As a teenager in the 80’s this brought back some great memories and made me feel a bit nostalgic. Set over two time periods, this story weaves effortlessly back and forth over an unsolved disappearance and the two families involved. The author had obviously done her research as it made me feel like I had stepped back in time

I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy of 11 Missed Calls, a psychological thriller set in Preston.

Anna was one month old when her mother, Debbie, disappeared 30 years ago while on holiday in Tenerife. Debbie's disappearance and what she believes her family is keeping from her has coloured Anna's life so when her stepmother, Monica, receives an e-mail purportedly from Debbie she starts investigating seriously.

11 Missed Calls is not what I thought it would be and I didn't like or enjoy it. The novel alternates between Anna's current day first person narrative and Debbie's 1986 first person narrative and just for confusion Ms Carpenter throughs in an occasional chapter from an unnamed narrator's first person current day account. As both Anna and Debbie are rather flaky their interpretation of events can be considered unreliable. Add to these inauspicious beginnings a marked lack of tension and a concentration on the first world problem of suspected infidelity and I quickly lost interest. I persevered, however, hoping for a stunning revelation or a major twist and got schmalz. I also found out that I had guessed most of the "twists" already.

I'm sure plenty of people will enjoy 11 Missed Calls but it's not gritty or tense enough for me.

A family story told from the points of view of Anna, the daughter, and Debbie,her mother.. While it was an OK story it didn't hold my interest as much as I had expected it to

I was looking forward to reading this when I read the synopsis. liked the first third of this book but it was fairly formulaic and predictable after that,

I would like to thank Avon Books UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ’11 Missed Calls’ written by Elisabeth Carpenter in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
In 1986 Debbie is on holiday in Tenerife with her family and friends and when she disappears with no trace she’s believed to have died. Her husband Jack moves on with his life and marries her best friend Monica, while her children Anna and Robert grow up to be adults with their own families. But in the present time Monica receives an email saying ‘it’s time to tell the truth’ which she believes has been written by Debbie, and letters are arriving written on pink paper. Is Debbie still alive, and if she is, why has she waited thirty years before coming forward?
This is an interesting psychological thriller with a cleverly written plot which fits together well, twists and turns especially towards the end and a surprising conclusion. I liked how the narrative moved from Debbie’s story to Anna’s, and I can’t quite understand how the title of ’11 Missed Calls’ relates to the story, but I enjoyed reading the novel and am happy to recommend it.

Imagine that everything you've been told about your mother since you were a baby, turns out to be a lie. Who can you believe now. What else were you lied about as well? This is the basic premise of the riveting second novel by Elisabeth Carpenter. Anna discovers that her mother might still be alive, and the whole process of finding out the truth made for very entertaining reading and worth the time and effort.
A solid read by a new and accomplished author.

Debbie died 30 years ago, or did she? What happened on the night that Debbie disappeared? Did she run away? Did she pass away? A great novel full of love, family life, stress, family secrets, betrayal and twists. This book is cleverly written from two points of view – from the daughter Anna and the mother Debbie. A great psychological thriller that is sure to please fans of this genre.

This is my first book read by Elisabeth Carpenter and I really enjoyed it. This book takes you on a journey from past to present as the story of what really happened on that night in question 30 years ago unfolds and you begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together one by one.

This book has lots of twists and turns, keeping you reading late into the night and not wanting to put it down as you are wanting to know what happens next. Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher Avon for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for a free ARC novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was my second Elisabeth Carpenter book. As with her debut novel, there were many twists and turns along the way. She has a very fresh approach to the suspense genre. The book revolves around 2 women - Debbie and Anna - mother and daughter. Debbie disappeared shortly after Anna was born. Anna spent 30 years wondering what her mum was like and what happened to her. The story is woven in time back and forth between present day and 30 years ago. The characters are interesting and you want to know more about them. The descriptions of the landscapes is so clear that you can see yourself there with the characters.

I would very much recommend this book or Ms. Carpenter's first novel 99 Red Balloons to anyone looking for a refreshing author.

I absolutely loved this book and it is well worth reading for lovers of psychological thrillers with a few twists. The scene is set 30 years ago in chapter 1 when Debbie is left in a 'cliff-hanger'! You do not know what happened until late into the story. The chapters alternate between Debbie (30 years ago) and Annie/Anna (2016). My only slight criticism of the book is that I felt there was a little too much detail on Debbie's actions before the cliff-hanger. I know it needs to be explained but I feel it could have been achieved with a 66/33 split and not 50/50. Other than that faultless and brilliant. To paraphrase ageing wine and some people this book improves with page and not age.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book written from two character's point of view. It held my attention throughout.
Being a similar age to Debbie in the 1980's it was nice to be reminded of the introduction of the microwave and whhat people said about it, amongst other things of the era.
I will be looking out for more books by Elisabeth Carpenter, and certainly recommending this novel to fellow readers.

i liked the ending, There was a good amount of guessing going on, it wasn't too badly written, the problem with this book is that it's not a page turner, it's not particularly outstanding in any way. I didn't see the ending coming as such, though there wasn't a whole lot of "choices" to guess. I actually disliked Debbie as a character, I understand she was dealing with some mental health issues, however, the postpartum stage is long past and it sounds like she had a much more serious diagnosis. I liked the character of Ellen. There was just something missing for me, and I'm still struggling to put my finger on what. The "mystery" was there, the language was reasonably well written, and I think it was simply that it wasn't a page-turner but plodded stately on to completion.

Enjoyable book overall. I was a bit disappointed with the ending and thought it could have been explained more. Prior to this I enjoyed the past and present chapters. and the unfolding of the story. .

It was enjoyable" with a few twists and turns. Short chapters draw you in. Unsure why its called 11 missed calls as it is only mentioned once briefly. Not a hook you in book but a pleasant read.

