Review: Last Lullaby by Carol Wyer

 

Title: Last Lullaby

Author: Carol Wyer

Series: Detective Natalie Ward, #2

Published: December 2018, Bookouture

Format: ARC E-copy, 338 pages

Source: Netgalley via Publisher

Summary: 

Charlotte’s baby is safe. But is she?

When the body of young mother Charlotte Brannon is discovered by her husband in their immaculate, silver bedroom, Detective Natalie Ward is first on the scene. The killer has left a chilling calling card: the word ‘Why?’ written on the wall in blood.

Determined
to find justice, Natalie quickly discovers the husband is hiding a
troubled past, and she’s sure the teenage babysitter’s alibi doesn’t
quite add up.

But before Natalie can dig deeper, another mother is murdered, her young son left distraught, staring at a fresh ‘who’ scrawled beside her.

Natalie
knows it’s only a matter of time before the killer strikes again, but
all the key suspects have alibis. It’s her toughest case yet, and with
her marriage hanging by a thread, the cracks are beginning to show.

Just
when Natalie finds an unsettling clue she thinks could solve the case,
another young woman and her baby disappear, and a member of Natalie’s
team is put in terrible danger.

Can Natalie stop this twisted killer and save one of her own before more families are torn apart forever?

Gripping,
fast-paced and nail-bitingly tense, this book will send shivers down
your spine. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin
Slaughter.

My thoughts:  This
is the second book in Carol Wyer’s Detective Natalie Ward series, and it was just as good as the first book in this series…just as addicting and thrilling! I was a huge fan of Carol Wyer’s DI Robyn Carter series
and while I was bummed to see that series come to an end, I can absolutely say I am now a huge fan of this new series, especially since it has another strong female lead!

I totally love Detective Natalie Ward. I love that not only is she a dynamic, fully developed character, but she is a flawed character. She is strong and tough, yet she has her issues and that is what makes her a good, intriguing main character. I not only want her to solve the cases that she is presented with, but I want to delve deep into her background, and find out what drives her. She’s got family issues, mainly there are issues going on with her husband, and as that ending shows us…I think this is going to be a driving force in this series…which makes me quite happy! I also love that there is something – I’m not quite sure exactly what – but something going on with her and Mike and that is another avenue I can’t wait to see develop more.

This case really kept me guessing and totally absorbed in the book. I was frantically flipping the pages to see what would happen next.  And those chapters between the killer and their therapist were downright chilling. But darn-it if I couldn’t figure out the killer’s identity during these sessions…I kept guessing, but my guesses got me no where!  

This is turning out to be another crackerjack of a series and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book. If you like addicting, page-turning thrillers, you need to give this series a try!

Books in this series:

1. The Birthday
2. Last Lullaby
3. The Dare – due out April 25, 2019