Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Slow paced book that was interesting. I found at times that it dragged on. It started off very well but I began to lose interest as it became a little bit disjointed with lots of characters. I liked it but I couldnt say I loved it.

Paula McLain has described When The Stars Go Dark as her most personal book yet, and it's a major departure from her previous best-selling historical novels dealing with two of Ernest Hemingway's wives The Paris Wife, about Hadley Richardson, and the innocent joy of their first marriage in Paris in the 30s, and Love And Ruin, about the competitive passion between Hemingway and his third wife, international journalist Martha Gellhorn, in the 40s.
Different stories, but sharing an intense drive to seek emotional truth and confront the deeper motivations of the human heart.
The protagonist at the center of When The Stars Go Dark, Anna Hart, is a seasoned missing persons detective in San Francisco fleeing an overwhelming, and at the start only vaguely defined, personal tragedy. She runs to hide in the place she instinctively thinks might be the only haven on earth for her, a small northern forest community where she once lived happily with foster parents.
There's a sense at the beginning that hiding is the only response she can find within herself. Even the prospect of ever healing seems impossible.Yet, as if to prove she cannot evade her unfaceable present on the day she arrives, she learns a local teenage girl has gone missing.
As the publisher's blurb states, "as Anna becomes obsessed with the missing girl, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in."
Anna's initial resistance to getting drawn into the case for a whole array of sound reasons - local police jurisdiction issues, a realisation her own judgement may be unreliable and impaired by the trauma she is enduring, and an instinct to self preservation - is sensitively rendered. It seems unwise to allow herself to get involved, and sensible to hold the unfolding community drama at arm's length.
Gradually, however, as she renews her links with locals she accepts she has skills and experience that can help solve the case. The difficult lessons of her life have given her insight into how victims come into contact with violent predators that she needs to share.
When The Stars Go Dark is a courageous departure from familiar, successful territory for Paula McLain, but I found her journey into the terrain of psychological thriller an engrossing, read, lit by a keen understanding of the deadly interlocking of predator and prey. When The Stars Go Dark achieves a remarkable balancing feat, presenting an unblinking picture of the darker side of human behavior with an outcome which, while challenging, is ultimately hopeful.

Paula McLain talks about the inspiration behind When The Stars Go Dark on The Joys of Binge Reading podcast.

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I was immediately drawn to everything about this wonderful novel - from the cover, to the title and the synopsis - and it did not disappoint. This is the first book I've read by the author and it is a stunning read. The time (1990s) and place are brought to life by the author in a novel that deals sensitively and insightfully with difficult issues that may be triggering for some readers. It is a well plotted, emotional and powerful read made even more believable by the fact that the author draws on fact and her own experiences. Highly recommended and I can't wait to read more by the author.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Es ist vor dem Beginn mit dem Buch ganz gut zu wissen, dass es 1993 spielt, in der Zeit vor dem Internet und DNA-Beweisen.
Man wird vom Start weg unvermittelt in Annas Situation versetzt. Etwas schreckliches ist ihr passiert, es geht ihr körperlich und psychisch sehr schlecht. Sie will und muss einfach nur fort und wählt dann für sich selbst unerwartet den Weg in die Stadt ihrer Jugend, Mendocino.
Die Autorin findet erfrischend andere Worte und Vergleiche für ihre Beschreibungen, man fühlt sofort mit der Protagonistin Anna mit. Die Erzählung wird immer wieder durch Kapitel mit Geschichten aus Annas eigener Jugend angereichert.
Schon bei ihrem ersten Café Besuch in Mendocino wird sie auf den Fall eines vermissten Teenagers aufmerksam. Das Wiedersehen mit alten Freunden und der damals selbst erlebte Vermisstenfall mit Jenny, als sie fünfzehn war, beschwören Erinnerungen herauf. Vergangenheit und Gegenwart beginnen sich zu vermischen
Eigentlich ist die Protagonistin nach Mendocino gekommen, um zu vergessen, aber es ist voller Geister und Botschaften, die auf sie gewartet haben.
Es gibt einen spannenden Show Down, die Identität des Täters konnte mich überraschen. Weiter kann man einen Blick in eine mögliche glaubhafte Zukunft für Anna erhaschen.
Das Nachwort offenbart dann ergreifende Hintergründe, das sollte man nicht verpassen. Es ist wichtiger Bestandteil der Geschichte und rundet das Leseerlebnis ab.
Dieses Buch zeigt eine Ermittlerin in einer ganz schwierigen, außergewöhnlichen persönlichen Situation. Am Ende klärt sich genau, welch unvorstellbares Leid sie ertragen musste, zudem belastet durch die harte Reaktion ihres Mannes.

