BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

SYNOPSIS

Two kidnappings, thirty years apart. Can Stacey face her own dark past in order to save her stepdaughter?

When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough…

Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom—she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.

Lyra’s kidnappers have made it clear the police must not get involved. But Stacey can’t shake the eerie similarities between the two cases, and she’ll use whatever she can, from her journalistic powers to her shady contacts, to save Lyra from the same nightmare. Desperate to find any link between Lyra’s abduction and her own, Stacey forces herself to revisit her forgotten, traumatic past for clues.

But can she make sense of the terrible secrets she unearths in time to save Lyra? And if she does, is she ready to face her own tormentor?

Title: Behind Closed Doors

Author: Carol Wyer

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publication date: December 6, 2022

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

After writing some of my favorite crime series, Carol Wyer is back with Behind Closed Doors, her first stand alone crime novel, a story of psychological suspense as gripping as those of her fantastic police procedurals.

Thirty years ago Stacey was kidnapped. She was only found after the police received an anonymous tip-off, but the culprit was never caught. The experience left her with several physical scars, dissociate amnesia and a estranged relationship with her father, whom refused to pay the ransom. Now, she’s an investigative journalist and still trying to find some answers. When her ex-husband Jack knocks on her door telling her his daughter Lyra has been kidnapped, Stacey feels there’re too many similarities with her own abduction. Is it a copycat or is history repeating itself? Stacey will have to delve into her past to try and save Lyra before is too late.

Carol certainly knows how to grab her readers’ attention and the story takes off with a very shocking scene that immediately had me on its grip. Stacey joins Carol’s group of strong female characters that area not afraid to upturn every stone necessary to find out the truth. Her past trauma and her inability to remember what really happened to her make her such an interesting lead. The reader can’t help but wonder if the memories she’s slowly starting to get back are real or if she’s projecting what she’s learning about Lyra’s abduction. You could say she’s an unreliable narrator, but not in an annoying way as it’s sometimes the case. The more we learn about her ordeal, the more we want her to succeed in her endeavor.

With a small cast of characters and a not so big pool of suspects, you’ll try to wrap your mind around what really happened to Lyra. Slow building tension will unveil the full picture of what happened thirty years ago, through several twists and turns that will lead to an explosive ending that offered some jaw dropping revelations. Although not a complete surprise, as some weird behaviors were grating on me right from the start, it was absolutely satisfying.

I liked how, even with the characters you don’t fully trust, Carol managed to give them that sense of despair that makes the reader wanna give them the benefit of the doubt, asking themselves “but what if they’re telling the truth?”

The atmosphere was good and the underlying sense of foreboding, of a ticking bomb that could go off at any time, was present all throughout the story.

With Behind Closed Doors, Carol Wyer has another winner on her hands, with this story of suspense, family secrets and revenge.

Thanks to Carol Wyer, Thomas & Mercer and Zooloo’s Book Tours for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review and my spot on the tour.