‘When They Find Her’ by Lia Middleton is a fabulous psychological thriller that had me on the edge of my seat almost screaming at the characters at times.
Naomi has a four-year-old daughter called Freya. She lives with her dad Aiden, Naomi’s ex and his new wife Helen, who happens to be Naomi’s best friend from her childhood.
The story is told from the present and slips back to the past to show us exactly the situation Naomi is in in the present day. Freya comes to stay with her mum, Naomi is so excited as it is a while since they have had time together alone. She puts Freya to bed and falls asleep. Upon waking she discovers Freya is missing from her bed. Naomi searches her room and upstairs, no Freya. As she gets to the stairs she finds her unconscious on the floor, a tragic accident in the night. Naomi rings Aiden and tells him Freya is missing instead. Cue the Police searching the area attempting to find Freya. Naomi realises they will find her soon enough. The only problem is, Naomi herself doesn’t know what happened, did someone else hurt Freya…or could she have done it?
A book that had me from the first page, it throws you straight in with Naomi having Freya overnight. I knew things weren’t totally fine with Naomi, just the fact that Freya lives with Aiden and not Naomi. The fact that she has just managed to gain permission to have Freya overnight and wondering whether if she should take her medication before bed. Her panic when she discovers Freya makes her do a stupid thing, one she can’t take back. My heart went out to this woman when the story developed more and we see why she is as scared and frantic as she is on the discovery of Freya.
The story is narrated by Naomi so we see how she thinks as she attempts to deal with the grief of losing Freya and the police investigation as well, knowing full well the truth will come out. We discover Naomi’s issues and problems as more and more information is given and we see how this affects her mentally.
A book that leads you one way only to throw some twists when you least expect them. A story that I read in one day as I just could not put it down and the ending just gives us another massive twist which I never guessed at all. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a tense, twisty and highly emotional psychological thriller, this will definitely deliver!
Thanks to Chrissie Antoniou for a copy of the book and the chance to be a part of this tour!
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