There is a reason why Lisa Gardner is an automated click for her fans. She has the reputation of delivering on so many levels. This book was no different, she produced another winner.

This is actually my first Lisa Gardner book and it certainly will not be my last. Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic who has stumbled into a new addiction. Finding missing people, no matter what the cost. Based upon real people who search for the missing for nothing other than to give families answers, Gardner has created a compelling story.

Frankie’s newest investigation leads her into the heart of Boston, specifically into the lives of Haitian immigrants. In a place where she stands out completely, Frankie sets out to find missing Angelique Badeau. What starts as a single missing person’s case turns into two and Frankie may just uncover one of the biggest secrets the Mattapan neighborhood has been hiding.

Though Frankie has flaws, she is a very likable narrator. Her history with addiction is a focal point within the story is a fairly accurate depicts of the daily struggles a recovering addict goes through. The pull to relapse is massive and I really enjoyed getting inside of Frankie’s head, with her introspective views.

I also felt I learned a bit with this story. I had no idea that Boston had taken in quite so many Haitian refugees after the Earthquake. I found it very interesting to learn about the 10 year visas many held, and it actually made me do a bit a research into the current issues with this 10 year anniversary coming up.

This is a perfect read for mystery fans but besides the mystery, Gardner’s depictions of an addict’s struggle while educating readers a bit about the Haitian population that came to the states post the 2010 earthquake. The inspiration behind this story is also incredibly intriguing. I can only hope Gardener will turn this into a series because I would love to read more about Frankie! All the stars!



Before She Disappeared is out now. Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.

Highly recommend! Kept you intrigued from start to finish! Very well written and would recommend to friends

This was my first read by Lisa Gardener, and it kept me on the edge of my seat as I turned the pages. BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED is a stand-alone novel that introduces us to Frankie Elkin, a 40-something, white, recovering alcoholic, who is full of regrets as she fights her demons. Frankie has discovered she has a knack for finding missing people whose cases have gone cold and everyone has given up on. Unfortunately, all 14 she has found so far have been dead. She has come to the Mattapan area of Boston for her next case, a missing 14-year-old Haitian girl, Angelique. Mattapan is a Haitian enclave, and a small white woman stands out, but she convinces Stoney to give her a job as a bartender and a room above the bar, complete with a possibly homicidal feline roommate. Frankie travels light and has learned how to make do. After she contacts Angelique’s family, she wastes no time stirring things up in her quest to find answers. Even the Detective assigned to the case, Det. Dan Lotham, is forced to admit Frankie gets answers they hadn’t gotten before.
Frankie is unconventional and determined, seeking redemption for things in her past. She is nowhere near perfect, and some days barely gets by, holding on by her fingernails. Gardener has used a deft hand to create a character and a story that will keep you engrossed and rooting for Frankie to succeed every step of the way.
Full of action and unexpected twists, BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED will keep you intrigued until the very end.
Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#BeforeSheDisappeared #LisaGardener #Dutton #Penguin

The author recognizes “the right person asking the right questions can make all the difference.”. In this outstanding novel a private citizen earns the confidence of a community and local police to uncover the facts and fiction of a cold case to hopefully bring a young child safely home.

This novel honors the families that keep a light of hope on for a loved one taken is returned as well as the individuals who hunt for the runaways, the lost or stolen but not forgotten victims. Without these private citizens many cold case files would go unsolved - regardless of the outcome. Solving the case and bringing closure is what drives hunt, not credit or fame it’s the closure.

I’ve enjoyed lisa Gardner’s work and recommend this book to any mystery lover.




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Lisa Gardner has been a favorite author of mine for years! I’ve read every book she’s written and I’m amazed that with each one she brings a fresh, compelling mystery to the table.

This new release features the complex and determined Frankie, a woman who’s devoted her life to traveling the country helping to find missing persons. She has chosen to focus on helping to find missing minorities and/or immigrants, those who don’t get the sustained attention of police and often even their own families. She moves to their city, often to the same neighborhood as the missing and immerses herself in their life- a premise I thought worked beautifully!

In this story, she moves to Boston, specifically to a Haitian community where a 15 yr old girl has vanished without a trace. What I think Gardner does better than just about anyone is create not only a nuanced mystery but characters with SO many layers. Even the supporting characters I felt like I knew, they were all flawed, some including Frankie, holding onto secrets from the past. I learned much about the Haitian community especially details about the immigrant experience so many of them are facing today . If you like your mysteries well plotted, with intriguing characters and stellar writing, this book is for you! And I highly recommend the audio, the narration by @hillaryoutloud was excellent.

#BeforeSheDisappeared is a great mystery by Lisa Gardner. I was hooked from the first page and really burned the midnight oil reading after a very long time. At times, I found that the story dragged on a bit too long, however, I kept on reading I wanted to know the end.

I highly recommend this great read! I would like to thank #NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with an ARC of this great addictive mystery. I look forward to read more books by Lisa Gardner.

This book was amazing and it is the type of thriller that no one can see the ending coming until you are right smack up against it. Gardner paints an amazing and realistic story around Frankie Elkin and her search for missing people across the country. The book is a ride that you will enjoy taking, this book is a slow burn, but it still moves at a decent pace while it keeps you interested.. This was my first Lisa Gardener book and definitely won't be my last!

Lisa Gardner has been a favorite author of mine! Her books never disappoint — including her latest, Before She Disappeared. If you love a good mystery, this one’s for you! I hope we hear from Frankie Elkin again!

Lisa Gardner always writes good mysteries, you can count on that. I like that Frankie was a strong character and I did not mind the slower pace of the book. I would recommend to mystery lovers or even more so to people new to the mystery genre. I did not go into this story with the expectation it would blow me away so I was not disappointed. Still a solid read from a very good author.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review.

