The Birthday Party grabbed me by the throat and the emotions from the opening pages and never released that grip until the very end… and even now, after an intentional sleepless night to finish it by today parts of it linger in my mind. I’ve loved Wendy Dranfield’s work, but this one goes up another level in the twists, did she really go there aspect and the secrets that keep popping out when least expected. I suspect I’ll be opening this one up again in a few weeks to find the clues I’m sure I missed considering that ending, and it will be a re-read well worth my time.

As with any Crime/Murder/Thriller/Mystery review of mine, don’t expect spoilers or for me to tell you the story. The Birthday Party is so full of intriguing twists, hidden secrets that folks will do anything to hide, and people that Kathy knows beginning to show their true selves to the world – no, you won’t find spoilers here. Only praise for a well-written, intense thriller that will haunt any reader, and open up another view to the wealthy, well-to-do community that Kathy and Charlie live in proving that evil can and does exist anywhere.

Anything you need to know to entice your imagination before picking up this story can be found in the Cover Description. What you won’t find there are the goosebumps that certain scenes provoke, the breaking apart each and every person’s account of what happened and their part in it looking for clues or the dread that will settle into your stomach as more and more secrets are revealed leaving one to wonder just what someone would do to keep those precious, dangerous secrets from being told.

If you love a good, involved, tense Crime Thriller then The Birthday Party is a perfect match for you. I didn’t see the culprit coming, oh, I suspected everyone at some point, but I didn’t see that. And that’s all I’m saying about the ending to this one. Grab this one, I don’t believe you’ll be disappointed at all in that decision.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Kathy Hamilton drops her daughter at a family birthday party. Kathy believes her daughter will be safe and looked out for. But Charlotte goes missing at the party and everyone there is a suspect including her parents.

This was a faced paced thriller with lots of twists and turns, so many I struggled to keep up. Some of the twists were a bit far fetched and unbelievable. The story flows well and is very suspenseful and emotional. I will just say it is not a happy ending, very sad.

The disappearance of a little girl during a family birthday party is shocking and what follows is a very tense search and desperate hope that she hasn’t been harmed. What also follows is the slow unravelling of a wealthy family’s deep and complex secrets and the various relationships.
As is the case in small towns it seems that everybody is interconnected, even more so than at a first glance, even the Police Officer investigating is part of the backstory.
This covers family secrets, lies, betrayals and a lot of therapy. Even more therapy is probably required now but somehow they make it through to a conclusion of sorts. The action is fast paced and despite the complexities not too much trouble to keep track of what’s going on and some satisfying red herrings and twists and turns along the way.
I’ve given this four stars but hesitated between three and four as some of it is just a little too far fetched and unbelievable, but it does make an entertaining and original storyline overall. Thank you.

The Birthday Party by Wendy Dranfield
Pub Date 7th Jan 2022
Charlotte waves at her mother across the crowded lawn. Little red boots on, cowboy hat crooked over her blonde pigtails, she's been looking forward to this party for weeks. Moments later, she disappears without a trace…
Kathy Hamilton drives away from her sister-in-law's pristine-white suburban house in Maple Falls, certain she's left her daughter in safe hands. On the hottest day of the year, a birthday is a perfect excuse to gather friends, family and neighbours around the pool for a barbecue. But when she returns hours later to find her little girl has vanished, her world shatters.
Nobody laughing and drinking in the garden that day saw anything unusual.
Kathy's eldest daughter is anxious and hardly eating. Is she sick with worry for her sister or hiding a terrible secret?
The phone rings and rings, but why can't Kathy get hold of the babysitter?
And is she imagining it, or when her husband rushed from work to join the search, was he wearing a different shirt to the one she saw him leave the house in that morning?
As the temperature rises and long-buried secrets begin to surface, it's clear that even the most perfect families keep devastating secrets. But in a town as small as this, is there anyone you can trust?
The Birthday Party has an extensive cast of characters and features multiple secrets, twists, and lies. The book started well, but I found it pretty unbelievable as I read on.
I completed the book to find out what happened to Charlie, but her story felt lost as there were so many other things going on it felt very crowded.
I want to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and author Wendy Dranfield for a pre-publication copy to review.

I could not get into this book. It was too slow to start and I found Kathy annoying. I ended up not finishing it because I found myself not wanting to pick it up and carry on. I love Wendy's Madison Harper series though so definitely recommend checking that out

So sorry, I thought I had posted a feedback already. I truly enjoyed this mystery. It was a page turner at times. Well written and by that I mean the characters were well thought out and had depth to them. I read alot of mysteries and I didn’t know who the murderers were until the last few chapters of the book. This will be a best seller and earn a lot of positive reviews!

