Everything that didn't make sense to me about the story or the main character ended up being explained at the end. However, I don't feel as if the ending were satisfying enough.

Pub date: 3/3/22
Genre: thriller
In one sentence: Jessie Germaine disappeared in 2004, and when her body is finally discovered, a film crew seeks to dig up the true story of her murder.

This book has the true crime feel that's so popular in the thriller genre nowadays, and I enjoyed the setup of the story. The discovery of the body was truly harrowing and set the tone for the dark mystery. Main character Margo gets the chance to join the documentary crew, giving the reader a front-row seat to the investigation.

I gave this one three stars because it lost some steam towards the end, and I didn't think the ending matched the rest of the book. But I think true crime/podcast fans might enjoy this one more!

Thank you to Avon for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy of When She Disappeared. This is a difficult book to review without spoilers. It has a very unique twist which I felt I was aware of from pretty early on but it seemed so unlikely plot wise that I didn't trust my instinct. An interesting, atmospheric read overall.

“When She Disappeared” by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry is a tightly-wound thriller with a plot twist readers won’t see coming. The novel digs deep into a small-town community where residents thrive off gossip, the rich pay to keep their secrets, and past betrayals are bound to come to light. This psychological murder mystery will have readers gripped the whole way through.

When Jessie Germain disappeared without a trace, the residents of Lake Moss thought Jessie grew sick of the small-town life and ran away. Except, fifteen years later remains are found, revealing Jessie never left town the night she went missing.

Unforeseen circumstances bring Margo back to Lake Moss fifteen years later, just in time for a crime series crew to show up with the hopes of bringing Jessie’s case to a close. After running into an old childhood friend who is part of the tv crew, Margo joins the investigation. Diving back into the past means dredging up some painful memories and ticking off the wrong people. Despite the threats she receives, Margo refuses to back down, especially if digging into other people’s business means she can learn more about what happened to her childhood friend Jessie on the night she went missing.

Mullin and Mabry do a brilliant job of what people do when they suddenly find themselves prime suspects in a riveting case that is quickly turning chaotic and unpredictable. In this intense and fast-paced read, everyone is connected to Jessie’s disappearance and they refuse to share what happened when they last saw her alive. While this novel is nothing short of gripping, there is a very noticeable lack of remorse and grief from the characters. Though Jessie’s personality is brought to life through Margo’s memories of her childhood, it doesn’t explain why Jessie’s close friends seem more inconvenienced by her death than anything else.

“When She Disappeared” is an intense and fast-paced mystery that will prevent readers from putting down this book until they find out what truly happened to Jessie. For those who love a good mystery with a major twist at the end, this is a book worth adding to your reading lists. Look out for this novel on its expected publication date of March 3rd, 2022.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for providing me with a free e-arc of this novel and the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

This book is pretty generic, something happens to the main character in the past, she moves from her hometown to escape those things but has to come back to deal with the things that haunt her. I was expecting a twist at the end which did happen but not in the way I expected it and wasn't fully satisfied with the ending. I think the author could have added one last chapter to finish the story but will say i finished it quickly

Well Paced, Immersive Suspense…
Will facing the ghosts of the past throw up long buried secrets? Tense, atmospheric mystery with a credible cast, a keen sense of time and place and an intriguing storyline. Laced with twists and turns and red herrings aplenty and leading to a, perhaps, unexpected denouement this is a well paced, immersive suspense.

3 stars
Not at all what I expected. I do feel there is a audience for this book. It is not for me. Thanks for the ARC of this book.

I really liked this book, I read it quite quickly because it got under my skin in the first few pages and I had to find out what was going on. Margo is a great character and the story is interesting with plenty of twists. I was a bit disappointed with the ending but it didn't spoil the whole story.

Margo is back in her home town to look after her dad, when a body is discovered. Jessie had been Margo's friend and had been missing for 15 years. When a TV company comes to town to do a follow up on their original investigation into Jessie’s disappearance, Margo helps her old friend Austin interviewing locals to try to find the truth of what really happened. Unfortunately it drags up bad memories for Margo, and then she starts receiving threats.

This is a really taut murder-mystery, come psychological thriller, with a really believable story running through it. Margos’ fragile mind and recurrence of old nightmares makes for dramatic reading, especially as the story goes on. There is a lot of new information being turned up during this investigation and you begin to think you’ve got a handle on what happened all this years ago, until the ending, which totally surprised me.
Well worth a read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book Margo returns home to help her father who is recovering from surgery. While honeca friend from high schools body us found. This book captured my attention from the beginning.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five

What a disappointment. I have to admit after a hesitant start (I was just unfocused) I settled down and enjoyed the book. I was interested enough to find out what happened to Jessie who disappeared all those years ago - and even more interested in Margo's determination to unearth the mystery - the who dunniit! So I was happy, no - eager, to rush to finish the book.

So, the end was a disappointment = really so was Austin if I think about it. As the book neared completion, I thought I knew who was responsible and then just before the reveal, I guessed. When the story then moved on to the acknowledgements by the authors, I had to turn back and make sure I hadn't missed a couple of pages. The ending was clearly too abrupt for my liking and I was left feeling cheated.

Note to authors - still respect to you both - I have never written a book, let along get one published. Well done!

Thank you to the authors, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book on one hand the story was pretty interesting on the other hand the main character seemed very immature it felt like it was a young adult book rather than a story of somebody in their 30s. It was also unclear how much of an unreliable narrator she was and how much of her fears were based on things that were actually happening. The writing needed to be tightened up and sharpened for it to be more effective

First you haven't read The Family Tree, you should! Freaking phenomenal!

