Message Deleted

by K L Slater

The message has disappeared. So has my best friend.

When I read the message from my best friend Leona, I sense the danger screaming from every word.

Can’t speak. Don’t text or call. Please just come.

I race to her house, thinking about the circle of bruises I saw on her wrist days earlier. But when she opens the door, Leona is smiling, her husband’s arm tightly around her narrow shoulders, her little girl’s laughter echoing from the living room.

She says she never sent me a message and she’s fine. And when I look at my phone, the message is deleted.

But six hours later, the police are at my door. Leona and her family have disappeared, their dinner burned, blood all over the kitchen.

My best friend and her beautiful family are missing. I was the last one to see them alive…

A completely gripping and addictive thriller from the number 1 ebook bestselling author K.L. Slater,Message Deletedwill have you glued to the pages until the very last twist. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Freida McFadden.

Genres: Thriller

380 pages, Paperback

Published February 26, 2025

Reviews

[Danielle Goddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very twisty thriller. Good read and my first of this author. The only thing that spoiled it for me was the writing style as it was in third person narrative. I would have enjoyed it even more if it was from the pov of the characters. Great character development and timelines.

[Mellisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:

The message disappeared. So did Leona.
She’d written: Can’t speak. Don’t text or call. Please just come. But when Saffy arrived, she was all smiles, her husband’s arm around her, her little girl laughing inside. She said she never sent it. Then it vanished. Now Leona and her family are gone - their dinner still on the table, blood in the kitchen.
And Saffy - the last person to see them alive.

Review:

Absolutely hooked from page one! I had no idea what happened to the family - every twist caught me off guard. Fast, tense, and impossible to put down. If you love a thriller that keeps you guessing till the last line, this one’s for you.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hooked right off the bat and then I thought where is this going. I am not used to many of the phrases, but I could still figure out what they were talking about. The twist doesn't come till later, but it did keep me wondering. Not what I was expecting and I love that about the book.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saffy is waiting to go into an important meeting when she receives a text message from her best friend, Leona: Can’t speak… don’t text or call… please just come. By the time she arrives Leona’s house, the message is deleted. When Leona answers the door and insists everything's fine, Saffy can tell something’s not right. Six hours later, the police turn up at her door. Leona is missing, along with her young child and there's blood everywhere.
And Saffy was the last one to see them alive...
With a great concept, I expected this to be more involving and with a quicker pace but, to be honest, I think the first third could have been cut by half and still done the same job. Saffy gets annoying quickly and the dripfeed of her ‘past’ never quite lives up to its promise. A better character is Poppy, her sister and she carried a lot of the plot which is full of twists and turns, several of which I didn’t see coming. Nice use of Nottingham locations help and it’s an interesting read but it never quite lived up to its promise.

[Xana · Rating 4 out of 5]

São sempre livros de leitura rápida. A autora é muito boa no enredo.
Gostei bastante das voltas e reviravoltas

[Rosie Sparks · Rating 2 out of 5]

the whole build up was so long and involved for no reason for it to all just come crashing in on like one scene, was an easy read but wouldn’t pick up more of her books again

[Jessica Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well damn…that was disappointing! What started out as a real thrill seeking “who dun it & where did they go”
turned out to be a flop. all the momentum and new discoveries really didn’t pay off for me and I was disappointed in the end. Great story line until it wasn’t. Still at the end I’m waiting for the twist…no twist.

[Dr Kate Mann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to this book and only bothered to finish because I am waiting for my next Audible credit. The female characters in this book were terrible. It’s rare to read a book where you truly do not care what happens to the central character but in this case Saphy was so utterly irritating that I actually hoped the author would kill her off. Then instead of finishing with the resolution the book continues for several more tedious chapters.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off okay but then too much attention to one characters mental health, soon got quite boring, was glad to find out who done it so I could finish it

[Rosie Sandick · Rating 2 out of 5]

the ending is okay but feels as though i could’ve picked up this book half way through and still understood what was going on, very long winded and dragged out- if it was more to the point and less waffle then it probably would’ve been an easier read.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a lot of trouble getting into this book and ended up skimming a lot of it. I felt it was actually quite predictable and rather boring. Definitely not a page turner. It was actually very easy for me to put down and very difficult to motivate myself to pick it back up!

[Diane Leyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, but I could only give it 3 stars because of the way everything with the characters gets turned out.

[Caz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautifully written and well worth picking up.

[TONI HARRIS · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a slow start but worth persevering with lots of twists

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful

[RainyReadsWithKendall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a start, put down and then come back to kinda book… but wow thank god I came back too it!

Really great twists and turns and what an ending.

100% add it to your TBR list!!