WOW. Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC!

This was my first Lisa Jewell book and I'm so excited to read more. This thriller provided the perfect blend of murder mystery and psychological doubt, with dual timelines and a commentary on motherhood thrown in. I find so many thrillers enjoyable to read but am let down by the ending - that was not the case here.

I truly could not put it down and can't wait to recommend tbisn

Lisa Jewell is an auto read author for me and The Night She Disappeared did not disappoint!

When young parents Tallulah and Zach go missing after an evening out, Tallulah’s mother is one of the few people who doesn’t believe they just ran off to avoid their responsibilities. But over a year later, with no sign of either teen, it seems like something sinister may have actually happened. However, the police don’t have enough information to pursue any leads and mysteriously, all the people Zach and Tallulah were out with that fateful night seem to have picked up and left town for good.

When Sophie and her boyfriend move to the area, Sophie, a crime novelist, becomes embroiled in the drama when a “dig here” sign appears outside her new residence and leads to a clue that may help break the case.

I loved the dual stories with Tallulah’s missing persons case and Sophie trying to figure out the mystery. The way the two stories connected was well done and Jewell sucked me in with the slow burn unfolding of the two plots.

The mix of past to present Tallulah’s story before she went missing and present to show Sophie’s search for clues and solving of the mystery really helped build the suspense. I wish parts of Tallulah’s story came to light a little faster (some parts felt drawn out) and parts of Sophie’s plot line seemed a little underdeveloped, but overall, this was one I couldn’t put down. There were a few plot points that really surprised me and I loved the turns the story took!

If you’re a Lisa Jewell fan and/or a lover of slow burns that create a sense of foreboding with every flip of the page, this is one that cannot be missed.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy of this novel.

I absolutely LOVED this book - I’m a huge Lisa Jewell fan, and this is my favorite of all her books. I highly recommend that you pre-order this right now - I guarantee you will love all of the suspense, twists and turns!

Tallulah Murray is a responsible, studious 19 year old that goes out for a date with her boyfriend and never comes home. After a search, the theory is that she and her boyfriend have run away - but Kim, Tallulah’s mother, know that she never would have left her one year old son Noah. The case goes cold until two years later, when Sophie, a mystery novelist, discovers a chilling clue on the grounds of a nearby private school that could unravel the mystery of what happened the night Tallulah disappeared.

You will love this book if…
…you like slow burn, suspenseful thrillers. Lisa Jewell is the master of this, and I love really getting to know each character as the action begins to heat up.
…you like dual timeline, multiple POV novels. This book jumps between Tallulah, her mother Kim, and the mystery writer Sophie’s perspectives of different events that happened between 2017-2019. I didn’t find it at all confusing, but could imagine that if you listen to the audiobook you’ll have to pay close attention to the date stated at the beginning of each chapter.
…you love to be kept guessing! There are so many twists and turns, and red herrings everywhere! This book kept me on my toes for sure and was one of the best mysteries I’ve read in a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such an amazing read. A classic LJ story told with multiple povs, a slow but fast paced burn, with the reader trying to guess and predict the ending throughout. The duel timelines with Tallulah & her mother Kim...then to the "current" with Sophie. Can I just saw....I LOVED how both Kim and Sophie joined forces to try and solve the mystery of Kims missing daughter. And the fact that Sophie was a crime novelist was simply perfect. It made so much sense why she kept digging herself deeper into the case. But rationally. She told the right people what she discovered and more importantly she connected with Kim. Again, I loved this book. It took the necessary time to build a picture of what happened and the days leading up to the disappearance while the other timeline shattered everything you thought you knew. This definitely gave me The Family Upstairs with a combination of Then She Was Gone vibes.
5 stars all the way.

The cover of The Night She Disappeared says it’s Lisa Jewell’s best thriller yet – and it’s absolutely right!

The story is told from multiple perspectives, at different points in time - eventually coming to meet in the present.

The novel starts in the year 2017, with young mom, Tallulah, heading out on a date to the local pub with her boyfriend Zach, leaving her baby at home with her mother, Kim. The next morning, Kim notices neither have returned from their date. She learns that the couple ended up at a party at a mansion in the woods called The Dark Place. They’ve never been seen since.

