A gripping and highly entertaining thriller that kept me on the edge till the end.
I liked the storytelling and the character development, the vivid setting and the fast paced and tense plot.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I loved how this book unfolded... bit by bit you were building a picture up of what had happened previously whilst you were also reading the present day too. I wasn't expecting some of the things that happened to happen as cleverly, the author had you thinking down a certain path. Really well written.

This is an atmospheric thriller set in France with lots of twists and turns . Perfect for a holiday read.

Rating 4.5 Stars

Sylvie has returned to her French family home after a decade. A fire had been started in one of the rooms, plus she must finally put the house on the market, because every corner of the old house contains memories of her - memories Sylvie has tried to forget.; the death of her eldest daughter Elodie.

A long-buried family secret is about to come to light and it could change everything because there's something Sylvie's been hiding from her youngest daughter Emma about what really happened to Elodie that summer.

I really enjoyed this novel, I managed to read it in just 3 days. I could tell from the reading of this book what type of girl Elodie would be, a nature vs nurture situation. Quite eerie to read about this child and the things she did, and how her mother tried her best to deal with the situation, not being listened to by her husband Greg, as he waiting for her to just grow our of it. It's not until a close call with Emma does Greg open his eyes to the real situation with difficult choices needing to be made or forced onto them.

It narrated by the mother Sylvie like an apology letter to her daughter Emma to read, explaining what happened in the past with her sister Elodie and how it affects their current situation. However towards the end of the book it merged the past and present into one, so at times I got confused as to the timeline.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

Set between the years 1968 and 1993, this is an atmospheric tale of a family split by the life and death of their first daughter Elodie.
Sylvie returns to her empty family home in France with her daughter Emma, 10 years after leaving for England. Sylvie intends to sell the house and maybe banish the unhappy memories.
As temperatures soar and wild fires break out, tension mounts as Sylvie and Emma feel as though someone is watching them. Memories are long in small villages, and Sylvie feels the pressure of the past and the consequences of decisions made long ago.
As temperature and tension mount we learn about Elodie 's life and the impact it had on her younger sister Emma.

This twisted tale kept me reading to the early hours and the conclusion was unexpected.

When Sylvie is unexpectedly called back from London to her family home in the South of France she takes her teenage daughter, Emma, with her. When they are arrive they feel ghosts of the past haunting the abandoned home...

The story jumps between two different times and I found it quite difficult to follow at times. Quite a dark psychological thriller which would normally have me gripped but maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind for this one.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and literary fiction however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.

A brilliant read.
The heat pours out of the pages and not just from the French country side . I smelled the dust from the under used villa with peeling paint and old shutters. The pool is waiting and cool as is the wine., sit and remember .
Who knows what happened to Elodie?
Truly gripping., keeps you guessing and wondering.

I was confused by this book at the start and it didn’t really grab me, however once I’d got used to the timeline changing mid paragraph, I really enjoyed the book. It was tense and disturbing throughout and kept me thinking that something was about to happen.
Sylvie showed that although she might not like her daughter at times, she never stopped loving her.

A very atmospheric novel, set in the south of France and the writer really did transport you there. The story is told by Silvie, in 2 different time settings and sometimes, especially in the second half of the book I was confused as to what time zone we were in. An enjoyable read although the ending didn’t match the rest of the book.

The Heatwave by Kate Riordan is a stunning psychological thriller, it would be a great book to lose yourself in on holiday or for a few hours sitting in the garden.
Sylvie returns to her crumbling childhood home, La Reverie in Provence during a blisteringly hot summer. She has her youngest daughter Emma with her and she has not been to the house since she tragically lost her eldest daughter Elodie there many years ago. Emma barely remembers her big sister and Sylvie has never told her the full terrifying truth about what happened all those years ago. La Reverie is full of memories though and it becomes clear that Elodie is not going to remain in the past, she cannot be silenced forever.
I loved this book and spent a couple of nights sitting up very late completely engrossed and unable to put it down. Kate Riordan creates such a heady atmosphere with the heat and the house that holds so many memories and secrets; the tension is palpable throughout the story.
Riordan gradually reveals what happened to Elodie and the consequences it had for Sylvie and her whole family. You cannot help but feel for Sylvie, she is desperate to help both of her children but she is put in an unbelievable and awful situation. It is easy to see how Elodie’s behaviour gradually tore the family apart, something that Sylvie could not have imagined happening when she brought her beautiful baby girl home from the hospital to La Reverie.
The Heatwave is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in 2020, it is dark, clever and entirely believable. Just be prepared to lose yourself for a few hours as you won’t want to put this one down.