Intense and gripping, When the Stars Go Dark is a thrilling new novel by Paula McLain.

The main character is Anna, a woman on the run from her personal life who ends up centre stage in an escalating missing persons case. From the outset, it's clear that there is more to Anna than first meets the eye. She is clearly a capable detective with lots of experience in missing persons cases, yet she is also a vulnerable individual, a grieving family member, and a little girl still angry at herself. Anna is such a well-written, multi-faceted character that it is a delight to read about her.

This book deals with some difficult themes. Trigger warnings for death, kidnapping, rape, and child loss are just a few, so please do be aware if you plan to read the book. These difficult topics are dealt with well, within the context of the book, and they also add a gritty atmosphere to the storyline.

However, the heartbreaking reality is that some of the cases mentioned in the book are real cases. The author effortlessly blends fact with fiction, and it's clear that a great deal of research must have gone into the creation of this book. The end result is a layered, nuanced story that doesn't shy away from difficult topics yet also raises awareness of these issues' importance. The way that the community comes together to support the police in searching for the missing girls is truly remarkable and inspiring.

When the Stars Go Dark is a beautifully written, well-executed mystery thriller novel.

Paula McLain has written some of my favourite books in my favourite genre of biographical fiction- I adored Circling the sun as well as The Paris Wife - but she can also switch genres and still show her class. This had me absorbed and believing from early on, good characters , strong storyline, well written and compelling. I wonder if Anna Hart will solve more mysteries in the future. Hope so.

Anna, a detective who specialises in missing persons cases, flees to the small coastal town where she once lived with a foster family after her life in San Fransisco falls apart following the tragic loss of her child. Dealing with some tough themes, When The Stars Go Dark was beautifully written and engaged my attention from the first page. In an afterword, Paula McLain explains that many of the experiences she writes about accord with things she experienced growing up in the foster care system, and I suspect this may be what gives the book such an emotionally convincing feel. This is McLain's first foray into the mystery genre, but I very much hope not the last. Recommended for fans of Julia Heaberlin, Jane Harper and Laura Lippman.

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain is an intense, powerful thriller featuring a formidable female detective who specialises in finding missing kids. Hugely enjoyable!

Troubled detective Anna Hart takes a break from her family and her stressful San Francisco day job as a detective leading a project to track missing kids. On her first day back in the town where she spent her formative years, she overhears locals talking about a missing girl. She puts it out of her mind and starts spending time reacquainting herself with the expansive wild forests in which she spent so much time bonding with her foster father. However Anna is unable not to stop herself from getting involved in the search for the missing girl once she realises that her friend Will Flood is the sheriff in charge of the investigation.

In this pacy novel the author has created a number of very strong characters with intriguing backstories who mostly work well together whilst not always agreeing with each other. The rugged but dangerous scenery of this northern California forest is so attractively described.

I have read that this is a new genre for McLain but she has certainly had no apparent difficulty adapting - this is similar to the Karin Slaughter style of which I am a big fan!

A complex, gripping and fascinating story that kept me reading.
Well written characters, excellent plot development and a solid mystery.
I loved the style of writing of the author and want to read other books.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is the first I’ve read of this author – I’ve had her hit historical fiction novel The Paris Wife waiting on my Kindle for years, and it will be getting bumped up the list now. McLain is an established writer who’s enjoyed success in a range of genres – even poetry – but this is her debut in crime fiction. And I adored it. You can tell reading this novel that this is a seasoned author, one who knows how to use words in a literary, almost lyrical way, but also how to craft a suspenseful, plot-driven story.

