One hot summer’s afternoon, five-year-old Ava Sawyer went to a party. She never came home…

Two years later, Ava’s body is found and another little girl, Audrey Briggs, goes missing. Audrey also attended that party …

Leading the investigation is Detective Natalie Ward. A mother of two teenagers, this case chills her to the bone, and is a disturbing reminder of the last job she worked on. One that still keeps her awake at night…

Natalie soon discovers that Ava’s mother has some worrying gaps in her alibi and as she digs deeper, she’s sure Ava’s father is not telling the full story. And what did the owner of the garden centre Elsa see that day? Something that she’s not telling Natalie …

Just as Natalie is facing up to the grim possibility that Ava and Audrey were killed by someone close to home, another little girl from the party doesn’t come home from her ballet lesson. Can Natalie find a way to stop this killer before more innocent lives are taken?

My Thoughts:

I have not read one of Carol’s books for ages so when I saw this one, I thought I must read it. The story centres around a birthday that happened a few years back where a child went missing. Spring back to today and a body has been found, Detective Natalie Ward is on the case and she will stop at nothing to find out who the killer is. But along the way another child is found dead and suspicions arise as it looks as though it could be the same killer. Can Natalie and her team find the killer before more deaths happen? I liked how it was fast paced and I couldn’t wait to become involved, I felt as though I was part of the team. There are a twists that changes things up a bit and I thought I knew at one point but it was a red herring. I liked how some chapters are in a different font and we see the back story of the actual killer and why he did it. It was such a good read and I need to read more of Carol’s books.

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