Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I did enjoy this book but it did not grab my attention like other books of a similar theme. The story follows Stella who as a child lived with her family on a remote island but one stormy night her family upped and left never to return. When on the news some 20+ years later a body is discovered just outside the family garden Stella is compelled to return where events unfold resulting in a dramatic conclusion.

Come Back For Me is an intriguing read with fascinating characters and a gripping story.  The setting on a small island where everyone knows each other makes for a tense atmosphere and the switching between the present and the past keeps your interest throughout.  I thoroughly recommend it.

I was so excited to get the opportunity to read a preview copy of a new book by one of my favourite contemporary authors but this was a little disappointing. There were a lot of very similar characters so it wasn't always easy to keep up with who was who and the split time-frame only added to that. I didn't feel I came to know the island very well and couldn't visulaise the places where the action took place. The plot was clever (if a little unlikely) and the pace was maintained well throughout the book. There were a few red herrings, some of which had me fooled, but on the whole it felt a bit formulaic and lacking in substance.

I really enjoyed this book. Stella Harvey lived her first 10 years on a small island called Evergreen, off the south coast. But one stormy day her parents uprooted the family and went back to live on the mainland. Now, many years later, Stella sees a news item reporting that a body has been found buried close to their old back garden. Against her better judgement she decides to return to the island for the first time since the family left. Many cans of worms are subsequently opened! This is a family with a number of significant hidden secrets, which are gradually revealed as the story unfolds. It kept me guessing right to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Stella Harvey is stunned to hear on the news that a body has been found, practically in the garden of her childhood home .
She was brought up on a remote island called Evergreen, just off the Dorset coast. She loved it there but knows there is some mystery both as to why their family went there in the first place and why they all left so abruptly. 
Stella has a married sister and estranged brother, their mother is now dead and their father has Alzheimer’s, Stella feels that the only way to get some answers to her past is to go back to the island. Once back there it is clear she is not welcome, some familiar faces want her stay to be as brief as possible. 
Events from the past, current day and the murder investigation are all linked and  come together in a  probably unexpected way.

Stella used to live on Evergreen - a small sparsely inhabited island off the coast of Poole Harbour. One night the family had to leave suddenly, and Stella still doesn't know why. She's now an adult, working as a therapist to help others with their problems. Everything is going well for Stella, when she hears that a body has been discovered on Evergreen, and what's more it's on the boundary of her old garden. 

Stella an't help herself, she has to find out who it is and what happened, but her family and the inhabitants of Evergreen are not going to make it easy for her. I enjoyed the suspense that this story built up, and of course tried to guess who was the killer, going through each character, discounting them and then suspecting them again as you learn more about them. A great book.

I found this book a little dull. It wound its way through the story referring frequently to events in the past but never describing these until the last quarter of the story. I had begun to lose interest in what had happened. The family was traumatised by these mysterious happenings, then lived a happy life for 11 years, then the trauma reared its head again. They then made a dramatic move and life continued until the discovery of a body brings it back.
Eventually the main character, a member of this family goes on a journey of discovery and the last 20% describes the earlier events the identity of the murderer.
For me it isn't an exciting or very interesting story. Sorry.

Enjoyable and a fun read!

The story caught my eye from the moment I read the blurb, and I just knew I wanted to read this book. I was not let down and can recommend this to everyone!

Stella has never quite got over the fact that her family left the idyllic island of Evergreen during a storm in the middle of  the night. She yearns for her happy childhood there before they left and everything went wrong with her parents separating and her brother Danny disappearing. Her siblings, Danny and Bonnie were not as happy as she was however. Danny was a strange boy who couldn't get on with the local children and Bonnie has a feeling of never quite belonging.. When a body is found on the edge of their erstwhile garden Stella determines to go back and find out what she can. Why did her parents leave so suddenly and whose is the body?

Of course she is met with hostility and the news that her old friend Jill died from an undiagnosed heart condition but this doesn't stop her nosing around. When the body is identified it appears that someone from her family may be implicated but is it the right person?

This was an ok read with nothing outstanding about it. The core of the plot is unlikely to say the least and requires a huge suspension of disbelief.. Characters blend into each other and are not sufficiently differentiated. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

An unputdownable read that swept me away to a tranquil island rocked by tragedy. There were so many twists and turns, blind alleys and surprises that it kept me on my toes right to the end. The choices and moral dilemmas were agonizing and well portrayed. Top marks. Riveting read.

