This took me a while to pick up and then a little while to read, mostly because the topic is super heavy (but super important and I praise the author for raising awareness of this issue and those poor missing women). I would implore people to read this. It covers heavy topics of violence against women, the Troubles, police incompetence, misogyny, anti-abortion sentiments, mother and baby laundries, the whole lot. There’s graphic details of rape, murder, torture from the outset and I say this as a trigger warning not to put anyone off - add this to your TBR but kind to yourself as reading it!

What a sad and factual story! I always looked at Ireland at someplace dreamy and whimsical but I guess there’s ugly everywhere. This is so very well written, thank you for writing such a great book!

Really interesting read.
Hadn't heard about any of this until the TV documentary.
Very honest and Frank account

A detailed into the lost women who were murdered in Ireland. The research in this book is extensive. It is a very heavy read and could be very triggering.

A thrilling book of true crime, a non fiction story based on missing Ireland women in the 90s. Eight young women vanish without a trace, with no conclusion or resolution for their families. Lots of threats from all around and secrecy even from police. A system that failed women back then and unpunished assailants. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

I read a lot of true crime. The author makes it a point to let the reader know that writing true crime is not something she typically does, and while I appreciate that, it does not help that this book is just poorly organized. This was a topic that I was not familiar with at all, but the way that the writing jumps around from woman to woman without connecting the story for the reader makes it hard to keep track of things. Also, the sentence structure felt juvenile at times, and that is not something I expect in a true crime novel for adults.

I truly appreciate the author bringing this topic to light and sharing the tragic stories of these women, but I really wish this had been researched, written, and organized better.

The Vanishing Triangle was so good and interesting as well. So many sad stories compiled into one book, my heart just bleed for these girls who went missing or were killed in Ireland. I never knew about the Vanishing Triangle so all of this was news to me. Although it made for a good book, it’s a sad, sad story to read.

***Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK***

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this arc honestly.

I've read other books by this author and enjoyed them so I was happy when I was approved for this one. Sadly, I must admit, I'm one of those people that in addition to being a 'mood' reader, I also judge a book by its cover, and I'm not a fan of this cover for some reason. But to each their own. The story within is an interesting true crime about 8 women that vanished in Ireland. This book is great for those that love true crime.

I don't think her writing style is for me. This is the second book that I've read and I just have such a hard time getting into it. I like the premise of this book, but the execution fell flat.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing, and the author Claire McGowan.
This was fascinating and horrifying in equal measure, clearly incredibly well researched and additionally emotive as you can feel the author's conflicting feelings about her home town and home country.
I've read 'The Push' as well and really enjoy Claire McGowan's writing style, gripping and involving without unnecessary hyberbole. I look forward to reading more of her work, would recommend. 4 stars.

I had never heard of these cases, never mind the potential links between them. I have been on a bit of a trie crime hiatus (hence the time it’s taken me to read and review this book). The author handles her investigation/research very sensitively and with empathy. It’s clear she is frustrated by her country and its treatment of women, which is refreshing to see from a true crime. There’s no sensationalism or exaggeration, this book clearly humanises the victims within the situations of their lives without judgment. A refreshing take on deeply dark events.

It's hard to fathom that in the 21st century, we still have places like this around the world. But they do exist and that's why we still have stories about them.



I had a whole review typed out and it deleted. So I apologize for this short review.

I liked this book and the voice Claire McGowan has given to the dead and missing was truly touching.

Wow. I thought this was fiction and then I realised it wasn’t. It’s actually beyond belief.
Set in Ireland in the 1990s and looking at cases of missing women. It’s quite terrifying but whilst the stories of the missing women are told this extraordinarily talented writer has drawn attention to misogyny and the troubles potentially masking the missing women. I’ve read this and don’t think it will leave me.

I like this author’s fiction novels so wanted to give this one a shot. Nonfiction just really doesn’t work for me. The author did a good job of connecting cases, dissecting clues, and discussing the triangle murders, but I still just didn’t love it.

I do recommend it for nonfiction, true crime readers.

"Why do we judge the women who end up dead as if it’s their own fault?"

4.5 stars

This was a hard read for me. The kind of book that just stays with you, leaving you feeling unwell, in a state of unease, and for me, sorrow.

I know very little about Ireland, so I had never heard about any of these women. The author does constantly reiterate throughout the book about her disbelief that these things could happen in a place like Ireland. I found that very surprising given how violent Ireland is known to have been. It also seems like quite a guarded way of viewing the world. One I wish I could go back to.

There's not a single place where I would be shocked by these acts occurring. Evil is everywhere. Violence against women is rampant in every nook and cranny over the world.

Many important points and questions are touched upon in this book.

- Violence against women by men.
- Class, age, race and physical appearance deciding how much people will care. How hard you will be looked for. How much media attention your disapperance and murder will gain.
- History of mental health heavily swaying how investigators view disappearances.
-Corrupt police and system.
-Violent offenders getting lenient treatment, able to continue on with their lives and to re-offend again and again.

Most importantly, the terrible stigma that women are responsible for their own rape and murder.

Why can't women have the freedom to walk along a road, day or night?

"Oh, well, she shouldn't have been walking alone."

No. The man shouldn't have killed her.

Women are raped and murdered because men choose to harm them.

----

The one thing I didn't care for in this book was how the author would constantly say, "if this was one of my novels". It was said A LOT. It is disrespectful and also just becomes plain annoying.

My heart breaks for all the families who are still fighting all these decades later, to bring answers and closure for their loved ones.

I do wish there could have been the inclusion of a map with markers, for all of those who are unfamiliar with the area. Overall, a well written and researched book.

Disclaimer: I normally do not read true crime books. With this book I wanted to get somewhat out of my comfort zone, and because it was set in an area in Ireland I hoped it would at least be interesting.

Because it is a very short book, trying to cover imo quite a number of cases (as stated above, I don't know how usual that is in true crime books), it all seemed rushed. I understand that often there might not be more information about the cases. But as the blurb promises us that backdrop of the ireland of the writer's youth, and a hook of being a woman in that age's Ireland, I think the book would have benefited from more (and more in-depth and researched) parts about the country, and it's culture etc. at the time. There was some of it now, but more could have slowed down the pace from almost a list of cases to a truly interesting read about how a culture affects situations and cases like these.

A brilliant analysis of true crime cases along with a truly insightful social analysis of what contributed to them both occurring and remaining unsolved. The author’s experience shows through in well paced, respectful prose.

I have loved Claire McGowan's fiction works before and am a fan of true crime, so I was thrilled to get an ARC of The Vanishing Triangle. I loved McGowan's honest and in-depth investigation into the disappearance of the eight women. It was such a well written account and really eye-opening, I simply could not put it down and devoured the entire book!

I hadn’t heard of the case of Ireland’s missing women before picking up this book and found Claire McGowan’s account to be interesting and gripping. A great true crime offering.

Claire McGowan provides an in depth look at the murders and disappearances of numerous women in Ireland over the past 40 years. The Vanishing Triangle is the name given to an area where many of these women were last seen, giving rise to the fear that a serial killer has been at work. Due to many factors - in many instances the lack of a body, but also the lack of DNA testing and the seemingly incompetence or negligence of the Gardai - and against the backdrop of the continuing Troubles affecting the whole region, these cases were never solved.

I have to admit, this isn’t a boom I would usually have chosen to read, but once I had started, I was hooked. The stories of these tragic women deserve to be told in the hope that one day, even if justice cannot be served, then at least maybe the bodies will be found and laid to rest.

A fascinating insight, not only into the crimes themselves, but also into the wider history of life in Ireland at this time.