While the entire village of Glenstead is celebrating her husband Alec's 50th birthday, it takes a while for people to notice that the well-liked, lively Charlotte Salter is missing. Her husband seems unconcerned but the same cannot be said for her four children - particularly her youngest child, a daughter who is still a teenager.

It turns out that the Salters had a less-than-ideal marriage, so when Charlotte's coat is found by the riverside, and the body of one of the neighbours, Duncan Ackerley, is discovered floating in the river, the police decide that this is an open and shut case where Charlotte and Duncan had an affair, he then killed her and committed suicide afterwards.

But the aftermath of these two events - Charlotte's disappearance and Duncan's death - continues to reverberate through the lives of the two devastated families and the inhabitants of the village.

It is Morgan, one of Duncan's sons, along with Etty, Charlotte's daughter, who find Duncan's body. Both are traumatized. And three decades later, when Morgan and his brother Greg return to film a documentary about the tragedy, it opens up Pandora's Box leaving the inhabitants of this small village with their lives shaken to the core all over again...

This is a gripping story, although the pacing could have been better. Editing down the length of the book would have improved the reading experience, I think it was a bit too long. But what happened to Charlotte Salter is indeed a tragic and moving tale. And well worth a read. It gets 3.5 stars.