Where do I start on this brilliant read? The story is mostly told from the perspective of Carla as she navigates visiting her estranged father in his final days. There are however a few very touching, poignant chapters from a kidnapped child’s point of view - tough reading! There are also extracts from Carla’s dad’s diary, which also provokes strong emotions.

Covering such difficult subject matter must have been difficult to write, but it is handled with sensitivity, referring to similar real life cases in the UK.

The characters are so well developed, I never once thought about the fact that they are not real people! I was totally absorbed by the story. The community of Newcastle is so clearly supportive of its members and contains fabulous characters like CeCe.

The atmosphere created by the settings adds palpable tension as Carla follows her instincts to investigate, ignoring advice from the people around her. Whilst the actual murderer is not difficult to work out, there was enough mystery and investigation, along with the rapid pace of the book to keep my interest.

My first book by Jennifer Harvey but it definitely won’t be my last. A really great, fascinating read.

This book was very emotional and thrilling. So many twists and turns, you definitely don't want to put it down.

The vanishing Child takes us back forty years to when Cece’s son goes missing on a summers day. Cece is lost and cannot stop looking for him, waiting for him to return one day. Forty ears later….. it takes us to Carla. You, the reader, are not sure why just yet but the secrets will soon be spilled. Carlas father has a stash of diaries and newspaper clippings. Those items talked about three missing children and Carla’s father kept silent about the issue. Carla reaches out to Cece trying to help her resolve her feelings, if that is possible. However, Carla fins out more information that may bring the missing children closer to her home.. Harvey definitely knows how to write a great mystery/thriller and keep the reader engrossed from page one to the final page. I really thought I knew how this one was going to end but she got me. I was wrong. I love books that deceive the reader into thinking they know what the truth is but find out they were looking in the wrong place the whole time.


5 out of 5 stars


Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author/ publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest

The vanishing child was an intense read but it was also very predictable. The story about the vanished boys from the village was sad to read about especially in first person chapters. As Carla undertakes the assignment to solve this mystery I can't help but wonder at her amateurishness but that also makes her the most authentic character in the book. While the plot was good, there were more questions in the end and many things left unanswered. So while a few characters recieved closure in the book I wasn't fully satisfied with the lack of explanation. I could tell a few chapters in who the kidnapper was and was right in the end. So this was not much of a suspense for me. I liked this book but there was no closure for me in this.

Thank you NetGalley, Jennifer Harvey & Bookouture for this arc!

This was an intense read for sure, quite emotional for obv reasons and I gobbled it up in no time at all…really enjoyed it and thought the characters were well thought out and the storyline good, more please!

Carla, her sister, and mom have been estranged from her father. Now he's dying and she's gone back to say goodbye. I found the mystery of the father's two seemingly different personalities to be intriguing, and the main plot of the kidnapped and murdered children to be a great mystery that kept the pages turning.

Not a book I thought it would be. Too many rumination and thoughts written of the main character rather than actions taken by her. The predictable plotline too didn't help. Could have been better.

This was an emotional read. The pace was intense and it contained one of my favourite tropes Cold cases !. I cant say enough about this book. It has past and present timeline and I could not put it down. Highly recommend.

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley and sorry for the delay.

This is a psychological thriller that has you hooked straight away and will have you trying to dot all the dots along the way.

A father on his death bed , a long history of sadness and pain ..what do you do,do you say goodbye despite all the past?

Thought provoking, unpredictable and chilling .

A great read about a towns murky past which is about to be resurfaced in a huge way!

I’m left with mixed feelings about this book.
On the one hand, it was a well-written story about a dysfunctional family who (as it turns out) is even more dysfunctional than they thought. On the other hand, it dragged at the beginning, which made it difficult to buy into the urgency of parts of the plot.
First the good. I thought the author did a terrific job of laying out the background of the family. We definitely got to know Carla and her sister and mom. There was not a lot of love lost between all of them.
I also liked how the events necessitated Carla finding out all of the information first and then had to put it all together. I thought the way that she got to know the people of the area added to the mystery of the past that she uncovered.
Indeed, who wouldn’t want a crime like that to be solved?
I also thought that the crime itself was intriguing enough to keep me interested and that the chapters from a victim’s point of view interspersed added to the tension.
However, what was good (the background on the family and laying groundwork for Carla’s discovery) also almost derailed the book for me.
I felt like it took a long time for everything to really kick into gear. The beginning, while interesting, did seem to plod along in some places.
I am glad that I stuck with it, because it did pick up pace in the middle and that continued to the end.
I guess what I’m trying to say is give this one a chance, and stick with it, because it was ultimately an entertaining read.

Not a bad read. Carla's estranged father is dying and asks to see her one last time, but what is the secret that he needs to impart before he goes? I think me issue with this book is that I read too many crime novels and spent the whole second half waiting for a plot twist that doesn't come. It's entertaining, straightforward and a good read.

