A truly heartbreaking story, you follow Ava and Matt through memories of the saddest morning of their lives, the day little Abi disappeared. This book is more of a drama mystery than a thriller, as the story slowly develops into its conclusion making you analyse everyone’s behaviour. This is a extremely emotional story so be ready with the tissues.

I don’t know what it was about this book, but I was gripped from the first page. The writing style is really different, and it draws you in. The repetitive short sentences really drive home the mental state of Ava. The timeline jumps all over the place without warning, but it is really easy to keep up.
I literally couldn’t put this book down. I’d think “I’ll just read for another 10 minutes” and I’d look up and an hour had passed by. Not a lot is happening, but it is enthralling enough to want to know what the outcome is going to be. What happened to Abi that day?
I didn’t see the twists coming, but they weren’t wham in your face. They were quite subtle, but you do need to concentrate when everything is being revealed to get it all straight in your head. You have to pay attention to the timeline and where everyone is and what is happening. I found it quite confusing, especially not knowing the full layout of the ‘set’; it was quite hard to get my head around. Great ending and conclusion, though.
I liked the lengthy ‘authors note’ after the book that goes into detail about how she came up with this story. Such a small detail and a whole book can be developed and conjured up. I thought her insight into the current situation while she was writing was enlightening, and I’m glad she did go back a year in time and didn’t incorporate the coronavirus into the story. I’m reading books to run away from the horrors in the current world and don’t want to read about characters in the same predicament we are in. I want to escape into an alternate universe, and this book certainly did that. So, thank you to the author for not putting current events into the book despite that being predominately surrounding her whilst writing this.
This was an enthralling book that I couldn’t put down, the writing style was unusual but worked, and the storyline was different and intriguing.

It's a mother's worst nightmare. You leave your sleeping baby alone for five minutes (ok, maybe 15) and when you come back, she's vanished. There's so much I could say about this book but I don't want to give anything away. This is a good, solid story which kept me interested and involved from the first page to the last. I'd highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Their two year old daughter is gone. It seems that she went out the front door. It has been a year and no one knows what happened to her. Was she abducted, drowned, there are no answers. The police have put the case on the back burner. There's not been any new evidence.
Thinking back on the morning she disappeared, her mother starts putting small pieces together. Alone the pieces mean nothing. Together they are forming a picture. The people that are guilty will be found.
Intriguing, story!

Gosh, I have never used this expression before but I can honestly say that this book blew me away ! I thought it got off to a slowish start, but that is because I am an extremely impatient reader. It wasn't really slow it was just setting the scene I guess, but when the book really took off for me it was a rollercoaster ride, and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor a couple of times, No spoilers but I honestly didn't see things coming, and I loved it. I thought it was a really clever, and well written book, and it definitely goes into my top 5 best books of this year, and I read a lot of books. I have already recommended it to my partner and told them to read it as soon as possible, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to other readers. I really enjoyed reading it.

I have enjoyed this author’s previous books, so looked forward to diving into The Housewarming. It certainly did not disappoint.

This is a gut-wrenching story of a missing child and the search for the truth. Ava has gone upstairs leaving her two-year old daughter secure in her buggy: taking a few minutes to herself and relishing the peace, Ava returns devastated to see an empty buggy and open front door. What ensues is the police investigation and hunt for the child. The depth of feeling in this book was immense; guilt, suspicion, doubt, anger, sadness.

The writing is brilliant and the characters really came to life. Excellent read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an advanced ebook copy of this novel for an honest review.

This book was very well written, well developed characters, easy to read, and flowed well between character perspectives.

I found this book got off to a bit of a slow start for me and I wasn’t sure what to think initially, but for those of you who aren’t intrigued right off the bat, keep reading! Once I got through the backstory/past I found myself speed reading wanting to know so badly to find out what happened!

This book goes back and forth between the perspectives of different characters which I liked, hearing the story from different points of view. I don’t know if I would necessarily call this a thriller, maybe more of a drama with bits and pieces of a thriller. I would read other novels by this author.

It’s now a year on since Matt and Ava Atkins daughter Abi went missing and when next door neighbours Jennifer and Johnnie Lovegood are holding a housewarming after a major refurbishment, they can’t decide whether to attend or not. However, this event is the catalyst for the truth.

Susie Lynes has done it again! Another cracking read which had me glued to my seat unable to put my e-reader down! The author captures the fear and panic after Abi’s disappearance so well using short clipped sentences which perfectly matches Ava’s breathless panic. The self recrimination and guilt especially of Abi is heartbreaking in its intensity, it’s distressing as it is every parents nightmare. It’s a very emotional, tense and powerful story and it must be a daily gut wrench not knowing exactly what has happened to your child and you feel their palpable grief. The author demonstrates the changing relationship between Abi and Matt, with their best friends and neighbours who become awkward as they don’t know what to say or do. What can you say in these circumstances? The plot is well thought out, it’s well paced speeding up perceptibly towards the unpredictable end which is one shock after another.

