From a chance meeting in a casting waiting room to the discovery of a murder, Mia is not really sure if the girl who trusted her with her wallet and car keys is still alive. Missing for four days, Emily's friend, Marla doesn't seem concerned but the unanswered texts from Emily's father just don't feel right to Mia. In Hollywood for an audition in the movie role of a lifetime, Londoner Mia is not sure where to take the information she's learned about Emily since no one, even the police don't find her sudden disappearance anything to worry about. As she prepares for her screen test, weird things keep happening, someone has been into her rented condo and stolen Emily's things as well as the script for the movie, her loaned car is sabotaged and there's this guy Nick who claims he met her a few years ago, before the big breakup of her six year relationship with George. As Mia uncovers more about Emily, Marla and the "casting couch" politics of Hollywood, she places herself in great danger. Who can she trust? And why does it seem that someone has scripted and directed her every move since she arrived in Hollywood? As the twists of the plot start to align both the reader and Mia come to realize that all is not as glamorous as it seems in Tinseltown. An engaging read.

OMG! I read this authors last two and enjoyed the writing styles. But this one totally blew me away. I love stories set in and around Hollywood and knowing this author is in that world made it even better because I felt I was getting.a glimpse of what it's really like. This mystery was so unique and soooo well executed ("not the main character""). This was so twisty but in a way that was not abusrd and was not the typical tropes so many mystery/thrillers fall into. I also love when mystery thrillers make me genuinely ask myself what I would do in the situation. Highly recommend!!

While certainly atmospheric, this Steadman novel lacked a realistic mystery. Pacing was solid, though the ending felt half-baked. All of this, for that? Regardless, I will continue to read Steadman's work. What was lacking in mystery was gained in vivid descriptions of the setting and Hollywood glamour life.

Wow!!! 5 stars from me. I found this impossible to put down. I was happy as I loved Steadman’s debut, and have been disappointed by her subsequent work.

The Disappearing Act is a psychological thriller taking place in Hollywood. Mia Elliott is a star at home in England and she is asked to come to Hollywood for some auditions. At one of the auditions, they are running behind so Mia takes a break outside. She starts talking to Emily who is also waiting for her audition. As Emily realized that she needs to go put more money in the parking meter, she is called in to audition. Mia volunteers to go feed the meter. Once Mia returns to the office she can not find Emily. She searches for her after she has her audition but Emily can’t be found. Mia is left with Emily’s wallet and keys. She finally leaves a note for Emily and takes the keys and wallet to the auditioning office. The following day she retrieved Emily’s possessions from the office. She continues to search for Emily. She finally leaves a message for Emily telling her where she lives. Later that night, someone claiming to be Emily comes to collect the keys and wallet. The girl looks like Emily but she is convinced that it is not Emily. She then searched for the imposter. Mia puts her own life in danger during her search for the missing Emily and the imposter look alike. This novel keep you constantly wondering what the real truths are. I recommend this book.

A British actress discovers the dark side of Hollywood when she is the only witness to the sudden disappearance of a woman she meets at an audition.

This story gives readers a sneak peek at the audition process in Hollywood. I’m not big on following celebrities, but I thought this one sounded interesting!

I liked Mia’s character. You hear so much gossip about how celebrities can be total divas, but Mia is likable. However, Mia is VERY naive, which may be why she was so invested in the lost actress. I definitely have no desire to test the waters in Hollywood, you never know who you can trust!

I also find it interested that the author is also an actress!

One day, actress Mia Eliot is auditioning for a role when an actress named Emily asks her to hold her purse while she runs out for a second. Mia agrees but the woman never returns. She is left with this purse and no one she can return it to. Finally, she is able to track down the woman who agrees to retrieve her belongings but when she shows up at Mia’s door, its not the same woman. Where is the real Emily?

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman was a mystery that keeps you guessing and turning the pages. Catherine does a great job with this story, I really didn’t know who was going on with Emily and why Mia was pulled into this woman’s life? Things were sinister and creepy and if I had been in Mia’s shoes, I would have left on a red-eye back to London ASAP!

Here’s the official synopsis:

Once a year, actors from across the globe descend on the smog and sunshine of Los Angeles for pilot season. Every cable network and studio is looking to fill the rosters of their new shows, enticing a fresh batch of young hopefuls—anxious, desperate, and willing to do whatever it takes to make it. Careers will be made, dreams will be realized, stars will be born. And some will be snuffed out.

