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namitakhanna's review against another edition
5.0
When Felicity watches a news story about a missing 16 year old girl in her hometown of Sidmouth in Devon , she immediately heads back leaving her husband and kids behind. She is convinced that this disappearance will somehow give her a clue to what happened all those years ago.
Heatwave by Katerina Diamond is a stand-alone psychological thriller .A slow burner it's a compulsive, enjoyable read full of suspense and tension.. Solid 5 stars
I would like to thank Avon Books UK & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
Heatwave by Katerina Diamond is a stand-alone psychological thriller .A slow burner it's a compulsive, enjoyable read full of suspense and tension.. Solid 5 stars
I would like to thank Avon Books UK & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
bookworm_94's review against another edition
5.0
After reading Diamond’s previous publications I simply had to read her first standalone. It would certainly be worth it, I told myself, no brainer. And, even though I missed DS Adrian Miles and DS Imogen Grey, I have to admit The Heatwave did not disappoint. It delivered, it lived up to my expectations and it once again proved that Katerina Diamond deserves to keep her crown in the psychological crime-thriller kingdom of fiction.
The book follows the lives of Felicity Musgrave and Jasmine Burgess – two best friends, who grew up in Sidmouth and were forever bound by an unforeseeable tragedy. Felicity tells her story in the Present Tense, whilst Jasmine’s story is told from a Third-Person POV in the Past Tense. Brilliant choice of technique from Diamond as this was the biggest clue for me, personally, which made me eager to put the pieces together and figure out the table-turning twist at the end. Little did I know that there were more than one twists, which not only proved that I wasn’t entirely ready for the Detective Academy just yet, but also that Katerina Diamond’s talent to throw in a curve ball, which you don’t see coming until the very end, is truly fascinating.
Felicity Musgrave lives in the Lake District with her husband Prince Charming (a.k.a. Chris) and their two children: a teenage daughter Daisy and a seven-year-old son Lloyd. Her normal and comfortable life gets turned upside down when she hears the news report about a young girl – Mandy Green – who disappears in Sidmouth, Devon – Felicity’s home town. This tragedy brings back memories from her old life, which Felicity has worked long and hard to bury so deep that they would never be able to float their way back to the surface. And she was successful. Until the sixteen year-old-skeletons in her closet started mercilessly scratching the door and threatening to jump out in the open any minute now.
Felicity ups and goes, literally in the middle of the night, leaves Chris and their children behind without as much as a half-decent explanation and drives to Devon to face the demons of a previous life, even though she is concerned that this could cost her everything, including her husband and their adorable family. Despite her fears that she might be recognized walking down the streets of Sidmouth, she conducts an investigation of her own and it soon becomes clear that she knows a lot more about what might have happened to Mandy Green than the police (or anybody else in Sidmouth, for that matter).
Jasmine Burgess’ story begins when a stranger invests himself in her seemingly quiet and uneventful life. Her parents, Frank and Lisa, hire Tim to do jobs around in the house for them and even allow him to move into their guest house, which shares the same garden as their family home. Jasmine’s radar sets off immediately – there is something fishy about Tim. She finds it incredibly unbelievable how blind her parents are when it comes to the dangerous man that they have invited into their lives. However, due to a misunderstanding with her English teacher a year ago, which led to an unwelcome and uninvited kiss, unemployment for him and hours of counselling for her, Jasmine is confused and cannot tell for sure whether or not her judgement of Tim is correct.
Restless and suspicious of Tim, but also curious and attracted by his mysterious persona, Jasmine makes it her life’s mission to figure him out and confront him about his real intentions when it comes to her family. When she does eventually force the truth out, however, Jasmine fears that she might not be ready to face or accept it. The confession she gets from Tim is what turns her life of an innocent teenager with “do-gooder” parents upside down. She soon realizes that she could never be the same person she was before Tim moved into their guest house.
The Heatwave is a well-written, entertaining and shocking thriller, which I would strongly recommend not only to fans of Imogen and Adrian, but also to everybody, who enjoys good quality story, brilliant plot twists and the unravelling of old secrets, which keep you on your toes from the beginning till the end.
The book follows the lives of Felicity Musgrave and Jasmine Burgess – two best friends, who grew up in Sidmouth and were forever bound by an unforeseeable tragedy. Felicity tells her story in the Present Tense, whilst Jasmine’s story is told from a Third-Person POV in the Past Tense. Brilliant choice of technique from Diamond as this was the biggest clue for me, personally, which made me eager to put the pieces together and figure out the table-turning twist at the end. Little did I know that there were more than one twists, which not only proved that I wasn’t entirely ready for the Detective Academy just yet, but also that Katerina Diamond’s talent to throw in a curve ball, which you don’t see coming until the very end, is truly fascinating.
