This was one of my favorite books I've read in a long time! With all of the different storylines, I was worried they wouldn't all be wrapped up by the end of the book, but the way they were somehow all entertwined was fantastic! The twists had me audibly gasping. I loved this book.

When you read one of Mary's books -- you know you are going on a ride -- you just have no idea where she is going to take you!! She is the master of suspense and this book is one of my favorites by her!! Great concept -- missing woman and a little girl -- 3 POV's and 2 timelines -- buckle up!! I always love her first chapter!!

Shelby is aware that her husband, Jason, is cheating on her. Yet, she says nothing because she is, in fact, cheating on him. As she leaves for her late night jog, she is really going to meet her lover for a secret tryst. It’s not a love affair, it’s purely sex. When Shelby doesn’t return home, and her half buried body is found, suspicion lands squarely on her husband. Jason must surely be the murderer. Or, is he?

In the same neighborhood, Josh and Meredith live with their two children. Their marriage is happy and solid, though Josh constantly worries about Meredith’s job as a doula, which takes her out at all hours, and not always to the best neighborhoods. Meredith has no fear until she begins to receive threatening texts. When Meredith and her six year old daughter, Delilah, disappear, Josh is distraught, and tension runs high in the neighborhood. Meredith’s body is later found, with a note saying that Delilah is safe, but is somewhere she will never be found. Meredith obviously committed suicide. Didn’t she?

After years of abuse and captivity, a girl escapes her jailers and flees for her life. When she is found, she tells authorities her name is Delilah. She must be Josh and Meredith’s long lost daughter. Or, is she?

LOCAL WOMAN MISSING is a definite page turner with one twist and turn after another. Just when I began to think I might have figured things out, another curveball is thrown my way. The story is told from alternating points of view of those involved, as well as switching from when the incidents happened eleven years ago, to the return of Delilah today. There’s a lot of sadness in the story, particularly regarding Josh, as his losses have altered his life so much that he can’t really be there for his son. Delilah has spent years in such horrific conditions, that it’s a miracle she survived. Each chapter reveals a little more of each of the characters, as well as their secrets, leading to a totally unexpected conclusion. LOCAL WOMAN MISSING kept me reading non-stop, as the suspense was extremely well done, but the revelation of some human nature is the stuff of nightmares.

What a wild ride! My very first Kubica and definitely not my last. I was gripped by the very first chapter and couldn’t figure out what was going on, which is always a plus. It checked all the marks for me on what you expect from a gripping novel. Thanks for the copy!

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. Narrator was great, did a perfect job. Fast paced, with scenes that grip and a twist I didn't pick up on. This story turned out differently than I thought it would, but that wasn't a bad thing.

Meredith and her daughter Delilah have mysteriously vanished. And it isn’t the first time someone went missing in this particular neighborhood. Shelby made that list after disappearing without a trace. It would certainly seem the two cases could be linked.

The one person who may have all the answers is the daughter Delilah, suddenly reappearing eleven years later. So where has she been all this time? Can she, will she, answer the looming question regarding what happened to she and her mother?

The one person who may have all the answers is the daughter Delilah as she reappears eleven years later. Where has she been? Can she answer the question of what happened to her and her mother?

Mary Kubica writes gripping, suspenseful thriller that you won’t be able to put down. The tension is palpable as the pages fly by. I was totally immersed and captivated by this book beginning to end.

This was only my second read by Mary Kubica and I’m already a huge fan of her work and will definitely be going back to read some of her previous books.

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin – Park Row

Wow! I did not see that coming at all! A lot of times I enjoy reading suspenseful novels, but then get disappointed with the end, but not this time. This was a fun ride filled with twisty turns and sudden drops. I can't wait to read more from this author.

What happens when women start going missing in this affluent subdivision - the claws come out and fingers are pointed. Things are messy, but Mary Kubica has a way of wrapping up a story that has your jaw on the floor and this one was no exception!

