I found the storyline gripping but was a bit disappointed with the ending and have to admit I don't go with the current trend of frequent swearing.

Anna’s mother disappeared when she was a few weeks old leaving her and her brother with their dad. Now 30 years later Anna wants answers.

I really really wanted to like this but sadly it just wasn’t for me. I found myself skipping pages and speed reading through other bits. Thank you to the netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for this ARC!

The premise of this story, a mother who suddenly goes missing leaving behind a family and a great mystery, and how the story is presented, in the mother's point of view in the past and her daughters quest to figure out the disappearance in the present day, are wonderful.

However, this was way to drawn out for me. I felt like I was reading this forever. I was very happy with the end!

Overall, a great story and do recommend! (Still not sure how the title fits in though:))

A family centred story, told mainly from two points of view, the mother Debbie, in the 1980s and the daughter Anna, who never knew her mother. From the blurb, you know the mother disappears while on holiday when she is probably suffering from depression, following the birth of Anna, her second child.

As the story progresses, it's clear the family has secrets and that Anna doesn't know the true story of her mother's absence from her life. There isn't the menace associated with a psychological thriller in this story. Angst and a sense of wasted lives, and a mystery surrounding Debbie and the communications that appear but nothing overtly sinister.

The characters are vivid and believable, the tragedy of mental illness and the tragic effect on the family makes this more family fiction, which is well written but not what the blurb suggests.

If you're a fan of commercial psychological thrillers, this may not be for you, but if you enjoy complex characters, mystery and emotional drama, this is worth reading.

I received a copy of this book from Avon UK via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Anna's mother has been missing for 30 years. What happened to her? Is she alive or dead? 11 missed calls explores what exactly happened to her mother all those years ago and how this mystery affected Anna and her family.
I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately I just could not. The story was interesting, but it was almost like all of a sudden the author needed to wrap things up so boom this is what happened, the end. I also found that when you do find out what happened to Anna's mother the characters react in such a way that does not feel genuine or realistic.

I thought the premise for 11 Missed Calls was good but the title doesn't fully apply nor is explained sufficiently well for what happens. There's seems to be a fashion atm for missing mother stories, which this one is, and why I was interested to read it.

The story is told in two timelines, from the point of view of Anna and her mother Debbie. Anna has been told nothing about Debbie's disappearance thirty years ago when she was a month old. Believing Debbie to be dead her father married Monica, Debbie's best friend, with whom he was already having an affair. Monica receives a message, purportedly from Debbie and Anna is determined to find her mother and the truth behind her disappearance. When reading Debbie's story it is apparent that she was unable to cope with her family and suffering from mental ill health when she left them.

At times I found it difficult to work out whose voice was telling each section of the story as they sounded similar, possibly because they are both written in the first person. Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the opportunity to read and review 11 Missing Calls.

Anna has always believed that her mother was dead. Her mother, Debbie, has been missing for 30 years. Theories swirled around Debbie's disappearance, some that her husband killed her or that she left her husband and children to be with another man. Anna became obsessed with finding her mother, dead or alive, regardless of rumors.

This book is written from a minimum of three points of view; Anna in present day, Debbie in 1986 and an occasional unknown person. The voices all sounded alike and I had trouble sometimes remembering which point of view I was reading from. Unfortunately, the book also left some loose ends, which always irritate me.

The premise of the story was good though and the suspense was also well done, which kept me reading. The pace was fast and that, along with the suspense, kept me in until the end.

An in depth story of a woman who's mother disappeared 30 years ago. How it affects her life to the point of obsession. She just can't let it go. What happened to her mother Debbie? Did she die? Did she run off with another man? Anna was only a month old when she disappeared. She has never given up her quest for more information. Her Dad seems to wish she would just let it go as does her older brother Robert. She can't. She has a little girl and can't believe she could just walk away from her children. Anna goes overboard in her search. Anyone who is of her mothers age or has even a remote possibility of being her mother gets her focus. On the boarder of being a stalker. Out of the blue there is an email, possibly from her mother or is it an imposter? Her father finally shares nasty notes left for her mom years ago. Anna just doesn't feel he is telling her everything. Her step mother Monica, was once her mothers best friend is now uncharteristically upset, crying and out of sorts. What is going on, Anna herself feels like she's being watched. This book is a bit hard to read. Going back and forth in time with the same characters is sometime hard to follow. It all gets tied together in the end however, some strands that seem major in the story get tied up to quick and lightly. Good book worth the read. I thank the author and publisher through NetGalley for giving me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. `