I read Elisabeth Carpenter's first book and enjoyed it (and was surprised by several of the plot twists, which is rare), so I expected good things from this book and overall I was not disappointed. This story is told in two timelines. Debbie, a young mother struggling after the birth of her second baby, disappears on a family vacation and is never heard from again. She is presumed dead, and 30 years later, her daughter Anna is still trying to find out what happened to her, especially after the family receives an email suspected to be from Debbie. I enjoyed this a lot. I have a bit of an issue with the title since it had almost no relevance to the story. I also thought the conclusion of Debbie's disappearance was revealed rather abruptly. Lots of slow buildup and a private investigator and then just bam, here's what happened. I wasn't impressed with that. But despite those things, this was very good. I spent the whole book not knowing who to trust or what to believe and not having any clue what truly happened, which is kind of a rarity in this type of book. Overall 4 stars and I'd look forward to future books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to see this book available on NetGalley. I had previously read and enjoyed the author's previous book.

The whole premise of the book was so exciting and the way the story unfolds really kept the reader engrossed. The story is told in alternate views of the mother and daughter. I really enjoy books with this kind of format. This book really kept me guessing and I had no idea what had happened.

This is a great read and I highly recommend it.

I absolutely loved this book!!
Annie’s mum took after when Annie was a baby and she never knew why! Never knew if she was the reason, whom she went with or if she would ever come back.
With a daughter of her own now, she starts looking into her mums disappearance more. And uncovers sons heartbreaking truths.
This book kept me on the edge the whole way through. It had twists and turns, and coincidental events that leave you guessing till the end.
A must read!!

Elisabeth Carpenter was one of my most exciting new author discoveries in 2017, with her riveting psychological thriller 99 Red Balloons, and since then I have been anxiously waiting for the release of her new novel. Mother-daughter mysteries have always held a special fascination for me, so I was doubly excited to read the synopsis of the plot, which revolves around the mysterious disappearance of our main character’s mother over 30 years ago – I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! And as soon as I started reading, I was happy to find that this was a gripping story that totally hooked me from the very beginning.

Carpenter uses a dual timeline to tell her story: Anna’s POV in the present as she is trying to find out the truth about her mother’s disappearance in Tenerife when Anna was only a month old; and Debbie’s voice from the 1980’s as she tells of the events leading up to her own demise, from baby Anna’s birth to the fateful holiday where she went missing. I loved Carpenter’s wonderful representation of life in the eighties, such as Debbie sitting up all night with a crying baby and staring at the test pattern on TV, and life lived out in the neighbours’ eyes. Having partially grown up in the eighties I thought the author captured the era perfectly! I could really relate to Debbie and felt so much empathy for her. It is terrible to have postnatal depression, even today, when there is more understanding and support available to deal with the condition, which would not have been understood well thirty or so years ago. Debbie’s growing sense of desperation and her slow unravelling are well represented, as are her feelings of isolation and failure as she is struggling to get through her days. Also well depicted are the gender roles of my parents’ generation, with the man going off to work and the stay-at-home mother expected to manage the children, the household and have dinner ready and served when the man of the house came home in the evening. There is a general sense of puzzlement when Debbie does not live up to her role, which only contributes to her isolation.

Having lost my mother as a child, I really related to the way Carpenter writes about the huge hole in Anna’s life left by the absence of her mother, her frustration about the half-truths she’s been told about Debbie’s disappearance and her need for answers. I always think that family secrets make for the best mysteries, and Carpenter has created a very gripping story that totally hooked me from the start. At times I felt as frustrated as Anna as all the people around her keep hiding the truth, only revealing the “alternative facts” families use to sweep dirty secrets under the carpet. There is so much raw emotion in both Debbie’s and Anna’s stories, it was impossible not to get emotionally involved! As in her previous novel, Carpenter has delivered three-dimensional, believable characters that touch your heart and your soul.

As with 99 Red Balloons, Carpenter throws in a few good curveballs and surprises, which made me suspicious of one character or the other at some stage in the book. I especially resented Monica, who seemed to be such a false friend to Debbie when she most needed someone. Anyway, I will not give any more away, except to say that the final denouement took me by surprise. I admit that there was one element in the ending that didn’t completely work for me, but I can’t say why without giving spoilers, so I will keep my mouth zipped tight and concede that endings rarely please every reader and on this occasion I am in that camp and will just have to take one for the team!

In summary, Carpenter has once again delivered a gripping story brimming with family secrets and engaging characters that had me hooked from the start. With a theme that touched a nerve in my own personal history, there was a lot of raw emotion contained in this story for me, and I especially loved the dual timeline setting. Readers who love mysteries revolving around family dynamics and skeletons in the closet should definitely give this one a go!

If I could, I would give this 2.5. I just wasn't that impressed. I think the premise of the story was good and it could have been great but it was missing something ... I really was not invested in the characters.

Definitely a quick intense read that also brings in sadness and other feelings to life in the reader. I love those books that hook you from page one and won't let go, making you travel a roller coaster of emotions. This book does just that. At times I even felt so scare I wanted to cry. Highly recommend!

11 Missed Calls by Elizabeth Carpenter pulls you into the story from the first sentence and  doesn't let go. The story is told from two points of view. The first point of view is Anna, who is trying to find her mother who disappeared when Anna was just a month old. The second is shown from the point of view of Debbie, Anna's mother, and it explains what lead to her disappearance.
The story explores love, loss and how people can react differently to the same situation. You feel Anna's need for answers and Debbie's need to find herself. As a parent you can understand how exhausted Debbie is and how desperate she feels when the baby is crying and she can't soothe her.
An entertaining read,  11 Missed Calls is hard to put down until you're finished.


Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing this advanced copy. The opinions are my own.