If you are into mysteries and suspense novels like I am, you will have to read The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen. Police officer Ellery Hathaway receives creepy birthday cards every year, the date of which three people have vanished. She tries to warn the police chief that something bad is going to happen again but he brushes off her concern.

What he doesn’t know is that seventeen years ago, Ellery was the victim of a horrible crime. She was abducted and kept in a closet, probably headed for murder. The FBI agent who rescued her, a man named Reed Markham, gave her his card in case she ever needed anything and now she does. She needs help that she isn’t getting from her police department.

Reed is called by Ellery to help in the investigation of the three unsolved murders. If Ellery can figure out the link between the murders, maybe she can prevent the next one during the “vanishing season.”

Reed has problems of his own, his marriage is falling apart and work isn’t going well. He heads to the small MA town where Ellery resides to help her. But who can Ellery trust?

This suspenseful and creepy book is perfect for reading in one day!

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen is a highly recommended debut mystery/police procedural.

Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers. On her 14th birthday, Ellery, whose first name is actually Abigail, became the 17th young woman abducted by the notorious serial killer Frances Coben. Abigail was the only survivor and under an intense media spotlight. She decided to go by her middle name, Ellery, to avoid anyone recognizing her name, she hides her scars, and she no longer celebrates her birthday.

Now, fourteen years later, Ellery is police officer in a small town, Woodbury, MA, and she's concerned that there is a serial killer in her small town. Three people have disappeared in July over the past three years. Ellery sees a pattern and would like the disappearances to be further investigated, but her chief thinks otherwise. No one in the community actually knows Ellery's past history, so her concerns are easily dismissed.

As the date approaches for the vanishing season when another citizen will disappear, Ellery calls the one man she knows who may be able to help her solve the question of who is taking these people, FBI Agent Reed Markham. Markham solved the case of her abduction and rescued her from Coben just in time. He may have insight into the three missing persons cases. He may also be able to help Ellery solve another question, one closer to home, because it appears that someone knows her true identity and they have been sending her a birthday card since she moved to Woodbury.

The Vanishing Season is a well written mystery/procedural. Schffhausen builds up the suspense and suspense while slowly revealing new clues and suspects. The plot is complex and there are a full cast of characters. Ellery's dog, Speed Bump, or Bump for short, is a great scene stealing. Ellery's back story is told in chilling detail and it is clear how wounded she still is from her experiences, as well as why the current cases of missing persons concerns her.

The main characters are all well developed, although readers will question the wisdom of some of their decisions. Ellery doesn't share any of her history with her current colleagues and so they have little reason to take her concerns seriously, which, while you can see her reasoning, it also seems to be a mistake on her part. I will say that the perpetrator was easy to spot early on, making the ending feel a bit contrived, but the conclusion is satisfying. All in all this is a satisfying debut and an author to watch for in the future.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/12/the-vanishing-season.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2210043400
https://www.librarything.com/work/20136941/reviews/148995175
https://www.facebook.com/shetreadssoftly/
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/939902412982235138

Ellie Hathaway is a deputy in the small town of Woodbury, Massachusetts, who was kidnapped and tortured by serial murderer Francis Coben when she was a teenager. She was the lucky one as she was the one victim who survived. Now, each year on her birthday, Ellie is getting a strange birthday card and someone else goes missing from her small town. Ellie’s boss doesn’t feel it’s necessary to move forward with the case because there have been no bodies found, so she contacts FBI agent Reed Markham, who rescued her from the serial killer who kidnapped her. As secrets come out, there are possible suspects but can it be any of these suspects? Coben is still on death row in an Indiana prison so it can’t be him. Time to read the book to find out who it is! Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was expecting more of a thriller/suspense instead of a crime drama that it appears to be. That said, I did like the characters and the writing style. It was a gripping read to learn of Ellery's own personal history and how that related to the current serial case she is working.

Dark and haunting with likeable characters and a plot that kept me reading until the last page. I thoroughly enjoyed following the mystery and I was surprised at the end, I honestly didn’t see that coming. The chemistry between Ellery and Reed added depth to the story and I also loved the added character of Ellery’s dog Bump. The writing was well done and the suspenseful atmosphere was maintained through the whole story without feeling overdone. All in all this was a great thriller that I would recommend if you are looking for a suspenseful read.

Enjoyed it. A pretty good read. Had me guessing for most of the book. I would read other books by this author.

The Vanishing Season works for the most part as a Cold-Case novel brought back from the Dead (Ugly Pun) when new murders with similar circumstances start occurring.

