I received a free electronic ARC of this novel from Netgalley, Elle Marr, and Thomas & Mercer. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am happy to recommend Elle Marr to friends and family. She writes a tight, intriguing mystery with understandable, interesting protagonists and with excellent backgrounds and timing.

The Missing Sister is a tale of coastal California identical twins, raised to emphasize their sameness. We meet them in fairly modern times, their late 20s, some three years after the death of their parents. The accidental death of their parents affected the girls differently, and their relationship since has been sporadic and cold.

Angela has been for the last four years living in Paris, working now on her Master's Degree with her research work on the Parisian catacombs and their roll in modern people trafficking nearing completion. Paris' Roman catacombs are five stories deep and eleven thousand square meters in surface area. Many people are familiar with the skeletal remains arranged in patterns and designs over the centuries as the long-buried dead from Paris graveyards is cycled into the catacombs to make way for the newly dead. In this way, there are six million Parisians buried in the Catacombs but still many unexplored acres down there, as well. Angela is sure the people brokers of the world are using those unexplored areas as hiding places for hostages.

Shayna is ready to start training for her medical degree in southern California when she receives a notice from the American Embassy in France that her sister Angela is missing and presumed dead in Paris. They need a family member to identify the remains. With less than a week before her classes begin, Shayna flies over to Paris to identify her sister officially, receive her remains and head back to San Diego in time for that first class on Monday.

But of course, it's not gonna happen like that. Four plus years apart have allowed them both to evolve into the adults they were meant to be. There are clues in twin speak that Shayna uncovers as she sorts through her sister's apartment for evidence the police may have overlooked in their investigation of Angela's disappearance. The first clue, written on the corner of her whiteboard, translates into "ALIVE. TRUST NO ONE." But when did Angela write it? Before, or after she trusted the wrong person?

The appointment with Inspector Valentin, the policeman investigating Angela's case, with the mortician does not go well. She is told there have been several murders that follow this same pattern, and Angela is actually wanted by the police as a possible protagonist in another murder case. The body on the coroner's table, a corpse that spent 4 or five days in the busy Seine River, could be Angela. Shayna reluctantly gives them a positive identification though there is an essential piece of identifying matter missing. And wouldn't she just know, if Angela was dead? And if Angela is really alive, whoever is killing women in Paris may still be after her. If she is labeled "deceased", everyone will stop looking for her. Shayna changes her return flight to mid-week and begins her search of Paris and the catacombs, keeps the police on point, evades Angela's boyfriend, and her upstairs neighbor, and tries to connect with Angela's friends. But it is Madame Chang, the ancient concierge of Angel's apartment building, who stands with Shayna in her exploration for the truth concerning her missing sister. Madame Chang, who reminds her so of their maternal grandmother, even down to the Cantonese swear words.

And who would have thought this sweet little old lady would know the catacombs like the back of her hand?

An unpredictable ending! Finally!! So many "thrillers" have been lackluster and predictable in 2020, but this one threw me for a loop and I loved it!

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

When Shayna arrives in her sister's apartment in Paris, she is shocked to discover a message on her noticeboard written in their secret language. Certain that her sister is still alive, Shayna endeavours to uncover the truth and find her sister, fearing that she is in danger.

The beginning of The Missing Sister shows a lot of promise and I had high hopes for an exciting mystery. Set in the catacombs of Paris with secret riddles and code names, the prospect of following Shayna on this adventure was thrilling. The author did a wonderful job in this area and I thoroughly enjoyed the foreign and different setting. The first few minor characters which were introduced appeared grounded and I was hoping for deeper interactions between them and Shayna. Unfortunately, many of these minor characters dipped in and out and towards the end I was struggling to remember them.

I started to lose interest in the middle of the book and found that I was skimming through the main plot. A lot of the story line is based on Shayna following clues and speaking to people who her sister interacted with before her disappearance. There was little evidence to suggest how she found those clues which resulted in a weak argument when the kidnapper was revealed. It also didn't help that the majority of the plot happened in the last few pages of the book as the pace felt uneven. Although I usually appreciate fast-paced endings when well done, here it seemed like the author was in a rush to finish the story.

The Missing Sister explores a complex relationship between twin sisters which thrillers rarely cover and was one of the most interesting and enjoyable aspects. That coupled with the mysterious setting created a strong base for a promising read. Ultimately the weak links in the plot and unbalanced pace did not sit well but I was still able to find a lot to like in this debut.

The Missing Sister is such an exciting thriller! I was drawn in right from the start. Imagine. Your twin has been pulled from the Seine in Paris, and as her only living relative, you’ve got to go positively identify her body. So, you head to Paris, thinking you’ll be there two days to collect the body and clear out the apartment. What you don’t expect is a secret message on your sister’s whiteboard…one only you can read because it’s written in your special “twin language.”

