3.75 stars rounded up. Saffy is about to go into a job interview, but when she gets several text messages asking her to go to her best friend Leona, she leaves the interview without a second thought. However, Leona denies sending the messages... then Leona and her family go missing, and Saffy is the last one to see them alive...

This story is told from different timelines and multiple points of view. It was a real page turner as I tried to figure out what was going on, and I read it very quickly. However, at times, I found myself getting annoyed with the main character as she made some stupid decisions, but this did ramp up the tension.  I liked the twists and turns as it all came together in a satisfying conclusion. 

With thanks to the author and Netgalley for providing a copy of this book. This is my honest review, which I'm leaving voluntarily.

A good psychological thriller but nothing new from Slater.
This book I still full of twists and a variety of POV’s but I found my self drifting sometimes while reading as I wasn’t engaged. However, glad I persevered and enjoyed this book in the end.

Saffy is waiting to go into a job interview when she receives a text message from her best friend, Leona: 'Can’t speak… don’t text or call… please just come'. But then the message is deleted. Saffy races to her friend's house, but all appears to be normal and she doesn't know anything about the message.
Six hours later, Leona and her family are all missing and there is blood in their house. Saffy was the last one to see them alive and finds herself under suspicion for their murders.

I enjoy books by K. L. Slater and this is no exception. It was a well thought out and clever book, told from multiple points of view. There are plenty of twists along the way and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

A complex psychological thriller in which I could feel the panic of the main character. Imagine receiving texts asking for help but you weren’t in a position to do so straight away & then the texts disappear.

Saffy is divorced & not the primary carer for her son. Her ex, Neil, & his new wife, Mira, are concerned about her & Leona, her best friend, is married to the vile Ash & they have a daughter, Rosie. Saffy receives the said texts from Leona whilst in an interview. The messages disappear so she races to Leona’s, only to find she never sent them. When Leona, Ash & Rosie go missing, Saffy is suspect No. 1 but as the story unfolds it is really difficult to know who to trust.

Great characters with some really tense & twisty moments but I think I was spoilt by the opening of the book; that anxiety wasn’t maintained - probably just as well! An enjoyable read.

leona and Saffy have been best friends since school and until Leona met Ash, they spent all their free time together. So when Saffy receives three strange texts from Leona which disappear immediately, Saffy dashes to Leona’s house. On the surface everything appears normal, but soon after Saffy returns home she is visited by the police. Leona and her family have disappeared but blood has been found at their house.
I was looking forward to reading a good mystery and I was not disappointed. Saffy was an interesting character, difficult to warm to initially, her background story helped to move the story along. I liked the way the reader found out about Saffy and Leona’s relationship through flashbacks.
Unfortunately, in spite of the twists I struggled to remain engaged but I am glad I persevered.

Firstly thank you @klslaterauthor & @netgalley for my ARC, I'm super grateful! I loved the whole pretence of this one - the disappearing messages! It truly kept me gripped and on the edge of my seat. As soon as the story begun I couldn't put it down, loved the multiple POVs and timelines, the twists and turns and intrigue. I don't want to go into too much detail & risk spoiling but as a big thriller fan I would highly recommend reading. I read in one sitting!!

I could not resist pressing the Read Now invitation, the title, the description, the front cover all caught my attention!
The book never failed either! A story of freindships that are tested, revenge, lies and well kept secrets.
Receiving a text message from your freind asking essentially for your help and you blink and the message has been deleted?
The chapters were a nice length ending each, with a page turner, Saffy frantically trying to find out what was going on....The ending was not obvious and the story was really fast paced. Clever twists which Slater is best at. I could not put this book down and I read it almost in one sitting! A fantastic psychological thriller.
Thank you to Netgalley, K.L. Slater and Penguin Michael Joesph Uk for an early copy of this book which I thoroughly enjoyed!

This was an easy read and I wanted to finish it. However, I found the story repetitive and there were too many annoying flashbacks. All of the main characters had unlikely dodgy histories and there was a long explanatory ending after the end. I appreciate that you have to suspend belief with some books but this one required too much of that. Overall, a promising plot that failed to deliver.

Another knock out! Slater just knows how to get you sucked in and invested in the outcome. Twisty turny, gripping. You won't be disappointed.
I would recommend this book.
Thanks to netgalley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review

This is an exciting book which has reveals along the way, with the final chapters explaining everything. With chapters alternating between Saffy who is traumatised by her sister Poppy’s attack a few years before, and Poppy who has a penchant for unsuitable men we find out that Saffy is the chief suspect in the disappearance of her school best friend Leona, her husband and their daughter. Everything Saffy says or does just makes her seem more suspicious. The book builds to an exciting climax and I found it difficult to put down. Just one more chapter became several more chapters. A must read. Brilliant book.

