Tallulah is a young mother, living at home with her mother, Kim, and her boyfriend, Zach. She wants out of the relationship, but she isn’t sure how to get out of it, especially because Zach has grown increasingly controlling. But after a night out, Tallulah and Zach don’t return home. Kim is desperate to find her daughter. Raising her grandson has been hard on her, and he needs his parents around more than ever. A year later, still holding out hope, we meet Sophie, the new headmaster’s girlfriend. As an author who writes detective novels, Tallulah and Zack’s disappearance draws Sophie in.
One of my favorite things that Jewell does when telling a story is slowly unfolding the plot through varying times and characters. You start to get a sense of what is happening, but then she goes into a different time and focuses on a different character. Those pieces will eventually come together, and it’s one of my favorite storytelling models. When reading other reviews before writing this one, I saw many people comment that this was a slow-burn mystery, and that’s apt. Overall, an addicting and enjoyable read. Thank you, Atria Books, for sending this along!
Read and like this review on Goodreads and Bookbub.
The Night She Disappeared is available for preorder on Amazon for $12.99, it releases September 7th.
About the Book:
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend.
One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite area for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
Could this be a clue towards what has happened to the missing young couple? And what exactly is buried in this haunted ground?
With her signature “rich, dark, and intricately twisted” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) prose, Lisa Jewell has crafted a dazzling work of suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.
Rae's Reading Lounge 