For the most part, I enjoyed this one, as I usually do from Gardner. But something seemed a little different with this story, almost like the full story wasn't there. I'm not sure. Maybe it just happened to be when I read it. IDK, but while, I did like it, it wasn't as good as Gardner's other books, IMO.

3/5 Stars

Honestly you can never ever go wrong with a @lisagardnerbks read. The stories that she creates are always brilliant, addicting and never boring.

Before She Disappeared did not disappoint and I LOVED that it was NOT a domestic thriller. I mean I love domestic thrillers (duh) but sometimes reading a thriller that doesn’t involve an unstable wife and/or husband is refreshing!

The main character Frankie had a lot of issues but she was amazing and a super strong woman! The book focuses on the kidnapping of two young women, and Frankie is determined to bring the victims not only home but alive as well.

There are a TON of shady characters along the way, so many times I thought ‘this person must be involved’ but I was continually wrong!

Love love love unpredictable thrillers! Definitely a FOUR star ⭐️ read!

Thank you @netgalley @duttonbooks @lisagardnerbks for the gifted copy!

Thank you to @netgalley & @lisagardnerbks for sending me an e-ARC of her latest release!! You guys have to pick up a copy of this one!!! It just came out in January and was amazing!!!
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Frankie travels around the United States to find missing people. She travels to Boston to find a missing teenager who has been missing for 11 months and the trail has run dry.
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This was such an interesting read, i absolutely loved it!!!!!! Lisa Garnder is honestly a BEAST her books are SO GOOD!!!!

This was my first Lisa Gardner book I have read in a really long time, and I am glad I picked this up! This was a little slow for me, but once Frankie started uncovering secrets about halfway through the book it really picked up! I had to keep reading to figure out what had happened in Frankie's past as well as what happened with Angelique. Lisa tied all the loose ends together very well, and what may have seemed as a random small detail later on proved to be important all along! Frankie isn't your typical heroine as she has struggled in the past with addiction and has ghosts of her own. I loved getting to know Frankie, and I would really enjoy seeing her in future books.

Thank you Netgalley & Penguin Group for allowing me to read and review this book early. I’ve always been a fan of Lisa Gardner’s books, and I liked this one, but it didn’t totally hit it out of the park for me. It was a slow burn, but still enjoyable. Frankie was such a strong female lead and I enjoyed the “who dun it” police drama feel. All in all, it was a good book.

If you are into mysteries and a female heroine, Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner is for you. Frankie, a recovering alcoholic with a mystery of her own travels from town to town to help find missing people. When a young girl goes missing without a trace will Frankie finally be able to solve the mystery before it is too late? A slow burn to start this book finally picks up speed and the reader is unable to put it down wondering what the ending outcome will be. The characters are well developed and are intertwined well. The mystery and conclusion are also worth the read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing house for allowing me to read this book.

I really love Lisa Gardner's books but this fell a little flat for me. It was more of a slow burn then a rapid fire, and this one seemed to focus more on our main character, Frankie, than the case she was trying to solve. Frankie was also a little more of a "grey" character for me-usually Gardner writes some very bright, vivid, characters. It didn't seem far-fetched that she used her ability to talk to people, but it did seem unrealistic that the neighborhood seemed to take in a stranger so quickly. However, I'm still in love with Lisa Gardner's writing style. I love how we see through the eyes of the characters without including every little detail: Miss Gardner has such a terrific balance for me. I would be interested in reading more books about Frankie but I would actually prefer to go backwards and hear about some of her old cases.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for allowing me an ARC of this book.

Frankie Elkin is a total badass , middle-aged, amateur detective who devotes her life to solving cold cases. Set in a tough Boston neighborhood, everything about this story is first class. I enjoyed it so much I immediately started working my way through Lisa's backlist and zipped through one of her earlier titles, Alone, this week!

I have been a fan of Lisa Gardner for a long time and have read many books from her Detective D.D. Warren Series. When I heard she had a new stand alone novel, I was thrilled at the opportunity to check with one out. It’s set in Boston, Massachusetts and I happen to be from the suburbs so the scene was so familiar to me, I could actually see Frankie struggling to figure riding the “T” because, well been there, rode that, and have gotten off at the wrong stop a time of two. Frankie also reminded me of Flora Dane, who you will find in most of Gardner’s D.D Warren Series as well. They are both lost souls and essentially vigilantes, looking to solve crimes both with and without the help of police.

Frankie is an amazingly strong female lead, a recovering alcoholic with loads of her own issues, her mission is solve unsolved missing persons cases that have gone cold. She is complex and I spent most of the story trying to figure her out. While I didn’t get all my questions answered, I got enough to piece together her life and how she ended up doing what she does. Gardner could definitely write more stories about Frankie and I certainly hope she does!

I love a police drama and a case of who did it. I love unwrapping the mystery slowly chapter by chapter. It’s like putting together a complex puzzle. The picture not clear until the very end. Once I started reading I didn’t want to put it down. I was so invested in the story, I had to keep reading to find how all the pieces fit.

This book is out now! You will not be disappointed!

I've really loved some of Lisa Gardner's other books (the Detective D.D. Warren series, particularly Find Her) but this one was not for me. It was a lot slower paced and I could not relate to the main character, Frankie, or her motivations. The premise of a woman moving around and looking for missing persons, especially people of color, was interesting but the story was not fast-paced enough to keep my attention. Those who prefer the slow burn, atmospheric kind of mysteries would like this one, but I wouldn't call it a thriller.