed.

I'd recommend this one for fans of B.A. Paris, C.L. Taylor, and Ruth Ware.

I will definitely be reading more from the author in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Better known (by me anyway) for her Imogen Grey series, this is a standalone book. Felicity lives with her family in Devon but when she hears the news about the disappearance of a girl in her home town of Sidmouth, her world shatters and she ups sticks to Sidmouth, desperate to find out more about what has happened. It soon transpires that the case in the resent day has similarities to something that happened in Felicity's own past. We then have a dual timeline with Felicity in the present and Jasmine (Felicity's best friend) from when they were 16.
And that's really all I want to say about the narrative for fear of spoilers. Suffice to say that the plot is delicious and extremely well executed, interconnected as it flits between the past and the present, fleshing out the bones of the plot as it goes.
As I started the book I was quite confused by how Felicity could just bog off and leave her family and it did take me a while feeling a bit confused, But, as I already have some trust in this author from her previous books, I was able to sit with these feelings and believe that all would eventually be revealed. And it was, and to my satisfaction to boot.
The action and intrigue slowly ramps up until it suddenly explodes towards the end as everything is finally exposed and the whole truth of past and present is revealed. Phew... what an exhausting ride.
All in all, a cracking read that ticked all my boxes. Hopefully the author will continue with standalones in and among her series going forward. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is my first read from this author and it took me only 24hrs from start to finish. The book skips between ‘then’ and ‘now’ which I enjoyed and I also liked the relatively short chapters. There are quite afew twists, mostly at the end, I did guess one but I still enjoyed it. A great book for the hot weather with plenty of weird and wonderful characters and moments of suspense.

The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond has a great storyline. Katerina built her plot nicely and kept me guessing for a good part of the book but at times the prose was a little too basic and lacked the descriptive turn of phrase which would have enhanced the reading experience. Not sure if I’m expressing that well to be honest. I suppose it just read in quite a basic descriptive way but overall the plot and characters overcame any lack of gripping writing to paint an absorbing story of two young girls and a hot, life changing summer which set the course of the rest of their lives. It’s difficult to say more without spoiling the plot but the main character’s return to lay ghosts to rest is well done and the unfolding story is shocking and sad. Overall a great read

This book is fabulous !a gripping psychological thriller that grabs you from the first chapter and doesn't let go .This thriller kept me on the edge of my seat and had some very surprising twists some I guessed and some I didn't .The story is told in two timelines ,Felicity in the present and back when she was a teenager with her best friend Jasmine.I actually like this way of telling a story as I think you get a more in depth story . Altogether a very enjoyable book .Many thanks to the Publisher the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

Incredible suspense story of two teenage girls growing up in two different families, Jasmine has a stable home, two loving parents who do charity work every summer. Her best friend Felicity, growing up in a one parent household, who drinks, smokes, has too many boyfriends, not the most stable environment. Then a stranger shows up, Tim, a good looking young ex soldier, homeless, now living in Jasmine's parents guest cottage. Jasmine finds him scary, odd, why don't her parents see there is something wrong? Felicity and Jasmine spend the most traumatic summer ever! A must read!
I highly recommend! Thank you Netgalley!
carolintallahassee.com

When i saw this was written by Katerina Diamond i assumed The characters Adrian and Imogen, from all her previous books would make an appearance. I soon realised this was a stand-alone book. As i read i became gripped into the plot and kept reading because i needed to know the answer. It wasn’t predictable, in fact the plot twist at the end surprised me! I love Diamonds books. The fact that these were new characters separate from Her previous books only made this book more interesting and showed her talents as a writer. This book has a completely different atmosphere and really shows a different world she creates. Looking forward to more stand-alone books in tje future!

The plotting in this blew me away, I really had no idea what had happened and the final twists were amazing. I know Sidmouth really well, so loved the location too; especially as I’m in lockdown miles away! Will definitely read more from Katerina Diamond. Masterful.

This is the first book I have read by Katrina Diamond and I absolutely loved it. I devoured this book in a day and a half. A great whodunit which leaves you guessing. I now can’t wait to read some more books from this author.

Although the title of the book Didn’t seem to fit the story, I still enjoyed this thriller. Interesting twists and fast paced.

I am a huge Katarina Diamond fan and jumped on this book as soon as I saw it on Netgalley.

Felicity and Jasmine are best friends one hot summer in Devon. Felicity or Flick as she is known, doesn't have the most stable homelife, her mum is an alcoholic with a revolving door on boyfriends. She is envious of Jasmine's stable home life and her happily married philanthropic parents. When a formerly homeless stranger arrives into Jasmine's life as her parents' new lodger, and a girl from their school disappears, their world as they know it is upended.

