The comparison to the Lovely Bones is unwarranted and sets reader's up for disappointment. Too many characters and bloated text made this just okay.

Well written drew me in a haunting mystery a town a mystery of a missing young girl.The story each character well developed.Will be recommending highly.#netgalley#hmh

After finishing the novel myself, I read some surprisingly negative reviews of Ghosts of the Missing, and I couldn't disagree more. While other readers felt the plot was disjointed (the events did not mesh seamlessly with the narrative of the disappearance) and that the story was too slowly-paced (what do you expect in a character-driven novel?!), I found this book to be both compelling and thoughtful. Adair's character was palpably human and relatable. I especially appreciated that while she and Ciaran had a connection through Rowan, and clearly respected one another, their friendship and mutual respect didn't need to blossom into a love story. A definite five-star read, and a story that is meaningful without being trite or sentimental.

Even if it's well written it failed to keep my attention and the story fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Ghosts of the Missing by Kathleen Donohoe is a so-so tale of loss, memory, and traditions.

Adair McCrohan has long been haunted by the unsolved mystery of the disappearance at age twelve of her best friend girl, Rowan Kinnane, on October 28, 1995, in Culleton, New York. She returns to her family home, the Moye House, an old mansion that is currently a writer's retreat to stay with her poet uncle, Michan McCrohan. A writer currently living there, Ciaran Riordan, has a personal connection to Rowan and hopes to solve what happened to his sister. Adair joins forces with Ciaran to try and discover what happened to Rowan. In the process of investigating they uncover some hidden secrets and ghosts of the past.

In this very slow moving novel the chapters alternate between Adair in the present and in 1995, as well as various other people who have lived in Cullenton since the 1800s. Mixed into the melancholy, atmospheric tale is Irish folklore, legends, conspiracies, mysticism, rumors, murder, and science. While the plot is supposedly focused on solving what happened to Rowan, it really isn't at all. This may be as problematic for many other readers as it was for me. There is no closure in solving a mystery. This is more of a character driven family saga that jumps around in time between decades and characters.

The quality of the actual writing is quite alluring. It is beautifully rendered and poetic. The problem is twofold. The jumping around between time periods and characters detracts from the novel rather than creating interest and becomes distracting. The second is the premise that a mystery is to be solved. It isn't a true focus of the plot at all. This really wasn't a good choice for me, but may be a better fit for others.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HMH Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/02/ghosts-of-missing.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3183098623
https://www.librarything.com/work/23906052/book/178681215

The title and description presuppose yet another one of those female driven female authored suspense thrillers that are so immensely popular right now. And yet…from the beginning this one was different. It read like a proper literary novel, albeit one with a disappearance mystery at its center. And it read so well, too. Most impressive, especially for a debut. But then as the reading progressed, the initial effects began fading. And I say progressed because this one took me an uncharacteristically long time (some of three days) to finish, not the book’s fault really, just life and such. But it did give me something of a different perspective on the book and mainly it seems that despite all the initial promise and all the eminently present quality, it ended up somewhat disappointing. And here’s why and how…So your basic plot involves a protagonist, young woman named Adair from a tragic family line that favors women (genetically as it is understood in the modern age, but bewilderingly magically to the generations past). Adair is an artist, after becoming orphans at a young age she was raised by her only surviving family, an uncle, in a writing colony. There she met a friend, another young girl, who disappeared at the age of 12. Now some 14 years later that girl’s brother comes to the writing colony to write a book about that disappearance and try to investigate it after all this time. So far sounds like a fairly standard mystery plot, right? Well, it isn’t, though. It’s all about the delivery and the delivery here heavily concentrates on Adair’s family, past and present, the narrative jumps around decades and eras, plotlines and lifetimes to follow a myriad of characters, connected by tainted blood. Generations upon generations of an Irish family. It’s really very much a family saga. And the thing is, it probably should have stayed that way, instead of revolving it around a mystery that doesn’t get enough merit and doesn’t get a proper resolution. And maybe as a family drama it might have used some streamlining too, instead of the exhausting jump around (jump around, jump up, jump up and get down) approach. The overall effect is busy, cluttered even. Which is frustrating, because the novel has so much potential otherwise. The writing is absolutely lovely, like a hauntingly sad melody…well, an Irish tune, certainly. Albeit performed by a traditional music ensemble that’s seemingly trying to go for jazz. All in all, approach this one patiently and no matter what do not go in expecting a mystery thriller. Family drama, exclusively. Slow, melancholy, character driven kind. There, now you’re ready to read this one. My job’s done. Thanks Netgalley.