A deep character study of two women connected by a thread that spans time, secrets, and loneliness. Elisabeth Carpenter has written a story in 11 Missed Calls that feels as though it needed to be told. Spanning two different time periods, with each woman at the same age in their story, there are both parallels and contrasts between the mother, Debbie, and the daughter, Anna. This is a book driven by the characters and their search for answers and wholeness.

I always struggle with the tendency to pair “Mysteries and Thrillers” together as a book category, because though many books involve both, others involve only one. I went into this thinking it might be a thriller, but it is actually what I would call Women’s Fiction with a subgenre of Mystery. It’s a book about the missing piece in one woman’s life, and how 30 years later that has led to a missing piece in her daughter’s life. It is a book about the search for belonging.

About the Book

In 1986 Debbie gives birth to her daughter Annie. But ever since Annie’s birth, Debbie has struggled to feel like herself again. When her husband Peter offers to take Debbie and their kids on a holiday to Teneriffe with their best friends Monica and Nathan, Debbie finds herself dreading the vacation. She doesn’t feel quite right, and a holiday is the last thing she wants.

And then Debbie goes missing…

In 2017, Annie (now going by Anna) is turning 30 with a husband and daughter of her own. Anna loves her father Peter and step-mother Monica, but she’s always felt the hole in her life of her biological mother. Anna can’t understand why her mother would abandon her. Though Debbie is most likely dead as her father and Monica tell her, Anna can’t accept that.

And then a strange email arrives…

Someone hasn’t told Anna the whole story, she’s sure of it. And with or without her family’s help, she’ll do whatever it takes to find the truth.

Reflection

The most interesting part of this book for me was Debbie. I wouldn’t say I related to her character, but I did relate to the feeling that you just don’t feel like yourself, but you don’t know how to tell people what’s wrong. You don’t actually know what’s wrong yourself. Debbie was such an honest, raw character. At times her chapters were hard to read, because I felt so empathetic for her situation. The paranoia that others are talking about you, but being unable to defend yourself is so true for many people at different points in their life. Debbie feels at times like a liability. Like she can’t be the mother to her children she wants to be, or the wife to her husband that he deserves.

Debbie is a completely root-able character. I found myself wanting everything to work out for her! Of course, as we know from the teaser, Debbie goes missing. The tragedy of knowing that and reading the weeks leading up to it is so compelling. You know that it is headed towards disaster, but you still hope she pulls out of it!

And then we have Anna in the present. Anna was only a month old when her mother went missing, so she has no memories of her. But that doesn’t prevent Anna from knowing there is a piece of her missing. I felt for Anna, because the rest of her family (her father, her step-mother, and her older brother) do remember Debbie. And they expect things to be easier on her because she never really knew her mother. But for Anna, that isn’t the case. Even still, Anna questions whether she has the right to ask questions. In a way, Debbie’s disappearance has created isolation for each of the family members, as they cope with it in their own way. For Peter and Monica, there is the guilt that they moved on. For Robert, there is the pain of abandonment. And for Anna, there is the yearning for answers.

This is a slow build. The mystery of what happened to Debbie is an interesting one, but if I’m honest it took a back seat for me to the story of these two women. I found the book driven by Debbie and Anna as characters. I wondered if they’d ever find that feeling of wholeness that they seek. I won’t tell you what they find, but I do recommend trying this one if you’re a fan of women’s fiction.

Thank you to Avon Books and Elisabeth Carpenter for a copy of this book to review.

I was slightly apprehensive about reading this book as I picked up Libby Carpenter's previous title "99 Red Balloons" last year and didn't enjoy it that much. However, I am the type of person that is more than willing to give an author another chance to impress me and so here I am!

The story centres around Anna who believes her mother passed away the night she disappeared 30 years ago but she comes to realise that she has never really heard the full explanation and she feels entitled to one. For to air her issue and in an effort to gain some moral support Anna turns to husband Jack. It's not long before she feels completely alone as she discovers a love letter from another woman in her husband's wallet. And then a body is found.

