Stella and Leila are twins. 25 years ago Leila puts on Stellas coat and leaves her parents anniversary party to never be seen again. Very enchanting thriller, it hooks you in, you feel for Stella and she’s a likable character. The plot is good and will give you chills and feels of unease throughout.

This is a well-written and well-paced thriller. The main characters are written convincingly so my heart was really in my mouth fearing for their safety in the heat of the action.

Stella is hard-hearted and stubbornly independent. But, with the story told from her point of view the reader is given the chance to understand her and the choices she make. While I wouldn’t always agree with them, they’re convincingly told as being true to her character.

There’s a good use of red herrings as well. Setting up some convincing theories for the readers who like to play armchair detective, without ever spoiling the ending. I had lots of theories and am really glad none of them turned out to be right I’m pleased to say the author had me fooled.

What was also really good was the handling of the more potentially outlandish theories, which were headed off at the pass early on by having Stella name some of the things said on social media. Such as the idea that Stella was the one who’d died and Leila had taken her place (not a spoiler, it’s handled up front early on to make sure the reader isn’t pulled into unreliable narrator territory.

A solid thriller to start 2021. Highly recommended reading.

This was just middle of the road for me. A twin that’s been missing for years and the other twin spending the rest of her life trying to find her. When a new documentary airs, new information and twists come to light. This was fine to read at the moment but nothing memorable at the end.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Hooked and completely gripped from the very first page to the unexpected twist that I definitely didn't see coming at the end.

It is 25 years since Stella's identical twin sister Leila went missing after her father's birthday party but never a day goes by without Stella thinking of her and determined to keep searching for answers and find her any way she can.

Great plotting and storyline and characters that were believable, especially Stella, whose angst, determination and loss was palpable due to the brilliant narrative and use of flashbacks and a TV documentary by the author.

The Girl In The Missing Poster is a first by Barbara Copperthwaite for me but most definitely won't be my last.
I loved it - A brilliant 5 star psychological thriller that I highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC for my honest review.

Stella Hawkins has spent the last 25 years trying to find out what happened to her twin sister, Lelia, who disappeared on the night of their dads 50th birthday.
There’s a real sense of unease reading this book, Stella’s obsession, at times seems unhealthy but you can really empathise with what she is going through. When she meets Euan, the journalist, who is just about to blow the story wide for a Netflix documentary featuring the case, life takes a more sinister turn for Stella and a whole host of incidents will have your spidey senses set on edge.
Interspersed with scenes from the documentary give the book a really unique feel and what a great way to tell the story of Lelia’s disappearance as well as introducing characters who have connections with the case. A whole host of twists and turns leave you reeling as secrets and lies are exposed and leave you fearing for Stella’s safety.
I loved Mary, Stella and Lelia’s parents best friend. A star in her own time, Mary is a delightfully eccentric woman in her 70s who brought a real sparkle to the tale.
The use of social media and cyber manipulation added an extra edge to the story and at times I wanted to reach into the pages and pull Stella away from it all.
An enjoyable, twister of a tale with a whole load of moments that will take your breath away.

Stella's identical twin sister disappeared 25 years ago.
As always, Barbara Copperthwaite does not fail the reader.

A three-dog owner, animal advocate and a bit of a loner, Stella has not given up on her search for Leila. At the tenth anniversary there was a push to plea to the public to help find Leila.

Although skeptical, Stella agrees to make a TV documentary for the 25th anniversary of the disappearance. However, what Stella overhears begins a different whirlwind, altogether...

A MUST READ!

Many Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for another GREAT read !

Last read of the year and what a bang to put an end to it!!!
I cannot say enough great things about this book. It's just amazing. Pulled me out of my reading slump.
So wonderfully written has you wondering all the way through. With a twist I didnt see coming. Just awe struck how great this book was. Be sure to put this on your 2021 reading list you won't be disappointed.

Thanks to the Author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

A cracking whodunit featuring troubled dog behaviourist, Stella, who's twin sister disappeared years before, never to be heard of again. Can a new true crime series revive interest in the cold case and perhaps lead to the truth?
This is written in first person, not my favourite style but, give Copperthwaite her due, it was so well executed that I hardly realised. The plot is strong. The ending believable. The writing fast-paced and fluid. I will be adding this writer to my list of must reads.

