A story based on two sisters, one who vanishes and the other who is found with a severe head injury after possibly shooting a man and his mother. There is also Jess, who was a friend of the sisters whilst they were growing up and now happens to be a journalist. This was very slow to start for me in comparison to Claire's earlier novels, however it builds layer upon layer to an amazing crescendo. Keep on reading... To the end. Loved it!

'Then she vanishes' is a captivating and well written psychological thriller that hooks you from the minute you start reading.

We are immediately thrown into the action when you mother Heather is accused of shooting and murdering a local pensioner and her son. Heather cannot defend herself or give her side of the story as after shooting herself in the head she was left comatose. But for those around her and her family circle they are left wondering how this apparently stable and caring woman could be responsible for something so shocking and out of character.

Her childhood best friend, Jess, who is now a journalist is asking the same questions. Tasked with getting the exclusive story Jess has to reexamine the past and try to draw some conclusions from her new found friendship with Heather's mother Margot.

Margot is also going through hell as this nightmare unfolds. After losing her husband and her eldest daughter Margot cannot take anymore heartache despite an overriding need to find out the truth of all three events.

This book is full of twists and turns that will leave you shocked right up until the very end. I hope to read more from Claire Douglas soon.

Full of twists and turns Claire Douglas never disappoints! I would highly recommend this book to fans of this genre I couldn’t put it down.

I really enjoyed this book, the story was interesting and I really wanted to know how it was going to end up - I read it in 2 sittings. It was a great holiday read - better than the average fun read by the pool. The only criticism would be the husband, he seemed off kilter for the rest of the characters, unnecessarily full of angst which didn't seem to be resolved.
Overall though it was a great story that I would recommend,

I did enjoy Then She Vanishes. The synopsis piqued my interest. The opening to the book is explosive but then the pace seems to completely slow as the book goes between past and present and events slowly unfold. It was billed as a twisty, compulsive thriller but I felt there was something missing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.

A real whodunnit, from the first page to the very last. Absolutely brilliant. Something I would read again and I’ll definitely recommend to others.

This is a complex novel with so many different elements. It is the third novel by Claire Douglas which I have read.

Once again it didn't disappoint. It begins with a dramatic prologue in a fictional town in the South West of England, near Bristol.

Whilst the places are fictitious, there are enough geographical links to the region to give the story a realistic feel.

The strength of this story I will lies in the way that the characters are slowly developed and revealed.

I must take care not to spoil the story. All I will say is that there are some bodies and that all the loose ends come together eventually. The final twist is worth waiting for. This book should appeal to those who like a psychological thriller which has a few carefully concealed twists and turns.

I give my thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK (Michael Joseph) in return for this review.

This is my favourite Claire Douglas book. It starts brilliantly and keeps up the pace throughout. It's very tense and twisty and I couldn't put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy.

Another cracking book from Claire Douglas with twists and turns aplenty. Almost twenty years previously Heather’s sixteen year old sister Flora disappeared, now Heather is lying in a hospital bed with a self inflicted gunshot wound and is suspected of the murder of a mother and son in their own home. Their friend from their teenage years, Jess is now a journalist and is told to report on the crime. However, she is conflicted between being a friend to their mother and being a ruthless reporter who can advance her career or even save it. What secrets does she discover and who can be trusted? Guilt, loyalty and friendship all play a part in this complex tale that unwinds in dramatic fashion with final satisfying twists.

This really was a great read; thoroughly enjoyed and was kept guessing as to 'who done it' all the way through.
One of the best endings I have read for a long time. A book that stays in your mind after it is finished.

I have read all of the books written by Claire Douglas and this one is just as good as her previous titles. The story is primarily set in the sleepy seaside town of Tilby in Somerset and starts with the apparently motiveless murder of two people in the town. Jess is a journalist with a second rate local paper in Bristol who is sent to report on the story by her moody boss. The problem is that Jess is was incredibly close to the family of Heather who was her best friend as she was growing up and has since lost touch with. This is an incredibly gripping psychological thriller worthy of the 5 stars that I have given it. There is a brilliant twist at the end of the book and I guarantee you will be hanging on to the edge of your seat from the beginning.

Many thanks to Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in return for an honest and fair review.

A well written psychological thriller. I was hooked from the start and was kept guessing all the way through.

