It was meant to be a romantic getaway in New York City. Just Breanna and her new boyfriend, Ty. They hired out an airbnb four-story house with a beautiful view of the skyline. Until Bree wakes up one morning to discover a dead woman in her foyer and Ty’s missing. Is the dead woman Janelle Becker, a recently missing dog walker that the media is reporting on and social media is a buzz over?

A Black woman stranded in a strange city, Bree is scared. A black person involved in the white person’s disappearance/murder isn’t a good look. And she knows how the Police sees her. And until she can find Ty, the only person who can help her is an ex-best friend, a lawyer who Bree shares a complicated history with.

But as the Police and the social media mob close in, Bree realises that the only way to stay out of jail is to discover what happened that night. But is she going to like what she finds…?

I finished this last week at an airport and this is a really nice holiday thriller to read by the pool with an iced cocktail of your choice. However, the more I think about my time reading this, the more I feel like I was tricked by the beautiful cover and what I read wasn’t what I signed up for.

Yes, this is a thriller with a murder and complex friendship at its heart. Yes, it makes for very easy reading. However, I found a good chunk of the story quite slow and that, within the first few chapters, it just tried too hard.

It tried too hard to make you like Breanna and her mysterious past, it tries too hard to make us like her and Ty’s relationship, tries too hard to make you care about the missing Janelle (aka the missing white woman of the title) and Ty when he disappears (not a spoiler, it’s in the blurb), it tried too hard with the messy friendship with her ex-best friend, it tries too hard to tackle the issues of race, identity, the media and social media obsession with true crime (especially when it features a white, blond woman at its heart), online detectives and the dangers of social media and how the narrative online can be twisted to push an agenda. All this is forced at the read within the first few chapters and it’s like a sledgehammer. It felt as if the author wanted to drill in these point very early on and, because of that, some of the mystery vanished. And I can’t help but wonder that if the writing was more subtle, all these issues could still have been tackled still be tackled with subtly and nuance.

I did like what the book was trying to do and I did like the writing (so I am going to try Kellye Garrett again), but the execution was messy.

Good twisty page turning thriller. We begin by meeting Bree who is going on a trip to meet up with her new boyfriend Ty in New York, Jersey City. When she arrives at their air b n b she starts getting a bit of a weird feeling about the neighbourhood and neighbours she meets but is soon caught up in the whirlwind weekend she has planned. Although she cant fail to ignore the increasingly disturbing news of a local woman going missing. I read the book within a few days and liked the writing style as well as the use of social media particular Tiktok as this feels current and real seeing's as trial by social media seems to be happening more and more often. I didn't particularly warm to the narrator of the book or many of the other characters for that fact - but I feel Kellye did this on purpose however I was still left with some unanswered questions at the end which I will never know but overall I enjoyed reading this and I will be recommending this to other.

This book is a thriller that grabs you from the very first page and doesn't let go until the final, jaw-dropping twist. With a narrative that crackles with tension and a cast of characters that leap off the page, Garrett shows that she is a rising star..

This story fearlessly explores issues such as race, identity, and the power of social media. Garrett's prose hums with urgency as she dissects the complexities of modern culture, shining a light on the ways in which society's perceptions can shape the course of a criminal investigation.

I am famously not a fan of multiple timelines in a novel but this novel's dual timeline helps develop and humanise the characters, as well as adding an extra layer of intrigue. Garrett seamlessly weaves together past and present, drawing parallels between Breanna's current situation and events from her past, to create a narrative that is as emotionally resonant as it is gripping.

But the true strength of "Missing White Woman" lies in its characters. From Breanna herself, a fiercely determined protagonist grappling with her own demons, to a supporting cast that is diverse and compelling, Garrett has crafted a story populated with characters who feel like real people, flaws and all.

This book quickly develops into a very suspensful and thrilling read, overall I really enjoyed this especially with the modern elements of the how the media can sway public opinion, great twists and turns too.

A wonderful weekend in New York with boyfriend Ty comes to a crashing halt when Monday morning Breanna wakes late, comes downstairs and finds a dead body in the foyer of their airbnb rental.

Over recent days media attention has been full on coverage of a missing white girl and it looks very much like Bree just found her. The police are called and when it becomes clear that boyfriend Ty didn't show for work that morning all of a sudden Bree is very alone, the media is going crazy and her home back in Baltimore seems a long way away.

What I really liked about this novel was how well it portrayed a society thats not equal and how big a part social media plays in that. Influencers and hashtag warriors leading, manipulating and stirring the pot with their wild theories and suppositions.

I found this an interesting read as well as a compelling one with good characters and several twists that kept it entertaining.

My thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for the review copy.

Young African American couple Breanna and new beau Ty arrange a romantic few days in a luxurious Airbnb in Jersey City to take in the sights of New York and do what lovers do. Feeling out of place from the start in an area peopled by rich white people Bree feels even more out of place when one morning she finds Ty gone and the battered and disfigured body of what appears to be the missing local dog-walker that's the talk of the neighbourhood......and a popular TikTok channel.........in the house.
Bree finds herself entering a dark tunnel of suspicion and intrigue as her past comes back to haunt her and fingers are pointed.

This is a gripping contemporary thriller ,Bree is a great character who is far from perfect and often doesn't make the best choices but she's entirely believable. There are plenty of twists and the occasional red herring to keep the reader on their toes. This is the first book I've read by Kellye Garrett but it certainly won't be the last, I was reminded very much of the work of S.A. Cosby and Harlan Coben ,2 of my favourite authors.

What was meant to be a romantic short stay at a luxury Airbnb in NJ for African American couple Breanna and her boyfriend Ty turns into a nightmare when a high-profile missing white woman is found dead in the foyer of the house. So much for an exciting trip to explore New York!

To make matters worse, Ty has disappeared, leaving Breanna to face the music - and a very sceptical police force that does not believe her story that her boyfriend is innocent and that she herself knows nothing about any of this.

And, still recovering from a close encounter with the police - when she was framed by a dirty cop on a drugs charge years ago - Breanna knows she has plenty to worry about now...

Help comes from an unexpected source, but there is a lot of history behind it and plenty of blood under that bridge, so her reunion with her one-time best friend Adore is a fraught one.

Capturing modern America's racial inequities and the deep-seated attitudes behind the culture wars raging today, this is not only a timely story, but a well told one too. I found the novel gripping, and the title very apt. Worth a read.