What worked for me is Joanna Schaffhausen way with words. The pacing works, the characters meld together well, and although I figured out who the perpatrator was by the middle of the book, the why was not divined by me until it was actually revealed. Well done!!!

Ellery Hathaway is a damaged woman having been the sole survivor of a serial Killer. She has gone on to become a Police Officer in a small town in no small part due to FBI Agent Reed Markham, the Agent who rescued her. She notices that abductions and murders have started to occur near her birthday. Cards also being sent to her as a reminder of what had happened so long ago. Since no one believes her she has been caring out her own investigation. Hence Reed Markham entering the case at her insistence.

The story works even with some rather glaring plot holes. Will not mention what these are since doing so could be spoilers.

The cover of the book works well with the storyline and Ellery's damaged self trying to remain hidden from eyes prying into her background.

I wish to thank St Martin's Press, Joanna Schaffhausen, and NetGalley for the privilege of offering up my opinion in exchange for my copy.

While the beginning of this novel started off as a thriller, I think this would be better described as a crime story. The author maintained a good pace and I quite enjoyed the writing style, which switched between the perspectives of Ellery and Reed. This was a short book compared to most other crime fiction/thrillers that I read, which meant that things moved along quite quickly. This may have been why I hesitate to call this novel a thriller; there really wasn't the time to allow the tension and questions to build up. I thought that the story was interesting and it definitely had my attention from the start. It was a little too detailed at times, with side information that was not really important or necessary for character development or the story. I would have preferred if there had been more of an emphasis on profiling criminals and more red herrings in place. The ending was also easy to predict but enjoyable nevertheless. Overall, this was a nice mystery and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of crime fiction and is looking for a short read. Solid 3/5 stars from me!

For a debut novel this is an excellent police procedural / mystery.

At the age of 14, on her birthday, Ellery Hathaway is kidnapped by a serial killer. After three harrowing days she is rescued by FBI agent Reed Markham.

Fast forward several years into the future we find Ellery is now a police officer in the small town of Woodbury, Massachusetts. For the last 3 years around her birthday someone in this small town goes missing. Not only that but she receives ominous birthday cards in the mail from someone who seems to know her and who she is even though she's done everything in her power to hide her identity. Not even her closest friends know who she really is. When she approaches the chief of police with suspicions that the three missing people are some how connected to one another the chief scoffs at her idea because no bodies have been found.

Since she now hit a dead end she makes a phone call to the one person that might actually believe her, Reed Markham. He immediately grabs the first flight and is on his way to help her look into the mysterious disappearances. From here we follow Ellery and Reed through out their investigation.

I don't want to spoil anything but let's just say that who I thought the killer was turned out to be wrong. Really wrong. Well done, Joanna Schaffhausen for a genuine surprise.

Oh, and one last thing, I am in love with (and you will be too) Speed Bump her adorable bassett hound.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

For the past 3 years, Ellery Hathaway has received the same card on her birthday. From a relative? Perhaps a friend. Uh, no. The cards may be unsigned but she knows exactly what their arrival means.

Ellie is a cop in the rural town of Woodbury. It’s a sleepy place where crimes range from petty to domestic. The cop shop is small & the only outstanding mysteries are 3 missing persons. One each July when Ellie turns another year older. She’s desperate to reopen the cases but until she comes up with some new info, her boss doesn’t want to hear it. As far as he’s concerned there’s nothing to connect the 3 & he’s satisfied with what they found.

But Ellie has more insight than most & with good reason. Turns out she has a secret & it’s a whopper. When she was 14, she became famous as the final victim of a prolific & sadistic kidnapper. She only survived because of a brilliant FBI agent named Reed Markham. But survival can take many forms. The time she spent with a mad man & ensuing media crush left Ellie with obvious & hidden scars. In an effort to escape her past, she changed her name & broke all ties. No one in Woodbury knows who she is or at least that’s what she thought. As another July approaches, Ellie fears someone else will disappear & there’s only one person who can help. Because she just got another card.

Got your attention? I hope so because this taut, atmospheric read deserves a space on your TBR pile. It succeeds on several levels but I’ll just speak to a few. First, the setting. A small town is the perfect backdrop for setting the tone. Everyone knows everyone…or thinks they do. There is a closed culture that desperately wants to believe in “stranger danger” because horrific crimes couldn’t possibly be committed by someone they know, right? The sense of security borne of familiar faces & routines can be the first casualty when a killer strikes. But that familiarity also means that someone must know something.