Who can you trust? No one. Does no one include the police? You assume it does, but you’ve got to go with the inspector to identify the body. You’re warned that the body was submerged for quite some time, and it may be hard to identify her. You pull the sheet back and look for her birthmark…

It’s her. That’s what you tell the ME and the inspector, but you know it isn’t her. And they know it isn’t her! But since you insist it is, they’ve got to go by what you’ve said. You begin to search for more clues and slowly begin to find them. Angela’s boyfriend wants to help you follow her last steps. You begin to trust him, but then something seems off. The guide you’ve been assigned from the embassy begins to worry about you, so he begins to help you. Every lead you follow seems to lead to more mystery. Where is your missing sister? You quit trusting your guide because of clues you find. Now you’re even more wary about who you can trust, and it looks like you’ll be on your own.

You’re frantic, feverish, not sleeping. Finding Angela is your only priority, so you begin to neglect your own safety.

If you are a fan of thrillers, you have got to read The Missing Sister! I love how well written the characters are and not knowing who to trust! I felt so immersed in the story that it was as if I were Shayna, and I was losing my mind! You may even start wonder if you can even trust Shayna! Is she a reliable character or is she imagining things?

Add The Missing Sister to your TBR piles! You will love the crazy ride!

Shayna Darby has received a horrible email informing her of the death of her identical twin sister who has been living in Paris for several years.

Leaving her California home and flying to France, she is surprised by Angela's boyfriend, who has a key to Angela's apartment ... just something else Shayna didn't know about her sister. Much to her amazement, there is a message ... meant only for Shayna. As twins and as young children they invented their own secret language. The message, written in this secret language only says .... ALIVE. TRUST NO ONE.

Is her sister actually still alive? Why would she be in hiding?

Shayna retraces her sister's footsteps and finds herself the possible target of a serial killer, who supposedly murdered her sister.

Who can she trust? Her sister's boyfriend she never knew about? The embassy liaison who incidentally lives in the apartment above where her sister lived? The police who seem not to be telling her anything?

Lots of action, lots of suspense leads to an unpredictable ending.

Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Shayna goes to Paris when she heard that her twin sister, Angela had been murdered. Angela had left a message for Shayna saying "trust no one", it was written in a code the twins had made up. Shayna and Angela had not spoken since their parents died in a car crash three years ago. Now, part of a school shooting, Angela is presumed dead. Shayna tried to find out what happened to her sister.

Thenstory is told from Shayna's perspective. It has a beautiful and descriptive style in writing. A serial killer is on the loose along with human traffickers. Thenoace is fast from the beginning. Indid feel there were some loose ends that still needed tied up. There's a few twists that will keep you guessing. We meet several shady characters along the way.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and the author Elle Marr for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE MISSING SISTER - The beginning started really well until the middle mark, then the pacing was a bit too slow, and the 'who done it' predictable early on for a book considered to be a suspenseful thriller - this one doesn't quite hit the mark for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer, for loaning me an eBook of THE MISSING SISTER in exchange for an honest review.

This one was... Well, it started out interesting. Like most people, I find twins absolutely fascinating as well as vaguely creepy. I was expecting this to be a thrilling tale of one sister doing all kinds of shady things for the sole purpose of rescuing her twin - and it was that, too an extent.

The trend in thrillers has been about shock value.rather than sleight of hand. So rather than clever misdirection, we get slammed with something so unexpected (and not necessarily in a good way) that there's no way we could have predicted it. So while the writing was solid and the suspense was well maintained, I couldn't get behind some of the crazier twists.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

When Shayna Darby gets an e-mail from her twin sister Angela's boyfriend Seb in Paris that she was missing she ignores it at first. She and Angela have not spoken in three years since their parents died in a car accident. Then she gets another e-mail from Seb and this one tells her that the police believe Angela is dead after a shooting at the Sorbonne. It seems that Angela was abducted during the chaos of the shooting and that she was killed shortly after so Shayna hops on a plane in order to find out what happened to her sister.

Paris was most definitely a main character in this novel and that was one if my favorite parts. I have always had an interest in the catacombs so I really loved that, It was also kind of cool to see the not so romantic side of Paris. In some ways Shayna's journey to find her sister felt like Alice in Wonderland. I would like to add that it was nice to have a mixed race main character. It will be nice when we don't have to be pleasantly surprised by seeing that in a book.

I think if I were to find one flaw in this novel it would be that some parts were a bit repetitive but that really didn't hurt the book much. This is a good read.

An interesting synopsis that caught my attention immediately. Unfortunately it's a bit of a slow read, I had a tough time connecting and kept putting it down. I powered through the last 20% because I HAD to know the outcome. The French writing tripped me up quite a bit, not knowing the language and having it come up often - sometimes without the translation was a bit frustrating. Overall this was just an ok read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my review copy!

This book is great for those that appreciate a good suspense/thriller novel.

