This is an exciting book which has reveals along the way, with the final chapters explaining everything. With chapters alternating between Saffy who is traumatised by her sister Poppy’s attack a few years before, and Poppy who has a penchant for unsuitable men we find out that Saffy is the chief suspect in the disappearance of her school best friend Leona, her husband and their daughter. Everything Saffy says or does just makes her seem more suspicious. The book builds to an exciting climax and I found it difficult to put down. Just one more chapter became several more chapters. A must read. Brilliant book.

Good start
Lengthy middle
Interesting ending

I loved the premise of the story. While the story/plot itself has all the makings of a great psychological thriller, the execution left me lukewarm.
For me, the writing style doesn't work. There are too many filler words, and it feels almost as if a detached narrator is telling a story, failing to immerse the reader.
The characters are two-dimensional at best and could do with a bit more flesh on their bones.

Sorry, this book wasn't for me. Looking at other reviews I am in the minority. Without giving any spoilers, I found the constant hinting of terror in the past rather than tell it straight away irritating, the plot was unbelievable and most of the characters including Saffy and Leona were not very nice. The end of the book was far too sugary.
I will certainly try another Slater book.

This book had a great start with Saffy receiving a set of mysterious messages from her friend Leona (who she met recently after awhile of being distant) but then those messages are deleted and Leona denies sending them. Nicely intriguing, especially when Saffy notices so many wrong things in Leona's house and then the family goes missing and Saffy becomes the main suspect. The story bounces back and forth between the past and between the views of Saffy, Poppy, and Leona showing that all the things currently happening are connected in ways unknown to the characters and it made for easy to want to keep reading to find out all the whys and who might end up dead or missing next. Yes, I did get a little annoyed when secrets were kept by Poppy and Saffy that would have kept some bad things from happening and yes, I was able to guess one connection before it was revealed but it was still fun to read this book.

I would consider this a good little murder mystery book which was easy to get into and fairly hard to put down with only a few irritations at the actions of some of the character though I guess that is pretty lifelike with what human nature is like.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

This is my first book I’ve read by @klslaterauthor and I wasn’t disappointed. I absolutely loved #MessageDeleted
It’s full of suspense, tension and mystery with some brilliant twists. I was totally hooked and couldn’t put it down.

Saffy is waiting to attend a job interview when she receives a text message from her friend Leona. Minutes later it changes to message deleted. Saffy is worried and runs out of the interview only to find Leona at home and denying knowing anything about the texts. Hours later the police knock at Saffy’s door to tell her Leona and her Daughter are missing and Saffy was the last person to see them….

The storyline is very clever. Told in past and present timelines through Saffy, Leona and Poppy’s POV’s, which just added to the intrigue. It’s well written and the writing style is so engaging. It keeps you guessing until the end. The characters are vividly written and feel real and believable, though some are not that likeable, and most of them have secrets and you don’t know who is telling the truth. I loved the way all the characters are linked together.

Overall a brilliant psychological mystery that I highly recommend if you enjoy this gene. It’s definitely worth a read. I look forward to reading more from this author.
With thanks to #NetGallery @michaeljoseph @penguinrandomhouse for an arc of #MessageDeleted in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 18 July 2024.

A desperate message, pleading for help comes to Saffy from her best friend Leona. As Saffy rushes off to help, the message is deleted. Saffy knows that Leona has been having problems with her abusive husband, but Leona denies having sent the message, and there is nothing on the phone at all.
Saffy feels uneasy and reluctantly goes back home.
Six hours later, the Police come calling, Leona and her son Leo are missing and Saffy is the last person to see them and that makes her the prime suspect.
An interesting idea and a messy psychological thriller that leads to paranoia for the main characters and perhaps the reader! There are plenty of red herrings, and unsettling events over dual time lines, and no really likeable characters, but I was disappointed, the story relies too much upon coincidences, and although I didn’t guess the final twist, that seemed to veer off into the realms of fantasy, it wasn’t really believable and I felt cheated after investing so much time in the reading of this novel, to be so let down.
I rated this as three stars.
My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for my advance copy freely given in exchange for my honest review.
I will post to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

