Where They Found Her

A Novel

By: Kimberly McCreight

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Lauren Fortgang, Rachel F. Hirsch, Therese Plummer

Length: 11 hrs

Publisher's Summary

From the author of the New York Times best seller and 2014 Edgar and Anthony nominee Reconstructing Amelia comes another harrowing, gripping novel that marries psychological suspense with an emotionally powerful story about a community struggling with the consequences of a devastating discovery.

At the end of a long winter in well-to-do Ridgedale, New Jersey, the body of an infant is discovered in the woods near the town's prestigious university campus. No one knows who the baby is or how her body ended up out there. But there is no shortage of opinions.

When freelance journalist and recent Ridgedale transplant Molly Anderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the story for the Ridgedale Reader, it's a risk, given the severe depression that followed the loss of her own baby. But the bigger threat comes when Molly unearths some of Ridgedale's darkest secrets, including a string of unreported sexual assaults going back 20 years. Meanwhile Sandy, a high-school dropout, searches for her volatile and now missing mother, and PTA president Barbara struggles to help her young son, who's suddenly having disturbing outbursts.

Told from the perspectives of Molly, Barbara, and Sandy, Kimberly McCreight's taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth about the baby's death, revealing that these three women have far more in common than they realized. That the very worst crimes are committed against those we love. And that - sooner or later - the past catches up to all of us.

©2015 Kimberly McCreight (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Dark, twist filled novel

Twisty novel that should keep most listeners guessing from start to finish. This is the second novel from McCreight that I've read and she is quite skilled at giving away bits of information, trails of evidence, that will have you changing your mind about who did what. I actually did figure things out (mostly) early on, but I was second guessing myself until everything was revealed.

I'm a big fan of McCreight's writing style, it is so easy to read. She is now permanently on my watch list!

The narrators did a nice job as well.

Couldn't stop listening

This book was fantastic. If you enjoy Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and The Girl on the Train you need to read this book! I can't believe that I hadn't heard about it, and luckily came upon it browsing Audible's mystery genre. A gripping mystery, and good character development. I am on to Reconstructing Amelia by this author.

Great book, great ending, great narrator

What did you love best about Where They Found Her?

I lived in Ridgedale, NJ for a while and I think McCreight really captured the essences of the area, it was a really accurate representation.

What other book might you compare Where They Found Her to and why?

It kind of reminded me of something that Liane Moriarity would have written, it didn't jump around the way her books do, but the way it ended makes me think that.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely, I was enthralled with this book. I fell right in at the beginning and loved it. This was the first book that I read by McCreight, but I really enjoyed it, and I will definitely be looking out for her books in the future.

Plot Get Lost in the Melodrama!

The main character, reporter Molly Sanderson, is assigned to report on a case where the body of an infant female is found. Molly had a stillborn child a few years earlier and is still recovering from the emotional trauma of the event. Her emotional difficulties are understandable but her thoughts on the matter get woven in to every aspect of her interactions to the point you just want to scream. Its way overdone.

Another of the main characters, Barbara, is a helicopter mom who just comes across as absurd. Her husband, Steve is the chief of police so Molly interacts with him often during the story.

To add to this there is a subplot that runs along with the story about Jenna Mendelson and something that happened to her many years ago in the same town. Its one of the more interesting parts of the story but its very easy to guess who the characters are that she refers to in her journal by nick names.

The overall plot is not bad but each and every character's interactions have all this back story emotional stuff that just makes you want to groan.

Its also easy to figure out who is the father of the baby.

I read a lot of positive reviews for this book but I don't think I will listen to any more by this author.

Good Enough But Lacking Depth

I listened to this entire book but was not captivated until the last fourth of the novel. This is another mystery novel which jumps from one point-of-view to another and from one time frame to another throughout the mystery. I would have liked more character development or more excitement; one or the other just something more to hold it together and give it a lift. Overall, a rather blah and uninteresting mystery.

Loved this book!

Where does Where They Found Her rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

There were twists and turns and the characters were well developed, not necessarily likable, but understandable.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

This was truly a story, reading may have been fine, but listening was great!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I walked the dog longer and cleaned the house better just to have excuses to continue listening.

Mixed up, melodramatic mess

Melodramatic, histrionic, confusing, convoluted drama. Yeah, there's a bit of a mystery in there, but it's not really important, and it's not a big part of what's going on. There's a mix of people in a suburban city who are interrelated by kids, school, sex, gossip, rumour, and paranoia.

Not much more to say......just pass it by.

Too much dysfunction in one small town.

It was an ok story, but too full of improbable tragic storylines. Any one of the individual plots would have made a fine book, but interweaving all that drama just seemed unnecessary and pushed it over-the-top in my opinion.

I didn’t really enjoy it more than that. Meh.

So-so

Would you try another book from Kimberly McCreight and/or the narrators?

I liked Reconstructing Amelia so I might try another one by her. If I'd read this one first, probably not. The narrators were fine except for Molly's but it was hard for me to decide which was more annoying - Molly's character or the narrator. Not sure where one ends and one begins.

What was most disappointing about Kimberly McCreight’s story?

I found the extraneous story lines just silly. Molly overreacts about everyone if they look at her funny and the whole story about Rose just seemed as if it was another story line just dropped in the middle. Connections were fuzzy and didn't hold my attention.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of the narrators?

Anybody else for Molly although I don't know if it would have made a difference.

Was Where They Found Her worth the listening time?

It kept me entertained as I rode in the car. It was just a silly book full of extraneous story lines that weren't well-developed or even thought -provoking.

Good enough story to keep you guessing

But I hated all of the characters. I didn't feel bad one bit for any of them. They all made horribly crappy life choices and there was way too much mystery and secret life stuff surrounding such a small group of of people. So implausible- it was almost "surprise twist" overload.