Overall, an extremely good novel which examines how people can be defined by a tragedy, it’s impact on relationships and the need for closure. A highly recommended emotional read.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the much appreciated arc for an honest review.

The first 10% of this book was nothing but the continuous and repeated angst of a mother whose 2 year old child had disappeared from her stroller in the foyer (?) of their home. Was this story ever going to proceed or was it just going to continue with the self-blame and angst and distress and despair? I didn’t find out. That was enough for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early release in exchange for an honest review. I’m sure this will have wide appeal to those who enjoy guilt and self incrimination.

The housewarming is a heartbreaking and suspense filled mystery about a couple who lose their young daughter. A year after she goes missing, more information starts to come out about what really happened that day.

I think author wrote the characters, especially Ava, very well, but her torment almost made me uncomfortable to read. While I've never gone through something like that, I could relate to the way she was focused on one thing, one moment and couldn't shut off her brain.

There are so many cliffhanger chapters in the housewarming that it almost started to get frustrating. It meant I had to keep reading and couldn't stop.

The deeper I got as the characters started to uncover more secrets, the more painful it became. I've never felt so much empathy for book characters. It was tragic and the truth behind it was really haunting. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while.

Beautifully written, heartbreaking story of every parents worst nightmare. When Ava goes upstairs and gets distracted for a few minutes, she returns downstairs to find her baby daughter Abi missing. She knows Abi was fastened into her stroller and playing with her toy, and she believes she closed the door all the way. When she realizes the door is wide open, she knows she made a mistake that may haunt her the rest of her life. As every aspect of their lives and their closest friends and neighbors lives are examined, the young couple realize they don’t know who to trust, even those they thought they knew best. Excellent heartfelt story that is impossible to put down.

I really was looking forward to reading this but unfortunately it fell short for me. I found it a very slow burner and urged it to move on. For the first 1/4 of the book I found it to be repetitive and over descriptive when it came to the inner thinkings of the characters with not much actually happening. The author really portrayed the topic of grief and loss so well that you felt like it was actually happening to you. I was expecting it to have more dramatic twists and turns as it’s described as a suspense thriller. Unfortunately just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC and review thats due to be published on the 23rd of Oct.

Such a great book! I was immediately intrigued, I mean where could Abi have gone? The ending was not what I expected, in the best way. I would definitely recommend this book. Thank you, NetGalley!

Oh my word! I have read all of Susie Lynes books and they just get better everytime. This is a real hold your breath, sitting on the edge of your seat book.

The first chapter is intense and heart wrenching, Ava was only gone for few seconds so where could Abi have gone? Abi was strapped in her buggy watching her favorite show, but the front door was opened. It’s a year now, but Ava keeps replaying that horrible day. Her husband, Matt, suggest they attend their neighbors’s housewarming party. The Lovegoods’ renovated their house and all the neighbors on the block will be there, after a few drinks new details of Abi’s disappearance comes out! This is quite suspenseful. Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a gifted ARC. This is my honest review.

This was a great book that was intense, quick paced and gripping from the start. The plot of the book was interesting and i personally love thrillers that focus on intercommunity dynamics as i really get the tension between them! I love that you dont always know who to believe and who to trust. Great story, and great execution.

Captivating from start to finish. The missing child plot has been done to death (excuse the pun) and yet I found this novel so different.
The plot was fast-paced and I loved the secrets that kept unfolding.
Will definitely be looking out for more S. E. Lynes books!

How life can change in a flash.

This happens to Ava and Matt when Ava leaves the front door open , her daughter in the stroller at the door and in ten minutes tops Abi is gone.

You are slowly but surely drawn into the lives of Matt ,Ava and the neighbours as police frantically search for Abi.

Ava overhears what seems an innocent remark on her first time out at a housewarming party.

Something is not adding up to what both her Matt believed happened.

Who to believe, who to trust? How can Ava make sense of any of this?

The pages turn quickly as you race to the conclusion of story.

This book will stay with me for quite awhile.

Take time to read the author's notes, food for thought.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a heart wrenching yet satisfying read.

Another amazingly suspenseful story from this very talented writer.
I absolutely devoured it.
So many suspects, I knew one of these neighbours was guilty, only I didn’t know who, how or why. Such a brilliant twisty story.
Thank you!

I wanted to like this more than I did. I found it to be more of a sad story than a mystery. So, it was not what I thought it would be when I first started reading. The description was. a little misleading.