The character development was strong and tied many pieces of a family together into a brilliant story. The Irish lore captured me and took me along for the ride.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Ghost of the Missing by Kathleen Donahoe. A missing child and the search for the truth in a small town is the major plot of this novel. It is well written and provides alot of details to help the reader grasp the scope of the plot. For me, I did find this book good but not great. This story line has been done before so there are not alot of surprises or twists.
Just ok.
2.5 stars.

This book was not what I expected from the blurb provided.
It did not hold my attention.
The books it was compared to were misleading.

A little flat. I liked the concept--the affects of a girl going missing during a parade to the community at large but I didn't really connect with the characters. I'm not sure why it had to take place in the 1990s? Maybe to explain why no one had cell phones? I think writers are doing this more and more lately and I'm starting to think it means they lack imagination. People still disappear in 2019!

Haunting. Lyrically written. I loved this story and believe that it will sell very well. part contemporary fiction/part thriller, page turning and keeps you hooked

Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Ghosts of the Missing.

I was excited when my request was approved because the premise sounded so intriguing; the disappearance of a young girl named Rowan in the early 90s has far reaching effects for her only friend, Adair, and Rowan's half brother, Ciaran, 20 years later.

Ghosts of the Missing isn't a straightforward mystery, but more a story about the Moye family and its descendants.

It's about the ghosts of our ancestors and the stories they brought from their ancestral homeland; ghosts of the missing that forever haunt our lives and affect our actions, wishes, dreams and nightmares, and the ghosts we carry with us as we grow up; the people we love, the people we lose, and the person we hoped to be.

It's also about love, love between two friends, lonely souls who found each other at a time when friendship was so desperately needed; the love between parents and children; the love that extends back through the generations.

There are secrets, family drama, tragedy and illness, and a curse.

The author writes well, and draws the reader into the Moye family background, providing just a taste of the family curse. I would have loved more exposition about the curse, more details, more of the supernatural, since those were my favorite scenes in the book.

Adair is an interesting main character; I didn't dislike her, but I wanted to like her more. That might have been due to her character; she grew up treating people at a distance because of her illness so she appears aloof and standoffish in print. The author did this well.

I would have liked more time spent on the mystery of Rowan's disappearance itself; more clues, more subterfuge or an elaboration on the time slip theory mentioned later in the book.

But, then I'm drawn to the supernatural.

Ghosts of the Missing is a poignant look at the Moye family; their origins, their secrets, and how Adair, one of the few remaining descendants, will continue to live her life, when so many before her are gone, including her own parents.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for sending me this story. I had not read this author before. Now I will most definately seek out other works by Kathleen Donohoe. I love a good mystery and I think what intrigued me the most, was the story line. What happened to a missing 12 yearold girl named Rowan? Was she taken? Was she murdered? Is she still alive? Her body was hever found. Was it something from the past that still haunts this town? Her best friend/ cousin is determined to find out, as is her half brother. Will they solve the mystery of Rowan's disappearance.

Adair grew up in Culleton, New York, a place that has always attracted the artsy type, but she left to make her mark as an artist in Brooklyn. When she doesn’t have any success, she moves back home, into Moyes House, the writer/artist retreat funded by her own family. There she meets Ciaran, a writer staying in the house hoping to find out what happened to his sister, Rowan, a shy and awkward child who disappeared from Culleton in 1995 . Rowan, it turns out, was also Adair’s best friend and the two begin a search to discover what really happened all those years ago