The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Reviews
4 Stars
Best for:
People who enjoy mysteries set in one place; people who enjoy the cold case style mystery.
In a nutshell:
Journalist Jenna Halliday is in town investigating the disappearance of three teens from twenty years ago. The surviving teen is now in her late 30s. Will she be willing to talk to Halliday for her podcast?
Worth quoting:
N/A
Why I chose it:
Needed something to read while traveling on the day of the huge Crowdstrike IT outage.
Review:
Olivia Rutherford was 18 when she was in a car accident. When she woke up, the three girlfriends she was with in the car had disappeared. Twenty years later they’ve not been found, but Halliday is putting together her first podcast after 15 years of working as journalist, and she wants answers.
The book is told from both Rutherford and Halliday’s perspectives. Halliday is going through her own issues – possibly a divorce, and being away from her son for the first time. Meanwhile Halliday is preparing for the anniversary of the accident, and still living at home with her mother and dating the same guy she was dating at the time of the accident 20 years ago.
The story unfolds over the week that Halliday is in town, with the help of a local detective who is looking into the disappearance again as a cold case. There are some twists, some misdirection, and some surprises along the way. Additionally, there is a seemingly unrelated story being told between chapters that adds to the mystery.
I don’t think I’ve read anything by Douglas before but I’ll pick up another if I come across it.
What’s next for this book:
Donate to a little library nearby.
