Local Woman Missing
Mystery/Thriller
Park Row Books
May 18, 2021
Hardcover
352
Purchased
Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.
Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find…
This author is a bit hit or miss for me. While all of her novels are engaging and suspenseful, some just grab me more than others. My all time favorite is The Good Girl (her debut), but this one was definitely a hit. The book is laid out in two timelines. There is the present day timeline where we get perspective from Leo, the son and brother of the missing mother/daughter. Then we have the timeline from 11 years before, and follow the mother Meredith in the days leading up to her going missing, as well as Kate, a neighbor who is helping with the endless search for the missing women. The story is very fast paced with the expected twists and turns, some more twisty than others! I did put parts of it together before the big reveal, but in no way did I have all of the pieces worked out. I was left at the end with a hanging question that is asked but never answered, so that was the only thing I can nitpick on 🙂 As in all of this author's work, the writing was excellent and the characters made very real. I particularly liked that Meredith was a doula, so we got a glimpse into that profession. I'm not a big fan of police procedural types of books, so I liked that the police presence in this was kept to a minimum and it was more focused on the characters themselves.
If you are looking for a fast paced mystery/thriller from an established author in this genre, this is one I would recommend.