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find. review: Admittedly, Kubica's books tend to be hit or miss for me. This book absolutely captivated me from the start! The very first chapter is bone chilling and I just knew I was in for a good read. Local Woman Missing alternates between point of views and time periods. I think this was done *so* well in this book - it provided just enough information to leave you hanging until the next chapter. There are quite a few really well placed twists in this book. Right when I had an inkling of what may happen next, a new detail would come to light, making me question everything. The plot line is interesting, filled with multifaceted characters and it's really well written. If you're in the mood for a thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat, grab this one ASAP! rating: 4.5 out of 5 ⭐️

Wow.  I've just finished reading <b>Local Woman Missing</b> by Mary Kubica and it was incredible.    This was the fourth book I've read by this author, my first being the massively successful <b>Good Girl, Bad Girl</b>  and I honestly think this one rivals it.      

Mary Kubica does a lot right.  In some of her books I've been taken completely by surprise by the twists and turns she incorporates.   In others I've been on the edge of my seat filled with suspense.    Her characters are usually realistic and her stories make me wonder how I would respond in a certain situation.   This book had every single one of those elements and I was on tenterhooks for a large part of it.   As with some of her other books Kubica told this  story from various perspectives and from two distinct time periods.  Now and Eleven Years Earlier.   Eleven years earlier Kate and her daughter Delilah went missing a short time after another local woman had gone missing.   Now Delilah has been found.   What really happened?   You wouldn't believe me if I told you.   Which I won't.    Instead I strongly recommend readers of this genre pick up this book and take the plunge.   I don't think you'll be disappointed and I'm tipping you wont guess how it all pans out.  I certainly didn't.

It's fair to say I'm a bit of a scaredy cat and so I limit the number of 
psychological, domestic thrillers I read.   Even though I loved reading this one I still needed to space out my reading.    I had a bit of an internal battle going throughout with part of me wanting to keep reading and another part demanding me to put it aside and read something less tense for a while.    One thing's for sure, I won't want to miss whatever else this author produces.   She's that good.

My thanks to the author, to Harlequin Trade Publishing (Park Row) and to Netgalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Local Woman Missing starts strong as a thriller novel, focusing on events that involved both the disappearance of a recently post-partum mother, her midwife, and the mid-wife's daughter. Using the events, and flashing forward 11 years later, readers get to see both the horrible occurrences and their consequences as they go through the book. While the ending is surprising, it almost feels forced. I did enjoy reading this book and was very surprised by the direction it took.

Ok, full disclosure. I am a big fan of Mary Kubica. She is a go-to for fast-paced, thrilling summer reads. This one did not disappoint! It starts with a good hook: a local woman from a suburban neighborhood goes for a nighttime run and never returns. Shortly after, a mother and her daughter go missing. In another chapter we learn a young girl is being held in a basement, starving and filthy, for years. What happened??

Narrated by each of the missing women and the little girl in the days leading up to their disappearance and after, then by the families trying to come to terms with what happened, it is full of suspense and mystery. I think the fact that she jumps around in time, revealing bits and pieces but not connecting them, really amps up the chill factor. I couldn't put it down once I started! This is the kind of book you can throw in your bag and knock it out in a day at the pool. A couple years ago I read a book called Pretty Girls Dancing by Kylie Brant. This book had the same vibe so if you like dark and twisty and intense books, you should pick this up.

Mary Kubica knows EXACTLY how to solidify her position as one of my favorite suspense writers, of ALL TIME. This twisted and dark roller coaster ride is hard to put down!

Mother Shelby Tebow goes missing, gone without a trace. Soon after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year old daughter, Delilah, disappear merely blocks away from where Shelby was last seen. After years of searching, the cases eventually go cold. Until Delilah returns 11 years later.

I don’t want to say too much more because I don’t want to spoil it. I highly recommend this novel. Do yourself a favor and put it at the top of your summer reading list! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for providing a free copy in exchange for my honest review!