Then we have the 2 MC’s. Their personalities are very different but both are dealing with fallout from the case that brought them together all those years ago. There’s a plethora of crime protagonists out there that come saddled with PTSD/tortured/hidden pasts & how much I enjoy their story often depends on how they’re portrayed. When it comes to Ellie, this author struck a perfect balance (IMHO). Her public persona is cool & collected, designed to discourage anyone from getting too close. But we are privy to private moments where her thoughts & habits reveal how she copes with the permanent psychological damage from her ordeal. Especially effective are the descriptions of her home which provide a telling mirror reflection of its owner. Reed is also well developed, a likeable flawed man whose career peaked when he rescued teenage Ellie. A subsequent screw-up erased his status as golden boy of the FBI’s Behavioral Unit. When Ellie calls it’s a chance to revisit his greatest success & perhaps find a little personal redemption in the process.

There’s a subtle underlying unease that gradually builds as we, like Ellie & Reed, wait for the killer to make their next move. Questionable behavior from several characters means you may change your mind more than once as you try to identify the bad guy. And just so you know, details from Ellie’s past are sparing & kept to a minimum. The author chose to reveal a few choice tidbits instead of full on graphic descriptions which allows your imagination to run amok & fill in the blanks.

Ellery Hathaway is a deputy in the small town of Woodbury, Massachusetts, but she has a dark secret. As a teen-anger, she was kidnapped and tortured by serial murderer Francis Coben and she survived, She was the only survivor because of FBI agent Reed Markham who doggedly followed the clues and found her before Coben could kill her. Now, each year on her birthday, Ellie is getting a strange birthday card and someone else is missing from her small town. She is convinced that someone like Coben is taking these people, so she contacts Reed and he comes to town to help follow the clues again. Ellie risks her job and her life to save the lives of others, but is she actually the one who is perpetrating these crimes? Reed is on leave from the FBI because of the stress of the job, and this is not a restful vacation for him. The macabre acts of Coben, cutting off the hands of his victims, is being repeated. Why? Coben is still on death row in an Indiana prison so it can’t be him. The twists in this thriller will have you reading late into the night and checking to make sure the doors and windows are locked.

The Vanishing Season is an impressive first novel from author Joanna Schaffhausen. The cover and title initially grabbed my attention, so I was very pleased that St. Martin's Press granted my wish to read this book on Net Galley.

No one around Ellery Hathaway really knows her. They know she's a good police officer with a caring heart... but they don't know her story. She never celebrates her birthday, because it serves as an unwelcome reminder of the birthday long ago when she was kidnapped. Ellery was kept by an infamous serial killer, and remains his only survivor while he rots in prison. She's worked hard to keep her past a secret, but it seems someone knows her better than she thinks... she's been receiving a card on the anniversary of her birth for the last three years, postmarked from the same sleepy little town she's made her home. It also happens to coincide with one disappearance each year.

The victims seem unconnected, being of different sexes and ages. They don't seem to have much at all in common, and Ellery has had a difficult time convincing her superiors these cases are likely by the same perpetrator. She contacts the one man she thinks she can rely on: Agent Reed Markham, the man who saved her life long ago and told her to get in touch if she ever needed anything again. She's convinced that someone else will disappear, now that it's "vanishing season" once more. They last saw each other when Reed was a young, determined detective and Ellery (then Abby) was a traumatized teenager. Can he live up to her expectations... and will she live up to his?

I'm giving this one a 3.5 rounded up to a four. The characters are incredibly well-developed and the story is intriguing. There are moments that made me shudder, and moments that made me laugh. Bump, Ellery's rescue dog, was a bright spot. I loved whenever he featured. The strongest points of this book are the beginning and the last quarter or so. I did get lost with different names, leads, and side stories in the middle a bit, and I did predict a bit of the ending but not exactly how it would come to be. Still overall a great story and a really promising debut.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen.
This is a debut novel and I would catagorize it in the police procedural genre.
A young woman, a survivor of a serial preditor when she was a teenager, is tramatized but determined to overcome this terrible event in her life. Years later she is a police officer in Massachusetts with a new identity. She hides in plain sight - no one knows her past....
Things change when there are three victims that closely relate to her past are murdered. She teams up with a Special Agent to find out if in fact she is the center of these recent crimes. And if she is, why is that...and who is doing it...
Good Debut - crime mixed with a little romance.

This is a wonderfully thrilling story. Ellery Hathaway is a survivor of a serial killer. No one knows this, and now she is a police officer. Then there are girls starting to disappear around her birthday. Could someone know her secret? Who could it be and why are they doing this? She turns to the only person who she can trust and who believes her....the person who saved her all those years ago. Can they catch the killer together? You will need to read the book to find out. I would like to thank Net Galley for a copy of this book so I could voluntarily review it. The review is my own opinion.

