I normally love Claire Douglas books - I have read them all - but this one was just so so for me. I found the constant switching between present day and the 1990s quite annoying and frustrating, and the ultimate explanation of what happened to Flora was a let down in my opinion. I did enjoy it enough to finish it, but this one was a bit of a dud for me and a letdown from her previous novels. I would still buy another one by her though as all her other books have been 5 star reads for me and everyone’s allowed an off day. I would recommend Claire Douglas as an author, just not this specific book.

The premise of this story gripped me instantly, and from the beginning I was hooked.

We jump between present day and 18 years ago, as reporter Jess is sent back to her hometown to investigate a murder. Jess’ childhood friend has been accused of murder, whom she hasn’t seen since that friend’s sister went missing all those years ago. Not only is Jess trying to work out if her friend is a murderer, why would she kill these seemingly innocent, random people?

I constantly changed my mind about what ai thought happened, and was still shocked as all was revealed.

Wow what a book. Every page was an extra twist as the plot thickened. There was just the right amount of suspense without you becoming completely confused with the storyline. Excellent writing and just the right length of chapters to keep you turning the pages.
Jess is the kind of reporter you would want to tell your story in the press. And heather is the little sister we would all hate as children but then becomes the one who will fight for you till the death. Fab story. Thank you.

Good book this, story a little overlong in the telling, but enough twists in the story to keep me reading as to how it would all play out. Would read another book by this author

This was an interesting story focusing on two main narratives. Present day as we delve into why Heather would carry out a shooting with seemingly no motive, and past times looking at what happened around the disappearance of Heather’s sister. I personally enjoy this dual timeline way of telling stories and this was done masterfully.
The characters themselves were not particularly ones I warmed to. Jess was quite a cold person, she had had to leave her previous job due to scandal yet I felt she seemed to blame everyone but herself including her rather downtrodden boyfriend. Heather we know more from the chapters about her past and whilst there is sympathy again I felt she was a bit self centred. However this is actually what pushes the story along so well. All of the characters are entwined by circumstances yet they can’t see the wider picture.
The story itself was a slow burner that I found gripping. As with all good crime fiction all of the characters have secrets which lay hidden until the end, and this is no exception. The story picks up pace and the ending really did surprise. I had suspicions of who was to blame throughout, yet suffice to say I was way off the mark.
I would highly recommend Then She Vanishes for an interesting domestic crime fiction story that will keep you turning the pages until the unseen end.

I loved this. Fast paced and full of twists, I struggled to predict the ending. I loved Jess’s back story and the personal elements of her story which act almost as a subplot. The supporting cast are richly drawn and the complex story is easy to follow and a great read.

Very good read, plenty of twists and turns, red herrings galore, kept me up all night, can't put a book down and wait till the next read, if you are like me and love a good mystery then this book will make your night, or day, brilliant

Rating 4.5 Stars

WOW! I can't describe how much I enjoyed this book. The beginning was a little slow, but once it got going, I didn't want to stop reading!

I had a feeling about how things would turn out, but the details were a surprise and I thought they were very well put together. I loved that it was twist after twist, and everything fit together perfectly.

And never has a thriller book made me feel emotional before but there were moments when I was trying to suppress the tears in my eyes while reading this on the train haha! Douglas did a great job of building up the characters and making you feel real connection to them.

Definitely recommend!

Thrilling plot full of twists and likeable but flawed characters. I would love to see more of Jess he journalist in other novels!

This thriller is well written. It grips you from the beginning and keeps you hooked throughout
There are lots of secrets and twists which keep you interested

It’s been three years (give or take) since I read my first Claire Douglas book (The Sisters), a book I liked rather than loved. At the time, I don’t think I’d have believed anyone who told me she would go on to become one of my favourite authors, one who wrote books I find impossible to put down and happy to pass on to friends and family. Yet, here I am, so happy to have read Then She Vanishes, which I devoured over the course of a couple of days on a recent holiday.
It starts with Jess, a newspaper reporter with a past she’s trying to hide. She’s left a job at a national newspaper in London and now finds herself in Bristol writing an article on a double murder, one supposedly committed by her childhood best friend. It’s been years since they’ve spoken (another secret that needs to come out), but Jess can’t believe Heather is guilty. And it’s hard to know the truth as long as Heather is in a coma.
Sent to write a story on Heather’s family, Jess once again finds herself wrapped up in their lives, with memories of just what happened to break her friendship apart rearing their ugly head. Now she has to work out where the truth lies, without turning herself into a potential victim.
It’s been a while since I’ve read a book so quickly but, here, I really couldn’t put it down. Douglas deserves huge credit here for making the end of every chapter a cliffhanger without making it feel cliched or predictable given how many of this genre of books are out there. For me, the characters helped too. I liked Jess a lot, and the little I was learning about Heather meant I had a lot of sympathy for her.
I wasn’t so keen on Heather’s husband – but what would a psychological thriller be without a dodgy man in the wings? I do love a good villain and, here, I got one. I also got an ending I didn’t see coming, something which always makes me happy.
Was there anything I didn’t like about the book? No, not really. This was a five-star read for me and I would highly recommend it.

Growing up Jess spent a lot of her time at her friend Heather's house. She loved Heather's mum, Margot & her older sister Flora. One summer's evening Flora goes missing. This event seems to signal the end of their friendship.

Many years later Jess is back in the town. She is working as a journalist for a bi-weekly local paper. When Heather, now happily married & a devoted mother is suspected of shooting a man & his elderly mother then shooting herself Jess knows she has to find out the truth.

