I first became aware of author Barbara Copperthwaite when I read and enjoyed Flowers for the Dead. I just finished her latest novel, The Girl on the Missing Poster, and let me tell you-this was the first book in awhile that I actually sacrificed sleep for. I stayed up last night far past my bedtime just so I could see how it would all wrap up. Before getting too invested in this review, however, readers should know this novel includes descriptions of violence against women (rape) and animal abuse.

Stella is one of a pair. Her identical twin sister disappeared without a trace decades ago and Stella has never given up on getting the answers she so desperately needs to move on with her life. Every year on the anniversary of her sister's disappearance, she plasters the town with missing posters hoping someone might finally remember something that could reveal what happened on that rainy night. When Stella is approached by Netflix to make a crime docuseries about her sister, she instantly agrees, hoping the extra exposure will lead to a big break in her sister's case. All does not go as planned, however, as the TV show stirs up a lot of questions and old feelings by those who knew Stella and her sister. There are the usual suspects, including the boyfriends of both women at the time and even Stella herself. The break she's looking for finally comes in the form of an email sent from the supposed killer himself. Stella finds herself playing a deadly game with a madman in an effort to finally understand what happened to her other half all those years ago. How far is she willing to go to learn the truth?

Honestly, I loved the format of this novel. The chapters alternated between Stella and the documentary episode transcripts. Being a fan of the true crime series that Netflix has been churning out lately (just finished The Night Stalker, actually!), I was immediately drawn into the setup. My biggest- and really only- complaint is the novel's pacing. It was a slow build and then the climax hit and everything got wrapped up too quickly. I barely had time to even process what was happening. It was still a great ending, one I felt was pretty original for the genre, but I wish the author would have slowed it down a bit so I could appreciate it properly. Perhaps if the Mary storyline was edited out or reduced a bit, things would have flowed a little better. Either way, it's still an edge-of-your-seat thriller that you won't regret reading!

*Thanks to the author, Bookouture, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a compelling read this was. It is a novel written about a twin who will not give up looking for her twin sister who at the start of the book has been missing for 25 years. Stella has mainly shut everyone out of her life for fear of losing them and since the loss of her parents has maintained friendships with her mums best friend Mary and the detective who has been at the head of solving the case since twin Leila disappeared.
The arrival of Euan, a documentary maker, at the 25th anniversary of Leila’s disappearance starts a chain of events which make Stella take risks for herself and find out things which are chilling and disturbing about her past and what May have happened to Leila.
The end is really well written and the characters in the novel are well rounded and the list of potential killers or kidnappers of Leila were many and their stories read well.
This was the first novel that I have read by this author and I was delighted that I have discovered her as I shall be looking for others of hers to read.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
5 stars and will be recommending.

The Girl in the Missing Poster tells the story of Stella, whose identical twin sister Leila disappeared years ago. She is approached by Netflix on the anniversary of her disappearance to create a documentary, hoping that this will help bring forth new information on the case. While I found this concept intriguing, the storyline did not live up to my expectations. Stella is a very bland character, and while I love dogs, there was way too much detail about each one of her dogs, that did not contribute at all to the story. I also found her love interest to be boring, as well as many side characters to be a distraction to the story. Without spoiling much, the ending is pretty unbelievable, as in the author is stretching pretty far to get the desired ending. Overall, I would not recommend this unless you want to make up your mind for yourself on this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book and did not guess who the perpetrator was until the very end- which is always a good sign. However, if I have one criticism it is that considerable detail was devoted to dog behaviour and training.. It did not detract from my enjoyment and in fact I found it quite endearing that the author seems to love dogs so much! I would recommend this book- especially to those who enjoy a good mystery and are dog lovers.
Thank you Barbara Copperthwaite, Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion. I would also like to commend Bookouture for yet another excellent choice of author.

The Girl in the Missing Poster.

Could you move on if your twin went missing? Stella hasn’t....

I loved the use of the Netflix documentary to first say what happened and then then move the plot along at a rapid pace, I haven’t seen this done before and it was a fantastic tool.

Honestly I hated Stella, she’s too perfect for me. The fact she could do anything just didn’t feel authentic, the plot was fantastic! The twist near the end should been committed to. It was the best part! Overall a good read.

3.5/5

When your identical twin goes missing, the pain of looking in the mirror and seeing her face every day is so great you stop looking, you avoid mirrors. Stella's life is keeping her sister Leila's name and picture out there so she isn't forgotten as the years go by. Finding her no matter what condition is not a choice it's part of Stella's existence now. She won't rest until Leila is found, The years going by, her life on hold and any chance at love and friendships passed up. The police say they can't devote much time to the cold case but then a chance to get the information out there again after 25 years is offered by a documentary will it help?
Barbara Copperthwaite is a new author to me and I really enjoyed her writing style and the way she kept my interest. She had a way of making you read on when you wanted to go to sleep or do housework. I am the type of reader who doesn't want the perp obvious. She definitely did keep you guessing up to the end, I had my guesses but wasn't positive, (That's a winner for me.) There were times I thought NoNoNo that can't happen. I really was caught up in the book. This book had mystery, danger and maybe a chance for love. I think most people no matter their genre would enjoy this read, It did lead me to check out Barbara's other books I now want to read, Thanks you NetGalley, Barbara Copperthwaite and Bookouture for allowing me to read this ARC. As always I am giving my honest opinion of this book.

Stella’s twin Leila went missing 25 years ago and Stella has been looking for her ever since. Nobody can piece together what happened after the taxi dropped her off at her home after her father’s 50th birthday party. What happened to Leila all those years ago? A new documentary is about to be aired to see if it can jog anyone’s memory. After that, clues start coming in, are they real? Is Leila still alive?