When She Disappeared
by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry

This book was such a fun ride I had a hard time putting it down!
I was immediately interested in the disappearance of Jessie Germaine back in 2004.
And having her best friend Margo, come back home to Lake Moss for the first time in fifteen years. Margo starts digging for answers and helps a documentary crew investigate the infamous case the police buried.
In this sleepy town everyone has secrets and maybe the killer is closer to home than Margo realizes!

A captivating, dark and twisted story! These two ladies can hook any reader.
The narrative is believable and terrifying.
Our characters were well developed. And I enjoyed being right beside Margo the entire way, as she discovers who killed her best friend so many years ago!
Twists and turns around every corner. Which was exciting.
This book encapsulated every feeling I had at that time.
The authors paint such a vivid picture that it's such atmospheric storytelling and stellar writing which was spot-on.
A wonderful story that drew me in quickly and didn't let me go.
I'm still feeling it hours after finishing this story.
These two are amazing and I'm most certain they could write anything and it be phenomenal.

Avon & NetGalley,
Thank You for this eARC.
I will post and tag to my platforms closer to pub day.

I received an ARC of When She Disappeared, by Steph Mullin, Nicole Mabry. This book was well written, I just did not the story. Im not going to spoil it though for others.

a completely unexpected ending to an excellent story, centred around Margo and her return to her childhood home to care for her incapacitated father and unearthing the ongoing saga of the school girl who went missing way back when.
Full of characters you just do not feel you can trust leaving you anxious for Margo at every page turn this is one you will not be able to put down!

Margo was just getting close to her former best friend Jessie Germaine again when Jessie suddenly disappeared, seemingly into thin air, one day after school. With no clues and no body, the case quickly went cold; Margo left the small mountain town of Lake Moss shortly thereafter and never looked back. Now, 15 years later, Margo returns to town to take care of her father after he has knee surgery, just as Jessie's body is found. Soon, an old friend from high school returns along with a film crew from a true crime show to reexamine Jessie's disappearance and Margo volunteers to help thinking this could be her one chance to get answers. But someone is determined to keep things quiet and who knows how far they will go to keep certain secrets buried.

This is a classic "cold case gets hot again" storyline, with a modern twist that a true crime show has taken up the case, putting our main character right in the center of the action in a convenient wa, giving us access to the main players in the drama, with all their secrets - and trust me, there are a ton of them! as with any high school friends group, things were not really as they seemed and figuring out what was what is a big part of unraveling this one.

There's a big cast of characters and suspects to keep you guessing at who could be the ultimate bad guy, and with someone like the victim (let's just say she wasn't going to win Miss Congeniality at any of the beauty pageants she entered) there were plenty of motives. There's also a good number of twists thrown in there to keep things interesting.

However, I do have to say I had an inkling of the ultimate ending. Not the full details, but there were certainly enough clues there to ultimately point to the right ending, so it doesn't come out of left field. I can't say too much more without giving anything away, but if you want to deduce things, just pay attention (dun dun dun!)

But either way, I still really enjoyed the ending. It was really well done. Enough answers and enough of a little opening. Perfect.

This is a great mystery/thriller for anyone looking for a suspenseful, twisty read. I really enjoyed this one and would definitely read more from this author.

It was a bit boring for me, the events didn’t spin, the characters weren’t sympathetic. I’m not saying it was a bad book, but it sure could have been a lot better. I expect a thriller to rise above the rest of the average book, but it still remains an average book with the usual templates. And of course, I was expecting a big twist at the end of the book, which, however, was pretty predictable, so I knew pretty soon who the killer was, or at least I suspected. Reading similar books always makes me wonder if it’s worth writing average stories, reading average stories. Because I'm just wasting my time with these.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: March 3, 2022

An interesting premise at first but I figured out who the killer was very early on—there was a huge tell—and unfortunately the ending leaves little to be desired.

I have a difficult time reading Margo’s character. I found her language and thought process to be immature for her age. The fact that she is so caught up with how people were in high school nearly 20 years earlier quite frankly makes her seem a little pathetic. For someone who left town and never really looked back, she remembers an awful lot of specific details.

I’d say about 25% of this is repetitive and could have been edited out. Specific details that were given their moment in a book do not need to be repeated again, to the character or to the reader. The dialogue is painfully verbose. Why do we always need to know what she’s wearing with a detailed account of her makeup choices and process to get ready every time she’s about to meet with Austin?

The attempt at writing a romance into this whodunnit did not work.

Writing this review without spoilers will be a little difficult, but I'll try my best...

What we know- Margo's mom died. Her childhood friend was also murdered. Whodunit?

Well, what you're going to read for most of the book is town gossip, he said she saids, long descriptive paragraphs on what Margo is wearing and how she does her makeup, high school drama, interviews given in tv format, and detailed descriptions of the views and houses of Lake Moss. That's really the sum of the book until the big twist- which is at the very end.

All these details descriptions are fine, but I NEEDED more to actually happen throughout the story. We have a little crush thing going on- but it didn't work for me. I just wasn't feeling their vibes.

Then we find out the killer. I actually said "oh, we are doing one of THESE again..." and honestly, the killer just wasn't believable to me. It was like "C'MON"... and yes, I had the idea it was who it ended up being, but I didn't want to believe it because it just didn't seem "right"... I would have been thrilled if the killer ended up being ANYONE else than who it ended up being. I actually would have given it more stars if it was anyone else in the book.

This one just didn't work for me.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in ecvhange for my honest opinion.