A tense thriller that doesn’t let up. The author has written a story of secrets and betrayals that are worse knowing than the one before. The kidnapping of a child has everyone a suspect and a family's secret life begins to spiral downward as implications mount. All the while the police hunt a monster no one suspects.
Thank you to the, Author Wendy Dranfield, Publisher, Bookouture and NetGalley for this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 4.5 Stars

Every parents worse nightmare …….. your child goes missing. An innocent family birthday party …… what could go wrong ?

Kathy Hamilton drops her five year old daughter at a family birthday party but hours later when her daughter still hasn’t arrived home with the babysitter she realises something is terribly wrong.

Soon the police are searching for missing Charlie but there is no trace of her. The more the investigation progresses the more secrets start to unravel. Reputation is everything to the Hamilton family but how far would they go to keep that reputation in tact ?

This is a great fast paced thriller with some brilliant characters, some you will love and some you will hate !! This is the first book I’ve read by this author but it definitely won’t be the last. A gripping read right from the start.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this book. It is full of drama, emotion, twists and revelations. As the story unfolded I did guess some of what was to come but then OMG!! I didn't see that coming. This book kept me reading into the early hours as there was no way I could put it down. I won't hesitate to recommend it to every reader I know.

If you enjoy crime thrillers, this is one of the best,
With a child's disappearance triggering family unrest.
A story filled with secrets, family drama and history
As the police endeavour to uncover this mystery.

The Hamilton's are all about keeping up their appearances
Maintaining status whenever they've the chance
But they're a dysfunctional family, with secrets by the score,
Although young Charlie is a child most adore.

A birthday party for her nephews is where the drama starts
Kathy drops off Charlie to join in, then quickly departs.
Returning home much later, the family are shocked to discover,
Charlie has disappeared and they start suspecting each other.

What an enthralling page turner this story turned out to be
One filled with angst, turmoil and mystery.
It is only as secrets and lies are uncovered
That there's a chance for the truth to be discovered.

A great read that kept me on the edge of my seat
By an author whose style is impossible to beat
I thoroughly enjoyed this riveting read
And highly suggest it is something that you also need!

For my complementary copy of this book, I say thank you,
I throughly enjoyed perusing it and this is my honest review.

Wow, I loved this audiobook! Just the kind of captivating listen I needed right now.
This was my first Dranfield novel, but I will definitely be putting her on my radar after this!
When you listen to an audiobook in 2 days, in between work and you use any housework jobs as an excuse to listen, you know you have a belter!
This gave me so many emotions- anguish, shock, trauma, and I loved it all.
The characters were well defined, and even though there were many suspects in Charlie's disappearance, I never felt confused about who anyone was.
That plot! Always gripping and the clues being dropped were amazing. There were so many twists to the story to keep me thinking.
Fantastic book!
Also posted to my Instagram and Facebook pages Curling Up With a Coffee and a Kindle

5yr old Charlotte is dropped off at her cousins birthday party and never seen again! (As a mother, this is obviously my worst nightmare and the reason I have never dropped a 5yr old off anywhere! )

This story was so well written and there are twists galore! My heart ached for us to find Charlie (as she is affectionately known) and find out where she disappeared to. Everybody seems to have a secret, and everybody was a suspect to me, which is a testament to how well the book is written.

While I did think the motive in the end felt a bit over the top to me, this was still a really good story.

4.25⭐

The Birthday Party is a standalone crime thriller by the brilliant Wendy Dranfield, and it's certainly an intriguing tale. As in the middle of a heat wave five-year-old Charlie is taken to her cousins birthday party by mum Kathy only to completely disappear and when Charlie's babysitter Megan can't be found either a detective and old boyfriend of Kathy's is called in to investigate.

But what he finds is a family full of secrets and one who aren't as perfect or happy as they like people in Maple Falls to think, and it seems with every hour that passes more lies are uncovered and yet no sightings of Charlie emerge.

And with plenty of twists and turns and characters I couldn't decide if I liked, felt sorry for or, disliked intensely this was a gripping story that although a little slow paced at times still had me desperately turning the pages wanting to find out what was going to happen next.

Would happily recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC of The Birthday Party in return for an honest review.
This is my first book of 2022 and the first by Wendy Dranfield and Wow what a start to the new year, this is defiantly a page turner once i started i couldn’t put it down. This is a well written thrilling/emotional read full of mystery, suspense and lots of twists with great characters. I have already added Wendys other books to my ever growing list of TBR books. (lots of late nights to come).

