loved this!! The pacing of this book was perfect. It felt like a slow burn— constant tension and anticipation leading up to a shocking finale literally RIGHT at the end. The build-up was done so quietly but so effectively, where you feel like things have been going pretty steadily but you all of a sudden find yourself frantically racing towards the end to figure out what happens with Isabel & Gray. A fantastic crime thriller, cat-and-mouse game between two very complex characters!

Kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time! I flew through this. While I do feel like it was dragged out and there wasn’t any huge twist, it was so well written and I will be adding this author to my never ending TBR list.

I love a story with a strong female protagonist and this delivered. It followed Gray, a female PI hired to find the missing girlfriend of a doctor. Lots of twists and turns in this one. I didn’t always love the writing style and it was a tad long but the story was still a really good one.

A wonderfully tense and smartly constructed cat and mouse game. Rachel Howzell Hall weaves a tale filled with suspense and honest characters. There is a gritty, but real nature to this story that I truly enjoyed.

And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall is a twisty kind of book with a ton of suspense. I enjoyed it and recommend it for a great read.

Grayson Sykes is a woman with a past that gives her a unique perspective when her first job as a private investigator is locating a missing woman who doesnt want to be found. Isabel Lincoln's boyfriend hires Grayson to find her, she took his dog and fled from what looks to be a clear case of domestic abuse. Grayson herself has fled an abusive relationship and is very conflicted on her client's intentions. Rachel Howzell Hall does an excellent job of putting the readers in Grayson's shoes as the story moves between Grayson, Isabel and a third woman. Grayson's character is well developed, you'd recognize her on the street. This adds so much to the story. An excellent read.

And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall was a thrilling and twisty read! It was quick and engaging. PI Grayson Sykes is a captivating and sympathetic character. I highly recommend it for people who like thrillers that need a little different change of pace.

This was my top thriller of 2020! The writing was phenomenal, the characters were so well-developed, and the plot keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

This seems like it should be a straightforward novel about a new PI investigating a missing woman, but it turned out to be a twisty and complicated mystery story about identity and abuse. I absolutely love Rachel Howzell Hall’s writing style - it’s dense and layered and so, so smart with just enough snark and dry wit to keep it from getting too heavy. I will read anything she writes (and have some backlist catching up to do).

DNF - did not finish. I struggled to connect with the writing style/plot and decided to put it down. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy.

And Now She’s Gone
5 stars
Wow!!! This book was so amazing and powerful! I couldn’t put it down! I loved the main character so much I wish there were more books about her! I also want to read everything written by this author, that’s how good this was! It was one of those thrillers that’s nail biting but you can’t stop and you don’t guess it until the very end! These are my favorite. I highly recommend this one!

I really wanted to like this book but there was just way too much going on at once. I appreciated that it wasn't a typical missing woman story though.

I liked the premise of Rachel Howzell Hall's And Now She's Gone. A good thriller is always appealing to me. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of this book. I found the characters and the storyline to be confusing. The writing style was too descriptive, too slangy, and just too much. I didn't see how some extra characters connected to the storyline either. Overall I was sympathetic to the pain that Grayson experienced (emotional AND physical) but couldn't really root for her.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complementary ebook copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Rachel Howzell Hall’s newest offering, And Now She’s Gone, introduces us to newbie private investigator Grayson Sykes. With her wrinkled clothes and easy distractibility, Gray comes across as a latter-day Colombo. She forgets to record interviews, can’t remember to take antibiotics on time, and finding a working pen is beyond her. In spite of all her fumbling and absent-mindedness, Gray is able to follow individual clues and piece things together in her own, unique way­.

Review continues….
Please see link to read the entire review on the Coachella website.

This book was interesting. A good thriller with enjoyable characters.
I got bored a time or two, but in the end I find it quite good.
If you’re searching a good thriller, this one might be the right one.

My feelings going into And Now She’s Gone were a bit unpleasant as early in the book there’s a derogatory remark about Black men that was upsetting. In fact, if it has been written by anyone other than a Black person, I would’ve stopped reading the book. Regardless, the remark was harmful and it really set a negative tone for the rest of the book, which is unfortunate since the book itself is actually pretty good.

Honestly, I didn’t have a clue what was going to happen next or if Isabel was alive or dead, abused or a con artist. The book is an investigative novel that is neither a police procedural or amateur sleuthing. I mean, yes, Grayson is new to the private investigator role, but she’s not new to the business. So is it amateur sleuthing? I’ll let you decide.

A lot of stories within similar genres are all so very repetitive. I felt that this one was pretty unique and because of that I enjoyed it more than I would a story I’ve felt like I read before.

This one does have a split timeline, which is done really well. The two timelines are their own separate chapters to reduce confusion, but they weave really wonderfully together at just the right moments so the story-telling is pretty seamless. It made the book all the more enjoyable.

Now here’s where I have the issues.

While the big reveal was shocking (I should’ve seen it coming!), it didn’t feel entirely believable. It almost makes Grayson seem clueless when I really don’t think that was the case.

And the ending itself? There’s so much going on in a short amount of time so that the timeline of “present day” feels all out of whack and unrealistic. Then it all just wraps up and ends so quickly, and it was just all over at that point.

"The truth was rarely pure and never simple." - And Now She's Gone, Rahel Howzell Hall

So, the beginning of the book was not a good start. The meat of the book was thrilling and twisty. Then the end was all over too quickly. But it’s hard to really rate the book because of those things because I actually really liked the story, but the execution was a bit inconsistent.

And Now She’s Gone is the perfect combo of a PI story (set mostly in LA) and a harrowing tale of domestic abuse and escape. Grayson Sykes is a new Private Investigator. Her first case is to find a missing Isabel Lincoln. This is a book you will not want to miss combined with a solid mystery full of twists and turns and Hall's great pacing, make it a page-turner of a read.

3.75 stars.

I enjoyed this mystery/thriller. I found the dialog to be entertaining. A few very repetitive parts of the novel lowered my rating a bit.

I received this book from Net Galley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for a fair and honest review.

Let me start by saying that this was a really fun book to read. Rachel Howzell Hall has a great sense of humor and it comes through clearly in her writing. The characters were fun, had a bit of Stephanie Plum feel to me at points - which I adore. The only downside was the language - the use of the F word was severe and overkill for me. That said, it was a fun ride. I really enjoyed Grayson and Nick's relationship. There was a point towards the end where I felt there may have been one too many twists and I just wanted to get to the end and see what happens with Grayson.

All in all - I will definitely read more by Rachel Howzell Hall. and if Grayson and Nick became a series - I would continue to read the series as well.

Thank you for providing me a copy of this book.
I run out of time so sorry I wasn't able to finish this.