My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Goodreads rating: 4.19 with 655 ratings

Series: Detective Natalie Ward #1

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

When five-year-old Ava Sawyer goes missing from a birthday party at a local garden centre, the police are bewildered by the lack of leads. That is until two years later, when Ava’s body is found and another little girl, Audrey Briggs, goes missing. Audrey also attended that party . …more on Goodreads

200 Word Review

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. “The Birthday” is the first in the Detective Natalie Ward series, a new series by Carol Wyer. A five-year-old girl goes missing at a classmate’s birthday party. Two years later her body is found. Soon after, another little girl, who was also at the party, disappears. Det. Ward is in charge of the investigation and worries it will end like her last job which did not end well.

I enjoyed the storyline involving the disappearances of the little girls. However, her last job was mentioned often and did not move the story along. Also included is the detective’s house life with her husband and two teenage children. I found myself attempting to skim those parts too. For me, the disappearance storyline has a nice pace to it. It does not drag or rush the story. The other parts just broke up that storyline and it did not seem to flow well.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. According to the scale used by Goodreads, that means it’s ok. I did not think the book was a waste of time. I would read another book by Wyer but it would not be a priority “to be read” book.