4.5 Winning Debut Stars
* * * *1/2 Spoiler Free
This had all the elements to cause continual reading...I took longer breaks at work... stayed up too late and got up early because I could not read this fast enough.

I have a history of being a Mystery reader so my mind was working from the start and had narrowed down what I thought all of the catches were...But then this new author would throw a few things out there to make me doubt myself and instincts...so good on her... because even though I was correct in the end...She had me going many times during the reading.

This was a gritty and intricate story and I think it showed off Joanna Schaffhausen talent well.

~~~~~ Before Reading ~~~~~
Yes, this Major Romance reader is cleansing the palate...
No Cowboys or Alphas
No Swooning or Gahs...
This time a little Hard Core Mayhem...
●•●•●•●•●•●•●•
It seems All to Many Times Now...
Things are Happening Again...

To the One who Knows how Horrific these Things can be...
No One Is Listening To Her...

No One is Paying Attention like they Should...
Because these Things keep Happening...
And She Knows it is only a Matter of Time...
For It will Come Again...

The Vanishing Season-December 5, 2017

A gifted copy was provided by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for an honest review.

Good solid murder mystery. Ellery Hathaway is a junior police detective in a small town where, for the last three summers, one of the citizens have gone missing. The police chief doesn't think that the cases are related, but Ellery, a crime victim herself, sees a pattern. As the summer approaches, she attempts to avoid another abduction, but will the perpetrator allude her? Well plotted and paced. A page turner.

Years ago Ellery Hathaway became victim number seventeen of serial killer Francis Michael Coben when she was abducted and held captive. Ellery was lucky enough that FBI Agent Reed Markham saw something other investigators hadn’t and followed clues to Coben’s home where he managed to rescue Ellery and put Coben behind bars making Ellery the one that survived.

Now Ellery is in law enforcement herself and finds that she may just have another serial killer on her hands but no one wants to believe her. What the other officers in the sleepy little town of Woodbury, MA don’t know is that the disappearances in town are happening at the time Ellery was taken all those years ago and she’s been receiving cards every year at the time but she’s hesitant to tell of her past. Looking for another angle to open a case into the missing persons Ellery makes a call to the man who saved her all those years ago.

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen is a mystery/thriller read that takes a reader on a journey to catch a serial killer. The book is written with a small town vibe and a flawed main character that pulled me in immediately and kept my interest until the very end. Surviving a serial killer herself gave Ellery a strength behind her that she needed to survive but now puts toward helping others.

While the story had plenty of twists and turns to make this one a solid mystery I did kind of question some of the actions of the police in this small town. Perhaps not the most realistic of investigating and actions at times so I just couldn’t quite bring myself to go a full five stars but the story and characters do make this worth the read.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for granting my wish for this book.

I loved this book!!!
Abigail Hathaway was kidnapped off the street late one night at the age of 14. She wasn't the first one to endure the torture meted out by this serial killer but she would be the last. Thanks to Agent Reed Markham who swoops in at the final hour to save her from the final moments suffered by the victims that came before her.
This young girl grows up to become a police officer in a small town where people have been disappearing near her birthday for the past three years with another birthday fast approaching. She now goes by the name of Ellery Hathaway and no one knows of her horrific past but she is sure that the recent cases are related to her traumatic youth. When she can't get any one to believe that these disappearances are related and not random coincidences she asks for help from the one person that might be able to help her, Agent Reed Markham.
This was a whirlwind ride of a story filled with intense scenes of terror along with warm moments of emotion by characters that were completely relatable. Ellery is portrayed as a strong survivor who still struggles with events of her past. Events so terrible that she has every closet in her house nailed shut!!!
Reed Markham is trying to get past a recent case that ended badly and a home life that has been shattered as a result of his career.
Don't miss a chance to read this fabulous book, you won't be disappointed!

Ellery Hathaway is a police officer in a small town. A small town whose crimes are mostly petty theft and domestic violence. But every year, for the last three years, someone has gone missing on or around Ellery’s birthday.
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As a former victim and the lone survivor of a serial killer, Ellery believes all of these cases are related. No one in her office believes her, so she calls in a favor to Reed Markham— the FBI agent who saved her life 14 years ago. Together, Markham and Ellery try to make the connection between the victims before the next one is taken or the new threat in Ellery’s life gets to her.