At first I wasn‘t sure about this book, as it wasn‘t what I expected. The cover reminded me of The Holiday by TM Logan so I expected it to be a 'beach read' - perhaps a very up-to-date romance with a bit of mystery or some friendship angst.

Therefore I was a bit thrown when the story moved from the late 70s to the early 90s and wasn't following the trajectory I was expecting. . However I was soon drawn into the story and it just goes to show that you should never judge a book by it's cover!

Sylvie has to return to her house in France after abandoning it 10 years earlier when her daughter Elodie died. Her other daughter was only 4 when they left and doesn‘t know the full story of Elodie.

It‘s a very dark tale as we learn what happened back then, and the current day implications.

I ended up loving it, couldn‘t put it down!

This book was a real thriller that made me turn the pages fiercely. Very accomplished mystery and writing. Loved it!

Excellent summer read, definitely recommended.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

The Heatwave is a scorcher of a novel. Sylvie and her young daughter Emma return to the family home in southern France after a ten year absence. Once there, Sylvie is haunted by memories of her elder daughter Elodie, a disturbed child. Filled with atmosphere, the sultry and claustrophobic setting makes this a superb thriller. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I really enjoyed this book, it had me gripped from the beginning. Such suspense throughout. Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I really want to swim in the pool and sit on the terrace drinking wine and eating all the food described in the book. Beautifully written , I could picture it all so clearly, so It was hard to take all the twists and turns of that particular family’s life. The dual timelines helped set the scene even more.
Highly recommend, and it will keep to reading at night so be warned.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

An atmospheric thriller that is a quick and enjoyable read. Perfect to pack in your suitcase for your summer holiday.

This is a brilliant story, full of tension which grips you from the first page.

Sylvie is living in London with her teenage daughter Emma but is called back to her family home in France after a small fire. Its clear the family home holds a lot of bad memories for Sylvie and Emma discovers more and more about her mysterious older sister Elòdie, secrets Sylvie wishes would remain hidden in the past.

I loved the way this story was written, as if Sylvie was telling Emma the story, I really felt I could feel the atmosphere and tension at the house and I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen! Definitely a 'one more chapter' book!

‘The Heatwave’ was everything I wanted in a thriller; intrigue, unsettling and totally compelling!
The story focuses on Sylvie and her daughter, Emma, and their return to their old home in the South of France. It isn’t a holiday that brings them back but a small fire which has caused damage to their property but once there, memories quickly flood to the surface. Emma begins to ask about why they left France when she was so small and about the circumstances surrounding her elder sister’s death.
Through flashbacks from Sylvie’s perspective we are told about her firstborn, Elodie. Elodie is a beautiful and extremely clever child but Sylvie finds it difficult to transition into motherhood but as she grows Sylvie becomes concerned that it isn’t her parenting but something innately dark in Elodie’s personality.
I wouldn’t want to say much more about the plotline but just to say it is the perfect thriller set in the stifling heat of France where family secrets lie just below the surface. Beautifully written and one of my favourites books this year I cannot recommend enough.

I was transported from the wet UK weather and enjoyed a couple of days in the heat of the South of France as I read this book. The languorous weather creates a wonderfully oppressive atmosphere that is heightened by the dilapidated farmhouse that Sylvie and her daughter Emma have returned to after the tragic events that lead to them leaving and her divorce from Greg.

This backdrop sets the pace of the book which is a slow build as secrets are gradually revealed about the missing daughter Elodie. It is a story of a child with a misunderstood disorder and inadequate psychological help and the impact that her behaviour has on her family and the wider community. It is also the story of a troubled marriage, family responsibilities, a mothers love and all the complicated emotions that this involves. Throughout the book Sylvie struggles to reconcile the love and fear she experiences until the shocking conclusion.

I really enjoyed immersing myself at 'La Reverie' for a few days, but my nerves are now thanking me for finishing the book!

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.