The book started slowly but I kept reading to know what happened to Leila. This story builds slowly as we get to know dog lover Stella and her personality a bit more. All in all, a good read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Story features twins Stella and Leila. Leila vanished without a trace 25 years ago and Stella has never given up on finding her. She jumps at the opportunity to help out with a documentary series.

I really was looking forward to reading this story. It wasn’t bad it just wasn’t what I was expecting.
It was on the slow side. I did find the Documentary interest.
Have to admit I didn’t expect the ending.

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this early release granted to me for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 23, 2021

*thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Barbara Copperthwaite for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


3 stars.

I found this to be more of a slow fiction novel than a gripping Psychological Thriller as it was advertised as.

The story itself was good, it kept my interest but only just. The ending was also not as explosive as twist endings go. I was expecting a lot more from the beginning and it didn't provide, but it was still well written and enjoyable, but again, it would really only pass as a Woman's Fiction in my opinion.

Would I read more of this authors novels in the future? Yeah I reckon I would give her another go as she clearly has talent.

Thank you #Netgalley, Bookouture, and Barbara Cooperthwaite for allowing me to read this ARC of The Girl In the Missing Poster. I read Flowers For the Dead by this author and I loved it, so I gave this book a try. Wow, what a great book. I was immediately taken by Stella, a middle-aged woman who lives alone with her dogs. The loss of her identical twin has consumed her life.I liked how she protected the memory of her sister and also of herself. I loved how she was dedicated to her mother’s best friend Mary.
The writing was as great as I had expected and I loved the story - so many unexpected things happened. Fair warning, there are a couple of graphic parts that I could have done without but they didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this book.

Leila and Stella are identical twins. One night Leila disappeared, never to be seen again. For 25 years Stella has been placing posters of her sister on poles and trees, determined to find a small clue as to what happened to her twin. On this twenty-five years anniversary, Stella has been asked to film a documentary. That is what she decides to do, hoping to get something new to help discover what happened to her sister and where she may be.
This book was given to me by the publisher through Netgalley. I was asked to read and review the novel.
This is a psychological thriller. I have read many, many books. So many I can determine the ending before I have finished. This book was spectacular. I was totally blindsided by the ending. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it so much I read it in on sitting.

I really like books by this author. She has a special way of writing a story. I can’t exactly say what it is. I don’t know whether a word was invented for the atmosphere she creates and if there was I don’t know which word it is, but when I think about her name, I get a certain feeling that takes me back to previous books I read by her.
So, about this one. It’s not a crash boom bang kind of story, at least not in the beginning. It’s rather slow, but you feel the tension building and you also start to distrust almost everyone. They could all be culpable, without a doubt.
This book is like a river, slowly finding it’s way through the countryside until it suddenly it arrives at a cliff and throws itself over the top into the valley below. The suspense is taken to the maximum, you get anxious to find out the what and the how and afterwards, when all is revealed, everything settles again.
Did I take this person into consideration? Did I think they could be the baddie? Yes, their name popped in my mind, but no, I had put my money on someone else. 😊
A real good book. 4 stars.

Thank you; Barbara Copperthwaite and Bookouture

This book had a slow start. I was over halfway through before it became “a gripping story” as described. Thankfully there was enough to keep me hooked because once things ramped up I was locked in and couldn’t do anything else until I finished it. It was easy to become emotionally attached to the story.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this book. My personal theories about the story and what happened to Leila changed with every chapter.

Barbara Copperwaite is back! I was so excited to see that she had a new book out, after a long break due to illness. The Girl in the Missing Poster is another winner, a fast read, twisty and surprising - highly recommend for lovers of psychological thrillers.

25 years ago Stella lost her twin sister Leila. She has started to lose hope but continues to search, to find out what happened. She lives in her family home and is reminded daily of her missing sister. These days her family are her dogs. But then, Netflix get in touch about doing a documentary for the 25th anniversary. Suddenly the case if back in the public eye and more information comes to light. But what really happened to Leila - was she murdered or was it an accident? The ending of this book will shock you.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read.

Stella's identical twin sister Leila disappeared 25 years ago. Ever since, Stella has felt like half of herself is missing, and she can barely even look in the mirror because she sees Leila looking back at her. She has lost hope that Leila is still alive, but can't move on with her life until she knows what happened. Stella is approached by a production company interested in doing a Netflix documentary about Leila's disappearance and Stella's efforts -spanning a quarter of a century -to get closure. Stella reluctantly agrees because, although very private, she will do anything to resolve her sister's disappearance. This is a gripping psychological thriller and the author does a great job of keeping you guessing throughout, lots of red herrings and twists. The story also has romance; but can Stella let anyone else get close to her after all these years of keeping to herself (and her dogs)?
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookture for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was a bit too slow for me, not a page turner and didn't keep me on the edge of my seat unfortunately which I like.

Overall it was well written, characters were a bit weak for me but just not to my liking, sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I enjoyed The Girl in the Missing Poster although some of it was rather unbelievable in my opinion. But the plotting was good and kept me guessing. I did love the dogs though. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A so-so book for me. Found it a bit slow to get to the thrilling parts. Farfetched at times. I guessed the culprit which is a disappointment.That being said I would definitely read her next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

I was drawn into this book from the first page, I needed to know just what had happened to Leila! Loved Stella's character and the dogs! A great page turner, and I was wrong about the culprit! Great ending

I read a lot of books in this genre. This one was okay, but nothing extraordinary. I did enjoy the twin angle, and there were some unexpected twists. Some parts seemed irrelevant, and I wondered why they hadn't been edited out. As a result, the pace was a bit slow at times. I'd consider reading other books by this author.