On a sketching holiday with her Mum, depressed teenager Lana goes missing.
Written in short chapters, the story takes on a stilted, mysterious air as the dysfunctional family try to make sense of the disappearance.
A well written story of a family crisis but somehow did not hold my attention.

Having loved Emma Healey’s debut, “Elizabeth is Missing,” I was thrilled to receive a review copy of her second novel, “Whistle in the Dark.” I was a little concerned that I may not have loved this as much, but I am pleased to say that, if anything, I thought this was easily as good – if not even better. It has definitely been one of my favourite novels of the year.

Jen and Hugh are a fairly ordinary, middle aged, middle class couple. Their eldest daughter, Meg, has left home, but younger daughter, Lana, still lives at home. Lana is a troubled young girl, who has harmed herself before and is having therapy. Jen is desperate to get some of that mother and daughter closeness back and so, in May half term, the two go to the Peak District for a painting holiday. However, the unthinkable happens and Lana goes missing. For four whole days she vanishes, only to be discovered, virtually safe and well – a little shaken, a little bruised, but alive.

I have to say that I simply loved the character of Jen. She is devastated by her daughter’s loss and relived when she is found, but also so frustrated by Lana’s inability to tell her what happened. Lana swears she doesn’t remember. Jen doesn’t believe her. When the family return home, Jen is plagued by self doubts, recriminations and paranoia. She searches through Lana’s social media accounts, scrutinises her memories of the trip, follows her daughter to school, questions her friends and spies on her. Meanwhile, Meg, who has her own news to impart, is impatient with the way that she feels Jen always gives in to Lana.

Healey perfectly captures that feeling of your children growing up and away from you. Of the all consuming love that you have for them, no matter what their behaviour may be. Of your desperate desire to protect them… This is a clever, sharp and well written novel, which would be ideal for reading groups, as there is so much to discuss. The subject matter may sound dark, but there is a lot of humour in this novel and all of the characters are well rounded, sympathetic and entirely realistic. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Emma Healey does it again and produces another classic.

Lovely, touching, amazing, thrilling. You could use ALL the positive words to describe this book. Healey's ability to write fully realised people you bellieve in and can relate to is amazing. Will be looking forward to the next one.

Great idea but I found it difficult to fully believe in the characters and regrettably the book did not hold my interest. I loved Emma's first book though and will definitely read more by this author.

I really enjoyed reading Emma's other novel (Elizabeth is missing) so was intrigued to know what her new novel would be about.

It tells the story of a mother Jen and her fractured relationship with her teenage daughter Lana who is prone to suicidal thoughts and self harm. From my take on the book I read Lana as a confused adolescent struggling with anxiety and feelings that she isn't loved which leads her to put on an act to the world but which is so thin and fragile she feels constantly judged. The feelings she experiences leads her to make up stories with the friends she hangs out with and her tendency to self harm.

Jen conversely is so desperate to save her daughter that she smothers her with questions and projects her only feelings of inadequacy onto Lana.

The story tells of the mother and daughter taking a painting hobby in Derbyshire and Lana's four day disappearance which makes local news. The story picks up after Lana has been found and taken to hospital to recover.

Whilst I really enjoyed the emotive characters in the book, I struggled to feel like much actually happened in the story, other than Jen constantly questioning her daughter as to where she had been and asking if she had tried to harm herself, or had someone taken her. When you discover what did actually happen it's a bit of a let down to be honest, but I can see why the author did it that way.......though I'll still never understand why Jen doesn't use her mobile to call for help......

So in all I probably wouldn't rush to recommend this book but an interesting read if you have the time and enjoyed the author's other work.

Emma Healey writes about family life and all it's oddness and eccentricities really well. I loved Elizabeth is Missing and thought Whistle in the Dark was good. Not as good because half way through I started to get frustrated with Lana and her attitude towards her mum's feelings. Her 'I don't know 'and 'I can't remember ' comments seemed repetitive. I thought the ending was brilliant and felt relieved I finally found out what had happened to Lana.

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn’t get into it and it jumped around too much with no real substance.
There were flashes of brilliance which meant I trudged through it, but overall I didn’t particularly enjoy it.

I enjoyed this book and shows how little we can understand of others and end up projecting what we think they should be feeling on them rather than listening to what is wrong.

I would read more by this author as also enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing.

I was first attracted to this book by the unusual cover, and then I realised Emma Healey is the author of Elizabeth is Missing, which I already own but haven't got around to reading yet (I think I should have that written on my tombstone).

How do you rescue someone who has already been found?

Whistle in the Dark is a mystery/family drama, and unusual in that the story starts at the moment fifteen-year-old Lana is found safe and well after being missing for four days in the Peak District. Lana and her mother Jen had been on a mother-daughter bonding holiday at an artists' retreat. Lana, depressed and self-harming, hides behind her sulky teenager persona, whereas Jen tries (and fails) not to be a helicopter parent. While overjoyed to have Lana back home, Jen becomes increasingly obsessed with finding out exactly what happened to her daughter during those four missing days - because Lana is saying nothing.