Once I picked this one up, I was hooked and needed answers, and along with Carla that finds the box, we are on a journey to solve some horrible crimes.
Her father is dying and now she needs him to answer questions, and it seems everyone is against her, her mother, sister, and the entire town.
A page-turning read, that makes you want for a better outcome, but having to accept the facts.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley, too,
For my copy of this book - here’s my honest review:

This story starts with dramatic events from the past
And how Carla endeavours to resolve them at last.
It is a family drama, and investigation, too

A boy walks home from school but never gets there
He vanished and was gone, but no one knows where.
Almost forty years later some clues may help to tell
Who did what, when and how, only time will tell.

When Suzie calls Carla to let her know
Her estranged father is dying and wants to see her so
She travels to her father’s home and there she finds
Diaries, photos and mementos that bring fears to mind.

Carla is befriended by CeCe, whose son disappeared
Vanished so long ago - its almost forty years.
Reading the diaries, the family drama starts to unfold
About the secrets that still remain untold.

Suspicions mount and the tensions grow
What the truth is, Carla wants to know.
Can they discover what happened in the past?
Can CeCe and her son be reunited at last?

This is a story involving family history
As the family try to solve the mystery.
It is a suspense filled, yes, indeed
A gripping story and emotional read

The Vanishing Child follows the story of Carla. A women who as a child was abandoned by her abusive father who is now in a hospice receiving end of life care. She is torn whether to visit him when his carer calls as both her mother and sister have already refused. She does eventually make the decision to go and accidentally unearths a massive secret!

She finds a box containing diaries and scrap books from her fathers childhood that details the disappearance and deaths of 3 young boys from the small sleepy village her dad was born and grew up in. One of which turns out to be the brother of her dads carer. She becomes obsessed with finding out what happens to the young boy Johnny as he was never found. Was her dad involved even though he was the roughly the same age as the boys who went missing? And where is Johnny? Can she solve the mystery and his final resting place?

I found the book fascinating, I enjoyed the development of the character of Carla, from family misfit and outcast to a strong independent woman. The relationship between her and mother sister also develops as the book goes on which is nice to see. Also impressed by the character Cece who is Johnny’s mother. Such a strong woman dealing with any mothers worst nightmare

With thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy, this is my honest opinion

This is the first book I've read from this author.

This is a well paced and suspenseful read from the beginning.

This kept me interested from the page first to the last. The mystery surrounding the disappearances was well written and I was surprised when the resolution came at the end.

Can't wait to read more from this author.

Just wow. This was a heart rending, thrilling, addictive, poignant read that I could not put down. Finished it in two sittings. Brilliantly written. Pacy and so well plotted. Another amazing book from this absolutely brilliant aunthor.

I really liked the cover and the blurb for this one. I’m always intrigued as to where the story will take you in these mystery/thriller types. I wasn’t disappointed! It was very well written and had a thought-out plotline. It keeps you guessing and also intrigued making you want more. I really liked the characters, particularly CeCe, who you desperately want to know the truth at long last of her missing son all those years back.

Carla the main lead character is like a dog with a bone and won’t stop digging up the secrets to the past about the missing children. See she discovered a box of old newspaper cuttings and her estranged father’s diaries which reveal the old cases of 3 missing boys when he was young. 2 of their bodies were found, but another missing boy years later never was. How was her dad involved?

It’s a book, that you will need to keep reading. As you will need to know the truth. It’s fast-paced in most parts. You will be gripped, that’s for sure! I’m looking forward to reading another of Jennifer’s books!

A good read
A slow start but it does get going
You must keep reading
A good plot
Thanks NetGalley

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Jennifer Harvey for allowing me to read this Arc. It was absolutely brilliant and so so sad.
Carla goes home after fifteen years away to see her estranged father who is nearing his death in a hospice.
While staying in his house she comes across notebooks with her father's handwriting and newspaper clippings, all pertaining to the death of three young boys. Two of them were found dead under mysterious circumstances and one has never been found! Why was her father writing in detail about them and why did he keep the clippings?? Is it too late and is her father too near the end to answer her questions??

Carla has been estranged from her abusive father for years. When she gets a call from a hospice saying her father is dying & her personal relationship is breaking down she goes to see her father. Her mother & sister all come to visit but Carla decides to stay on at the house. She finds a scrapbook all about boys who went missing many years ago. Why has her dad compiled this & what does he know- particularly about the boy whose body was never found. In investigating this she is not popular with the neighbours whose view of her father is very different to the violent abusive man she remembers.

I can't say this was a book that I really connected with. I found the style rather choppy & I guessed what had happened pretty early on (which doesn't happen often!) Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read this book.