How exciting it is to read an author's debut book and straight away add her name to my list of favourite writers.
A thrilling original story with lots of what certainly seemed well researched police procedure. Good characters and plenty of unexpected twists.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a read where you get completely caught up with what will happen next. It's a bit of an over used saying but it's a real page turner!

A small-town police officer has strong suspicions regarding a series of disappearances that have occurred three years in a row, all around the same time of year, but no one in town believes her concerns are valid. She’s a young, newbie officer and there is nothing tying the disappearances together, no real evidence of a crime even. What they don’t know is that Ellery knows firsthand how a serial killer works, having been the final – and only living – victim of one of the most infamous serial killers in history. To help her investigate on her own, Ellery brings in the agent who saved her all those years ago, Agent Reed Markham of the FBI. But he brings baggage of his own that may skew his perspective. Working around the local department, while working through their past experience, they focus on figuring out the cause of these disappearances. Is there a tie between the serial killer who tortured her all those years ago? Is there a connection between the missing that they haven’t figured out? And will they figure it out before another person goes missing?

What a great book! I was hooked from the very first chapter and I finished it in two reading sessions (would have been one if I could have kept my eyes open the first night!). This is my favorite kind of reading experience, the kind where you fall so deeply into the book that time ceases to exist until your body (very annoyingly) reminds you. Entrancing.

Ellery’s perspective as a previous victim turned cop was a huge hook for me. And her character felt genuine, human, believable. She isn’t a victim who turned into some genius serial killer hunter. She isn’t some super strong survivor who came out of her previous experience without issues. And the last thing she wants is notoriety. Her trauma is something she carries with her everywhere, and she tries to work around it, building as much of a life as she can, while trying to quietly battle the scars left behind. It all felt realistic. She felt realistic.

And having Agent Reed Markham come back into her life was ingenious. His character offered a whole other perspective on the events of her kidnapping and the aftermath. How those events changed his life vs. hers. How those events changed the lives of everyone directly involved, and the lives of those they loved or would eventually love. And having him come into the story also helped provide a lot of closure for the both of them, and I really love closure.

As for the whodunit part of it? So well done! From the onset, I had two potential perpetrators in mind, and that remained the case throughout. But. Just when I thought I had it figured out, a seed of doubt would be planted, and my theories would be turned upside down. So. Much. Fun!

What else can I say? This is her debut novel. Debut! It was fantastic. She is on my authors to be watched list. I recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries, thrillers, etc. Actually, I recommend it if you like great books. Period.

Good stuff, my friends. Good. Stuff.

The Vanishing Seasons is a fabulous book! This is the kind of book that I breezed through, and that I felt from the very start that I would love and I was not wrong. The story is engrossing. Officer Ellery Hathaway is a young woman, the only surviving victim of a serial killer, and she is the only one that sees the signs out there that there is a serial killer loose. She tries desperately to get her boss who is also her secret lover to see that and when she fails to do so will she turn to the man who saved her as a child FBI Agent Reed Markham. But, is there really a serial killer out there, or has she imagined that?

This is just my kind of book, intense, intriguing and utterly spellbinding. I loved every second of it and I was both disappointed and amazed that this is a debut book. Disappointed that Joanna Schaffhausen hasn't written more books for me to read and amazed that this debut book is so amazingly good! Honestly, I can't wait to read the next book by Schaffhausen!

Ellery Hathaway is an interesting character, and I loved that she ended up being an officer and that her dog is the only male creature that she allows into her home. She has her demons which one will find out as the story progress. Agent Reed Markham as well has his share of problem, both in his personal life and at work and I quite enjoyed their reunion and hunt for a serial killer.

This is if I haven't been clear enough a pretty awesome book and I recommend it warmly!

3.5 Stars

The Vanishing Season was a good debut novel that started strong, but lost momentum as the book progressed. A fairly solid police procedural, although there were a few things that were on the unbelievable side. All in all an enjoyable read with a great plot and characters I would like to see more of in future books.

I liked it. It wasn't that gory . I recommend it for those who like a good mystery

3.5/5 Overall a good read, but there were a lot of strange coincidences that just felt too manufactured and kept me from getting completely engaged with the story. The basic premise is that a girl who was captured and tortured by a serial killer is now all grown up and a police officer looking into a possible serial killer case. To the average person, these disappearances don't look related at all, but to our protagonist they must be because it's always around her birthday and she survived so it's her punishment. Oh, of course. That makes total sense. Then when the killer is caught and tells their motivation, it's just really weird- especially with the prologue. I thought it was really reaching for something, but never really got a solid hold on anything that made logical sense.