Two years later, in 2019, detective novelist, Sophie, moves to a cottage behind a local boarding school with her boyfriend, the school’s new head teacher. While walking in the garden, she finds a carboard sign - “Dig Here.” What she digs up sends her spiraling into her own, very real, mystery…

The Night She Disappeared was a book that was full of twists. As a seasoned reader of thrillers, I was pleased at how often Jewell was able to surprise me and keep me from guessing what was going to come next.
The writing was descriptive and smart. The characters are multi-dimensional and full of intrigue. The ending, though seemingly nicely tied up, leaves you with one last shocking surprise.

If you love thrillers, I absolutely recommend picking up The Night She Disappeared – I promise it won’t disappoint!

Content Warnings **CONTAINS SPOILERS**: Grief, ambiguous sexual consent, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, kidnapping, captivity, drugs/drugging, murder

(Note: I was provided an advanced copy of The Night She Disappeared by the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

Review posted to blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

Creepy and Mysterious.

2017: The night teenage mum Tallulah and her boyfriend Zach disappear, no one can find any clue as to what happened to them, not their parents, or the police. Tallulah’s mum Kim was left to care for Tallulah’s son when it happened and now she is his primary caregiver. All Kim wants are answers and there are none to be had.

Desperate, Kim will stop at nothing to find her daughter.

2019: When Sophie moves to the area with her boyfriend who is headteacher at the boarding school where one of the students went missing a little over a year ago, she can’t help but begin researching what happened. She is after all a novelist, and curiosity always gets the better of her. Once clues begin appearing, Sophie is of course, all in.

A novel that alternates between timelines with each chapter, your pulse pounds as you try to unravel the mystery of what happened to Tallulah and her boyfriend on that fateful night.

A well-done mystery/suspense by the fabulous Lisa Jewell, The Night She Disappeared was both captivating and intriguing and I highly recommend it. I quite enjoyed it, though not as much as some of Lisa Jewell’s prior novels, simply because I admit to being a bit befuddled by the ending. I still don’t quite get it but haven’t since gotten over it…ha!

A buddy read with Kaceey.

Thank you to the incredible Ariele Friedman at Atria Books for the arc via NetGalley.

Published on Goodreads, Twitter, and Instagram.

Let me start this review by saying that despite my low rating, this was not a bad book. I have wanted to read Lisa Jewell's books for a while now, and this is my first book of hers. Unfortunately, this book contains my most hated tropes. There are multiple tropes in this book that will automatically make me lower the rating for a book. Although this book was not it for me, I am still looking forward to reading her other books.

First, let's talk about the positive of this book. I love Lisa Jewell's writing. The writing is what really made up for the areas that we lacking. I was still motivated to read the book despite being upset with the tropes. I was also eager to know what happened to the characters and get to the big reveal.

Now, the reasons that I did not enjoy this book. There were three tropes in this story that I can not stand. First and foremost, there were multiple instances of cheating in this novel and that is my biggest pet peeve in stories. Second, there is a character in this book that is the typical girl that everyone is obsessed with for no reason. She is that character that is so obviously toxic to everyone around her, she's not incredible, but yet she has everyone following her around like lost puppies. The last trop wasn't in the entire story, but it is the one where there's a big secret that the character doesn't tell their significant other and they keep making up dumb excuses as to why they can't tell them.

The tropes in this book just really ruined it for me and I found that I was angry with all the characters. However, I still enjoyed the writing, and I do recommend this book if you are not bothered by those things.