Felicity Musgrave lives in the Lake District with her husband Prince Charming (a.k.a. Chris) and their two children: a teenage daughter Daisy and a seven-year-old son Lloyd. Her normal and comfortable life gets turned upside down when she hears the news report about a young girl – Mandy Green – who disappears in Sidmouth, Devon – Felicity’s home town. This tragedy brings back memories from her old life, which Felicity has worked long and hard to bury so deep that they would never be able to float their way back to the surface. And she was successful. Until the sixteen year-old-skeletons in her closet started mercilessly scratching the door and threatening to jump out in the open any minute now.
Felicity ups and goes, literally in the middle of the night, leaves Chris and their children behind without as much as a half-decent explanation and drives to Devon to face the demons of a previous life, even though she is concerned that this could cost her everything, including her husband and their adorable family. Despite her fears that she might be recognized walking down the streets of Sidmouth, she conducts an investigation of her own and it soon becomes clear that she knows a lot more about what might have happened to Mandy Green than the police (or anybody else in Sidmouth, for that matter).
Jasmine Burgess’ story begins when a stranger invests himself in her seemingly quiet and uneventful life. Her parents, Frank and Lisa, hire Tim to do jobs around in the house for them and even allow him to move into their guest house, which shares the same garden as their family home. Jasmine’s radar sets off immediately – there is something fishy about Tim. She finds it incredibly unbelievable how blind her parents are when it comes to the dangerous man that they have invited into their lives. However, due to a misunderstanding with her English teacher a year ago, which led to an unwelcome and uninvited kiss, unemployment for him and hours of counselling for her, Jasmine is confused and cannot tell for sure whether or not her judgement of Tim is correct.
Restless and suspicious of Tim, but also curious and attracted by his mysterious persona, Jasmine makes it her life’s mission to figure him out and confront him about his real intentions when it comes to her family. When she does eventually force the truth out, however, Jasmine fears that she might not be ready to face or accept it. The confession she gets from Tim is what turns her life of an innocent teenager with “do-gooder” parents upside down. She soon realizes that she could never be the same person she was before Tim moved into their guest house.
The Heatwave is a well-written, entertaining and shocking thriller, which I would strongly recommend not only to fans of Imogen and Adrian, but also to everybody, who enjoys good quality story, brilliant plot twists and the unravelling of old secrets, which keep you on your toes from the beginning till the end.
dani_thebookdragon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cassiecat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
🎧4.5⭐️
I had the audiobook read by Charlotte Worthing who does a good job.
A dark psychological thriller. The first thread is set during a heatwave and seems to be the only connection with the title.
A story told in two time lines a girl with her do gooder parents take in a guy in exchange for chores, a local girl goes missing.
Felicity flees, but is drawn back years later when another girl goes missing.
This grabbed my attention fairly early on, never letting it go. It has lots going on throughout with the secrets revelations and twists spread well, and the tension ramping up even more towards the end.
I’m fast becoming a fan of this author, I love her dark pacy thrilling storylines. I’ve also read The Silence, The Teacher, Trick or Treat most seem to be a detective series which I’ve obviously read out of order.
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
4.0
This was a bit predictable and long-winded in parts but the story was fast-paced, tense, and highly readable. A creepy summer read!
kerensa2108's review against another edition
1.0
I always feel a bit guilty for writing a bad review of a book, as authors are people like me, with families and friends, trying to make a living. But I honestly didn’t enjoy this book - it was pretty dreadful. The characters are one-dimensional, unbelievable and not very likeable - even in a crime thriller you’d want there to be at least one character that you feel sympathetic towards. The storyline, described as ‘wonderfully twisty’ in a review, is contrived, convoluted and (to be honest) a bit predictable - I guessed who did it, and the real identity of the narrator, about 2/3 of the way through the book, although the involvement of the second party wasn’t clear. To add to that there were many glaring inconsistencies and some grammatical errors that grated on me. It also had that slightly rushed feeling towards the end, which some books have - you feel as though the author is getting close to their deadline and has the publisher haranguing them on the phone every five minutes. The one star is for the nice descriptions of Sidmouth, which is a gorgeous little town where my kids go to school (we live in a village nearby). I swim from the beach there regularly and have met some really lovely people there - it’s honestly a great place and I hope this book doesn’t put readers off! I read it to the end as it’s a book club read, but I would have abandoned it, otherwise.
ruth559's review against another edition
3.0
A good read, probably a 3.5 as not so keen on the characters, everyone seemed so flawed, but a good ending saved the book