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I liked the premise of the book, but knew very quickly who the kidnapper/killer was. For a book like this, a plot twist is nice because it keeps you guessing and I feel that’s what this was missing. Again, I enjoyed the plot of the book and the author’s writing. So I would read another book by the author in the future.

Ellery is a small town cop. She is also the adult that developed from Abagail the child who was kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer. Ellery is convinced that three people who have disappeared from her town on the past three years were also kidnapped and killed. Because no one in town knows about her past, no one takes her suspicions seriously. Their theory is no evidence, no crime and the police Chief wants her to let it go. She, in desperation contacts Reed, the FBI agent who located and rescued her. He comes and they begin to work the missing persons cases together. I won’t go any further into the plot because of spoilers, but did finish this novel in a day rather than doing other things with which I should have occupied myself. This was superior reading, thanks to Net Galley and Minotaur for an ARC for an honest review.

The Vanishing Season is an impressive and well-written book that kept me up all night reading! The plot is compelling and the characters are fascinating. This was the first book from Joanna Schaffhausen, and I'll be looking forward to more books from her.

Abigail Ellery Hathaway is the only survivor of a serial killer who stole his victims, locked them away in the closet and mutilated them. Her case was all over the media at the time. The FBI agent who rescued her, Reed Markham, wrote a book about her case that became a TV movie. Ellie grew up, used her middle name so no one would recognize it and became a policeman in a small town in Massachusetts. For the last three years in early July, there have been three disappearances that Ellie is sure are murders. She's received a creepy card on her birthday (the day she was kidnaped) every year, but she can't convince her department that a killer is on the loose and she doesn't want anyone to know about her past as a survivor.

As July approaches, Ellie fears another murder is coming, so she calls Agent Markham and asks for his help. Together, they start unofficially investigating until the case takes a very dark turn and Ellie's life is on the line again.

This was a page-turner, and I can't say enough about it. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and St. Martin's Press for granting my wish, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast paced mystery about a serial killer who had a fetish with the severed hands of his victims. One of his intended victims got away with the help of an FBI agent. She changed her name as an adult, became a police officer and began investigating murders in her community that she thought we linked. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I'm not sure I would call this a thriller, but more of a crime, police-procedural mystery. This is a debut author and I did enjoy her writing for the most part. It started off very compelling as a kidnapping occurs, but ultimately does not keep up with the pace of the initial chapters.

Abby (the kidnapped and serial killer survivor) becomes a police officer and becomes involved in cases of three people who have disappeared/vanished at or around the same time every year. She suspects it may be some how connected to her own kidnapping case. There are some grisly details and uncomfortable descriptions, but it is a "serial killer" plot so be prepared for it if you read this one.

I didn't feel the story evolved into the suspenseful story it could have been. It ventures off into a lot of side stories that bogged down the story line and had me distracted. I would still be interested in this author and what she comes up with next.

If you enjoy serial killer plots with some twisted themes, you may enjoy this one very much!

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen is well deserving First Crime Novel award.

Ellery Hathaway, formerly Abigail Hathaway, is the sole survivor of the infamous serial killer, Francis Michael Coben, Abducted when she was just a young girl, Abigail was found by FBI agent Reed Markham. Now a grown woman, Abigail - now Ellery - is a police officer in a sleepy town. Most importantly, no one in the town knows who she really is. In the last few years, three people have gone missing. Each missing person has disappeared around the same time - on Ellery's birthday. At the same time, Ellery receives a mysterious "birthday card." Ellery is certain there is a connection somehow...and the three missing people are all connected. However, no one believes her. The police chief, in particular, has repeatedly blown off her theories. She refuses to tell anyone why she believes these cases are worth looking into...nothing will make her tell anyone who she is or what happened to her. Instead, she calls Agent Markham (who is recently on leave because of a particularly difficult case). Reed knows he has to come and help her.  Together, they investigate the crimes and what plays out is both dark and chilling. 

First, I loved both Ellery and Reed. Both characters were relatable, believable, and sympathetic. Schaffhausen did such a great job of delving into the idea of luck and chance..and how such small moments or actions have an incredible impact.

"The other guys in my unit think I'm crazy, she'd confessed to him last night, and it seemed possible that they were right. But Reed had been the lone voice in the wilderness once, following an evidence trail that no one seemed to see, and now here she is alive as a result."

Also, Schaffhausen explored the randomness and unpredictability of these horrific crimes. How these serial killers can appear wholly ordinary. How distant we are from tragedies that don't effect us. 