Dig Here! This was the sign seen by the new head teacher's wife. Sophie. That small sign was what set in motion re-opening up a missing person's case from a couple of years previously. Tallulah and Zach both 19 years old had gone missing after attending a party given in a mansion house. Kim, Tallula's mother, knew that her daughter would never leave her baby behind and just go off with her boyfriend Zach. Sophie is a mystery writer, so is drawn to learning all about the two missing teens.
This book flowed well and, like Sophie, kept me wanting to know what happened.
I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my fifth Lisa Jewell book. The Family Upstairs and I Found You are my top 2. Invisible Girl I found so bad I didn’t even finish it, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. Luckily I really enjoyed it! Thrillers about rich British people are some of my favorites and this one kept my interest. It was pretty easy to figure out the twist but the book still kept me really entertained. Sophie and her boyfriend’s story never really seemed fully fleshed out and I think if they weren’t going to go deeper with it, they could have cut out a lot. Overall I liked the characters and remained engaged throughout the whole book.

Lisa Jewell is an auto-read thriller writer for me, and The Night She Disappeared didn’t disappoint. There are three narrators telling the story from their point of view, starting before the disappearance through to the present day of the mystery. They eventually intertwine and this way of telling the story left a trail of hints from several vantage points.

I had a few theories and ended up partially correct, and to me that’s the mark of a good mystery- I figured some of it out but was also tricked by other pieces. Put this one on your spooky TBR for fall and curl in to read it in a weekend because once it picks up, you’re not going to want to put it down.

This is a slow burn. Like, a REALLY slow burn. It took forever to get to the conclusion, but I found it to be worth the wait. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and timelines. The setting was interesting and I was very into the descriptions of the house. I was wholly shocked and entertained by the ending. But it took a REALLY long time to get there. So much so that I almost DNFed but I’m glad I rode it out. This could have used a heavy edit to make it a smoother ride but overall, an interesting story. My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Lisa Jewell has long been one of my favorite suspense authors (I say suspense because while I think people tend to refer to all mystery/suspense novels as thriller these days, that can set the read up for disappointment. Jewell's books tend to be much more of a slow burn with more psychological and atmospheric aspects). I'm always a fan of multiple timelines, so that part of this really worked for me. Plus, private school settings are one of my favorites. However, the ending of this one didn't quite live up to the rest of the book, so while I still enjoyed it, it wasn't one of her best.

Lisa Jewell’s latest is a fantastic slow-burn mystery packed with non-stop suspense. It involves the disappearance of a nineteen year old mother and her boyfriend during a night of partying at a large country estate. One year later, Sophie, an author of detective novels, moves into the cottage that borders the now deserted mansion, digs up a clue to the disappearances, then sleuth’s her way to finding out what happened on that fateful night. Nothing is as it seems—people definitely know more than what they’re letting on. It’s riveting, and thoroughly entertaining. I did not want the book to end, but at the same time I wanted to know how it ended. I highly recommend it!

Many thanks to Atria Books via NetGalley for kindly providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In another book highlighting her talent for creating nuanced, believable characters within fraught family situations, Lisa Jewell delves into the disappearance of a teen mom and her boyfriend.
After exams are done, straight and narrow, studious Tallulah finally gets a chance to go out (or should I say "go round") to the pub with her live-in boyfriend, but she never comes home. The couple had supposedly run into some school friends and gone back to their place for a dip in the pool, but everyone says they left together and has no idea where they are. Meanwhile, a writer of detective novels moves next door and can't resist joining up with Talullah's mom to try to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.
As with previous Lisa Jewell books, she lets you believe you know exactly what is going on, before throwing in a little twist.

The Night She Disappeared is the latest novel to come from the mind of Lisa Jewell, one of my favorite thriller/mystery authors out there. Naturally, I just had to make some time to read this beauty!

Two years ago, a young woman by the name of Tallulah went missing. She left behind her baby and her mother, neither of whom had any idea where she could have gone. Just that she was supposed to be out for a date but home soon enough.

She never came home. Now, in the present day, her missing person's case has been opened back up, but not for the reasons her family would have ever hoped for. Not when it all starts with a note that reads:

“DIG HERE”

Consider picking up The Night She Disappeared if you're looking for a slow-burning and emotionally fraught thriller to read. Once again, Lisa Jewell has managed to wrap up many complex emotions into a suspenseful situation, leaving readers wondering what will happen next.

Jewell took advantage of a classic writing approach to help keep the suspense up in the air. The Night She Disappeared unfolds through two perspectives, set in two points of time. One from Tallulah's perspective – telling the story from before she went missing. The other from her mother's perspective, two years after that moment.

