What an amazing book!

I already read two books from Joël Dicker and loved his writing style and the way he creates a suspenseful atmosphere. This novel was no exception.

In this book we follow to separate timelines: 1994 and 2014. In the summer of 1994, a quadruple murder was committed in the small town of Orphea, in the Hamptons. While the murderer was apprehended and died in 1994, in 2014 a journalist named Stephanie Mailer starts investigating this crime. She is convinced the wrong person was accused of the murders back in 1994. Right after she shares her doubts about the investigation to the policeman who was in charge of said investigation back in 1994 and is retiring from the force, she mysteriously disappears. Is her disappearance linked to the quadruple murder from 1994? Could it really be that the wrong person was accused all these years ago?

This book was a real page turner and full of suspense. From the first few pages I was gripped by this story. There were many different storylines that ended up being connected and I wanted to know the resolution of each and everyone of them. I loved the characters and their interactions. The book was quite a big one but I flew through it!

The ending was a teensy tiny bit disappointing, in the sense that I expected one last plot twist that didn’t happen. But all in all I loved this book and I highly recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and the editor for this ARC!

I read and adored The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair when it was published so I had very high hopes for his new one and I’m so happy to say that the novel lived up to them. It’s quite a long book and I read it in just two sittings as I just didn’t ever want to put it down, I wanted to know what was going on in this small town. Back in 1994 four brutal murders happened, and the case was solved by a cop duo who have a 100% success rate. Only now 20 years later a journalist, Stephanie Mailer, has turned up and is certain that the cops missed something obvious at the crime scene. Now the detective from the 1994 murders is on the brink of retirement but can’t bear that he might have missed something so he goes back through the case to see if they did miss anything. The novel follows a large cast of characters and goes back and forth between 1994 and the present day, and we get the backgrounds of the main characters. I just loved everything about this book, I already feel like going back and reading it all again! I recommend this one.

This was quite an enjoyable read, if not a little too long and too slow moving in parts. The premise was good and my interest was piqued quite early on but i felt it could have progressed more quickly. I liked Jessie and I enjoyed the changes forward & backward in time. I thought the ending was good too. On the whole it was a good read.

Orphea detective Jesse Rosenberg is all set to retire early from the police force after many years of service and a 100% success record. At his retirement party a reporter called Stephanie Mailer tells him he’s not 100% in solving his cases and that he got a 1994 case wrong.

Jesse is disturbed by her claim and sets out to see if he and his police partner Derek did indeed get the wrong guy 20 years ago.

Stephanie Mailer disappears after her revelation to Jesse and nothing is as it seems.

With the help of police officer Betsy Tanner, they set out to find the real killer and stumble upon secrets that have been buried since 1994.

The story goes back and forth between 1994 when the murders occurred to 2014 when Jesse is reinvestigating the case.

I found the book a little long winded and it didn’t really grip me until a third of the way in. That said the culprit was a surprise to me and the pace at the end was electric!

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This book was ok. The jumping timeline is getting really old and annoying. every author is doing it and I would have enjo9this story far more if the 'before' information could have been told in the 1 timeline.

Having previously enjoyed The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, I was really looking forward to reading this. However, it’s a bit of a tricky one to review as, for me, it missed the mark slightly, probably for a combination of reasons.
As is usual for this author, there are a myriad of characters, each with their own story within the overall narrative. I found it a little irritating to have to concentrate on the ‘who’s who’ and this detracted from my enjoyment. Occasionally, I did wonder, what was the purpose of this character and their story?
Some parts were very good, others quite slow and meandering and I thought a bit odd, as they didn’t seem to add much to the storyline.
The book is quite long and I think the pace dropped accordingly. I also thought either the editing, translation or both could have been streamlined to perhaps improve the readers experience, certainly this reader’s anyway.
Overall, this is a complex and well plotted thriller with twist and turns aplenty. I would recommend this book, for the depth of the storytelling alone. I will read the next book by Joel Dicker and hope, for me, it’s a more positive read than this one.
I would like to thank Quercus Books and NetGalley for my copy and I confirm this is my honest review.