Okay, i'm kinda conflicted on "11 Missed Calls" but I did like it more than I did her previous book. The chapters jump between timelines - the present day and 30 years ago which keeps your interest. However, my old nemesis reared its ugly head once again. There were numerous characters and I felt that there were many more than the story really needed. I read most fiction to relax and tax my brain as little as possible so having to think and keep characters straight in my head is not ideal for me. I often feel that authors can ruin a book that was destined to become a bestseller by adding either far too many characters, a plot that never stops and is too intricate, or both. The characters are what let it down here for me.

I would try once more with this author (third time lucky perhaps?) but I think I would be inclined to read a good cross-section of reviews beforehand to check on whether they may have similar issues to this one and gauge from those whether it would be worth me devoting some time to.

Many thanks to Avon for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

A great suspenseful ready, really gripped at the start maybe a little drawn out in the middle but overall a good read.

This is a good read which will make you desparate to know what happened to Debbie from the word go.
It’s a bit frustrating that the story is told through alternating chapters as I just wanted to know what happened, but I appreciate this is the way the story needed to be told when I reached the end.
Anna has never known her mother, Debbie, and there seems to be a mystery around where she’s gone or if she’s dead. Different members of the family believe different things.
It’s heartbreaking to read Debbie’s side of the story before the night she disappeared as she was clearly struggling with a newborn baby, and got no support from her husband or friend. Or did she? Was it just how she saw things back then?
Anna and her brother have moved on with their lives but when an email is received, Anna hopes it’s from her Mum and tries to get in touch.
This is a mystery thriller which has family firmly at its heart.
Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

11 Missed calls, that's kind of a click bait type title, is what I realized when I read the story. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense of the plot even if I wished the story was a bit more fast paced and shorter.

Thank you Avon Books & NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book - all opinions are my own.

This was a fantastic, quick, thriller rollercoaster read to fall into. If you are a bookworm who enjoys the tension of a whodunit, with some character drama tossed in, then this is the book for you.

Synopsis: Debbie went missing thirty years ago, leaving her husband and two children behind with endless questions and no answers. Her daughter Anna has grown up always wondering what happened to her mother, and believing that she might still be out there. When her father and stepmother receive a letter that is purportedly from Debbie, Anna realizes that the answers she has always wanted may come at a steep cost.

I completely enjoyed this as an easy, brisk, page turner - the story moves easily back and forth between Debbie in the month leading up to her disappearance, and Anna in present day working through her own challenges. Elisabeth Carpenter does an excellent job of keeping the pace of the story high, and the tension thick - you realize as you get further in the book that you are going to find out what happened to Debbie, but it is impossible to guess what the twists are until they hit you.

I love books with unreliable narrators, and I think Debbie was a perfect fit for this - watching her struggle as a character and realizing that her perspective might not be trustworthy was a delicious set up for what comes next.

This book is great summer reading, offering up the perfect mix of thriller and drama to waste away a summer afternoon.

11 Missed Calls by Elisabeth Carpenter was a bit of a disappointment for me. I had really high hopes for this book but it didn't live up to them at all.

It is the story of Anna who lost her mother when she was 1 month old. She disappeared on a family holiday near to be seen again. After her mother disappeared her father married her mothers best friend. Her father and step mother receive a letter that makes it seem that Anna didnt know the full story. She then discovers a letter from another women in her husbands wallet. The chapters jump between the present and her mothers time 30 years ago.

I found the book to be hard to follow with so many horrible characters. It was long and slow, just not for me. Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and in no way biased.

I don’t really know what I thought of this book .. it was an easy read but not a gripping one . I didn’t really like any of the characters and was disappointed in the ending . Not quite the read I was expecting . My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for me opportunity to read .

