Third and final day of Carol Wyer’s blog blitz is upon us, and I am delighted to be one of the three bloggers closing the blitz. Huge thanks to Bookouture for the blitz invite and the ARC. Here is my review:
Charlotte’s baby is safe. But is she?
When the body of mother Charlotte Brannon is discovered by her husband Adam, in their 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.
As Natalie begins to delve deeper into the couple’s lives, she discovers that Adam has a dark past he’s been hiding and she’s sure that the Brannon’s teenage babysitter Inge has secrets of her own.
Then another mother is murdered on her doorstep in front of her young son, the word ‘why’ scrawled on the wall next to her.
All the key suspects have alibis and with her own marriage hanging by a thread, Natalie is struggling to stay focused on cracking her toughest case yet.
When a young woman and her baby disappear, a member of Natalie’s own team is put in terrible danger. Can Natalie stop this twisted serial killer and save one of her own before more families are torn apart forever?
What does TWG think?
Oh my -insert expletive beginning with F here- goodness!!!!!! What a book! OMG! I finished reading Carol Wyer’s latest literary brilliance in the early hours of the morning, and can I just say that I am extremely glad that I do not read blurbs! I only read the blurb after I had read the book and the things which had my jaw dropping, were written in it. Not all of them mind. So, if you trust my judgement on books, read this novel without reading the blurb.
Anyway, that’s my insight on that and is in no way a reflection of my opinion on the book at all.
I do say this a lot where Wyer’s books are concerned, but ‘The Last Lullaby’ is by far her best book yet. The intensity of the storyline was impeccable, along with the calculated brilliance of each individual character. If I know that there is a possibility of children being part of a thriller storyline, I am always filled with dread until I know that they’re not in the firing line so to speak – ‘The Last Lullaby’ was no different. My heart was in mouth from the onset. That sounds like I didn’t care about the victims in the book even though I did, but it’s children….you know?
I couldn’t get over how cleverly written the storyline was from start to finish – it was as though the book kept on giving shocking moments with every new chapter. Just like most police procedurals/thrillers, there is usually a few characters with fingers being pointed at them from the start, and the same happened here. I tried to look at the bigger picture but I couldn’t help but lean towards one character already in the firing line. Everything just seemed….convincing, if you catch my drift. They certainly didn’t help themselves against Natalie award though, that’s for sure!
I won’t say who I thought was ‘the one’ due to spoilers, but let’s just say that Wyer had me utterly convinced I was bang on the money…..until the moment I wasn’t. Geeeeez – did I see that coming? Did I fudge!!!! There was a point in the book where my heart rate quickened and my mouth became dry. Would they reach the bastard in time? Time wasn’t on Natalie Ward and her teams side and my legs were wiggling, urging them to move their backsides! It’s easy for me to say that, obviously, I’m not a police officer who has to follow procedure!
‘The Last Lullaby’ was absolutely brilliant – an ice cold, cut throat, highly intense read which made me lose my own capability of thinking clearly. The characters were chilling yet perfectly crafted and, whilst it feels weird to say this, even the ‘whodunnit dude’ was outstanding! Their actions weren’t, obviously, but the way Wyer created their mindset and thought process was incredible. I can’t even begin to imagine the extent of the research that went into creating that character and the situation they found themselves in.
What an absolute belter of a read this is – could someone point me in the direction of Carol Wyer Anonymous please as I’m addicted!!
About the author.
Carol E. Wyer, who also writes as 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.
The Writing Garnet 
Kaisha you have ended this tour on such a high! What a brilliant read this review was! I love the way you write – with such passion about what you read, and to know it was about one of my books is … well… lets just say it had me squealing a lot.
My genuine thanks for this phenomenal review and for rounding up the blitz tour in the most perfect way. As for Carol Wyer Anonymous…you had me in stitches over that.
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