British star Mia Eliot has landed leading roles in costume dramas in her native country, but now it’s time for Hollywood to take her to the next level. Mia flies across the Atlantic to join the horde of talent scrambling for their big breaks. She’s a fish out of water in the ruthlessly competitive arena of back-to-back auditioning. Then one day she meets Emily, another actress from out of town and a kindred spirit. Emily is friendly and genuine and reassuringly doesn’t seem to be taking any of it too seriously. She stands out in a conveyor-belt world of fellow auditionees. But a simple favor takes a dark twist when Emily disappears and Mia realizes she was the last person to see her. And when a woman knocks on Mia’s door the following day claiming to be Emily and isn’t the woman Mia remembers at all, Mia is deeply troubled.

All Mia has to go on is the memory of a girl she met only once . . . and the suffocating feeling that something terrible has happened. Worse still, the police don’t believe her when she claims the real Emily has gone missing. So Mia is forced to risk the role of a lifetime to try to uncover the truth about Emily, a gamble that will force her to question her own sanity as the truth goes beyond anything she could ever have imagined.

Another book to add to your TO READ list! This one comes out on June 8.

I love this author and everything she rights so I knew this would be no exception. She delivered. I loved this story! I’d highly recommend it to people and I think people are gonna love it!

I really thought this was going to be good. A chance encounter, a missing girl...was the narrator to be trusted 🤔 but as it progressed it felt forced and confusing and far fetched. Then it all ended up tidy in a neat package. It was a quick easy read but I didn’t love it.

British actress Mia has had a breakthrough year as an actress, starring in a top drama and scoring a BAFTA nomination. On the heels of a heartwrenching breakup, it feels like the perfect time to make her way to Hollywood to try her luck. An unusual encounter at an audition and the mysterious disappearance of a young actress bring a dark twist in Mia's journey. As she becomes more and more wrapped up in the mystery, she starts to doubt everything and everyone. The author brings an authentic and compelling look into the more mundane parts of the entertainment industry, while also ramping up the drama and suspense. Both an inside look at what it takes to be a successful actor, and a gripping thriller, this will appeal to fans of Ruth Ware or B.A. Paris.

At the beginning of this books everyone is a suspect and you have no idea what is going on. That keeps you reading...to try to figure out what is happening. This is a story of 2, or really 3, actresses who lives become completely intertwined at one audition. Each chapter leaves you wanting more.

A British actress discovers the dark side of Hollywood when she is the only witness to the sudden disappearance of a woman she meets at an audition. This book was so twisty and good that I could not stop reading!

This was really good but had an unlikable character, Mia. It had many twists and turns and suspense but the ending was awful and left me hanging, it did not fit. I loved the character of Emily, she made the book. Still enjoyable even with the bad ending. Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Catherine Steadman and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 6/8/21

This book definitely sucked me in. Mia, a recently single British actress, comes to LA to audition during pilot season. While awaiting her turn at an audition, she meets a fellow actress who disappears, but Mia is still holding on to the girl’s car keys as a favor. What to do? How much does one invest in ensuring a stranger’s safety? Mia’s character development is good. The plot takes some unexpected twists and turns, and these kept me reading at times when I wanted to stop, because Mia consistently makes poor choices, and I find this annoying. Still, the unpredictability makes it a page turner. I enjoyed that she found a little romance in the midst of it all, and I could not have guessed the ending, but overall the momentum and impulse to figure out “What is going ON?” did not outweigh my mediocre feeling about the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I loved Steadman's other two books so I could not wait to get my hands on this one. It started off strong and I read 70% in one day! Her writing just sucked me and I was dying to know where the heck Emily went! However, I HATED the ending. It was rushed and did not seem believable. Even the big twist at the very end did not do it for me. I also did not really care for the main character Mia, but I cannot put my finger on why.

"A British actress discovers the dark side of Hollywood when she is the only witness to the sudden disappearance of a woman she meets at an audition, in this electrifying psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water and Mr. Nobody.

Once a year, actors from across the globe descend on the smog and sunshine of Los Angeles for pilot season. Every cable network and studio is looking to fill the rosters of their new shows, enticing a fresh batch of young hopefuls - anxious, desperate, and willing to do whatever it takes to make it. Careers will be made, dreams will be realized, stars will be born. And some will be snuffed out.

British star Mia Eliot has landed leading roles in costume dramas in her native country, but now it’s time for Hollywood to take her to the next level. Mia flies across the Atlantic to join the horde of talent scrambling for their big breaks. She’s a fish out of water in the ruthlessly competitive arena of back-to-back auditioning. Then one day she meets Emily, another actress from out of town and a kindred spirit. Emily is friendly and genuine and reassuringly doesn’t seem to be taking any of it too seriously. She stands out in a conveyor-belt world of fellow auditionees. But a simple favor takes a dark twist when Emily disappears and Mia realizes she was the last person to see her. And when a woman knocks on Mia’s door the following day claiming to be Emily and isn’t the woman Mia remembers at all, Mia is deeply troubled.