I'm not sure what genre this book is supposed to be. If this is a detective story/thriller it was not suspenseful enough for me, although a large part of the story centers around the murder from 1994 and several other crimes. But most of, due to the tone of the story and all the side-tracking storylines the book never gave me this 'Thriller'-vibe.
So maybe it was a social critique using the example of a small town in the Hamptons then? In this case I have to say that I've read something like that better by Richard Russo, or J.K. Rowling in "A casual vacancy". And Tom Wolfe connected a criminal case with a critique on society perfectly in "A Bonfire of Vanities".

In this book on the other hand I encountered too many small issues that diverted my attention but didn't really interested me. With so many characters in a book I cannot have the same level of interest of enthusiasm for all of them! And as already mentioned, the many different plotlines were at the expense of the suspense regarding the main criminal case (which by the way is not really the disappearance of Stephanie Mailer, as the title suggest).

2.5/5

Considering I’m well-known for my constant need to DNF books that I’m not enjoying, I must ask the question of why I forced myself to continue with this one. I suppose it stems from the fact that this story did open with an interesting tone. From the start, I was hooked on the story, wanting to know more about Stephanie Mailer and the different cases being investigated. I well and truly thought that I was in for a rollercoaster ride.

In all honesty, this book was mediocre at best, hence the 2.5-star rating. While I initially thought I was going to love this book, I should have known it would go downhill. The first thing to note is that The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer is a translated work, and it shows. While there are some translated words that have a few errors here and there or mistranslations that don’t quite work in the English language, the translation in this felt clunky and awkward. There were more mistranslations than I could count, overuse of the word ‘absolutely’, and many tense-related grammar issues. I think this is what ultimately contributed to my dislike of the writing style itself.

It is perhaps important to note that this book required better editing. At least 100 pages could have been removed that was filled with backstories for characters that we didn’t need. I understand having red herrings, but I’m pretty sure everything was a red herring. I was so confused by the end of this book because I just couldn’t understand how some things were relevant. I couldn’t understand how I was meant to suspend my belief at times, including the decision to willingly allow a certain character to obstruct the course of justice because they wanted to put on a play for the town. It just did not make sense and almost made the book feel like one huge joke. I also felt that many of the characters often found themselves having flashbacks or reveries, which meant that we were subjected to them, too. Every other chapter had some kind of nostalgic flashback which really did not add anything to the story whatsoever.

We follow so many different characters in The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer that it’s impossible to keep up with them. There’s a ‘cast list’ at the end of the book, but that was rendered pretty useless since it was a kindle copy and the cast was so large, I would not have been able to remember them anyway. Many of the stories overlapped but I also found that I was meeting new characters 470 pages into a 544 page book. It felt like a cheap way to come to a conclusion - a conclusion that I predicted quite early on.

Though the large cast of characters was slightly jarring for me, I have to say that our golden trio - Betsy, Jesse and Derek - were such a pleasure to read. They absolutely were the ultimately redeeming quality of The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer for me. All three characters have an insane amount of dedication and resilience and their love for the job really shows in their interactions. Derek is very much soft-hearted when it matters, Jesse is a people person and is therefore vulnerable and likeable, and Betsy is strong-headed, wilful and honest, in particular in the face of such disgusting workplace sexism. I loved following this trio as they investigated the case - yes, even though the case was completely bogus.

I think it’s safe to say that I did not enjoy this reading experience, on the whole. While the characters were a great redeeming quality, I unfortunately did not like the writing style or the plot itself. I don’t think I’d pick up more by this author, in particular since I’m fully aware now of how long this book is.

Content warning: sexism, suicide, mentions of self-harm, recreational drug use, murder, arson, prostitution, adultery, domestic abuse, divorce.