" "How awful, that poor girl," Ellie's mother had said when the evening news played its grim report, but her voice had held no real horror back then, because why should it have? Daniel wasn't sick yet and the police themselves hadn't understood that Michelle was only the beginning. "

I felt this point was really shown through the domestic violence angle we see in the first chapter. Ellery is so deeply affected by the abuse this mother and daughter went through at the hands of the husband. Ellery felt so deeply because she understood the horrors people go through and how important it is to have someone right there...looking to bring you to safety. 

Lastly, Ellery's dog stole the show. As a dog lover, he quickly became my favorite character. But he played such a bigger role in the book and I thought Schaffhausen illustrated it so nicely. 

"Bump's a people person," Ellie replied with a sigh, sounding almost disappointed. "I've tried to explain the we're really just a bunch of selfish, rotten, hateful creatures, but he goes on loving all of us just the same." 

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers and procedurals. The writing was wonderful and the story was equal parts character driven and enthralling mystery. But the story ended up being more poignant than I expected. The book can be summed up with this line that is so simple yet stuck with me throughout the whole book:

"Vulnerable, she thought. We were all vulnerable."

Thank you so much to the St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and Netgalley for granting my wish!

The Vanishing Season immediately drew me in and held my attention for hours; I finished it in one day! The book centers around detectives solving a crime, but it manages to not be too detective-y. At its heart it's a psychological thriller, and it will entertain you until the very end!

a beautiful cover for this book and a great little story to curl up on the couch with on a winter's night. An easy, quick read without much hard thinking. Lovely book

This book gave me goosebumps! It was quite the chilling tale. I will admit that I wasn’t entirely invested in the beginning but as the story went on and the mystery started to get going, I found it much more enjoyable. When all the pieces fell together…WOW!

Again, as I do with all mystery reads, I had my list of suspects and I am glad to say that my number one suspect was correct! Though fairly predictable, the way everything connected in the end and the build-up made for a thrilling ride.
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Characters:
Ellery Hathaway – Once victim, now survivor, Ellery changes her life, her hair, even her name. No one knows that the only woman in the Woodbury PD is also the only survivor of an infamous serial killer. Or so she thinks. When people start disappearing every year on her birthday and she starts receiving mail from an unknown source, she can’t deny it any longer. Someone knows her secret. With no proof or evidence to support her claims, no one believes her about the pattern of the disappearances. No one but the man who saved her fourteen years ago.
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Reed Markham – The world sees him as a hero for saving the girl, a girl whose kidnaping he made his career out of. The way she was brutalized, tormented, violated – it all made for an amazing story. A story he wrote that went on to be a best-seller and an on-screen movie. But one mistake costs him everything. A phone call from the once young girl now woman has him rushing to her side. He thought the story ended when he brought the girl home all those years ago. But someone else is playing the same sick game. And alongside Ellery, he’s a key player.
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It took some time for me to warm up to these characters. Ellery at the start was having an affair and Reed was spiralling with an upcoming divorce. Not the best first impression at all, but as the story progressed I didn’t exactly start liking the two characters but I definitely enjoyed their dynamic with each other. It wasn’t romantic, though it had hints of that near the end, but more like two kindred spirits who understood the other.
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Plot:
This story was told in third person and switched from Ellery’s point of view to Reed’s. The prologue is from the perspective of an unknown character and most of the book I’m wondering what it had to do with anything. This author planned this mystery thriller brilliantly! She left no loose ends and answered every question that confused me when reading. I feel like the book started as a mess but as it went on things started becoming clearer, characters became more prominent and the plot itself became exciting. The suspense factor definitely came into play as the story progressed.
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Schaffhausen indeed delivered a well written mystery thriller. She definitely maintained the thriller side of the story, alongside the mystery. Though my interest wasn’t immediate, my overall enjoyment of this thrilling story outweighs the slow start. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good “whodunit” plotline.

Great thriller. Very well written. The story has you turning pages through out the night. Not all thrillers are like that, but this one surely didn't disappoint.

Wow what a great debut novel. The Vanishing Season is such a great mystery/suspense. A plot with many twists and turns that kept me guessing. I really enjoyed this author's style of writing and look forward to reading more of her books. I highly recommend this book.