Anna Hart is a perfect protagonist, both strong and vulnerable. She’s fallen on hard times, she’s lost a child and her husband has asked her to leave, so she find herself driving to the place where she grew up. She lands in Mendicino, a coastal town in California, but this isn’t going to be a relaxing break. Because Anna is also a skilled detective specialising in missing children, and when a teenage girl goes missing in the small town, she can’t help but get involved.

The book opens like an emotional drama but quickly ramps up the tension to become a crime thriller once Anna gets on the case. We know that she has a complicated past, one which is gradually revealed throughout the story, but alongside this there’s plenty of action as she reuinites with childhood friend Will to investigate the missing local girl.

Like with her historical fiction, McLain weaves in grains of truth within the story. In this case, it’s real life statistics and cases of missing girls and child abuse which act to highlight that, while the main focus of the story is fiction, it is alarmingly close to the truth. It’s set in the 1990s, as the internet is just beginning to gain momentum, and this gives an extra layer of historical context as the characters reflect on the internet’s potential to completely alter the way these investigations take place and how information is shared.

But, whilst dealing with some very serious topics, the book manages to not become too dark and depressing and avoids any graphic depictions of abuse. That’s because it’s also peppered with hope and beauty, in Anna’s reflections on her relationships with her adoptive family and the idyllic nature of Mendocino. McClain brings to life the coast, the woods and hiking trails surrounding Anna’s old home in a stunning, lyrical way.

All in all, McClain has written a beautiful, multi-layered and sensitive story with enough action to satisfy thrill-seekers too. It’s a story which is ingrained in truth and history. Her author’s note at the end is well worth a read – in fact, I wish it had been at the beginning so I had more understanding of the book’s context before starting it. But I think she summarises the story’s significance perfectly with this quote.

“Anna Hart’s pain has led to her path, her destiny, and mine has led me precisely here. To these characters, real and imaginary, to the fern forest, dripping with fog, to the bluffs above the roaring Pacific, to the cabin in the deep dark woods, and into the very heart of this book, which is as personal as anything I’ve ever written.”

It’s a story I think she should be proud of.

This is not specifically one of McLain’s admired historical novels as such. She has crossed to crime fiction albeit the story “starts” in 1993 and covers a very limited period. But in reality life does not start today so to come close to truth this tale will inevitably refer back to decades before that for the characters which start to emerge. Where does a person learn their ways, deeply ingrained habits and beliefs of life? Some say it is nurture, some nature, some say a mixture of both. This novel will explore these themes through the way that crimes – both public and hidden – play their way out in this tale.
The key character is Anna Hart; she has been working for a decade in the police and has chosen to move into a department dealing with child abuse and murder. She has seen dark things, not entirely to her own mental welfare, and it seems has become unable to put her visions away and has become obsessive in her need to solve the problems. As the novel unrolls we will see that her marriage of seven years has started to unravel, particularly in the face of an unspoken “disaster”. All we are initially told is that Anna had a baby (no longer with her) and that she has moved back to a small town where she lived for her teenage years. Shortly after she arrives the daughter of a retired local actress will go “missing”. Anna will offer help in the investigation.
It seems that in those years in the town she lived with a foster family for about ten years and her new parents grounded her in the first security she had known. She had been taught rural life style with survival in the woods, but the nature too of a solid, loving family. She settled, made friends and started to grow. He friends included the son of the local sheriff (who has now inherited that role) and twins, children of a local artist. The daughter went missing at fifteen and a few days later her body is found dumped in a river. The community is traumatised and does not forget. Life is not idyllic for Anna. Her foster mother will die young and when Anna is eighteen and has a college place her foster father will walk into the woods and not return, leaving her alone. She leaves the town and starts her new life.
Anna had come from a chaotic early family life and as a child had been separated from two half siblings. This has occasioned a guilt she has carried with her. But with the practical experience and difficulties of her life she has developed a hypothesis that vulnerable and abused children are “visible” in a certain way to those with the eyes to see. Unfortunately these might be the eyes – of the predators who will prey on them. Abuse seemingly might not be as extreme as murder (which leaves a visible body) but can be extensive, imbedded in the family home and most of it will travel under the official or legal radars. When a girl or young woman disappears – and as this novel makes clear there is a huge number of the – police investigating will have to work their way through the evidence, the hidden histories, lies and evasions to try and come to the truth. In this novel the disappearance of young fifteen year old Cameron is not going to be the only one – locally there are two more lassies (in addition to the historic case from fifteen years before and the many unsolved others not too far away). So the issue arises are any of the crimes linked? This could possibly provide more evidence. Or are they separate? Are the girls alive, or dead, or at immediate risk of death?
So this novel uses the tale of these investigations to explore these deeper issues, the evolving techniques of police detection and the then rising awareness of how killers and abusers might operate. But it also explores the social aspects behind that. Which of the missing will be reported? Which ones will the police act on? Will the community or media get behind the search? And with so much abuse around, even in extremis, how much will be spoken of and how much covered up? How long can serial abusers stay free to abuse? How will the damage caused play out in later years?
So this is a busy, multi layered, novel that melds these issues (and others) with the fictional tale of trying to track a potential killer against the clock. But it is one which carries a clear resonance of truth. It feels like that the aware – wherever in the modern world you live – have seen this play out so many times before. Yes, there will have to be a “happy” (more or less) resolution. With the author’s ultimate message (through Anna’s plans) that it is not what happens, but how we carry it that is important.

