Another corker by Lisa Jewell, involving Sophie, an author of cosy murder mysteries who comes to an elite boarding school when her partner is appointed headmaster.
She soon becomes embroiled in a real-life mystery, involving the disappearance of Tallulah, a single mother, and her boyfriend Zack, who both lived with Tallulah’s mother. Add in a controlling relationship, a rich spoilt manipulative girl, and various damaged teens, and the scene is set for a roller-coaster ride.
Moving between several close timelines, Sophie uncovers the truth about what has happened to Tallulah, and makes some big decisions about her own future.
I enjoyed the read but found some sections far-fetched – an author forgetting something significant about her first book, and the police search at the end of the book seemed to not uncover/ignore significant items.
So, four starts, but I’ll look out for her next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the opportunity to read this book.

I have read quite a few Lisa Jewell books and really enjoyed them so had high expectations of 'The Night She Disappeared' and wasn't disappointed. During the same time period that I read it on my Kindle, I was also concurrently listening to the audiobook of 'Before I met you' and noticed the nod to this earlier title with the Guernsey house by the sea!

Lisa has a wide repertoire and manages to comes up with plots which are both compelling and satisfying. Her characters vary in age and usually include teenagers, about whom she writes with conviction. 'The Night She Disappeared' covers a theme that has featured in a number of previous novels, that of a missing person (two people in this case!) and shifts between differing viewpoints and times. Once you start reading, you will want to continue and discover the secrets surrounding the disappearances. I was caught up in a particularly stressful house move during my reading of the book, so it took me longer than usual to complete but I looked forward to the moments when I had the opportunity to read. Lisa's writing is so good that I had no problem immersing myself in the novel again; no struggling to remember what had happened, who was who etc which sometimes happens with other writers.

Lisa does a brilliant job of describing how the relationship between Tallulah and Scarlett develops and sucessfully conveys Tallulah's struggles with Zach. She is young and her responses to his behaviour reflect that and make her a plausible character. The reader is able to empathise immediately with Kim as her weariness and despair is conveyed so brilliantly. Manipulative individuals like Scarlett exist in real life too of course and her influence on those she meets, no matter age or status, is believable. However, it was only due to the testament of other characters that I found her credible. As a stand-alone character, I didn't feel the magnetism of her personality and so found this aspect of her a little less convincing but it in no way marred my enjoyment and is just a personal observation.

I highly recommend this book and it is one that I would have no hesitation in gifting to family and friends. Thank-you for this Advance Reader Copy.

This is exactly what you'd expect from a novel by Lisa Jewell: a gripping story that is difficult to put down. I loved it. The only thing that didn't quite ring true to me and disturbed the flow of my reading somewhat was when Sophie, one of the protagonists who is a crime novelists, remembers an incident that she'd written in one of her earlier novels but forgotten all about. Given that this incident has just happened to her in real life, it seems totally unbelievable that she would have forgotten. Even if she'd forgotten, her memory would surely have been stirred when it happened to her. She wouldn't have had to retrieve a copy of the book to read it. This bit was just so implausible but I loved it otherwise.

Interesting premise and I loved the setting. I usually love Lisa Jewell’s books, but this one disappointed me somewhat. In my opinion, the plot was full of holes and the characters were implausible puppets, moulded and remoulded to fit the storyline as it progressed. I wish I could give this a better review, and as I say there were some redeeming features, but it wasn’t one of the author’s best.

Lisa Jewell cannot do a bad book in my opinion. Great story, great characters that keep you hooked until the end. Loved it.

Disturbing and spine chilling, is the best way to describe Lisa’s latest read. Thoroughly enjoyed it, kept me guessing from the get go. Will be keeping an eye out for her next one. Highly recommend this.

Absolutely loved this book physiological thriller at it's best lots of twists we written pure escapism I would definitely recommend this book.....I have read all Lisa's books they just keep getting better if that's possible!!

I loved the back and forth of this book, and was especially interested in Tallulah's story. It was gripping, although some parts I failed to see the relevance of. The ending was good, with parts being a bit predictable, but still a fantastic read

A very interesting story line that kept you guessing about the outcome right up to the end. Cleverly written, with very believable characters that were made easy to identify with and kept you turning pages to reach the finale. An enjoyable read.

A great story with so many twists and turns. Thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this book and could not put it down.

I love a Lisa Jewell thriller, and this much-anticipated latest novel is hotly-tipped to be a bestseller. In my opinion, it's her best one yet!

There were a couple of things that hooked me in the from the start: the setting of a private boarding school; the characters of Tallulah, who is a teenage mum, and the new headmaster's girlfriend Sophie, who is an author of detective novels. Add a mysterious disappearance into the mix and you've got 'The Night She Disappeared', a book that I really didn't want to put down.

Lisa Jewell always has good characters and plots, but this one seemed so much sharper and 'tighter' somehow, that it really was a page-turner. There were no lose ends, and she keeps the twists coming right until the end. A big thumbs up from me!

I noticed a number of typos in the Kindle edition I read and was left a little frustrated by what I felt were some plot holes by the end (the Jacques didn't have a single cleaner or housekeeper mentioned at Dark Place...I'm sure they WOULD have had a team of staff and I'm sure this would have caused significant problems after the August night and what transpired thereafter!). I was also not keen on the back and forth between two different past timelines for the first parts of the story and think these could have been merged to just have one linear past and one linear present timeline instead. Some of the dialogue, characterisation and plot points I found too farfetched or too convenient. With those points in mind I really feel this novel could benefit greatly from another round of editing.