Local Woman Missing is the perfect book to grab your attention! It has a fast moving plot that has you tearing through the pages to discover what is going to happen next. This story is told in altering timelines eleven years apart. Two women in a seemingly safe suburb go missing in a short time period. 11 years later part of the puzzle appears to have been solved but has it really? Read and enjoy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica. All opinions are my own.

This was a RIDE! I love Kubica's writing and this didn't disappoint. Although I felt the middle of the book kind of dragged on, the explosive ending all but made up for it. There was one detail that was a little confusing because it came up one time but was never mentioned again, but that aside, I highly recommend this book if you like twisty thrillers!

I liked it. It definitely kept me interested. I did not love the twist at the end and felt like it all wrapped up too quickly without enough explanation, but other than that it was pretty good. I will probably read more from this author in the future, of the three that I've read of hers, I liked this one the most.

If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that I love mysteries. I went through a big mystery/thriller phase a while back and then took a break and read more historical fiction/romance but lately I’ve been reading more thrillers and I was super excited to see this book from Mary Kubica in my review queue.

One of my favorite shows on ID Discovery Channel was Disappeared and all I could think of when I was watching the show was, people just don’t disappear, someone knows something. And when I saw that this was practically the tagline for this book, I was super excited to read it! I haven’t read anything by Kubica before but I certainly know the name so I couldn’t wait to dive into this one.

If you are a thriller/mystery reader you will most likely have this one on your radar. Kubica has written some well loved and popular thrillers many of which have been best sellers so I felt confident that this book would be solid with a seasoned writer like Kubica. If you are looking for a fast paced read this spring, look no further! This one was excellent!

Summary
People don’t just disappear without a trace…

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find…

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
Since this was my first book by this author, I had high expectations because she is well known and produced some best sellers so obviously I had high hopes and I anticipated that this book would be a fast read. It was absolutely a fast read and met all my expectations. I picked it up over the weekend and was instantly sucked in before I even got through the first thirty pages! I found myself staying up late just to read ‘one more chapter’. It was a great book and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to say I loved it! Kubica is a great writer and her style was snappy and engaging not to mention strong.

I mean it wasn’t a flawless story but overall I loved it. I struggled a bit with the alternating storylines. It was a little distracting for me and I did need to pay attention to what was going on, but for me it was more of a stylistic preference and didn’t make me love the story less, I just felt like I had to be on my toes and be aware of the shifting in the storylines. There were also parts that felt a little clunky but it wasn’t a huge deal, big picture—-the writing was solid, there were just parts of the story that felt slightly cumbersome but not enough for me to drop my rating if that makes sense.

This one is also a little on the dark side. I didn’t expect that but for me it made the story better. I loved how it sucked you in and the LIES! The lies and hidden truths in this book are great. I really enjoyed picking apart things in this one. I think that this book will appeal to anyone who loves thrillers. And obviously if you are a Kubica fan, then this book is no doubt on your radar! It’s well done, fast paced, and interesting. I couldn’t put it down all weekend and for that reason it gets 4.5 big stars from me!

Book Info and Rating
Format352 pages, Hardcover

Expected publicationMay 18, 2021 by Park Row

ISBN9780778389446 (ISBN10: 0778389448)

Free review copy provided by publisher, Park Row, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: thriller, mystery, suspense

Oh mannnnn this book!!

I could not put it down! The writing style was easy to follow and I HAD to know how all the people connected in the end

Many of the twists took me by surprise--I will say I did *start* to suspect the ending, but then it kept going and continued to take me by surprise.

I loved The Other Mrs. by Kubica and Local Woman Missing was no different!

So at first I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy this, but I was completely wrong! The story weaves through the past & present with different narrators giving you their perspective of the events that have taken place.
I’m usually wrong about guessing who did it, but this book I had absolutely no idea the entire time. Then at the end I was shocked! Such a good ending, this is definitely a page turner that keeps you on your toes!

DNF: Though I would love to say that I enjoyed this title - I just couldn't get into the writing. I did see that my library system purchased the audio book format so I will give it another try then. Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Advanced Reader Copy.