Thank you to Maclehose Press, Quercus Books, Joël Dicker and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I found it really hard to get into this book, partly due to the clumsy translation, partly due to the jumping back and forth and changing POVs (although I appreciate this was a proof copy, and still had to go through final edits). The story itself was a good read, but I feel that it could have been shorter and would have had more impact.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for a free copy.

Once again Joel Dicker has created a rich and detailed world of intrigue that gradually unfolds around you. Direction and mis-direction sends the reader down as many rabbit holes as the protagonists. The tale is revealed through multiple. deftly realised, voices and as you get to know the characters from both outside and within you gradually learn to understand why they are there and what drives them in both the investigation and in life. Dicker reminds us that big things happen in small places and no-one knows what ripples small actions may create, let alone the consequences of drastic actions that seemed the only answer at the time.

This is my first book by Joel Dicker and I have some mixed feelings.

I believe that the plot is really well thought and quite interesting. With lots of intrigue and twists it’s a really satisfying read with great moments of suspense and mystery.

The characters are quite interesting and mostly likeable but there are some attitudes that feel a bit forced or over the top, in my opinion.

My biggest difficulty with this book is that it was quite long and there is a lot of detail that could potentially be removed from the book without actually impacting the story. Perhaps the fact that it was so long also made it quite slow placed as times and I struggled to engage in some chapters.

Overall though, I still enjoyed it and think the plot was really interesting and will definitely read further books by this author in the future.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

In the summer of 1994, the quiet seaside town of Orphea reels from the discovery of two brutal murders. Confounding their superiors, two young police officers, Jesse Rosenberg and Derek Scott crack the case and arrest the murderer, earning themselves handsome promotions and the lasting respect of their colleagues. But twenty years later, just as he is on the point of taking early retirement, Rosenberg is approached by Stephanie Mailer, a journalist who believes he made a mistake back in 1994 and that the real murderer is still out there, perhaps ready to strike again.

Once again, Joël Dicker is amazing at getting us confused with who’s the murderer, and the few plot twists are making the story very credible. This is a very long read full of twists and turns, suspense and I found it very complex but enjoyable. Set in two-time lines 1994 and 2014 the story goes back and forth which I actually like as I think you get more of an insight into the story.

The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Joël Dicker is most famous for his novel The Harry Quebert Affair, which I reviewed a couple of years ago, and loved. Like the previous book, The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer is a detective novel set over two timelines. In 1994, on the opening night of the Orphea film festival, the Mayor, his wife and son and local resident Meghan Padalin are shot dead on a quiet street. Police oficers Jesse Rosenberg and Derek Scott are sent to investigate what is a high profile case, and their first murder case. Twenty years later, Stephanie Mailer, a journalist, attends Rosenberg’s retirement party to tell him she thinks he made a mistake in his suspect twenty years ago, and then she disappears. In 1994 we follow the origional investigation, the suspects and secrets of a small town. In 2014, in the build up to the twentieth theatre festival, Rosenberg and Scott investigate the disappearance of Stephanie Mailer, and re look at the case twenty years ago.

The book is narrated in the first person by Rosenberg, Scott and Betsy Kanner, deputy police officer in Orphea. We see Rosenberg and Scott as young police officers on their first murder investigation, with a lot of pressure on them to catch the killer. From the start we know that this investigation effected both their professional and personal lives, and in 2014 we see the repercussions of this. Rosenberg and Scott have a close friendship as well as professional partnership, which seems to create a bond that blurs the lines between the two. Betsy is an asset to their team, fascinated by the origional investigation and she gives a fresh pair of eyes to the crime. She also has a lot to prove being the first female police officer in Orphea, and with the chance of promotion on the horizon. She has to put up with discrimination, and with her fellw deputy putting her down at every opportunity. Their voices are all individual, bringing different perspectives to the investigation. The inclusion of their personal lives and back stories makes them more relatable, and personable to the reader so you came to care about them.

