A dark and gripping book. I hated all of the characters, which I tend to find most interesting when I read a thriller! Jon's unreliability as a narrator becomes more and more clear as the book goes on, and you find yourself doubting every aspect of his story that has come before the more you learn. I hoped for a "happy" ending but I was very satisfied with the way it all played out.

A great thriller, with a wonderful twist that I saw coming, but also was shocked when it did!

As Jonathan attempts to uncover the truth, it soon becomes clear that the people closest to him are hiding something, something that could change everything ….. Oh wow. What a fantastic book! I was totally hooked… I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. It was full of tension, twists and turns that kept me totally engrossed… I read it in one day as I just couldn’t put it down.

Birthday Girl - Niko Wolf

Twenty three years ago Jonathan Dainty was a struggling aspiring author when his girlfriend Maddie disappeared, never to be seen again. He's now a bestselling serial Crime author, though he's moved on in life and love he still think he catches glimpses of Maddie.

I've read lots of long lost wife / girlfriend / partner thrillers, and sorry to say this one really didn't stand out or impress me. Jonathan is the only character I felt I got to know much about, and from being a rich and successful author not much else progressed.

I would have liked more plot and events, as I found Jonathan's head a fairly dull place to spend time with not much happening.

Not one for me, but I'm sure others will enjoy it more.


Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton

Credible, Compelling…
Jonathan’s wife disappeared over twenty years ago. Presumed dead. Now Jonathan, a crime writer, is seeing her everywhere. The trouble is that no one believes him. That’s when he decides to begin an investigation of his own. Cleverly constructed, slow burn psychological suspense which is credible and compelling and which drip feeds the reader right up to the final, outstanding climax.

Rounding up to three stars


I finished this yesterday, and am left fairly indifferent to it.
There was nothing wrong with it at all, but equally, nothing I can get excited about.
It felt very much the usual sort of character doing the usual sort of thing.
Maybe I just read too many of this type of bo

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of Birthday Girl, a stand-alone novel set in New York.

In 1996 Jon Dainty’s wife, Maddie, stepped into a stranger’s car and was never seen again. In 2019 Jon is now a successful crime fiction author, so when he thinks he sees Maddie in a crowd he’s determined to investigate.

For most of the novel I didn’t find Birthday Girl an engaging read. To be fair, the ending is amazing, being clever, ironic and jaw dropping, but I found the journey to get there tedious. The novel is told from Jon’s point of view and switches between the past and present on a regular basis. It is therefore up to the reader to make what they want of his narrative. I didn’t get his story of a man who can’t get over the disappearance of his wife and who seems to be descending into madness at the thought of seeing her, despite being about to remarry. He just seems odd. Maddie, the wife who disappeared is utterly loathsome in the flashbacks. She cares about nothing but herself and that makes Jon’s pining even more inexplicable.

I can see that readers who like a psychological thriller will enjoy the slow build up and the detailed examination of Jon, his life and mindset but with few real developments before the last third of the novel I found it hard going. Still, there’s the ending to leaven the trudge.

Birthday Girl is not for me, but will, I think, entertain those readers who like a psychological thriller.

#BirthdayGirl #NetGalley
Masterfully written.
Jonathan Dainty takes his wife Maddie out to the beach for her birthday. Hours later he finds himself at the local police precinct trying to explain how on earth he let his wife get into a stranger's car, and allowed it to drive her away. More than twenty years later, Maddie is presumed dead and Jonathan has channelled his grief into a best-selling series of crime novels. As far as he can, he is living the perfect life. Then one day he catches a glimpse of his dead wife, moving through a throng of people. Is Maddie alive?
I really loved this one. Tense and suspenseful.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Straughten for giving me an advance copy.

A wonderfully taut and tense exploration of success in the face of trauma, Birthday Girl is a hugely compelling and thoroughly twisted tale . Masterfully written, this novel will reel you in and hold you enthralled as the layers of story are revealed. Highly recommended.

Not for me, there was not one character I somehow felt connected to. The main character Jonathan was not that different from his wife, both were selfish, lying and manipulative.