All the novels I previously read by Paula McLain had historical backgrounds featuring strong female characters like Beryl Markham, Martha Gelhorn or Hadley Hemingway; all three terrific reads, she is a great writer in my opinion. With “When the Stars go Dark” she enters a new terrain, that of a literary thriller/mystery and having just finished the last page, she has my all thumbs up!
Set in Mendocino, Northern California, the main character is Anna Hart, a missing person detective who retreats to her home town to recovery from a personal tragedy only to walk into another missing person case of a local teenage girl, Cameron. Will, her former high school friend and now the chief of police gladly accepts Anna’s seasoned expertise and offer to help in the investigation. This case has a familiar ring to both of them from an unresolved disappearance of Jenny, one of their friends from teenage days. With Anna, McLain created a very likable, intelligent, strong protagonist who was able to turn her life around after a very troubled childhood and with the help of loving forster parents. In her author’s note McLain reveals how her own autobiography helped with the plot and the female lead and that she poured a lot of her past experiences into the book which makes it so believable. I had a reluctant “well let’s see about his” approach when I started the novel as I was biased being a fan of her historical novels but she won me over fast and I raced through the book towards the finale. Paula McLain can very clearly write excellent mysteries too!

McLain is a gifted writer. I have loved the books I've read by her. This one has a gripping premise and the investigation of the missing girl is riveting. There are a lot of sub-plots and only some add to the narrative. It can be a lot to keep track of but it's still such a compelling read. Once she started investigating, I could not stop reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and OneWorld Publications for the opportunity to read this book.

I knew from the book’s description that WHEN THE STARS GO DARK would not be a light, fluffy type of story and that it would probably get under my skin, and yet I was immediately lured by the promise of a complex lead character and a mystery weaving real life crimes into its fabric. I was not disappointed! With the creation of Detective Anna Hart, author Paula McLain has taken the concept of the tortured detective to a new level. Hart is flawed, yes, but she has survived terrible trauma and has made it her life’s mission to rescue others from similar fates, which makes her a character to be respected, even though I did not always understand the dark places in her psyche that influenced her decisions.

We don’t yet know what terrible fate has befallen Anna when she sets out to revisit Mendocino, her old childhood home, but it was obviously bad enough to make her lose her family and take a break from her career. And yet Anna is immediately willing to help the town’s sheriff, who is also her childhood friend, when a local girl goes missing, putting her vast knowledge to good use despite still recovering from her personal losses. Soon Anna is up to her neck in the investigation, not afraid to uncover some of the town’s darkest secrets.

WHEN THE STARS GO DARK is not an easy read in places, and it packs a punch. Tackling dark themes such as loss, trauma, child sexual abuse and neglect, and the failings of the foster care system, it is often sad and confronting to read. And yet, through Anna’s resilience, a beacon of hope always remains. I especially loved the glimpses into Anna’s childhood, growing up with her wise and wonderful foster parents, who gave her a future to live for.