Saffy is at a job interview for a job she really wants/needs in order to get her life back on track and earn enough money to have her young son over to stay on a regular basis. As she waits to be called in she gets a message on her phone "Can’t speak . . . don’t text or call . . . please just come".
Saffy abandons the interview and hurtles round to her friend Leona's house worried that her abusive and controlling husband, Ash, has done something. When she arrives she finds the messages have been deleted and Leona denies any knowledge of them. A few hours later, when Saffy is home with her son, the police arrive. She was the last person to see Leona and Ash, and now they are missing.
This is the set up for the story which swings and twists between guilty and innocent for most of the characters at some point. It is told in a mix of present time and flash backs from the point of view of the main characters - mostly Saffy and Poppy, her sister, and occasionally Leona. Initially I found the constant switching between characters annoying but as the story gets going it becomes a good device for slowly revealing which is actually quite a complicated back story.
Saffy makes some unusual decisions which lead the police to suspect her of being involved with Leona and Ash's disappearance - a suspicion which I felt they made very easily. But it becomes clear that she has some secrets in her past which she is not keen to reveal to anyone.
This is a quick, easy read with lots of short chapters. Be warned, men do not come across well in the book. I don't think any of the male characters have any redeeming features and some of the female characters are difficult to like as well.
But all in all it was a satisfyingly twisty read. With thanks to Netgalley for an arc read in return for an honest review.

Message deleted is another greta thriller from K.L.Slater.
Saffy is getting her life back together and she’s at an interview for a permanent job but just as she goes in she receives a text message from her best friend. One minute later it says message deleted. Saffy knows Leona is having difficulties with her husband so races over to her house but Leona knows nothing about the message and she has nothing on her phone, uneasily Saffy has to leave to pick her son up but six hours later Leona and her family are all missing and she is the star suspect.
This was a decent paced read with interesting characters and storyline. There were quite a few twists and that kept it interesting and always moving forwards. A book I really enjoyed.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was interesting and the first half was good, keeping me reading and wanting to know what was going to happen. Unfortunately I felt that it dropped off in the second half and a lot of threads didn't really amount to anything which left me wanting to know more. The ending did tie everything up and surprised me with a twist I didn't see coming, I always like that in a thriller.
The characters were mostly unlikeable, but I'm ok with that, it's fun to read about horrible people doing horrible things and they were well fleshed-out. One thing I did struggle with though was the actions of the police - they just didn't make sense a lot of the time and that stopped me immersing myself in the story fully.
I enjoyed the dual timeline way that the book was written, it was handled well so that you were never confused as to which you were reading. Overall, this is a decently enjoyable thriller, the kind of book to read if you are in the headspace where you don't want to have to think too much...an easy relaxing read.

Another mystery thriller and unfortunately another 2 stars from me. I’m not having much luck at the moment with this genre.
I liked the premise and initial set-up, with the missing family and deleted messages. This is full of super messy drama and I was pretty entertained for the most part. <spoiler>I think it got a little convoluted with the affairs, infidelity, etc.</spoiler> The writing style in general was enjoyable and you can tell K.L. Slater is a seasoned writer.
I think what let the book down the most for me was the ending, it was too over-explained with several flashback chapters recapping and answering every plot point. I personally don’t like when thrillers end this way, give the reader some credit to work it out for themselves, leave some things ambiguous. So the disappointing outcome unfortunately led to my rating of this book. Also these characters are so very unlikeable which I thought to be a bit of a shame, I really wanted someone to root for.
This was my first read from K.L. Slater and although this wasn’t a hit for me, I think it would appeal to a lot of thriller readers and I would give this author another go in the future, she has a pretty big and popular backlist.
2/5 ⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Joseph and K.L. Slater for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.

Review posted to Goodreads.

I have read a lot of this author's books and although this is a good read, I don't think it's one of her strongest. That said, it did hold my attention throughout and mostly satisfied me at the end.
We start with Saffy who is a bit down on her luck but hoping things are on the turn as she is attending a job interview. Just before she is about to go in, she receives a message from best friend Leona: Can't speak... don't text or call... please just come
And just as soon as she has read them, they disappear...
Obviously she is in no state to complete her interview, and she is worried for her friend so she ups and leaves, rushing over to Leona's house. Where she finds her friend is fine, well fine apart from being totally confused by the messages. She know nothing about them.
Long story short, fast forward six hours and there is a knock at Saffy's door. It's the police. Leona is missing, along with her husband and child. There's signs of a disturbance and blood in the house. Discovered by a neighbour when a smoke alarm went off. And Saffy is the last to see them.
And so begins a rather intricate tale of "what happened" in which the fingers immediately start to point at Saffy. Initially as she was the last to see them, but also as it becomes evident that she has secrets of her own...
I have to say that I wasn't overly convinced by all that happened in this book. I have reservations about credibility and lost count of all the eye-rolling I did along the way. I also guessed a fair few things early - obvious to me probably cos this is my bread-and-butter genre book. It's a slow burn I guess to add to the suspense, but for me it just meant that it took too long to really get going.
But... all that said, it did hold my attention, and credibility aside, it was a fun read. Once it really got going it did get on with itself nicely. With all the usual twists and turns you'd expect along with a host of secrets, lies an dysfunction behaviour, it definitely ticked all those boxes. Saffy also really annoyed me at times with some of her questionable decisions!
But, all that said, the ending when it came was mostly satisfying and kinda did all make sense. And I did feel rewarded for all my perseverance and disbelief suspension I had to do!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