A with his previous books, Joël Dicker ramps up the tension as the book progresses. In 2014 it’s all about the run up the film festival, where the killer maybe about to be revealed, and in 1994 the race to catch a killer. In both timelines the list of potentional subjects seems to rise as the plot races along, raising a lot more questions than answers and sending the reader in numerous different directions, many leading to a dead end. The suspense rises as the plot races towards the theatre festival, and the potential culmination of the investigation. I loved the multi layered plot, different perspectives and many threads of the invesigation which had me gripped and needing to read on, at no point did the suspense let up.

If I’m honest, I think I may have enjoyed The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer more than The Harry Quebert Affair. I found the characters interesting, relatable and more personable, and I loved their individual voices bringing different points of view to the investigation. I was totally gripped by ths book, with its twisty plot, red herrings and fast pace that just didn’t let up. Brilliantly plotted, this is an intelligent and compeling read.

DNF 24%

The premise of this book sounded super interesting, but when it came to reading it, I found it incredibly slow and hard to read. The way the story is told through multiple perspective should work, but I didn't like how it jumped between first and third person depending on who's POV it was being told from. I found it took far too long to get anywhere near what was actually happening, and it was confusing up until that point.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this, but it just wasn't for me!

This book was very good, lots of twists and turns and the story was well thought out. However, I felt it just went on a bit and I lost interest three quarters of the way through and had to skip through quite a lot of it.
The story was very fast paced and it certainly did not let up, with the three detectives chasing the leads to try and work out what happened on that night in 1994. History is repeating itself 20 years later with another disappearance that they believe is linked.
The story was told with quite a few flashbacks to the 90s littered throughout, which I felt hundred the story and it didn’t really flow
But, overall it was a good intriguing plot so 4 stars and recommended

Switching between time-periods and different characters’ experiences, this is the tale of a solved multiple-murder in 1994 and events twenty years later on the eve of the detective’s retirement. The journalist questioning the original police investigation and whether they got it wrong then disappears. So, returning to Orphea and revisiting the case, Captain Jesse Rosenberg decides to investigate. Revealing a web of connections between people, places and time, the Little Theatre Festival is once again central to the solving of the various mysteries. A most entertaining police procedural with enjoyable characters and a worthy whodunnit. A deserved four-star rating. With thanks to NetGalley and the author for a preview copy for review purposes. All opinions expressed herein are freely given and totally my own.

I was disappointed not to be able to finish reading the book as I was three quarters through my ARC which suddenly was archived the day after publication. So I cannot say if this had a satisfactory ending. It certainly held my attention with the reopening of enquiries into murders committed 20 years previously and the movement of the action from various places in these preceding years. In the present day further murders seem to be linked to the past.
Some of the scenarios seem a little unbelievable and the characters’ voices don’t always appear authentic so this sometimes gives the story a sense of unreality.

I was over the moon at the opportunity to read an ARC copy of the new Joel Dicker novel as The Harry Quebert Affair is one of my all time favourite books.

The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer does not disappoint. I love a good literary thriller & this ticks all the boxes. The writer has in my opinion, a particularly unique haunting style to his writing and this was again on display in this book. His prose is for me like being lulled into a state of extreme relaxation where the whole world disappears and the only important thing in the world is you and this gorgeous, lyrical writing.

I recommend Harry Quebert to everyone I talk books with; now I’m going to be recommending this one too!
#netgalley #StephanieMailer @QuercisBooks @MacLehosePress

I really enjoyed The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer. Yes, the book is more than 600 pages and the pace is at times slow, but I was completely engrossed in the story and there are twists that I didn’t see coming.

It all starts on 30th July 1994, in Orphea, a town in the Hamptons. The entire town is excited for the opening of the first Theater Festival, but things take a dark turn when four people are murdered right before the beginning of the festival. The killer was caught and one of the detectives who solved the case is now a captain. However, twenty years earlier, that same detective, Jesse Rosenberg, is approached by Stephanie Mailer, a journalist, at his retirement party. Stephanie is convinced that the police accused the wrong man, but she disappears that same night. Since it seems that somebody wants to make sure that they never find out what Stephanie knew, Jesse starts to wonder whether they made a mistake twenty years ago and together with his then partner, Derek Scott, and newly-arrived detective Betsy Kanner, they investigate both Stephanie’s disappearance and the twenty-year-old murders.