Any parent of teenagers will identify with Jen; desperate to do the best for her daughter and yet infuriated by Lana's unwillingness to open up and confide in her (typical teenager, basically). I loved the characters, especially Jen's husband (and Lana's father) Hugh, reassuringly pragmatic and easy-going, and happy just to have his daughter back.

Whistle in the Dark is mainly about family relationships and the unravelling of Jen's sanity as she worries about her daughter. (I loved the imaginary cat!) The mystery about what happened to Lana almost takes second place, but it kept me guessing and I only managed to work out part of it before the end. There is a nail-biting ending, but anyone expecting a fast-paced, psychological/thriller type story with a lot of twists might be disappointed. I think it would appeal best to fans of authors such as Joanna Cannon. But I found it very well-written, with brilliant characters I could really identify with, and I absolutely loved it. One of my favourite reads this year.


I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of this book, which will be published in the UK on the 3rd May 2018.

Thank you to Emma Healey, Viking, and NetGalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Viking through my membership of NetGalley. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences.
On the last day of an artist’s retreat in picturesque Derbyshire with her mother Jen, teenager Lana goes missing and is not found for four days. Jen is beside herself with worry. Lana is a troubled girl and has dark depressions during which she has told her mother she wants to die. When Lana is found four days later she appears apathetic and dazed, she is injured and covered with grazes and scratches, she is cold and wet, but she will not explain why. She is vague about what has happened to her and does not want to talk about her four missing days. Her therapist advises her family to be patient, but the police are keen to close the case and, during interviews, Lana insists she had been alone all of the time and must have got lost when she walked from her bedroom to the wash room in the dark to collect her toilet bag which she had accidentally left behind.
As the weeks of recovery at home in London go by, Jen is desperate to find out the truth. Lana has changed beyond belief and seems interested in nothing. She is uncommunicative, sad and lost. Their relationship feels more fractured than ever and Jen cannot reach Lana any more. She can’t live with the uncertainty of not knowing what Lana has been through. There are a few clues though, but these puzzle Jen more than ever. She cannot work out their significance. As their family life deteriorates and Lana does not want to go out or return to school, Jen realises that her daughter has become afraid of being in dark places; even in her own bedroom without the light left on. She cannot help but worry and think about what could have happened to change her so much. She just cannot let it go, so decides to carry out her own investigations.
'Whistle in the Dark' is slow paced, dark and depressing. There’s a pervading mood of doom and despondency throughout the entire story. It’s never going to get any better and the outcome seems preordained. The novel is well written but does feel as if it is rambling at times with lots of unrelated detail. I felt sorry for Lana’s family and had great empathy with Jen who wanted nothing more than to help and support her younger daughter through her troubling times. But Jen had unresolved issues of her own and can’t handle the tension and sense of everything being out of kilter. I definitely disliked how the story ended, which was really disappointing after investing a lot of time reading the story, hoping there would be lighter moments. This book was not to my taste at all.

Jen’s daughter goes missing for four days whilst on as art holiday in the Pesk District (England). When she is found, she won’t say what happened to her. She was self-harming and had suicidal thoughts before she went missing, so everyone thinks the worst and hopes for the best. She is found, and they go back to London together, and try to live with what has happened. But it’s not that easy. Jen desperately wants to know what happened to Lana during this time, and has scenarios running through her mind constantly. I did wonder if Jen had mental health issues as well, and I’m still left wondering that after I’ve finished the book. Hugh, Jen’s husband and Lana’s dad, is a nice character: thoughtful, reliable. Jen is hard work, and Lana is VERY hard work. A confused, scared teenager, who comes across as selfish and unpleasant (so an average teenager in some cases).
The end of the book seemed to sum it all up: it appeared to me to be a self-realisation.
Worth a read, even though it can be quite hard-going at times.

Thanks to Net Galley & Penguin Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Jen and her fifteen year old daughter Lana are on holiday when Lana goes missing for four days, she does turn up safely but with no memory of where she was or what happened to her.
Jen desperately wants to know what happened her daughter, she feels even though she has Lana home safely that they are very far apart.
I did not enjoy this book at all, the entire story was about Jen trying to put together the puzzle of what happened to Lana. I did not like Jen or her daughter, the story is very slow, struggled on to the end as I hate giving up on a book, however,the ending was as disappointing as the entire book.

Most missing persons books focus on the abduction and search - this book focuses on the aftermath. When Jen and Hugh's daughter is returned to them after being missing for days, the nightmare is only just beginning. The questions about where Lana has been and with whom crackle and fizz around their family, with the spiky teenager being completely uncooperative. I thought the pace flagged a little in the middle, but I very much enjoyed the ending, which managed to be both nail-biting and satisfying.

This was quite an emotional, roller-coaster read. By turns quite dark and disturbing, yet at others light and very funny, it weaves and winds its way through the mystery of Lana's disappearance, being part crime/mystery, part family drama, part mental health.
I found Jen difficult, as a lead character, lurching from identifying with her to being both horrified and sympathetic over her situation. Lana I felt liked much more, and Meg even more than that.