A book that will keep you on the edge of your seat wanting to know more. Stella identical twin Leah disappeared 25 yrs ago, and in an effort to draw attention to the cold crime she agrees to a documentary. Euan is the journalist she is working with on the project. Will the documentary bring to light any new clues? Will Stella ever find the truth? Will Stella let the growing attraction to Euan give her a chance at a future?
This was a well written story that made you question, who dunnit?
Thank you Netgalley for complimentary copy. The thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my first book by this author and I loved it. It grabbed my attention from the first page and kept it throughout the book. A strong damaged main character, who lost her twin under unknown circumstances and is determined to find out what happened to her, despite the damage to herself. Loved her commitment to her dogs and how they came to life as disctinct personalities and how they got her through it all. A few twists and a satisfying ending, though there was a period of time when it didn't look that way. Will read other of her books

I found ‘The Girl in the Missing Poster’ to be such a heartbreaking and tense mystery. I loved how the story was told through Stella and alongside the transcripts for the television documentary. It showed the public face of it all, then I as the reader then got to see the deep feelings that Stella was holding back.

I felt Stella’s relentless urge to know what had happened to Leila all those years ago, and as the story unfolded, so did the emotions. It had such a real feel to it because of the way it was written. The cat and mouse elements were haunting and eerie. They had me feeling a little creeped out on many occasions.

As for the characters, I loved Stella’s strength as much as her vulnerability. The first chapter is kick ass. When and if you read it, you’ll see why. She’s definitely a character to be admired! The surrounding cast, including Euan, Mary and the lovely dogs really added so much to the story and to the development of Stella’s character. Did I say I loved the dogs? Well I did!

Finally, I have to mention that mega ending... what a big surprising treat! I can only say you’re in for one hell of an emotional and exciting ride if you choose this book. Fab read!

This book was hit or miss for me. Parts of it had me on the edge of my seat and then something would come out of left field and seem irrelevant to the story. The ending felt extremely rushed and although I hadn't guessed the "bad guy" it was all pretty underwhelming. I do appreciate receiving the ARC to read and review. I will likely read another book by this author.

My Review:

Barbara Copperthwaite you are my new favorite author. This was the first book I read by this author and wow what a roller coaster ride it was. I can’t believe that ending. OMG!!!!! This book is a stand alone and not part of a series.

This book was about a woman named Stella who couldn’t get over the loss of her twin sister Leila. Her sister went missing many years earlier and no body was ever found. It’s coming up on the anniversary of her sisters disappearance and there’s a renewed interest from a documentary that was just made about it. Also, the documentary draws the killer out of hiding. What happened to Leila? Did Leila run away? Did she get murdered? Where is she? Where is the body? Can Stella finally find out the truth of what happened to her beloved twin sister.

Now let’s get to the book and what my thoughts are. Ok, so the book does start off really slow. Please keep reading though cause it does pick up by the middle of the book. You definitely won’t regret reading it by the end. That ending was awesome. On to the characters. I wasn’t a fan of Stella at all. I I did though love her desire and passion to find out what happened to her sister. But I found it to be a little too obsessive. It was way over the top obsessive and there had to be a point in time where she said enough is enough and move on with her life even if it was just a little. But it did mirror real life as some people just can’t move on until there is some type of closure. Also, her obsession with dogs totally turned me off on her. I get that she shut all the humans out of her life because she was in so much pain about her sister but she turned to dogs way too much. It was not healthy. What I’m trying to say is there could have been less about dogs and more human interactions. I do believe that the author intended some of these qualities of Stella and wanted to show what happens to someone when a loved one goes missing without any closure. On to the plot. I absolutely loved the plot. Who doesn’t like a good mystery book where someone goes missing. I love trying to figure out what has happened to them. Did they go off on their own or did something bad happen to them. Now to my favorite part of the book and why I’m giving this book five hearts. I loved, loved, loved that ending. If you follow me you know that I’m a sucker for a good twisty ending. If you don’t have a good twist that’s when the hearts start going down. I never found that to be the case with any of the books I have read but I am really picky. That ending though had a head banger of a twist. I couldn’t believe who did it, what happened and why it happened to Stellas sister Leila. I also loved that you found out in the end that Stellas sister was not so innocent as what everyone made her out to be. There is always that one character in the book that plays nice but will stab someone behind their back. Leila was that character in this book. Leila did bad things and got punished for it in the end. I loved this ending and will be thinking about it for a long time. The author really threw me for a loop and thank you for that.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

This book...!!!..What do I even say??...Where do I even begin??!! I am so in awe of this book. The Girl in the Missing Poster is a fantastic psychological thriller that has left me reeling even hours after reading it.

Close to the 25th anniversary of her identical twin's disappearance, Stella Hawkins, a professional dog behaviourist, is approached by a production company to shoot a documentary of her sister's case. Having kept a steady vigil for the cause all these years to the point of depleting her savings, Stella agrees, seeing it as an opportunity to reach more number of people. Though she doesn't believe her sister is alive anymore, she needs to know what happened to her before she can move on with her own life. The documentary shakes things up for many people, revealing new secrets and unleashing a string of strange events. Soon against her better judgement, Stella begins a cat-and-mouse game with someone who poses to be her sister's killer. But how far will she go to expose the killer?

