Hey guys, well done you made it to hump day! Although to be honest in these strange times I’m not sure hump day is really a thing. I’m still working full time thankfully, just from home instead. I live on my own so as much as it’s great being able to keep in touch with my friends and work mates I have to confess the lack of actual physical interaction has been tough for me and all the days have begun to blur into one! I know how important staying home is but I cannot wait for it to be safe enough for me to head into the office again, even if I am saving so much money by not commuting and then buying lunch out!
Fair warning before we get into the review, while I’m going to avoid spoilers from this story there are some major events that happened in previous books and some of them are going to be mentioned in this review, so if you’ve not read the previous books, and in particular the last story The Blossom Twins, and you don’t want spoiled this is your opportunity to click away!
Title: The Secret Admirer
Author: Carol Wyer
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 2nd April 2020
Format: eARC
This book was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
About The Book…
Sasha’s eighteen-year-old daughter Gemma was all she had in the world. Sasha fell pregnant with Gemma when she was still at school, and the two are as close as sisters. So when Gemma’s burned and broken body is found, Sasha’s world ends. What kind of person would want her beautiful daughter dead?
Leading the case is Detective Natalie Ward, scarred by her own recent tragedy. When she finds a note in Gemma’s diary from ‘a secret admirer’, she moves quickly, determined to un-mask them. But interviews with Gemma’s devastated ex-boyfriend, and her charismatic teacher, who has been seen embracing his student far away from the classroom, don’t give Natalie the answers she’d hoped for…
And then the case takes a devastating, personal twist. CCTV footage reveals Natalie’s estranged husband David followed Gemma home every evening the week before she died.
Natalie is forced to put personal feelings aside and follow procedure, even though she can’t believe David could be guilty. But when Gemma’s housemate is found murdered, Natalie thinks the killer could still be at large. Is she right to trust her instincts about David and can she discover the truth before another precious life is taken?
Grippingly fast and nail-bitingly tense, The Secret Admirer will have you flying through the pages long into the night. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter.
What I Thought…
You know those series that you absolutely love, the ones where you cannot wait for the next book in the series to come out, but at the same time you’re a little worried that one day that new book isn’t going to be as good as you want it to be, however irrational that concern might be? For me the Detective Natalie Ward series is one of those series. Fortunately for me Carol has never let me down, and I’m so happy to say The Secret Admirer is no exception. It’s another wonderful addition to the series!
The end of The Blossom Twins was traumatic, for me as much as Natalie’s family! So going into The Secret Admirer I was as interested to see how Natalie and her family dealt with that as much as I was to dive into whatever crime came next for Natalie. As ever Carol does an absolutely fabulous job of balancing developing the characters and showing their own personal stories as well as driving forward the case that is the main focus of this book.
As always, the pacing of this book is non stop, from the moment I started until the moment I reached the very end of the story I just needed to keep turning the pages, it was tense and I needed my resolution! The case was definitely interesting, I adored all the twists and turns, and I have to confess I did not see that ending coming.
Now on the sixth book of the series I’m so invested in Natalie and her team’s lives, after the death at the end of the last book I needed to know how Natalie and her family were dealing with it. Throughout the story we get to see how Natalie is dealing with her loss and I was pleased to see her relationship with her son develop over the course of the story.
People who have read any of my previous reviews of the Natalie Ward series will know I’m not the biggest fan of David. There’s a little author’s note at the end of this book where Carol says she hopes that we’re a little more sympathetic towards him. It’s like she was talking to me directly! After the events of The Secret Admirer I probably do feel a little bit more sympathetic towards him but still not a fan #TeamMike all the way! I was very pleased with that little development at the end!
Final Thoughts…
Carol has done it again, with a sixth fantastic addition to the Natalie Ward series! The Secret Admirer is the perfect mix of character development and interesting crime plot. Carol’s note has me a little worried about what’s coming next for Natalie as she’s been through the wringer recently but I’m so ready for book 7! Please just let me have some happy Natalie and Mike… Is it summertime yet?
More Detective Natalie Ward via Goodreads
More Carol Wyer on SWB
About The Author
Carol Wyer, is an award-winning author and stand up comedian who writes feel-good comedies and gripping thrillers. Her book, Grumpy Old Menopause won The People’s Book Prize Award for non-fiction 2015.
The DI Robyn Carter series has earned her acclaim as a crime writer and the first book in the series, Little Girl Lost, shot to the #2 best-selling spot on Kindle #9 best-selling audiobook on Audible, and was also a USA Today top 150 best-seller.
Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’ featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.
Carol is a signed author with Bookouture (part of the Hachette Group) Canelo and Delancey Press.
Connect With Carol
Website // Twitter // Facebook
Want To Buy It?
As always if you’ve read the book let me know what you thought! If you’ve not read it yet will my review convince you to pick it up?
Sarah Withers Blogs 
carolwyer
There are some bloggers who when they post on Twitter that they have written a review for one of my books, I scurry over with all the impatience of a toddler who’s been told they can have a bag of sweets. I worry that this reviewer won’t have enjoyed the book as much as the last and yet, I know whatever they write, I will still love their quirky style of writing, of putting across their point, because they are fabulous reviewers.
I was so excited when i saw your tweet and then my finger hovered over the link – should I read it? What if Sarah didn’t like the book? Oh no! I couldn’t live with that, could I? I needn’t have worried. I have savoured your review (as always) squirmed in delight at each compliment and punched the air because you love Natalie as much as I do.
You guessed right. I did write directly to you in the letter! I’m glad you’ve softened a little towards him and as for #teamMike…. July isn’t far away now and tomorrow there’ll be news about the next book.
Sarah, you have truly made my morning. I write for readers like you and really can’t thank you enough for not only reviewing the book but sharing the book love. You are an unsung hero of the book blogging world and never underestimate the valuable contribution you make to us writers.
Once again, I have bookmarked this review and on those long dark nights when I can’t type without making typos or think of a word to describe a facial expression… I shall look back at this and remind myself why i write.
Hope this lockdown will end soon and you will be let back out into the wide world. In the meantime, an effusive
‘thank you’ xoxo
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