All Mia has to go on is the memory of a girl she met only once...and the suffocating feeling that something terrible has happened. Worse still, the police don’t believe her when she claims the real Emily has gone missing. So Mia is forced to risk the role of a lifetime to try to uncover the truth about Emily, a gamble that will force her to question her own sanity as the truth goes beyond anything she could ever have imagined.

Actress and author Catherine Steadman has written a gripping thriller set in a world close to home that asks the question: In a city where dreams really do come true, how far would you go to make the unreal real?"

As a fan of Catherine Steadman I had NO IDEA she was a writer until now, and this book is deliciously close to the bone!

How can one individual have the best year of their professional life while sinking in the quicksand of what was her love life? We will ask Mia Eliot. She is getting ready to audition for the part of her lifetime in the LA and George dumps her over a text........ yes, over a text. Mia welcomes the distraction of Los Angeles. Anything is better than stewing over George and his beautiful new girlfriend.
LA welcomes her with open arms. In an audition, Mia meets Emily and immediately clicks with her. She finds herself helping her out in the first ten minutes of meeting Emily. Emily was here, right? Emily.......the brunette the auditioned before me? Mia knows Emily was there, but she disappeared before Mia could return her keys to her. And the mystery starts unfolding.
Catherine Steadman does an amazing job of keeping the reader guessing and reading far into the night. I devoured The Disappearing Act in 2 days, only stopping to work. The writing is great and flows nicely from chapter to chapter. Chapters are the perfect length, not too short or too long. It is written in present time and flows in chronological order.
I will definitely be recommending The Disappearing Act to all of my book reading friends and will be looking out for other works by Catherine Steadman. Special thanks to NetGalley, Catherine Steadman, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
5 stars
#TheDisappearingAct #NetGalley

4.5 Stars - Could not put this book down, finished it within 24 hours and it was a bit of a ride. I would say it was more mystery than thriller. While I personally don't have experience in the LA/Hollywood scene it felt very realistic to what that might be like. The story follows British actress Mia in her journey from London to LA to hopefully have her big acting break. She had a chance encounter with another actress at an audition and their lives become intertwined from there. At times I found it strange that Mia would become so involved and then also not seem to care about certain things regarding her own safety as much as one would think. The pacing and character development was great. The beginning was a touch slow but it picked up rather quickly. Some things did seem maybe a little over the top I thought the story as a whole was full of twists and kept me wanting more.
Thank you Random House Publishing - Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 I really enjoyed this book, in fact finished it in one day. Strong persistent heroine, though foolhardy at times . She tries to find an actress she met at an audition and finds herself getting deeper and deeper into a dangerous situation. We follow her along, wondering who can she trust, if anyone. A few twists that were surprising.

I have a new author to love and her backlist to explore! Actress-turned-author Catherine Steadman (from Downton Abbey fame) delivers with her latest novel, The Disappearing Act, a suspenseful story about a British actress who was the last person to see a missing girl at a casting call in Los Angeles. The Disappearing Act is an absolute page-turner that I read in practically one sitting - I didn’t want to put this tautly-written thriller down. If you are a fan of the genre, I think that you will feel the same way because this book is positively 5-star good.

After a horrendous break-up (she was basically ghosted by her actor boyfriend of 6 years), up-and-coming British actress Mia Eliot heads across the pond to Hollywood for pilot season in the hopes of landing a role that will help her forget everything she left behind in London. At a casting call, she meets a friendly hopeful actress, Emily Bryant, who abruptly exits the audition to take an urgent phone call, leaving Mia with her wallet and keys. This action sparks a chain of events that leaves Mia mixed up in a mystery that feels like it was written for the big screen - just who is Emily Bryant and why has she disappeared off the face of the Earth?

I love going into novels blind, so I won’t give away too many details so as not to spoil any of the heart-stopping twists and turns of this book. Just know that there are quite a few packed away in this tense thriller, but that’s not the only thing that Steadman does exceedingly well. I really appreciated Steadman writing a novel about the experiences of an actress, as she works in the business herself. I found the showbiz components of this novel to be enticing and compelling, and found myself completely engrossed in Mia’s acting adventures in Hollywood. This is not even to mention the suspense storyline, which is also done really well. I was on the edge-of-my-seat for Mia as she tried to figure out what happened to Emily, all the while putting herself closer and closer to danger.

In all, The Disappearing Act is an electrifying, pulse-pounding read that is fast-paced and well-written. I recommend this book to any fan of women’s suspense, as well as to those who love books set against the backdrop of Hollywood and show business.