I cannot simply stop raving about this book. Extremely well-written and with well-developed characters, the author has maintained such a perfect balance between depicting the protagonist's heart-wrenching anguish, and building up the tension and suspense in the plot. The story is off to a slow start, but with each page, the reader's curiosity is piqued making this book utterly unputdownable !!! Even though I had guessed who the killer was, the way things unfold at the climax was simply mind-blowing..!!!

Hands down, 5 stars for this book. I am so glad I have found myself a new favourite author.

A big thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for approving my request for a digital copy of this book

This was somewhat of a slow read for me, but it was still enjoyable. I enjoyed the development of the characters. 3.5 stars.

Twenty five years ago after a family party, Leila disappears. Her twin sister, Stella, leads a lonely existence with her dogs for company and her late mother’s best friend as the last link to her family. A Netflix documentary is to be produced to try and refresh memories but when someone claiming to be the killer contacts Stella, are they telling the truth?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was well written and felt very current with the trend of Netflix true crime that fascinates so many of us. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this book and it definitely didn't disappoint.

I loved how well we got to know the lead character and the insight we were given into her relationship with her twin sister. The dogs were a delight and I was relieved that for once in this genre they weren't only there to be the victims of cruelty in order to get at the owner. I also loved the character of Mary, I would loved to have met her and heard her tall tales!

The premise of the book was a little far-fetched to me, but I could overlook that enough to enjoy a good story. I wasn't completely sold on the romance, to me it didn't feel particularly organic and I did guess the perpetrator quite early on in the book but again most of the fun was in the journey the book took me on.

I would recommend this book to others.

My goodness this book had me totally hooked. The concept,of a woman whose twin sister went missing was intriguing, Barbara portrayed Stella's grief so well, the pain of losing 'the other half of her', of seeing her missing sister Leila every time she looked in the mirror, the compulsion to find out what had happened to her sister at any cost,and to put her to rest. The writing was strong, thought-provoking, compelling and kept me guessing right up until the riveting end. Highly recommended.

I’m a bit in two minds about this book. In the end I decided to rate it three stars instead of four. This is mainly because, despite everything that is happening, the story goes actually quite slow. And then in the end everything goes fast, very fast, with lots of surprises – that I didn’t see coming!
When Leila disappears on a stormy night, having had too much to drink at her father’s birthday party, the whole family is devastated. And twenty five years later, her twin Stella still is. There is not one minute of the day she doesn’t think of Leila and it defined her whole life.
So, when a young production company, in the form of handsome Euan, wants to make a documentary that will be aired on Netflix, Leila hopes this will finally give her and the remaining family some answers.
Does she get her answers? Yes and no. And not at all in the way she hoped. The book is following Stella’s search for her twin from the night it happened till the present, alternating between transcripts of the documentary and seen from Stella’s eyes when things start to happen once the documentary is aired.
Slowly we get to know the main characters, and slowly the story unfolds. As I said, too slow for my liking. It’s a good story and a fast read, but there are too many surprises at the end and not enough in earlier parts of the book to my liking.
Despite the fact that Stella hasn’t felt ‘whole’ after the disappearance of Leila, she made something of herself and is an interesting person. There are more interesting characters in the story, such as ‘aunt Mary’, the best friend of her mother, who is good for some very funny scenes.

Thanks to Netgalley for this review copy.

OMG Barabara is back with a bang, she has absolutely nailed it with her latest standalone This book was certainly worth the wait.

Drawing you in from the very first page we follow a story that is very different to what I would normally expect from the author. A story based on a TV documentary about Leila Hawkins, missing twin of Stella who went missing 25 years ago. All Stella wants is answers and closure when we follow her on an emotional gripping journey to unravel the truth.

The more I read the more I was in awe with Stella and I wanted to know the truth as much as she did.

I love how the story is written with alternate chapters between a documentary and the present with descriptions that make it easy to visualise. This story will have you guessing until the very end making you question all the characters in the story.


Having read all of the author's books she is known for a good twist But WOW I wasn't expecting that.

The Girl in the Missing Poster is an incredible psychological thriller which is sure to have you on the edge of your seat. With a very thought out plot Not only is the story full of tension, suspense you can feel the emotions through the characters, Barabra definitely hasn't lost her touch. In fact this is her best book yet!


I cannot recommend it enough giving it all the stars.