Kathy grew up in a wealthy and privileged but controlling family. When she falls for a boy from the wrong side of the tracks she tries to hide their relationship and is devastated when it falls apart.

Decades later, when Kathy's daughter goes missing, hidden cracks in the prestigious Hamilton family facade rise to the surface, as nothing is quite as it seems.

Gripping and compelling read. My first by this author but I look forward to reading more.

Kathy is devastated to find out that her husband, Mitch, has cheated on her and not only that but the ‘other woman’, a one-night-stand called Megan, has had his child. When Megan decides five years later, that she can no longer keep the child, a little girl she calls Charlie, due to her ongoing drug habit, Kathy and Mitch take her to live with them and their daughter Fay.. All is going well until one fateful day when Charlie is dropped off at Mitch’s brother Scott’s house, to attend a birthday party and then mysteriously goes missing.

When I say that this book was a jaw-dropping read, I seriously mean it. There is no end to the shocks contained within these pages. Wendy Dranfield’s guile keeps us hooked to the very end. I have never changed my mind so much as to who the perpetrator is, than I did with this book. My heart racing and me yelling at the characters, has been my new norm for the past few days, as I listened along to the audio version of the book. Sarah Borges had me spellbound with her soft buttery tones, as she narrated the wonderfully devious and dark plot twists. At no point could I have predicted the outcome at the end of the book and I was so disappointed when it came to a finish. An excellent and exciting tale of kidnapping, murder and unrequited love.

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.**

Narrator 3 Stars
This narrator was ok, but after awhile her voice started to grate on me.

Story 2.5 stars
I could not get into this story until about the 60% mark where it really started to pick up and then it became really interesting. The MC's mother was so evil I wanted to reach into the phone and punch her myself! (that won't be on the public reviews)

Ok, This was a mystery and if I could put all the characters on a board of possibly suspects it would BLOW YOUR MIND! I was shocked. The ending was unexpected, at least for me and it got really crazy near the end.
The author did a great job leading me along with metaphorical bread crumbs. I felt for the victims and there were a lot of them in the story. And I’m going to second guess my reasons for therapy from now on. This was well done and I found it really entertaining. I recommend this novel if you love a good mystery.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrator Wendy Dranfield was good.
Thanks Bookouture via NetGalley. #TheBirthdayParty #NetGalley

⭐⭐⭐.7 rounded up)
I went into this without knowing anything about it other than I love this author.
I have read two Wendy Dranfield novels ~Detective Madison Harper stories ~ both were GREAT!

This story starts with five year old Charlotte (Charlie) Hamilton who is super excited about attending her cousin’s six year old birthday party. Everyone from class as well as teachers will be there.
Charlie’s mom Kathy Hamilton is a bit worried about it being a pool party since Charlie hasn’t mastered swimming yet. She has been assured by her sister-in-law Cindy that a life guard has been hired and there is nothing to worry about. Both Kathy and her husband Mitch have to work that day but feel that she is in good hands with brother-in-law Scott and Cindy plus there are tons of other adults present. Kathy drives off, waving to Charlie who is on the back of a pony; Charlie looks adorable in her red dress, cowboy boots and her blonde pigtails sticking out of her cowboy hat.
Later when they arrive to pick up Charlie, she is not there. Cindy is positive she was picked up by Megan, the baby sitter.
Detective Chase Cooper is in charge of the investigation and things get really interesting ~ besides the fact that he and Kathy dated in high school, there are other family secrets revealed.
Story kept me guessing and anxious for the next chapter!
I read enough psychological thrillers ~ so I know four things:
> Expect twists and twist and turns!
> Be suspicious of everyone!
> The most obvious person didn’t do it!
> There will be many secrets!

Yep Ms. Dranfield certainly delivered.
I look forward to her next novel especially the next Madison Harper!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio ~ for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 7, 2022

I loved this book by a new-to-me-author, Wendy Dranfield. It is the story of a missing child, and a family with lots and lots of secrets that are gradually revealed throughout the book. I was gripped right from the start and it didn't let go! It's one of those 'just one more chapter' books that you end up listening to way past bedtime and I went through every emotion imaginable whilst listening, I certainly didn't work out 'whodunnit' so that came as a real shock.

The narration by Sarah Borges was great and added to my enjoyment.

I've now bought Ms Dranfield's Madison Harper series.

Many secrets and many suspects! A young girl disappears from a birthday party and as the police try to find her the secrets begin to unfold. The birthday party takes place in a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, or at least they think they do. My suspicions changed from one person to another as I read and the author certainly keeps you guessing. Lots of suspense in this well narrated thriller. Thank you to Wendy Dranfield, NetGalley and Bookouture audio for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. This is my first book by Wendy and it was a great pick! I really enjoy kidnapping books for some reason. This book started slower in my opinion, but it wasn't long before constant secrets were revealed. I do think a couple of the secrets were predictable, but so many of them were not. Jaw dropper book all the way! The narrator also did a great job.