Told from various viewpoints & different timelines this is a story that just does not let go until the very end. I really enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Having read ‘Local Girl Missing’ a couple of years ago I was looking forward to reading this latest title from Claire Douglas.

I enjoyed this just as much- it was an engaging read at just the right sort of pace. An interesting story with well developed characters. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy in return for my honest opinion.

A well-written and executed tale, that will have you turning ‘just one more page’ long in to the night.

Then She Vanishes is another great psychological thriller from an author I always enjoy reading – Claire Douglas. It manages to stay away from being too dramatic or unbelievable, instead presenting to the reader an interesting story which starts with a real bang – a woman shoots two seemingly random people - and completely hooked me in. I think it’s partly because we don’t often see women in literature who kill, especially with guns, without an obvious reason, so this was a very shocking start!

The story swings between perspectives, which I really liked. We heard from various characters including Jess, who as a kid used to be best friends with Heather, who is in hospital in a coma and is the prime suspect in the killing. Jess is now an investigative journalist, tasked with writing a story about the murders, and she has to battle with her own guilt about using her connection to Heather and her mum Margot to advance her own career. Of course, she gets sucked into trying to find out what really happened…

As always, Claire Douglas has created a story with lots of red herrings and twists, leaving the reader guessing and, although there are some more predictable parts, I found that I didn’t guess anywhere near what had happened until right towards the end. I liked that the story has a strong 'whodunnit' element but also develops the character's back stories really well, which is supported by the changes in timescale, moving around from when Heather and Jess were kids through to the present day.

I really enjoyed this gripping thriller, and feel it lives up to the high standard set by the author’s other books. Definitely recommended!

The story starts with a dramatic opening and this sense of drama continues throughout the whole of this clever psychological thriller. Heather and Jess grew up in the sleepy seaside town of Tilby, and Jess spent more time with Heather's family than she did with her own indifferent mother. The Powell's looked after her, and so when Jess, Heather's older and more lively sister, goes missing it affects Jess just as deeply as the rest of the family. Years later, Jess has returned to Tilby and is working as a journalist on the local paper, and as tragedy strikes again, she is once again gets caught up in the deadly secrets which surround the Powell family.

The She Vanishes is a complex suspense story which not only looks at the minutiae of a family caught up in a devastating tragedy, but which also takes in the wider picture of how such a catastrophic event can have so many repercussions. I enjoyed how the story was told in different voices which brought the main characters to life in a believable way and it was interesting to see Jess working on the local paper and her conflicting emotions as she is torn between bringing a newsworthy story to life, whilst at the same time having sympathy towards Heather and her family.

I thought the overall effect of story was good, it kept my attention throughout, and whilst the secret at the heart of Flora's disappearance forms most of the mystery, it doesn't make up the whole, as it is obvious from the opening chapter that there are deeper issues at play here.

It's a great afternoon in the garden kind of story 😊

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Jess and Heather were best friends until nearly 20 years ago when Heather's sister, Flora, disappeared as a young teenager. Now, Jess is a journalist reporting on the brutal double murder of two people in her hometown...and Heather is the suspect. Heather is believed to have shot dead Clive and his elderly mother Deirdre before turning the gun on herself, attempting suicide.

The story is told in two timelines - the present day by both Jess and Margot, Heather and Flora's mother, and 18 years ago when Flora went missing - dripfeeding information to the reader so they can play detective too. I really enjoyed this, and being able to find out about the characters' pasts which may influence their present.

The description of the book is, 'THE ONLY THING THAT WILL SHOCK YOU MORE THAN THE FIRST CHAPTER . . . IS THE LAST. . .' and that certainly is the case. I was shocked, but intrigued from the first chapter, wanting to know what was behind the reason of the murder, but knowing there was something more to it. I just had to keep reading to find out. I did find the story started to slow down around the midway point, but twists and shocking revelations helped the pace pick up again.

And the shock revelation at the end really sealed the deal for me - a great read!

I had a problem in this novel with the fact that the two cities involved in the disappearance of Flora were mere miles apart, the girl was missing for 18 years and never surfaced in all that time. With a small child, that would be plausible, but Flora was 16 when she was abducted. So the main surprise to me was the fact that she hadn't been found, or found her way home, years ago. And the boyfriend's mother's boyfriend was my chosen bad guy from his first introduction. I could not understand why there was no follow up on him after Flora went missing.

Other than that, it was a well-written who-done-it and the final ending was well done and Flora gave us a real surprise then. If you love British police procedurals this one is weak in places, but the background and characterizations are well worth the price of admission.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Claire Douglas, and Penguin Publishers. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

Jess is a journalist called to report on a murder in her home town. The suspect turns out to be a close family friend that she lost touch with when she was 14. The book contains many twists, as Jess not only looks to discover the truth but also the reader discovers more about Jess. And even when the reader gets to the point of knowing the truth the final chapter changes everything. Added to this the book is based around Bristol, and as a Bristolian you are almost drawn into the book!!! Really recommend.

More of a 'Why done it' than a Who done it as the latter is pretty obvious even from reading the blurb. What kept me gripped with this book was wanting to know the why for the murder of a seemingly innocent woman and her son.

The friend of the alleged murderer tells the story in present time and flashback and although it has the more commonly used present tense that I'm not usually keen on, it works in this context.

For me, although the book dragged out in parts, I became more gripped as the book went on. Although I'm not so sure about the five star rating., I'm still going to award this book that amount because it did keep me gripped and it's pretty different from the other books I've read. If you find anything similar feel free to let me know in the comments.