Fast forward 16 years and Flick has been running from her old life ever since when she hears another girl has mysteriously disappeared in very similar circumstances to the still missing girl from that summer. Flick is forced to face the demons of her past as she returns to Devon in the hope that she can save the missing girl.

Told in a now (Flick) and then (Jasmine) format, this is a really good thriller. It has a slow build up with tidbits of information dropped in here and there. With short, snappy chapters, a few rabbit holes and plenty of twists to keep you guessing, it definitely grabs your attention from page 1 and runs with it. The ending completely took me by surprise and absolutely wasn't what I was expecting. In fact, I'm still thinking about it. An ideal holiday read 4/5.

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!!

This was a brilliant whodunit book perfect for escaping into a thrilling story. I loved it. Twisty and turny, keeping you at the edge of your seat.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

First, I have to say that I love, love, love Katerina Diamond. I think she is a brilliant author and have read her entire back catalogue.

I was intrigued when I saw that she had a new standalone book out and couldn't wait to read it. I was not disappointed. This book was brilliant and I read it in one sitting.

The plot was tense and gripping and it held my attention throughout. I don't want to give spoilers but I would say that I would recommend this book to anyone for a riveting summer read!

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.

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!

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.

Wow this book was great, I read it in one four hour sitting!

Set in Sidmouth Devon a teenage girl goes missing and it draws Flick back home as it happened before and she thinks she can help.

The book alternates between current day and 16 years ago, the last time Flick was there. What happened all those years ago and why does Flick think its related to what has happened now?

The story is fast paced and there were reveals along the way, some that I had guessed and some that I didn’t. There was only one thing that I’m left wondering about!

Felicity's life is suddenly disturbed when she sees a TV news bulletin about a missing girl from the place she grew up. The similarity to what happened 16 years ago is such that Felicity feels compelled to return to find out what happened. From this point the narrative alternates between past and present. The real mystery is why she is so bothered about something that happened so long ago unless she knows something that wasn't revealed at the time. No trace was ever found of the missing girl.
There is a big shift half way through when something becomes clear and from then on the tension mounts until the final showdown.
Katerina Diamond certainly knows how to keep you hooked. This standalone is just as good as her Imogen Grey series. Highly recommended.

As a Katerina Diamond fan, I was excited to get the opportunity to read an ARC of The Heatwave and I was not disappointed.
This cleverly written novel about the then and now pulls you in wanting to know what happened that summer and why Felicity is desperate to put the past behind her.
On hearing the news a young girl has gone missing from her home town, Felicity drops everything and goes back to the town she left behind 16 years ago. Whilst there she battles the demons and actions that took place during that hot summer and confronts what she has kept hidden all this time.
A real page turner with twists and turns. Definitely worth reading. Another great from Katerina Diamond.
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC and honest review.

"The Heatwave" is intriguing and fast-paced. Short chapters help to make it a compulsive read. The story unfolds across dual timelines, twisting the reader in knots throughout. Read in one sitting and loved it.

A great read. Katerina writes a gripping story with many unexpected twists and this book is typical of her. The characters are extremely well described and easily related to. I can highly recommend this book and indeed any books by this author.

4.5 stars

This is the second book called The Heatwave I have read this year. This book is written by Katerina Diamond, a new author to me. Thank you to Avon Books for a digital copy via NetGalley - my thoughts are my own and not influenced by the gift.

This is a book which got darker the further I read it. We know from the front cover of the book that there was a killer and the story gives us lots of hints about who that could be.

Felicity, living in the Lake District with her husband and children, is suddenly driving back to Sidmouth, a place she left behind years ago after a girl went missing one summer. Her family don't understand why she has to go back to a place she never talks about because a girl she didn't know went missing.

As we follow her in Sidmouth, talking to old school classmates and to the friends of the latest missing girl, parts of the story of 16 years ago are shared. We find out about Jasmine and her family, with their new lodger Tim who appears to have lots of secrets, the teacher who tried to kiss Jasmine and her friends (including Felicity). But can the killer be back in town too?

I really enjoyed this thriller, plenty of twists and turns, and an ending I hadn't expected. I predict that that this will be a popular read in back gardens and parks, whilst social distancing, in the summer of 2020.

Felcity- also known as Flick-has a lot of secrets. Secrets she's never told her husband who doesn't understand why she feels compelled to go to Sidmouth when a young girl named Mandy goes missing, This is told in past and present- by Flick and by Jasmine 16 years before. Jasmine's parents, who take off on charity work, have allowed Tim to take up residence. Jasmine wants to know what his story is, Something bad happens, things change, no spoilers from me as to how everything hooks up. Flick isn't especially likable but you'll eventually understand her motivations. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's twisty.

A hot mess of a crime, a great summer set thrilling read. 16 years on a second girl goes missing And Felicity is forced to confront her past. Full of twists and turns this is a real psychological thriller that kept me in suspense. I couldn’t wait to find out how it ended.