The characters are flawed and well-developed and I especially liked how well Jesse, Derek, and Betsy work together as a team. The mystery is really intriguing and difficult to solve. I didn’t figure out the truth until it was revealed. The disappearance of Stephanie and the murders are obviously linked and the list of suspects keeps growing and, as the twentieth anniversary of the murders and the Theatre Festival approach, all the suspects seem to converge to Ophelia. There is a mysterious play that will reveal the truth about the murders, there are secrets, corruption, family drama, and personal tragedy to keep you engrossed in the story.

The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer is a character-driven, thrilling, and suspenseful novel and it’s out today!

I was a big fan of Joel's earlier novel, 'The Truth About The Harry Querbert Affair' and was looking forward to what he followed it up with and this did not disappoint.

There are multiple timelines and narratives running through this substantial story, spanning 2 decades and several protagonists.

The main narrators are Jesse Rosenberg(the 'one week away from retirement police captain), Betsy Kanner, second deputy in command of Orphea and Derek Scott, Jesse's original police force partner.

Jesse's 100% success rate in convictions is unparalleled, until his retirement party throws up an inconsistency in the shape of a journalist.

Stephanie Mailer throws enough seeds of doubt over the very first case which Jesse and Derek solved, a quadruple murder in 1994.

And then she vanishes...

As Jesse's personal and professional lives are intertwined, his whole career has been based on this one conviction, this solving of what is locally known as 'The Dark Night' and so he cannot hang up his badge until he has thoroughly investigated not only the smoking gun which Stephanie claims to have found, but her disappearance as well.

Betsy makes a neat counterpoint to Stephanie-Stephanie is a woman about whom the entire book is both named and centered upon, but about whom we know very little. She is pieced together, third hand,by witness statements, her own writing and circumstance,her presence is almost ghostly. Betsy, however, is a known quantity, she is a woman in a man's world, trying to establish herself as someone to be reckoned with despite the local police having no time or interest in welcoming her to the team. The systemic bullying she faces on a daily basis has her lined up with Jesse, trying to do the right thing by both the missing and the dead, her entrance and Jesse's exit will be remembered by history as a great triumph, or, as abject failure.

As the investigation proceeds down a two pronged approach, into Stephanie's whereabouts and the mayor's family(plus accidental witness Megan) murders, the sense of place and time increases to a fever pitch of local concern over the annual theatre festival.

For a small town dependant on the tourist dollar, Orphea needs this to be solved and solved fast.

It is here that the narrative takes a darker turn as the needs of the many-the local elite-outweigh the obligations of the few-Jesse,Betsy and Derek.

It is reminiscent of Amity's mayor in Jaws, where they try and hide the fact that there is a killer shark waiting in the wings, for the benefit of the town's annual summer break. Here, the cultural and social impact of the theatre festival has lingered over the town, both reliant on it and scared of it due to superstitions surrounding the Orphea festival genesis.

The pace is frenetic yet steady, the revelations coming thick and fast whilst some extremely detailed character and world building is constructed.

What I loved is how involving this book is, it doesn't give up its secrets easily, it makes the reader work at it, just like its predecessor.

The quality of the translation is high, the different narrators seem interchangeable to start with but about a third of the way in, their voices became substantial and more clear to follow. Joel certainly has a lot to say on the nature of writing, who ideas belong to and culpability for honesty in the telling of a tale.

He juggles the re-opened investigation into a seemingly solved quadruple murder , the social structure of a small town (including long held prejudices and tall tales) and the responsibility of the structures of law and information gathering with aplomb. This could have felt overlong and unwieldly in another writer's hands, however, it is a book which pulls you, engrosses you and asks, just how did Stephanie Mailer disappear?