Good start
Lengthy middle
Interesting ending

I loved the premise of the story. While the story/plot itself has all the makings of a great psychological thriller, the execution left me lukewarm.
For me, the writing style doesn't work. There are too many filler words, and it feels almost as if a detached narrator is telling a story, failing to immerse the reader.
The characters are two-dimensional at best and could do with a bit more flesh on their bones.

Sorry, this book wasn't for me. Looking at other reviews I am in the minority. Without giving any spoilers, I found the constant hinting of terror in the past rather than tell it straight away irritating, the plot was unbelievable and most of the characters including Saffy and Leona were not very nice. The end of the book was far too sugary.
I will certainly try another Slater book.

This book had a great start with Saffy receiving a set of mysterious messages from her friend Leona (who she met recently after awhile of being distant) but then those messages are deleted and Leona denies sending them. Nicely intriguing, especially when Saffy notices so many wrong things in Leona's house and then the family goes missing and Saffy becomes the main suspect. The story bounces back and forth between the past and between the views of Saffy, Poppy, and Leona showing that all the things currently happening are connected in ways unknown to the characters and it made for easy to want to keep reading to find out all the whys and who might end up dead or missing next. Yes, I did get a little annoyed when secrets were kept by Poppy and Saffy that would have kept some bad things from happening and yes, I was able to guess one connection before it was revealed but it was still fun to read this book.

I would consider this a good little murder mystery book which was easy to get into and fairly hard to put down with only a few irritations at the actions of some of the character though I guess that is pretty lifelike with what human nature is like.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

This is my first book I’ve read by @klslaterauthor and I wasn’t disappointed. I absolutely loved #MessageDeleted
It’s full of suspense, tension and mystery with some brilliant twists. I was totally hooked and couldn’t put it down.

Saffy is waiting to attend a job interview when she receives a text message from her friend Leona. Minutes later it changes to message deleted. Saffy is worried and runs out of the interview only to find Leona at home and denying knowing anything about the texts. Hours later the police knock at Saffy’s door to tell her Leona and her Daughter are missing and Saffy was the last person to see them….

The storyline is very clever. Told in past and present timelines through Saffy, Leona and Poppy’s POV’s, which just added to the intrigue. It’s well written and the writing style is so engaging. It keeps you guessing until the end. The characters are vividly written and feel real and believable, though some are not that likeable, and most of them have secrets and you don’t know who is telling the truth. I loved the way all the characters are linked together.

Overall a brilliant psychological mystery that I highly recommend if you enjoy this gene. It’s definitely worth a read. I look forward to reading more from this author.
With thanks to #NetGallery @michaeljoseph @penguinrandomhouse for an arc of #MessageDeleted in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 18 July 2024.

A desperate message, pleading for help comes to Saffy from her best friend Leona. As Saffy rushes off to help, the message is deleted. Saffy knows that Leona has been having problems with her abusive husband, but Leona denies having sent the message, and there is nothing on the phone at all.
Saffy feels uneasy and reluctantly goes back home.
Six hours later, the Police come calling, Leona and her son Leo are missing and Saffy is the last person to see them and that makes her the prime suspect.
An interesting idea and a messy psychological thriller that leads to paranoia for the main characters and perhaps the reader! There are plenty of red herrings, and unsettling events over dual time lines, and no really likeable characters, but I was disappointed, the story relies too much upon coincidences, and although I didn’t guess the final twist, that seemed to veer off into the realms of fantasy, it wasn’t really believable and I felt cheated after investing so much time in the reading of this novel, to be so let down.
I rated this as three stars.
My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for my advance copy freely given in exchange for my honest review.
I will post to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

Saffy is at a job interview for a job she really wants/needs in order to get her life back on track and earn enough money to have her young son over to stay on a regular basis. As she waits to be called in she gets a message on her phone "Can’t speak . . . don’t text or call . . . please just come".
Saffy abandons the interview and hurtles round to her friend Leona's house worried that her abusive and controlling husband, Ash, has done something. When she arrives she finds the messages have been deleted and Leona denies any knowledge of them. A few hours later, when Saffy is home with her son, the police arrive. She was the last person to see Leona and Ash, and now they are missing.
This is the set up for the story which swings and twists between guilty and innocent for most of the characters at some point. It is told in a mix of present time and flash backs from the point of view of the main characters - mostly Saffy and Poppy, her sister, and occasionally Leona. Initially I found the constant switching between characters annoying but as the story gets going it becomes a good device for slowly revealing which is actually quite a complicated back story.
Saffy makes some unusual decisions which lead the police to suspect her of being involved with Leona and Ash's disappearance - a suspicion which I felt they made very easily. But it becomes clear that she has some secrets in her past which she is not keen to reveal to anyone.
This is a quick, easy read with lots of short chapters. Be warned, men do not come across well in the book. I don't think any of the male characters have any redeeming features and some of the female characters are difficult to like as well.
But all in all it was a satisfyingly twisty read. With thanks to Netgalley for an arc read in return for an honest review.