I love thrillers that are based on real life cases, and McLain adds extra depth to her story by incorporating the abduction of Polly Klaas in 1993, who was taken at knife point from her own home during a slumber party. It was interesting to read how Polly’s disappearance prompted a huge nationwide appeal for information, using the internet for the first time in a missing person’s case. McLain weaves truth and fiction together so seamlessly that the story was educational as well as entertaining, and I spent quite some time afterwards looking up the true-life crimes she refers to in her book.

All in all, WHEN THE STARS GO DARK was a tragic and yet beautifully written story exploring the lasting effects of childhood trauma whilst also offering a suspenseful mystery to solve. Told through the eyes of a scarred and brave protagonist, the book had a depth not often found in other detective stories. With complex and well rounded characters who each have their own tragic histories, it wasn’t always easy reading, but it touched my heart and ultimately gave me hope.

An extraordinary novel. This will be the suspense of 2021. But so very much more than a page-turning suspense. This is literature at its finest and most accessible (and with imagery that is as far from clichéd as it is possible to get), this is gut-wrenching, heart-warming, and yes, educational…with layer upon layer of depth. This is a story of vulnerability, and resilience, and community, and place, and healing. Thank you, Paula McLain. And thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy.

Interesting case based on the infamous Polly Klaas kidnapping. The real life case and the one in the novel aren't exactly the same and happen in different cities for obvious reasons but it's very clear that the author was very affected by the real life murder. She writes about this in her author note and the story behind the story is something else.

I found this an interesting mix. Based on real life but with enough fictional aspects to bring it into the realm of crime fiction. It's hard to read about a missing child, murder and the Amber alert system when you know this really happened but it was an interesting mix and worked well.

Frightening in many ways but a gripping premise for a detective and a crime fiction novel.

4+ stars

After a personal tragedy Detective Anna Hart is asked by her husband Brendan to leave home in order to give him the thinking space he needs. She heads to Mendocino, Northern California where she had been happily fostered as a girl by Hap and Eden Strater. She meets up with Sheriff Will Flood an old friend and quickly immerses herself in the case of Cameron Curtis, 15, who is missing. The net spreads wide in this investigation and has similarities with other missing girl cases. The year is 1993 so predates much that forces can use in present day investigations.

This is a well written novel with some beautiful descriptions, you can visualise the people and places, hear the yipping coyote, see the twisted krummholz of the trees and hear the roar of the ocean. The characterisation is very strong especially of Anna. She is fascinatingly complex and flawed as we learn through the interweaving narrative of past and present. The baggage she carries until the successful placement with the Straters is one she will always carry and is a driving force behind her work in missing persons. She does have lone wolf maverick tendencies but her intuition often leads to breaks in cases. Mendocino is vividly captured, it’s full of ghosts, signs, memories and clues which Anna has to listen to in this collision between the past and present. The plot unfolds extremely well, the writing is smooth and fluid, it goes pretty deep in places examining backgrounds that are disturbing and sad. What emerges is an intense, dark and very powerful novel, it’s heartbreaking in places as you view the families of the abducted and witness their trauma. It also looks at the impact on those that uphold the law and how they hold it together during distressing investigations which is a good angle in the storytelling. The setting in Northern California allows for some very atmospheric and suspenseful scenes.

Overall, this is a shocking tale with disturbing elements but the quality of the writing means it’s handled as sensitively as possible. I like the inclusion of the real life case of Polly Klaas which features prominently. I definitely want to read more by Paula McLain.

With thanks to NetGalley and One World Publications, Point Blank for the arc in return for an honest review.

I absolutely adored the writing in this novel, an edgy, literary vibe with noir undertones that really immersed me immediately into this story. That added to the beautifully engaging main protagonist made this a fantastic read.

The setting really pops, a small town and a lot of secrets that start to emerge during the urgent hunt for a missing girl. The real life case of Polly Klaas gives the historical context and this is a real page turner, unpredictable and plotted to perfection.

Theres a lot of emotive themes embedded into the narrative, forgiveness, nature and nurture, life tragedies that make us who we are. The author explores an investigation that sits on the cusp of the technology that helps today and it was refreshing to read about an old school investigation where mobile phones were not around and the internet was in its infancy. It all added to the overall sense of unease that stays with you throughout.

I thought this was terrific. Highly recommended.