Shayna receives a call that her twin is missing and might be dead, so she ventures to Paris to discover that maybe not all is as it seems.  Especially when she finds a note written to her in their childhood secret language.  It says to "trust no one" and that shakes Shayna to her core.

There are various characters in this book that seem suspicious, can she trust any of them?  Do these characters have ulterior motives that they believe Shayna can assist in finding answers?

This book is fast paced since it takes place over a week.  Shayna delays her trip home to try and find the answers to the serial killer roaming the streets of Paris and to find her sister.  Shayna has to be intelligent to get into med school, but some of her actions had me questioning that intelligence.   While she knows not to trust anyone, she doesn't make wise decisions with her actions.  I also wonder about her sister, Angela, especially as the book is coming to the conclusion and we learn things about where she has been over the last few weeks.  I don't want to give any spoilers but it seems like Angela could have done more to save herself.

I enjoyed learning some of the history of Paris and the catacombs and brothels that played a part in Angela's studies and the search for her.  The fact that you can do a tour and there are bones in the catacombs is eery to me.  I may have been like Shayna and not really wanted to see that part of Paris.

At various places in the book, Shayna seems to be rambling.  Maybe she is tired and hasn't had enough sleep, or perhaps it was filler for the story.  I do think that this time gives both sisters a chance to work out issues from when their parents died and perhaps grow closer again.

I really enjoyed Madame Chang's character.  She is an intriguing woman and has done so much in her life and merits her own book.

The book does seem to leave questions unanswered and I wonder if there will be a followup book that answers those questions.  I don't think there will be because I can't imagine what the next story would include unless it picks up from Madame Chang's perspective and her story.

Overall we enjoyed this book and give it 4 paws up.

The email read, “Come to Paris. Your sister is dead.” However, when Shayna arrives she finds a note in the twins’ special language, “Alive. Trust No One.” And so starts the exciting debut thriller, The Missing Sister.

Paris, with Montmartre and the Sorbonne on its sunny surface and underground brothels and catacombs beneath, is as present as a character as Shayna. And Shayna is a character. She is convinced her twin sister Angela is alive despite the corpse in the Paris morgue. With the help of her sister’s boyfriend, Seb, she searched frantically for clues in the dark side of Paris.

The Missing Sister is both harrowing and enjoyable at different times. The setting in Paris’ seediest areas had an almost horror movie feel. Shayna despite being the pragmatic twin shows some real emotion as she becomes increasingly desperate.

Overall, The Missing Sister is recommended for thriller fans who like a bit of serial killer horror thrown into their plots. 4 stars!

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This one was very well written and I enjoyed that it was more in-depth then a lot of thrillers. This is my first book by this author and the plot really had me intrigued. It is a great tale of truth and lies and the outcome that comes with both.

This is a debut novel from Marr, who is an American but lived in France when she was getting her Masters at the Sorbonne. Her knowledge of Paris is displayed in this thriller which is set in that city. The novel veers towards creepy as many scenes are set in the underground catacombs which hold the bones of more than 6 million people. The plot begins with Shayna getting word that her twin sister Angela has gone missing. When she is told that her body has been found, Shayna travels to Paris to identify her and box up her things. When she arrives at Angela's apartment and finds a message in their childhood secret code indicating she is alive and to trust no one, she begins to retrace her sister's last few days. While I did not love the book, I did enjoy it and think the author shows great promise. I look forward to future books.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I got to 25% and wasn't much further on from the first couple of pages. Too much description, too little plot movement. Ultimately I found myself forgetting about it.

Thank you for the opportunity.

This title I did not finish. I couldn't connect with the main character and that was disappointing. I was so excited for this title.

I rushed through this 'thriller' because , frankly, it wasn't that good.

The storyline was predictable and rather obvious. There's no real buildup or tension that so many thrillers are good at.

I think Elle Marr has potential but maybe not yet.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The last thing Shayna expected was to have to deal with her twin Angela's murder. There's been a lot of loss in their lives but the two of them have a twin connection. She's surprised therefore but not shocked when she finds a note in her sister's Paris apartment that indicates she's still alive. Shayna's hunt through Paris takes her to an interesting assortment of places. She's always been the serious twin, which is why you might find her a tad detached here. No spoilers as this does have a couple of good twists. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Thomas and Mercer for an advance reader copy of this book.
The book starts as Shayna arrives in Paris after a receiving a msg from her twin sister’s boyfriend that Angela was found dead .

What liked about this book - diversity in characters ... and a tour of Paris and the catacombs ... the plot twists were pretty good

What I didn’t like about this book - the characters. - I just couldn’t connect with any of them - good or bad ... and although the twists were good, the plot just seemed overly complicated and didn’t need to be.

I believe this is a debut novel so kudos to the author and I would certainly try another of her novels .


3 stars ⭐️

While well written, I had a hard time connecting with this book.It took me much longer than usual to finish because it just didn’t hold my interest the way I had hoped it would.