3.5 stars
This is a good thriller with plenty of twists and turns.
Saffy gets a message from her friend asking her to go to her and not to call her, just as she’s about to go into an job interview. Within seconds the message has been deleted so Saffy races round to her friend’s house.
Leona is fine when she gets there but Saffy is still worried.
Later that day the Police visit Saffy to ask what she knows about the disappearance of Leona, her partner and her little girl.
I found it a bit hard to believe the suspicion that was placed on Saffy by the Police but as the story progresses it’s clear she has a few secrets she’s been hiding.
This is a bit of a slow burn but is a good read.
Thanks to Michael Joseph and

While waiting to go into a job interview, Saffy receives a text message from her best friend, urgently asking her to come quickly. The message is mysteriously deleted almost immediately, which is very out of character for her friend. Concerned, Saffy rushes to her friend's place only to find her acting suspiciously. Soon after, her friend goes missing.

This book is a definitely slow burner, meticulously setting the scene before gradually building up the tension. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that everyone has something to hide, keeping us guessing the whole way through. It's a compelling suspense read with plenty of twists and turns.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Saffy has had a difficult few years. Her younger sister was attacked, she had a mental breakdown, her marriage collapsed and her husband had sole custody of their son.
She was finally beginning to get her life back together, counselling, days with her son, and now whilst waiting for a job interview,she receives three text messages from her best friend Leona, 'Can’t speak . . . don’t text or call . . . please just come.'
As quick as she can read the messages, they are gone. Replaced with 'Message Deleted'

Her life quickly begins to unravel, as her friend and her family disappear, she's thrown into the spotlight. We find out the history of her sisters attack, hers and Leona's friendship and their chequered history.

The story takes many twists and turns, just when you think you've got this mystery worked out, there's another revelation taking you off on another tangent.

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read, Saffy could be infuriating at times but it did feel quite fitting with her character.

Thank you to KL Slater and the publishers, Michael Joseph Penguin Random House for providing an advanced review copy for my honest feedback.

As always with this author a brilliantly clever read.
So many twists and turns you really don't know who the villain is and its definitely not anyone you'll think it is!

I really enjoyed this story. It got me thinking and I was always keen to carry on and read the next chapter. I did find some of Saffys actions questionable right from the beginning but at the same time this is what induced some of the anxiety as to what was going on. Well written and an easy summer read. I would recommend.

Twisted throughout. Good storyline and some very good characters. I was left guessing until the end as to who was responsible.
Worth reading

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read Message Deleted by K L; Slater. I read all of all of Karin's early books but for some reason stopped. She has well and truly pulled me back in with this 5 star page gripping read. Lots of twists and once started couldn't put it down

I don't know what to make of this book. I felt like some of the characters needed a good talking to, others were hard to like. For me this took away from what could have been a good story. It is also hard to believe the police act like they do in the book.
Maybe I have read too many thrillers, but I also had a good idea of what was coming, for the most part. Also I don't think it was ever explained why Ash was so happy for Saffy to visit. The last few chapters felt rushed too, nearly like the author new she was close to her word quota.

That being said, this is a quick read that fills a few hours and whilst forgettable, enjoyable if there is nothing else to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

#MessageDeleted #NetGalley
Brilliant. 5 ⭐
Saffy is waiting to go into a job interview when she receives a text message from her best friend, Leona:
Can’t speak . . . don’t text or call . . . please just come
As Saffy struggles to understand what is happening the phone screen changes: This message was deleted. Saffy races to Leona’s house, but when her friend answers the door, she insists everything's fine. She doesn't know anything about the message. Saffy can tell something’s not right, but after looking around the house, she can’t think of anything else she can do. Six hours later, Saffy gets a knock on the door. It's the police. Leona is missing, with her young child. There's blood everywhere. And Saffy was the last one to see them alive .
I really loved it. I didn't see that ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for giving me an advance copy.