Wow wow wow I loved this book and this author yet again has smashed it out of the park. What a great book and one hell of a thriller. When Sophie moves in with her headteacher boyfriend to the cottage in the grounds of his new school the novelist becomes entangled in the mystery of two children who went out one night and never came home leaving behind a young child. As things take a sinister turn and stories and lies start to come out the truth may well be stranger than fiction. Loved it!!

I received a free copy from Netgalley to review, here is the blurb:

"Mum, there's some people here from college, they asked me back to theirs. Just for an hour or so. Is that OK?"
Midsummer 2017: teenage mum Tallulah heads out on a date, leaving her baby son at home with her mother, Kim. At 11pm she sends her mum a text message. At 4.30am Kim awakens to discover that Tallulah has not come home. Friends tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a pool party at a house in the woods nearby called Dark Place. Tallulah never returns.
2018: walking in the woods behind the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started as a head-teacher, Sophie sees a sign nailed to a fence.
A sign that says: DIG HERE "

This is the 3rd book by Lisa Jewell that I have read, having previously enjoyed reading the others I was looking forward to getting stuck into this one and it did not disappoint. I find the author's style really easy to read and think she develops characters really well that enable me to visualise them with ease. The format of the book is that it is written from various character's point's of view including Sophie, the headteachers girlfriend, Tallulah, the girl who disappeared and Kim, Tallulah's mum. The story dips between the present and the past leading up to where Tallulah disappears. The present day focus's on Sophie and her intrigue with the case and trying to work out what happened.

Really enjoyed this read and if you have read the author's previous books I am certain that you will enjoy this one. For anyone who hasn't read Lisa Jewell's books before but you enjoy a good mystery I would recommend this one for you too.

A nineteen-year-old couple go missing after a night out and, over a year later, they still haven’t been found leaving an unanswered mystery. This novel cleverly moves the reader through different timelines so that we slowly begin to piece together what may have happened, which I found very engrossing. A smart, compelling, contemporary novel which I could not put down.

I couldn’t put this book down! A suspenseful and at times heartbreaking story. The plot is engrossingly complex and the characters are beautifully developed. I especially enjoyed how the setting was so well constructed, it helped the plot and characters come to life on the page. I’d say it’s more of a satisfying mystery than a thriller and it’s all the better for that, it has a quiet darkness which felt very credible. The coercive control element was dealt with very deftly, so the true insidious nature of this type of abuse wasn’t sensationalised or dismissed. Highly recommended. Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

@currentlyreading__
Book 19 of 2021

Book number 19 of the year was in fact @lisajewelluk's 19th novel and being a self-proclaimed super fan I was absolutely jumping for joy that I had been chosen to receive an ARC of "The Night She Disappeared" due for publication on 22nd July. Thank you so much to @NetGalley, @lisajewelluk and the publisher Random House, Cornerstone. This book had me gripped from start to finish and her cast of characters were so varied that I had totally invested my emotions into solving the mystery of whatever happened to Tallulah Murray, twenty year old mother of Noah, when she effectively disappeared without a trace after a night out with on-off boyfriend Zach. We have alternate timelines switching from Tallulah's life at college, mixing with a group of eclectic, entitled, bourgeoisie art students to Tallulah's mother, Kim, painfully going through the motions of raising Tallulah's son whilst grieving for the loss of her daughter. We have Sophie, the headmaster's girlfriend and more importantly, a novelist focusing on the genre of crime and mystery who, rather than getting straight to work on her next book, finds herself immersed in the mystery of what happened to Tallulah and with the intertextual links between the real life mystery and her own books, it becomes apparent that Sophie might hold the key to solving it. Each character was perfectly constructed - from the angst-ridden Scarlett Jacques, the coercive Zach, the doting Kim and the thoroughly oblivious Megs. For those who have read the book already, the image is from one of my favourite parts - the terribly uncomfortable seafood platter with all and sundry helping themselves to truffle fries! Another fabulous read and I very much look forward to recommending this to all of my bookish friends who need a totally absorbing read to herald the start of the summer holidays.

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A great read! A bit slow to start but the excitement ramps up near the end and keeps you guessing.
I’d definitely recommend this book to friends!

Another gripping read from Lisa Jewell, flitting between the present day where Kim, a grandmother is looking after her daughter's young son following the disappearance of Tallulah, her daughter, and Zak, her partner, one night, and the events leading up to the disappearance.

Tallulah and Zak went missing following a rare night out in their local pub, which was followed by an impromptu house party at a wealthy friend's house. The police can't find any sign of either of them and the case goes cold, but Kim is understandably still distraught.

Random clues start being left around after a year of searching, will they help lead to the answers?

I really enjoyed reading it, enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested

An engrossing read. A young mother, Tallulah leaves her baby with her own mother Kim and goes out for the evening with the baby's father, Noah. They meet other teenagers at the pub and later go back to one of the girl's house which is a big house with a pool but in the middle of nowhere. That is the last anyone sees of them. They were intending to ring for a taxi home. Over a year later Sophy, who writes detective stories, moves into a cottage which is in the grounds of a school where her partner has just got a teaching job. She finds a sign at the cottage which says "dig here" The police renew their interest in the case. Will they discover what happened? It is a twisty tale that goes back in time to piece out what actually happened and why. I was kept interested and surprised by the ending