I thought this was very weak. It was just not believable that this island was the centre of a baby trafficking ring with murder and abuse thrown in!  Also the fact that the full story came to light 30 years after it all started was rather far-fetched.

I raced through this book, enjoying the slow peeling back of layer after layer of secrets. Great atmosphere; it convincingly showed how events viewed through children's eyes can become a tangled memory of truth and misperception in adulthood.

I did find the ending rather anticlimactic. And I felt there were a few loose ends that were never properly resolved. (The book heavily implies that a child is being abused by her father, yet that is left unaddressed; he, above all others, doesn't deserve to be let off at the end.)

Still, well written and a good read.

Twelve year old Stella and her family leave (the presumably fictional) Evergreen Island, where Stella was born and brought up, amid a raging storm one night in 1993. Stella has never had an adequate explanation as to why.

Years later, the news of the discovery of a body on the island - close to her former family home - spurs Stella to return for the first time since they left. But not everyone is pleased to see her. Long buried secrets are coming to light...

Come Back For Me was a very enjoyable and well written read - the unusual setting of the remote island, where all the inhabitants know each other, added an intriguing and atmospheric dimension. Stella was an engaging character and her relationships with her sister Bonnie, her long-estranged brother Danny, and her father who is now living with dementia, are very well drawn. The mystery felt like a bit of a slow burner, but unfolded satisfyingly.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

A mystery thriller set during two periods - the 1990s in the childhood of the main character, Stella, and the present day. The latter is in the first person, narrated by Stella whilst the historical aspects are third person and typically told by her mother. The family moved from Birmingham to a remote island off the coast of Dorset, where Stella was born,  and from there they, equally precipitously, moved in 1993 when she was 11.  The children grew up and we come to the present day when a skeleton of a young woman is found just outside their old garden on the island. Stella determines to find out who she was and how she died partly because of issues and uncertainties within her own family. Returning to the island she finds herself at odds with the islanders, where everything seems to have changed a lot in the intervening 25 years, or has it? The plot deepens, twists and turns and asks searching questions of behaviours both in the 1990s and today. It is a riveting read and the reader feels for Stella and her desire to understand - her family, origins, future. I found her sister less sympathetic to start with but, as the story unfolds, that changed. The story flowed well, there were good descriptions of places and feelings and excellent context. I shall look out for other titles by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Random House, for sending me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A good thriller set in an unusual place with complex characters and a couple of unique plot twists. The decision made by the main character at the end was exactly what I hoped it would be. Make this a holiday or weekend read because you won't want to stop reading.

What a story, 30 years is a long time where things can change and the impact that can have on people's lives and relationships and there is always a twist to keep you wondering.

I did enjoy this book as a family drama but for some reason I struggled to get through it. It had an intriguing storyline with some interesting characters but I felt myself getting mixed up with who was who and what their motivations were.  I think I am in the minority here, as the book has received some excellent views, but I just felt it struggled to keep my attention.  I loved the author's last book though and I would certainly read more from her.

Best book I've read for years I absolutely loved it. So well written and brilliantly crafted. It kept me guessing right to the end and I couldn't put it down until I got there. I'm going straight to look for more books by Heidi. Aah just seen if already another of her books Now You See Me I didn't realise it was the same author but that was also one of my favourite books. Read Come Back For Me you'll love it!!

A very well written book which keeps you hooked right from the beginning.  I loved the style or writing, the characters and the story.  There are plenty of twists and turns and just when you think you know what happened, who did it and why, you are hit with more information which throws you off track.  Why do families opt to leave their home and all they know to go and live on a remote island?  What secrets keep them there and what secrets make them flee?  Why is that everyone on the island knows everyone and everyone's business?  Are they all hiding secrets or are they bound by the same one?  Follow the story as Stella goes back in time to her childhood on the island whilst she is trying to piece together the truth and keep her family in tact in the present.  You will not be disappointed - this is a read not to be missed!!!

Wow, another great book, I really enjoy Heidi's books and this one was another great read with many unexpected moments towards the final few chapters. 

The story is based on Stella who as a child lived on an island with a tight-knit community where she was very happy until one day her family up and move in the middle of the stormy night back to the mainland. Stella   25 years later still never knowing why they moved so suddenly watches some unexpected the news that they find a body right by her house she grew up in, and Stella then starts to ask questions wondering who this person could be,  did she know them or know the killer or both! 

Family Secrets mystery and intrigue this is the perfect book that won't disappoint another great thriller from Heidi thank you so much for letting me read this book I loved it.

Can't wait for more books from Heidi Perks in the future.