Message deleted is another greta thriller from K.L.Slater.
Saffy is getting her life back together and she’s at an interview for a permanent job but just as she goes in she receives a text message from her best friend. One minute later it says message deleted. Saffy knows Leona is having difficulties with her husband so races over to her house but Leona knows nothing about the message and she has nothing on her phone, uneasily Saffy has to leave to pick her son up but six hours later Leona and her family are all missing and she is the star suspect.
This was a decent paced read with interesting characters and storyline. There were quite a few twists and that kept it interesting and always moving forwards. A book I really enjoyed.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was interesting and the first half was good, keeping me reading and wanting to know what was going to happen. Unfortunately I felt that it dropped off in the second half and a lot of threads didn't really amount to anything which left me wanting to know more. The ending did tie everything up and surprised me with a twist I didn't see coming, I always like that in a thriller.
The characters were mostly unlikeable, but I'm ok with that, it's fun to read about horrible people doing horrible things and they were well fleshed-out. One thing I did struggle with though was the actions of the police - they just didn't make sense a lot of the time and that stopped me immersing myself in the story fully.
I enjoyed the dual timeline way that the book was written, it was handled well so that you were never confused as to which you were reading. Overall, this is a decently enjoyable thriller, the kind of book to read if you are in the headspace where you don't want to have to think too much...an easy relaxing read.

Another mystery thriller and unfortunately another 2 stars from me. I’m not having much luck at the moment with this genre.
I liked the premise and initial set-up, with the missing family and deleted messages. This is full of super messy drama and I was pretty entertained for the most part. <spoiler>I think it got a little convoluted with the affairs, infidelity, etc.</spoiler> The writing style in general was enjoyable and you can tell K.L. Slater is a seasoned writer.
I think what let the book down the most for me was the ending, it was too over-explained with several flashback chapters recapping and answering every plot point. I personally don’t like when thrillers end this way, give the reader some credit to work it out for themselves, leave some things ambiguous. So the disappointing outcome unfortunately led to my rating of this book. Also these characters are so very unlikeable which I thought to be a bit of a shame, I really wanted someone to root for.
This was my first read from K.L. Slater and although this wasn’t a hit for me, I think it would appeal to a lot of thriller readers and I would give this author another go in the future, she has a pretty big and popular backlist.
2/5 ⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Joseph and K.L. Slater for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.

Review posted to Goodreads.

I have read a lot of this author's books and although this is a good read, I don't think it's one of her strongest. That said, it did hold my attention throughout and mostly satisfied me at the end.
We start with Saffy who is a bit down on her luck but hoping things are on the turn as she is attending a job interview. Just before she is about to go in, she receives a message from best friend Leona: Can't speak... don't text or call... please just come
And just as soon as she has read them, they disappear...
Obviously she is in no state to complete her interview, and she is worried for her friend so she ups and leaves, rushing over to Leona's house. Where she finds her friend is fine, well fine apart from being totally confused by the messages. She know nothing about them.
Long story short, fast forward six hours and there is a knock at Saffy's door. It's the police. Leona is missing, along with her husband and child. There's signs of a disturbance and blood in the house. Discovered by a neighbour when a smoke alarm went off. And Saffy is the last to see them.
And so begins a rather intricate tale of "what happened" in which the fingers immediately start to point at Saffy. Initially as she was the last to see them, but also as it becomes evident that she has secrets of her own...
I have to say that I wasn't overly convinced by all that happened in this book. I have reservations about credibility and lost count of all the eye-rolling I did along the way. I also guessed a fair few things early - obvious to me probably cos this is my bread-and-butter genre book. It's a slow burn I guess to add to the suspense, but for me it just meant that it took too long to really get going.
But... all that said, it did hold my attention, and credibility aside, it was a fun read. Once it really got going it did get on with itself nicely. With all the usual twists and turns you'd expect along with a host of secrets, lies an dysfunction behaviour, it definitely ticked all those boxes. Saffy also really annoyed me at times with some of her questionable decisions!
But, all that said, the ending when it came was mostly satisfying and kinda did all make sense. And I did feel rewarded for all my perseverance and disbelief suspension I had to do!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.