Overall, I really enjoyed her latest novel. I won't say that it's my favorite (that honor goes to The Invisible Girl), but it is still a solid and fascinating read. One that isn't afraid to hit readers where it hurts.

3.5*
A night out in the town… a possible engagement.

Zach has been diligently saving his money and finally has enough to take his girlfriend, mother of his child, Tallulah out for a much-deserved romantic dinner.

But when the young lovers vanish without a trace, only Tallulah’s mother fears something horrible has happened.

Told in two timelines:

2017 – Tallulah is a 19-year-old new mother, just discovering what she truly wants in life. Specifically, whether that includes the father of her baby or not.

2019 – Sophie moves in with her boyfriend after he lands a job at a boarding school. Sophie is a mystery writer who now finds herself quickly drawn into a mystery of her own.

I usually love dual timelines but I found myself a bit confused, as the difference was a mere 2 years.

I did, enjoy Tallulah’s character. Her dedication and love for her child, while struggling with the desire to live the life of a carefree young adult.

I am a huge fan of this author and already looking forward to her next release.

A buddy read with Susanne.

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

Thank you to Ariele Friedman at Atria Books for the arc via NetGalley.

Lisa Jewell brings it again like she does every time ! We met Kim whose daughter Talullah a young mom who has been missing . We learn Tallulah’s story through POV . A young mother with not a lot of self confidence befriends the most glamorous girl in school . Chapter by chapter we learn what happens to her and her baby’s father . Thrilling and twisty you will not be able to put this down

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This was my third and favorite Lisa Jewell book. A classic mystery/suspense/who-done-it story.
Tallulah and Zach are the teenage parents of baby Noah. One night they go out for a date night and never return. None of the people who were with them that night offer any clues to the couple’s disappearance, but one year later an anonymous person is burying evidence with a “Dig Here” sign on the grounds of Tallulah’s school. Someone wants this cold case reopened and the secrets revealed.
The story is told in three time periods - a year before the couple’s disappearance, immediately after they go missing, and one year later. The plot moved quickly and kept me engaged. Well done.

SYNOPSIS: When teen parents Tallulah and Zach leave their infant son at home with Kim, Tallulah’s mother, for an innocent pub night and never return, Kim immediately knows something very, very terrible has happened. The tight knit community rallies together to find them, only to come up empty handed. 15 months later, Sophie, a cosy crime writer who recently moved to town comes across a cardboard sign in her garden thats says “DIG HERE”, so she does, and what she finds cracks the cold case wide open...

LISA JEWEL YOU DID IT AGAIN. Damn. I just love this author and her work so much. This novel has everything that I love; multiple timelines with multiple POV that have me wondering “who the heck was involved?!”; complex characters that you love, then hate, then sometimes love again and are permanently suspicious of; a seamless plot packed with suspense that beautifully reveals itself and an ending that takes me by surprise. I specifically loved Sophie, the cozy crime writer turned real life sleuth, and her relationship with Kim.

I'm a fan of Lisa Jewell, who writes intricately plotted mysteries set in the UK. Her books have well-developed characters and multiple timelines and/or narrators.

The Night She Disappeared was no exception. The book is a missing persons case, but also a story of two women, Tallulah and Sophie, who are struggling to decide whether the relationships they are in are the right ones for them.

Tallulah and Sophie are then connected in the story as Sophie moves to Tallulah’s small town. She’s accompanying her (fairly new) partner, Shaun, who has just landed a new job as a head teacher at the Maypole School. The school is located at the edge of some woods, and Sophie is warned not to wander there, as three people in town have mysteriously disappeared.

But Sophie is a mystery writer, and she’s not just going to follow these instructions. Especially when she’s just found a sign near her cottage that says “Dig Here.”

I had some suspicions around the ending of The Night She Disappeared, and I was right. (I like being right and I like being surprised. It’s hard to decide which one is best!)

If you like books set in the UK, thrillers with more of a psychological bent, and books with plotting that really keep you on your toes, check out The Night She Disappeared!