The Sleepover (DI Natalie Ward #4) by Carol Wyer
Genre: Crime fiction, police procedural, thriller
Read: 27th August 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 5th September 2019)
★★★★★ 5 stars
When I first began the Natalie Ward series, I wasn't sure what I made of her. Incidentally, I did begin at the second book "Last Lullaby" and still have yet to read the first one "The Birthday". However, as each book progressed, so has the backstory surrounding Natalie and her family. And boy, is it getting interesting now!
THE SLEEPOVER is the fourth outing featuring the no-nonsense DI Natalie Ward and is a riveting thriller from start to finish. Faced with a tough and complex case involving a suspicious house fire and the death of a 14 year old girl, Natalie continues to juggle her professional life whilst her personal one is falling apart.
When 14 year old Roxanne Curtis rows with her mum Cathy over a boy, she decides to play pull the wool over her eyes and tell her she's off for a sleepover with her best friend Ellie. The girls are neighbours and have grown up together, so her mum doesn't question it, as the girls are often in and out each other's homes every day. But little does Cathy know that Roxy is lying and has other plans...or that it will be the last time she sees her daughter alive. With everyone out for the evening, Cathy puts her feet up and looks forward to a quiet night in.
In the early hours of the morning, DI Natalie Ward is called out to a suspicious house fire in an affluent part of town where the charred remains of a body is found. Forensics are already on the scene as fire investigators begin looking into what caused the blaze.
Then the body is identified as 14 year old Roxy Curtis. But what was she doing in a Victorian mansion on the exclusive Linnet Lane? A far cry from the crime-infested Stockwell estate where she lives with her mother, stepfather and two brothers. And what connection did she have to Gavin and Kirk Lang who owned the incinerated house in which she was found?
Determined to get to the bottom of why Roxy was there when she was meant to be on a sleepover with her best friend, Natalie and her team begin the task of tracking down suspects and connecting the dots. When it is discovered that Roxy had been admitted to hospital with some unusually suspicious injuries in the past, they begin to look closely at her stepfather Paul and her three brothers Charlie (17), Seth (18) and Oliver (21).
However, if there is one person teenage girls confide in, it's their best friend. So Natalie tasks DS Lucy Carmichael with trying to crack Ellie who is being somewhat evasive and is obviously hiding something. But Ellie hadn't counted on feisty little 5 year old Boo who spills a few tidbits Lucy's way and it is with these bits of information she can use to coax the truth from Roxy's tight-lipped friend.
Natalie becomes increasingly frustrated as it's clear everyone involved is either lying or holding back important information. And if there is one thing Natalie hates - it's lying.
Then Roxy's mother Cathy disappears.
When another body is found the following day in the canal at the end of Linnet Lane, close to where Roxy died, the team are shocked to discover it is Cathy. Then it is revealed that she didn't drown but was strangled and the investigation takes on an even greater importance as Natalie widens the net and her list of suspects. So what was Cathy doing there and why was she killed?
As Natalie and her team delve further into the investigation they appear to find more questions than answers...and no way of connecting anyone to either crime. The Lang brothers were not universally liked but neither, as it appears, were Roxy's brothers, Seth and Charlie. Was the Lang's property targeted and Roxy just collateral damage? Or did the Langs try to pull an insurance scam? Did the Curtis brothers play a part? But how did Cathy's murder figure in?
Then another body is found - an apparent suicide - who was known to the Curtis' and a friend of Roxy and Ellie's. What did this boy have to hide? It seems the focus should be closer to home. Can Lucy finally get Ellie to talk at last?
Meanwhile on the home front, Natalie has some problems of her own. Her husband David had been made redundant some time ago and found comfort in online gambling. Unfortunately, he ended up gambling away most of their savings and even took out a loan - which he also lost. Promising Natalie that he'd quit, the two are barely speaking as he continues to struggle with his addiction and hiding it from Natalie. She's warned him time and time again that she will not tolerate lying.
Added to that are her teenage children. Leigh is 14 and just a couple of months ago, amidst a case involving missing teenage girls, she ran away leaving Natalie frantic that her daughter had fallen victim to the killer targeting teenagers in an online dare. Leigh was found unharmed but Natalie and David were growing further apart. Now Natalie's 16 year old son Josh has just completed his exams and preparing to enter sixth form but lately has become increasingly uncommunicative and even argumentative. He is sullen and silent, playing games online till all hours and sleeping all day. When he disappears one night while David drinks himself to oblivion, Natalie is furious that she must pick up the pieces once again. With her colleague Mike's help she tracks down her errant son.
Over the series we have learnt that Natalie had a brief affair with Mike and we are privy to the fact that she still struggles with those feelings. Aside from being colleagues - Mike works in forensics - he is also her husband David's best friend. After finding Josh and his friend at a rave, the boys are now asleep in the back of her car, Mike and Natalie quietly share a moment. But she's warned David time and time again that she will not tolerate lying...so what will she do when David discovers the secret she harbours?
A tense, fast-paced thriller THE SLEEPOVER had me turning the pages long into the night and I could not discover the truth quick enough. Waiting for Book 5 is not going to be easy...lol
THE SLEEPOVER is one of the best yet in this series - complex, intriguing and riveting. It keeps you guessing right to the end with all the possible suspects. But it doesn't stop there...
If you love crime fiction, particularly police procedurals, then the Natalie Ward series is a must! Through each book you will watch each character grow that when you pick up the next book, they will all be like old friends. And yet we are still teased with tidbits from Natalie's past with her estranged sister and why she finds lies so hard to forgive.
I thoroughly recommend THE SLEEPOVER but advise you start from the beginning to get the full picture of Natalie's personal life and the tie-ins with the cases she has investigated. It will give you a greater appreciation and understanding.
Now...bring on Book 5!
I would like to thank #CarolWyer, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheSleepover in exchange for an honest review.
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