This book was so twisted and suspenseful and I enjoyed every second of it! The hits just kept coming and the decades old love story thrown in was a great addition. Loved it and definitely interested in more by the author. Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for this pre-release in exchange for my honest review!

Wow what a read I enjoyed this book so much I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a fast paced and exciting thriller. All I will say is make sure you have plenty of f time on your hands when you start it as you won’t want to put it down!

5 year old Charlie has been dropped off at her cousins birthday party by Kathy when Kathy leaves Charlie is happily riding a pony and is seen to be having a great time. Later on that day Kathy and her husband Mitch go back to the party after their childminder Megan failed to pick up Charlie however there is no sign of Charlie at the party and no one has seen her since just after Kathy left at 2 o’clock.

Detective Chase cooper an hold school friend of Kathy is determined to get to the bottom of Charlie’s disappearance and launches an amber alert in order to find her as quickly as possible. Chase also makes it his mission to find out why Megan never turned up to pick Charlie up from the party. With Megan not answering her phone and with no one seen or hearing from her Chase begins to wonder if she could be involved in Charlie’s disappearance.

When Chase discovers Megan unconscious and having been through a massive ordeal herself he soon realises there is no way Megan could be behind Charlie’s abduction; however with so many secrets and lies beginning to emerge Chase begins to wonder if everyone is being honest with him and soon becomes frustrated when he realises they aren’t and this is clouding the investigation making the end goal of finding Charlie even more difficult for him.

What I loved most about this book is that there were so many secrets, twists and lies throughout the book that it became impossible for me to work out who had committed the crime. At one point I think I suspected just about everyone in the book, I did half guess who was behind this but the other thing that happened was a complete surprise which I didn’t see coming at all. I loved the pace of this book and the fact that every time I thought I knew where it was heading it threw me in another direction. This was the first book I’ve read by Wendy Dranfield and it definitely won’t be my last and I cannot wait to see what else she has in store.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

Clever and complex. Just when you think you've figured it out, the author throws you a curveball and there are lots of them! Smoothly written with plenty of tension to keep you reading well after bedtime.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

I loved the narrators of this book - multiple narrators always lends great depth to the characters. The use if flashbacks were seamless, lending backstory while moving the plot forward. Well done - very engaging.
In a small sleepy town in Vermont, Charlie is taken from a birthday party - a place where children should be having fun, not where parents should be concerned with their safety.
Chase is quickly assigned to the case - ignoring the fact Charlie is the adopted daughter of his first love, Kathy Hamilton.
Kathy and her husband, Mitch, adopted Charlie six months earlier when her mother was no longer able to care for her.
They realize Charlie is missing upon returning home - Megan, their babysitter, failed to pick Charlie up from the party.
Their older daughter, Fay, has been struggling- seeking out therapy as means to help her cope.
Who could have abducted sweet little Charlie? Where is Megan?
Great twist and shocks.

This is a standalone story, it doesn’t form part of her fantastic series which features Detective Madison Harper, whether we’ll hear more from the characters in this book remains to be seen.
Maple Falls is located on the East Coast of America and sounds like the kind of neighbourhood where Desperate Housewives could have been set. Everyone in each other’s business, but with no real clue as to the darker secrets that people keep.
Kathy Hamilton is a compelling main character, I completely felt her pain as she dealt with the aftermath of the disappearance and then the torrent of revelations which followed. The story is loaded with twists and turns that left me turning the pages and unable to guess what may have happened and at who’s hand. The drama builds at a steady and ever quickening pace which creates an edge of the seat conclusion that I hadn’t considered until the final chapters.
I particulalry enjoyed the character of Lead Detective, Chase Cooper. His steady approach to the case leads to some revelations that affect him personally, but he maintains a professional approach as the stakes are raised.
Most telling was the expert handling of the difficult and sensitive subjects which arose in this gripping thriller. From infidelity to grooming, there is a nightmare scenario which could easily have felt salacious and tacky. I felt that I was in capable hands as Wendy steered the story towards its shocking conclusion.

I discovered Wendy Dranfield through the Madison Harper series and instantly got hooked. She indeed didn't disappoint in this book as well. A heartbreaking, emotional turmoil gripping thriller that will keep you sleepless till the end and couple of other nights thinking about the characters and their life.
Can't wait for next Madison Harper book 😍