Then She Vanishes

A Novel

By: Claire Douglas

Narrated by: Sian Thomas, Katie O'Flynn, Nathalie Buscombe, Olivia Dowd

Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

“Then She Vanishes lifts the stone on a cold case disappearance and asks chilling questions about friendship, loyalty, love, and obsession.” (New York Times best-selling author Gilly Macmillan)

A twisty, compulsive thriller full of jolting shocks and startling secrets involving two sisters, a disappearance, a double murder, and a reporter determined to find the truth from the best-selling author of Local Girl Missing, Last Seen Alive, and Do Not Disturb.

Everything changed the night she disappeared....

On a summer's night in 1994, 16-year-old Flora Powell vanished from her sleepy seaside town without a trace. Their hearts shattered, Flora’s mother, her sister Heather, and Heather’s best friend Jess had to somehow carry on not knowing what happened.

Twenty-five years later, tragedy strikes again when Heather walks into a stranger's house and allegedly kills two people in cold blood.

Why would this loving wife and doting new mother commit such a heinous crime? Jess, now a reporter, returns to the hometown she left behind to cover the case and dig for answers. But this isn’t like any other story. Jess was like a sister to the Powell girls, until the summer that tore them all apart.

What happened to the girl she used to know?

The question haunts Jess and propels her to find the key that may unlock the mysteries involving both sisters. But the search may reveal more...a darker side to this idyllic place she thought she knew.

©2019 Claire Douglas (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Great twist!

Great storyline! Beautifully performed! I didn’t see the couple of twists in the end coming!

Superior to others in its genre

I don't give 5 star reviews often. I wish I could give this a 4.8, but it feel wrong to give 4 stars to any one aspect of this book, so I'm okay with the 5. The character development was excellent, and the twists weren't contrived. At no point did I feel misled by the setup for a twist; even though there was some misdirection, it was well-done and still made sense, unlike some intentional misdirection that ends up not making any sense after the twist is revealed. There was one character in the book that I really took issue with, and was really upset that this character got a free pass, and had planned to dock stars for that, but just at the end, that character ended up being called out for their actions, and it solidified that this was a flawless story with a great plot, wonderful characters, and fantastic pacing. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

It was Ok

Narration was fine and the story was alright. Not great, but OK. I fell asleep for about an hour in the middle and didn’t miss anything.

Lots of twists and turns!

I like the characters and that they seem believable. It did start to drag on a little bit longer than I would have liked it, but it was very well written. I always enjoy her books.

Awesome!!

I loved this book. It kept me wondering "who done it" and getting very attached to the characters.

Very good story

First book for me by this author and definitely not the last. This is one you absolutely need to pay attention to or you may miss a connection or two in the plot. Really enjoyed it.

Good, but predictable story

This was a good listen, but quite predictable. I saw all of the "twists" coming and was a little disappointed with that. My only real complaint were small inconsistencies and contradictions. For example, Jess had a personal role not to drink on weekdays. In one part, on a weekday, she has a glass of wine with dinner, then later visits Margot and refuses some offered wine saying she can't drink on weekdays. Another example: Jess gets in her car and makes a call hands-free (this is specifically noted). At the end of the call, it says she sits the phone down. There were maybe 5 or 6 instances like this I noticed throughout the book. Nothing plot-breakings, but very annoying. Overall, I recommend the book as an easy listen with interesting characters.

Kept my interest all the way thru!

It’s been so long since I’ve found a suspense writer as good as Claire Douglas.

Great

This book kept me locked in from the very beginning. It was full of twists and turns with a great ending!

Kept it interesting

I loved the character building of this story and the new information that kept coming. It kept me engaged and wondering what would happen next. Fulfilling story, solid ending.