The style is interesting, with longer pieces mixed together with shorter snapshots, comments, conversations and life moments. I liked it, and it made the family feel very familiar, as if we had insight into their lives. They all feel like very real characters. The discussions & descriptions around mental health were very well done.

The only part I was a little unsure about was when it seems that Lana & Hugh are discussing Jen in private, suspicious of her behaviour, monitoring her laptop usage etc. That is never explained, and was a hanging thread that I'm still wondering about! But the resolution to the book worked well for me, and wasn't something I'd expected.

Overall, this is a very good story. I also really enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing, so I'm glad it's been followed up by another great book.

I loved the author’s previous book and I was thrilled to receive a copy of this from Netgalley. But I’m afraid this turned out to be a dull read, continuing out of duty rather than a desire to know the end of the story. The language and descriptions are deftly executed and had the plot been better this would be a 4 or 5 star book. But a lack of plot and strength of characterisation left me unmoved.

When I read Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey I was impressed by the way she dealt with some of the more sensitive aspects of living with dementia. Whistle in The Dark deals with some equally sensitive issues and does so equally well.

Whistle in The Dark is not what it may seem on first inspection, it is less about the days Lana was missing and more about the complex relationship between a mother and her daughter.

Fifteen-year-old Lana was on an artist's retreat with her mother when she went missing. Four days later she turns up soaking wet and with a variety of injuries. She claims not to remember where she has been but is she telling the truth?

The family return home to London thinking the ordeal is over but Jen is increasingly concerned by her daughters altered behaviour and her reluctance to sleep without the lights on. What happened during the four days she was missing?

One of the things I liked best about Whistle in The Dark is its portrayal of mental health in young adults and the effect depression can have on an individual and on their family. During the course of the book, it becomes clear that Lana has suffered with depression in the past and that this has led to her cutting herself and to a suicide attempt.

This explanation of Lana’s past goes someway to explaining Jen’s increasingly obsessive behaviour throughout the novel. Obviously, any parent would be concerned at her daughter being missing four days and returning with a fear of the dark and enclosed spaces and a reluctance to talk. Particularly when this same daughter has already been a cause for concern because of her previous mental health.

Having said this, Jen was incredibly frustrating as a character and there were many times I wished I could shout at her to back off and stop being so overbearing.

Meg, Lana’s elder sister, was my favourite character in Whistle in the Dark because offers the reader a more balanced view on the situation. She highlights Jen’s somewhat neurotic behaviour, but she also highlights Lana’s potentially manipulative behaviour as well.

‘We were talking about Lana, ‘Meg said, ‘about the way she affects your mood, the way she has you tiptoeing around her, the way she uses you as a walking frame.”

Lana and Jen obviously had a strained relationship prior to her disappearance for four days and this tension is added to when Jen starts spying on her and stalking her social media accounts in order to discover any information she could about the missing days.

‘What are you thinking about me?’

‘I’m not thinking,’ Jen said. ‘Or at least, I’m trying my best not to think.’

‘Good, because everything you think is wrong.’

That could be the tagline for their relationship Jen thought.

Emma Healey builds a sense of suspense throughout the novel by not immediately revealing what happened during those missing days. I enjoyed the different theories she revealed during the course of the novel and also the way not knowing effects the family.

Whistle in the Dark was thoroughly enjoyable.

I was sent an uncorrected proof of Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey to read and review by NetGalley.
Beautifully written – nothing less than you would expect from the author of Elizabeth is Missing! As with her previous novel Emma Healey has tackled serious issues sympathetically with both insight and wit. The author is incredibly adept at tapping into her characters emotions, really bringing them to life. She also has the gift of making the situations she writes about very believable, with ordinary everyday life becoming extraordinary. I love the way she can allow her characters to descend into a kind of madness that is relatable in the real world.
I do not want to go into the premise of the story, I just urge you to read and enjoy!

It may be unfair to compare Whistle in the Dark to Elizabeth is Missing, but I felt it just missed some of the warmth of Emma's debut. Having said this, I very much enjoyed reading Whistle in the Dark - it's a nuanced, sometimes hard-to-read observation of a family in turmoil. The family dynamics between Jen and Lana is where the book really shines, and although the plot is slow, there was enough to keep me interested right until the final page.

Very disappointed with the book.I kept reading to see if ending was good but at the 93% stage of my read I felt absolutely shattered with the continuous repeats of the storyline. Decided to abandon the read as I was no longer interested with the ending.I also found some parts of the story difficult to understand as it flows from one character from past to present within paragraphs.I was unsure if it was meant to be a thriller and a supernatural fiction!

I received this book on pre-release proof from Netgalley. It appealed to be due to the content, having read the 'blurb' and having a teenager myself I felt an affinity with the story. I felt an empathy for Jen and can't imagine what would be going through my mind if my child went missing for 4 days. However, that's where the empathy ended for me - I found Lana annoying and attention-seeking. I felt that Jen could have been made a stronger character and that Lana's dad was portrayed in a very stereo-typical 'laid back dad' kind of way - insisting that Lana would eventually get over whatever was troubling her. The premise of the story was great but it didn't quite carry through for me.