The Night She Disappeared

Lisa Jewell is back with a slow-burn domestic mystery about a teenage mom and her boyfriend who go missing without a trace. Told using multiple POVs, including teenage Tallulah, her mom Kim and Sophie, a mystery writer, the story also jumps between three timelines which are fairly close together - 2016, 2017 when Tallulah went missing and two years later when Tallulah's mom Kim, now raising her toddler grandson, is still trying to find out what happened to her daughter.

The story gets full marks for creepy atmosphere - I particularly liked the eerie old home, hidden spaces and secrets, but I was surprised that the tension takes awhile to begin and remains low key throughout. Readers are given a few red herrings to keep them wondering what exactly happened to Tallulah and I appreciated how Jewell included a look at domestic issues from a teen mom's POV.

The first half of the book focuses on a lot of backstory of the characters resulting in a story that was less suspenseful than I had expected. But it was the chilling atmosphere and the need to know what happened to Tallulah that kept me reading. Unfortunately, I found the ending rushed, underwhelming and a bit unbelievable. Simply put, the story had good bones, but I wish it had gone darker and put me on the edge of my seat. 

This isn't a twisty thriller but a slow burn mystery and while The Night She Disappeared isn't my favourite Lisa Jewell book, she remains an auto-read author for me and I eagerly look forward to her next book.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Atria Books for my advanced copy provided in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Lisa Jewell

Genre: Suspense

Type and Source: eBook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Atria Books

First Published: Sept 7, 2021

Opening Lines: The baby is starting to grumble. Kim sits still 

in her chair and holds her breath.

Book Description from GoodReads: 2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.

Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.

The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah's friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.

She never returns.

2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.

'DIG HERE' . . .

A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell's remarkable new novel.