I can’t believe we’re at Book 4 in the DI Natalie Ward series already and I’m delighted to be part of the blog tour for The Sleepover. My review is written with thanks to Kim Nash at Bookouture for inviting me on the blog tour and for my copy of the book via Netgalley.

Blurb:

Roxy had a secret. Now she’s gone.

When fourteen-year-old Roxy says she’s going for a sleepover at her best friend Ellie’s house, Cathy sees no reason to check her daughter’s story. The two families are neighbours, and the girls are in and out of each other’s homes every day.

It is a decision she will regret. A day later, Roxy is found murdered in exclusive Linnet Lane, miles across town, in a house owned by two brothers with no apparent connection to Roxy. Detective Natalie Ward, called to lead the investigation, is determined to get to the bottom of why Roxy was in the basement of this grand Victorian mansion when she should have been eating chocolate in her pyjamas with her best friend.

As Natalie begins to look closely at Roxy’s stepfather and three brothers, she discovers that Roxy had recently been admitted to hospital with suspicious injuries. Her mother Cathy seems very jumpy and Ellie refuses to talk. Who are the people that knew Roxy best in the world protecting?

Then Roxy’s mother Cathy disappears.

When Cathy’s body is discovered close to where her daughter was found, Natalie is forced to face the grim fact that the killer is just getting started. She is troubled by the reaction of Roxy’s brother Seth to the tragedies and when his alibi falls through she brings him in for questioning, certain she is making headway.

But while Seth is in custody, one of Roxy’s school friends is found murdered and Natalie knows she must cast her net wider. Things take a more sinister turn when Ellie vanishes, her mobile phone switched off. What is Ellie hiding about the night Roxy died that could put her in terrible danger? And can Natalie work it out before another innocent life is taken?

Review:

Carol Wyer has done it again folks! The Sleepover is a great addition to the DI Natalie Ward series and I loved every second. The investigation moves slowly at first as the team have limited leads but Wyer is so clever as the little details I thought didn’t mean anything played a significant part in the mystery. There are so many strands to this plot, but I never felt like I was being overloaded and I felt they came together brilliantly.

Wyer is fantastic at creating characters. Even though The Sleepover is the fourth book in the series, I still feel heavily invested in the fortunes of Natalie and her team. I can’t wait to meet Lucy’s baby Spud and Natalie’s family also play an important role in the novel. The minor characters, the suspects and victims are also described in immaculate detail and this drew me into the investigation even further as I tried (and failed) to figure out what had happened.

Yet again, Carol Wyer sets us up perfectly at the end for the next book in the series and I want to know what happens next!

The Sleepover is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: