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The Birthday Party  By  cover art

The Birthday Party

By: Wendy Dranfield
Narrated by: Sarah Borges
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Publisher's summary

Charlotte waves at her mother across the crowded lawn. Little red boots on, cowboy hat crooked over her blonde pigtails, she’s been looking forward to this party for weeks. Moments later, she disappears without a trace....

Kathy Hamilton drives away from her sister-in-law’s pristine-white suburban house in Maple Falls certain she’s left her daughter in safe hands. On the hottest day of the year, a birthday is the perfect excuse to gather friends, family, and neighbors around the pool for a barbecue. But when she returns hours later to find her little girl has vanished, her world shatters.

Nobody laughing and drinking in the garden that day saw anything unusual.

Kathy’s eldest daughter is anxious and hardly eating. Is she sick with worry for her sister, or hiding a terrible secret?

The phone rings and rings, but why can’t Kathy get hold of the babysitter?

And is she imagining it, or when her husband rushed from work to join the search, was he wearing a different shirt from the one she saw him leave the house in that morning?

As the temperature rises, and long-buried secrets begin to surface, it’s clear that even the most perfect families keep devastating secrets. But in a town as small as this, is there anyone you can trust?

Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Gone Girl, and Teresa Driscoll, it will keep you up listening all night long!

©2022 Wendy Dranfield (P)2021 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

What listeners say about The Birthday Party

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    5 out of 5 stars

it was pretty good.

Lots of twists in the story. Narrator was good also. All and all I gave it 5 stars.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story poor narration

I struggled though this book. I don't like to be harshly critcal but eventually realized it wasn't the story that I found irritating , however, the narrator wasn't ideally suited to this book. Essentially, some people "just read" and don't support the character development.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome!

Loved it!!! Never saw what was coming! Kept me on the edge of my seat!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Too many coincidences

This book would have been good had it not been for all the “how did I know that was going to happen” moments. I also couldn’t stand the readers “crying” voice.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Decent story; distracting narration.

The narration was very annoying. It was difficult to get into the story line.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A solid little soap opera

First let me say: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WTH THE NARRATOR on this book! I listen to an audio book a week -so a lot- and this narrator is solid, with subtle and appropriate alterations for each character. Not sure why people are going after her... The book is a soap opera with unlikely coincidences and two-dimensional villains but I love a good soap opera read. Especially in the summer. I will try more of Dranfield's books when I need that fix.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Good mystery

Every twist and turn has you wondering who did it. Loved the narration. The story kept me clueless till the end.

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The Birthday Party

I loved everything about this book. The story had lots of twists & turns not expected. Read in two day....Great read !!

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Mystery

It was a good book crazy and just a thriller the book kept me wanting to know more

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Kathy is annoyingly naive

A lot of this story was obvious and Kathy is horribly naive. It just happens over and over where she’s so confused how something happened. Frustrating to listen to

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2 people found this helpful