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I was interested enough in the outcome so I stayed up late to finish it. On the other, the ending left me a bit flat as it didn't manage to deliver the punches I was half expecting. But, all that said, I really enjoyed the trip back to the 80s and had an absolute blast re-connecting with things from my own past.
Anna was a baby when her mother disappeared. Her family were on a joint holiday with her mother's best friend Monica and her family. Fast forward 30 years and Monica is now married to Anna's father, having brought up both Anna and brother Robert pretty much since Debbie's disappearance. Anna has always held on to the hope that her mother is still alive, a feeling that isn't shared by all her relatives. But then, one day, Monica receives an email, allegedly from Debbie herself, hinting that there was more to what happened than everyone has said. So Anna steps up her investigation, determined to get to the truth of what happened.
Told in two timelines, with the odd additional chapter from an unknown character, we follow Anna in the present day, trying to get to the truth, and also Debbie, back in the 80s, just after the birth of Anna, leading up to the holiday and the time she vanished.
This book relied quite a bit on misdirection, both that of the reader and some of the characters. Some was obvious, some came out of left field a bit and didn't quite feel as congruent as maybe they should have; for me anyway! The reveals, when they came throughout the book, also fell a bit flat on occasion, not delivering the punch that you would expect, and need, from a book of this genre. One big one, which I can't mention here obviously, actually left me a bit confused due to its importance. I felt that something that key wouldn't have been overlooked during the previous disclosures. I get that the author needs to hold things back from the reader but it just felt wrong that nothing had been mentioned, even though there was a huge curve ball surrounding certain facts. It just all felt a bit too contrived for me, making the book not flow as it should.
The characters were good but they also relied on too much misinformation and assumption regarding certain secrets and lies surrounding them. I did feel for Anna as she tried to find out what happened to Debbie but I felt that she was missing so much that she should have considered that sometimes she annoyed me. There were a couple of running themes around infidelity and mental health issues that just seemed to have been introduced to muddy the waters and not really much else. I know things are clearer with hindsight but the book relied a bit much on this sometimes.
But, as I said, I carried on reading, into the wee small hours, desperate for that punch and a cracking ending to make up for my endurance. Sadly, that wasn't what I actually got and I finally went off to sleep feeling a bit let down and with quite a few unanswered questions. Even the title confused me; another blink and you miss it moment that was also one of the unknowns at the end of the book. Maybe that was the point, deliberately ambiguous, going along with pretty much the underlying theme of the rest of what followed!
All in all not the best follow up to the brilliant 99 Red Balloons which I really loved. It's not enough to write the author off just yet as I know that she can deliver the punches but sadly, despite the wonderful trip down memory lane which it did deliver, this wasn't the book for me overall. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

There are aspects of the book which I liked.
It kept me engaged enough to keep going until the end.
In this mildly interesting family saga, Elisabeth Carpenter has created a collection of characters whose lives are linked.
The book explores the story of mother and daughter across two time frames.
There are a few twists towards the end of the story.
I give my thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for a copy in exchange for this review.

Having read Elisabeth debut book 99 Red Balloons, I was very excited to read this her second book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, the story was told in two parts, Debbie's story from the past in 1986 and then the daughter's story Anna in the present, some 30 odd years later. You spend a fair bit of time throughout the book going back to the past then the present, back to the past and so on. I found it easy to follow and I loved reading both their storys at the same time.

I was truly captivated and enthralled with this book and throughout reading it, I kept trying to piece everything together in my head, and figure it all out, and wondering how it would all end. There were plenty of surprises, twists and turns come the final chapters that I literally didn't see coming.

However, as much as I did enjoy reading this story from start to finish, there was one thing that did confuse me. The title of the book 11 Missed Calls, there was only one sentence in the whole story that actaully referenced the missed calls and then nothing, no reason as to the missed calls or who they were from or what the intention of them were.  It has made me wonder as to why the book was even given the title of 11 Missed Calls!

Despite this though, it hasn't made me regret reading this book, as I did thoroughly enjoy it and was very entertained, right to the very end.

A wife and mother disappears on a family vacation and is presumed to have run away. The story is told in two timelines, before her disappearance by Debbie and 30 years later by her now-grown daughter Anna. While reading most of the book, I could completely understand why Debbie chose to leave. Her husband was a jerk, oblivious to helping his wife and newborn child. But it was still difficult to understand, if she wasn't dead, how she could abandon her kids. Then Anna gets an email supposedly from her mother and decides to try and find out what really happened that night. The end result is an enjoyable book with lots of sub plots to keep the action lively and the assumptions going. Though, no real clue what the title has to do with the book at all!