The narration has good pace and flow,and the narrators voices seemed right for the characters they were portraying. I listened to this as an audio book and felt the narrators really helped bring the story to life. The narrator narrated the book beautifully, and I loved the depictions of the different characters.

Ohh the storyline was fascinating, deep, intense, thrilling, and shocking! Honestly, as much as I needed to know how it ended-I didn’t want it to! I needed more!!

Beautiful little Charlotte Hamilton "Charlie" is 5-years old. She is very excited to go to her twin cousins birthday party. The party is circus themed with balloons, a bounce house, swimming, face painting, and ponies. Charlie can't wait to ride a real horse. She can barely contain her elation as she dresses in her little red cowgirl dress complete with pigtails, boots and a cowboy hat. Her mom Kathy takes her to the party, and leaves only after she is certain Charlie is well cared for at the celebration by relatives. Kathy has arranged for Charlie's babysitter Meghan to pick her up after the event is over. Kathy has an appointment she needs to attend and trusts Meghan to bring Charlie home.


Several hours later, Kathy arrives home to discover Meghan and Charlie are not there. Meghan is not answering her cell phone. The relatives tell Kathy that Charlie left the party several hours ago. Kathy is frantic and calls the police. They send out Detective Chase Cooper. Chase and Kathy knew each other years ago as teenagers, so Chase immediately begins to investigate why Meghan and Charlie are missing.


This is a gripping emotional audio. I rated it 4.5 stars. Except for a couple of tiny holes in the story, it was almost perfect. I was so taken by this novel that I listened to it straight through. It felt so real that I could see the entire story in my head. I added Wendy Dranfield to my favorite author list! " The Birthday Party" audiobook will be published January 7, 2022.


Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this fantastic audiobook! I appreciate being chosen to review it!

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 Facebook and Instagram ''Curling Up With A Coffee and a Kindle'

A nice thriller but at the moment I could not really enjoyed it. It was enough complex, not boring at all. But the themes od children are quite difficult abd here in my opinion heavy. Many secrets were too deep but fortunateky resolved.

This was my first Wendy Dranfield and I was very excited to get it as she's known for writing very good thrillers.

I am a bit torn about this one, though. It is full of twists and turns, packed with them if you like, but some of them seemed a bit too far fetched, honestly.

Nonetheless it's a catching read, extremely suspenseful and emotional, but also heartbreaking and sad.

I will definiely have a look at other books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The Birthday Party by Wendy Dranfield

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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 the perfect excuse to gather friends, family and neighbors around the pool for a barbecue. But when she returns hours later to find her little girl has vanished, her world shatters.

All is not as it first appears, it seems that everyone has something important that they are hiding. Chase must sort through all of the secrets to find out who can help him locate Charlie, but can he find her before it is too late?

There are many twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is the first book I have read by Wendy and I was surprised by just how well it was written - it was addictive, I started reading this late one night and I lost track of how many times I convinced myself I would only read one more chapter.

Rating: 4/5

4.25⭐️
I had the 🎧audiobook version by a new author to me. The loose red balloons against the stormy sky on the cover fits the story well. The narrator is good, and provides a good pace and level of interest

5 yr old Charlie goes missing while at a family birthday party having been left there by her parents who had ‘better’ things to do.

It gets off to a really good start. The family live in a prestigious location, there are plenty of hidden secrets, red herrings and twists which are revealed throughout the story rather than being kept to the very end. A couple of them are less believable, but the story is an enjoyable listen with a fast pace.
Cathy’s reactions as Charlie’s mom seem a bit off. Far more concerned about how things look to others. Her fathers bigger fear is having their secrets exposed! Neither seem likeable.
There are plenty of red flag behaviours that are brushed aside.
Meghan and Chase come across as the most likeable characters, and there is a real nasty piece of work in there too!
I really enjoyed this fast moving intertwined domestic drama/ crime story.

Moriarty, Jewell and now Dranfield

💛 This is one juicy slab of mystery fiction. There’s wealth and dysfunction, intrigue and family turmoil, all of it enticing in itself. Add to that the disappearance of a five year old girl and you can count on me missing my bedtime to keep listening.

💚 But that is not all. Not even close. Because this story is replete with a dizzying number of twists and turns. Just when I thought I had guessed the gotcha, another was added.
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SOUNDBITE

🎧 This translates brilliantly as an audiobook. Sarah Borges narrates in a very natural style and is perfectly cast for the main characters. I’d have liked there to have been two narrators, but Borges makes it work.

🎧 This is quite easy to follow. It’s totally accessible for day-to-day listening while you do other stuff, but as there is only one voice there is no natural cue to indicate who is talking, which might trip you up if you pick it up and put it down.
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SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO...

This has that mix of family secrets, social politics and mystery I’ve always found so enthralling in the works of Liane Moriarty and Lisa Jewell.
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Big thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for providing me with an ALC in return for an honest review.