Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advanced copy of Lisa Jewell’s The Night She Disappeared, in exchange for an honest review.
On the outside, it appears that despite being a young mom, Tallulah has her life on the right track. She lives with her mom, Kim, who helps with childcare, allowing Tallulah to attend classes at a local college. Zach, the father of her baby is attentive to his child and wants to marry Tallulah. No one notices how possessive Zach can be and that Tallulah is not interested in pursuing a relationship with him.
At school, Tallulah meets Scarlet, a rich and troubled classmate who lives in a creepy mansion at the edge of the village. Tallulah and Scarlet begins a secretive and unlikely friendship. Tallulah and Zach attend a party at Scarlet’s mansion and go missing the following morning. A missing person’s case, turns into a cold case, leaving Kim bereft, yet holding out hope for any information about her daughter.
A few years later, Sophie, a crime writer moves into a cottage of a nearby boarding school with her fiancé, a professor at the school. On a walk of the grounds, she finds a mysterious note to dig in the ground, where she unearths an engagement ring. The ring and a series of other mysterious notes clearly intended for Sophie, lead her to begin to pice together the puzzle of Zach and Talulah’s disappearance.
I’m a huge fan of Lisa Jewell and i’ve read most of her novels, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to read her latest. I enjoyed The Night She Disappeared and it was a quick read, but from a mystery stand-point, it wasn’t as strong as some of her other novels. The character of Sophie and her solving of the mystery was almost too convenient and therefore, the less interesting aspect of the story.
The strongest and most dynamic aspect of the story was the relationship between mother and daughter, Kim and Tallulah. Tallulah’s relationship woes and path of self-discovery as a young twenty-something were very relatable and made me connect to her character. I’m forty-four, but it brought me back to that time in my own life. Initially the intrigue and mystery surrounding Scarlett and her gothic mansion were engaging, but as more of her was revealed, it was less interesting.
Although this wasn’t my favorite of her novels, I’m still a huge fan of Jewell and recommend her books to anyone looking for a good mystery.