Ellery (Ellie) was kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer as a teenager before she was rescued by Agent Reed Markham. As an adult and a police officer, she turns to Markham for help proving that the disappearances in her town are the work of another killer. I liked this. I did actually guess pretty early on who the killer was, but the story was still good and an interesting premise. I would like to read more about Ellie and/or Reed if this were to become a series. 4 stars.

Ellery Hathaway is the only survivor of the notorious serial killer, Frances Michael Coben. She was to be victim 17, but FBI agent Reed Markham swept in to rescue her from the fetid, locked closet where she had been kept, the closet where the unlucky 16 who didn’t survive had tried to claw their way out. No wonder she keeps the closets in her house nailed shut. Think about that image for a minute if you want to freak yourself out.
But now, Ellery is damned sure an almost copy-cat killer is at work. For the past three years someone has disappeared around her birthday. She knows another serial killer is at work but no one at her job will believe her since no bodies have been found and they all have reasons why they could be missing. This is extremely frustrating because Ellie is a police officer in the small town of Woodbury, MA. And she knows from serial killers. Not even her lover, the police chief takes her seriously.
Ellery is sure she could convince the police chief, but that would mean giving up a few of her secrets, such as her real name and the fact that she was the seventeenth victim. She is also holding back real evidence.
Instead she calls FBI S/A Reed Markham in to help her. He’s at a new low, even though for years he found fame and fortune on the back of his rescue of Ellery. Ellery does not resent this, as she herself has managed to make some good money from her ordeal.
I found Ellery to be fascinating. She was fourteen when she was taken, but has managed to find and lead an almost normal life. She is really not one to completely admire, a welcome change with female protagonists.
She is rabid about keeping her past hidden from everyone, even when it might help in establishing her case. She has turned into a bit of a user, not above using her sexual charms to advance her cause. She is also a loner with few friends. No man has ever been inside her house.
S/A Markham is a mess, struggling to reach the surface and begin again in both his professional and personal life. He is aghast at one point to realize he may not have really rescued Ellery and must try to work through his mistrust of her.
The academy award for best supporting actor goes to Bump, Ellery’s basset hound. Oh wait, I’m mixing my media. Oops doing it again. Anyway the dog is an award winner.
The Vanishing Season is deftly plotted. It begins with a chilling prologue that stays with the reader and continues the thrills with a cold logic. The serial killer who took Ellery was one of the most chilling I’ve come across. I think by this time it must be hard for authors to be original in mining the serial killer plot. Joanna Schaffhausen has succeeded admirably with both of her killers and her story.
This is Schaffhausen’s first book as she was the award winner for the Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition. I hope she continues to find success as she is off to a fine start. I wonder though, if this is the beginning of a series, and if so, whose series, Ellery or S/A Markham?
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ellery likes her job as a police officer in a small town, but she is frustrated that the chief of police refuses to acknowledge that something nefarious is at work when 3 town members go missing. The all disappeared in the early part of July for three years in a row. Now it's July again and Ellery is convinced that another person will be taken. What Ellery doesn't tell the chief is that she has been receiving unsigned birthday cards that really spook her. And with good reason, when she was a teenager, Ellery was abducted by a serial killer herself and lived to tell about it. Fearing the worst, Ellery calls in Reed Markham, the FBI agent who had rescued her years before. Together they uncover some dark and frightening secrets that put both of them in jeopardy. Well-written and suspenseful, THE VANISHING SEASON held my attention to the very end.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I found myself bored until 80% of the book. Then things started to pick up like a crescendo then the booked ended. There could have been more time with the bad guy. I felt like it lasted 2 seconds. The relationship between Ellery and Reed was awkward and he didn't really offer and explanation to why. It wasn't as suspenseful as i would have like it. I wish we could of had insight to who else could have done it other than the 2 people suggested.

I enjoyed this novel a great deal as it has a lot of suspense. Ellery escaped serial killer Coben years ago when she was rescued by FBI agent Reed Markham, but the emotional scars still weigh heavily on her and now that she is in law enforcement, she is determined to prevent any more deaths--even as three townspeople have gone missing. As her birthday approaches, she becomes rabid with the desire to make sure no one else goes missing--as they have once a year close to this time--so she reaches out to Reed to help. And so begins the search for answers. Who is the killer and what are the motives? And why does she receive an anonymous birthday card each year? Is it personal or coincidence? Taut and tightly written, the novel moves along at a fast pace with well-drawn characters that you are invested in; this is a solid read!