Jess and Heather were best fiends until the night Heather's sister Flora disappeared. Jess told a lie and has felt guilty about it since.
Many years later she is a reporter on a local newspaper when she hears about a double murder and that Heather is the main suspect.
Is this connected to Flora and her disappearance? Jess returns to the village of her childhood and tries to make amends with Heather and her family but what secrets will she uncover and what will the outcome be?
This will have you guessing to the end but there is a twist!!

A breathtaking opening chapter with an equally shocking ending! And Then She Vanishes is a terrific thriller. Has it all. A claustrophobic, page turning, slow burner - when two bodies, thought to be local businessman Clive Wilson, 58, and his mother, Deirdre Wilson, 76, are found in a cottage in the seaside Somerset town of Tilby. They had been shot. A third person, Heather Underwood, was found unconscious at a caravan park less than half a mile away, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest... Heather, whose sister Flora disappeared in 1994, never to be seen again. Everything points to Heather being the murderer. But why?! There is no apparent motive, yet....

Jessica Fox is a journalist in Bristol where she lives with her boyfriend, Rory. Could Heather be the friend she fell out with back in 1994? She works with Jack, the photographer for the Bristol and Somerset Herald, a twice weekly publication. Looking for any kind of exclusive the layers are slowly peeled back. Jessica has a dark past that saw her leave The Tribune in London, for reasons she has never fully explained to Rory. And all the time, the question that pervades this whydunnit is: What really happened the night Flora disappeared?

I will not say any more about this thrilling story - don't want to spoil it for future readers. I can say that you will love it!

My thanks to Penguin UK-Michael Joseph, NetGalley and Claire Douglas for my ARC. Wonderful!

Heather hasn't seen her best friend Jess for years, not since Heather's younger Sister Flora went missing. Heather has now been accused of double murder but currently lies in a hospital bed, in a critical condition.
Jess returns to her home town and opens up old wounds. It was where she spent most of her childhood, at her best friend's home, with Heather's Mum being more of a Mum to her than her own Mum. Being a reporter, Jess begins to investigate the murders and makes some shocking discoveries.
I found this book was a little slow paced for me and it took me a long while to get into. Once I did, it was enjoyable, you just keep peeling back the layers to more shocking discoveries. It had a very unsettling end that tied the plot up nicely.

WOW! Just love a good Claire Douglas book, one of my favourite author's that I always make a point of looking out for.
This is a gripping read, easy to follow and really well written with plenty of twists.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gripping novel

oh my word this book grabs you from the very first chapter, from the very first gunshot to the second gunshot and as the would be murderer walks calmly out the house...

flora and heather have been bought up by their mother with their friend jess,they spent many a happy time in each others company...until the fair came to town...

now years later with flora who has never been found and heathers attempted suicide by shotgun its left to jess to unearth the truth as much as she can for the newspaper that she works for...but jess and heather parted ways years ago acrimoniously

i love how this author has written this book with each chapter about one of the sisters or jess or even the sisters mother...and we are lead through past and present until the amazing finale....that you just dont even suspect of happening...

this is an author to keep an eye out for...move over martina cole someone else is after your title...

Then She Vanishes captivates right from the start with a double murder. The book then alternates between flashbacks and present day as the story unfolds. Twenty years ago Jess and Heather were best friends. One night Heather's sister disappeared and the two friends lost touch. Now, Jess is reporting on the double murder and Heather is in a coma accused of the crime. Are the events of the past and present connected? It's up to Jess to find out. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy crime fiction.

Following a shocking opening that sees a young woman shoot a man and his mother to death in their own home at 6:45am, the book takes a slower, more gentle approach to the story, going back and forth in time to tease out the back story. I have to admit that it took me some time to get into the story itself. I enjoyed it in the end but it was a little too slow moving for me and I found myself struggling at times to continue with it. Overall, a good story 3/5

Ooooohhh! This book is a game of two halves. The first chapter is shocking in its brutality. A woman drives into a residential street, chooses a house, seemingly at random, blows apart the lock to gain entry and then kills a middle aged man and his elderly mother. Hours later a woman is found in a early barn without shotgun wounds and it looks like a suicide attempt.
Enter Jess, journalist and one time friend of Heather, who is in a coma suspected of the shootings. And the book becomes quite gentle, quite rhythmic, quite low key. Jess slowly pieces together the past and the present to come to the final conclusion....but you will have to read it to find out what that is....