Margo's friend Jessie disappeared 15 years ago and Margo herself left town and hasn't been back for all that time either. Now, though, she's returned to help her father recover from surgery. Jessie's body is found deep in the town swimming spot just as Margo arrives. Austin, a classmate, who specializes in documentaries about cold cases comes back too- and his probing sets off a chain of events that reveals long held secrets. And lies. This is atmospheric but to be honest those who read a lot might find it a tad trope-y. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. My quibble, I'll note, didn't keep me from turning the pages.

I enjoyed reading their first book, The Family Tree, last year so was excited to read this novel and it didn’t disappoint. From the first page I was hooked and couldn’t put it down!
Margo returns home to Lake Moss after 15 years to look after her father after an operation. At the same time teenagers find some bones in an old fridge while swimming in a secret pool. They turn out to be the remains of Jessie Germaine, an old friend and classmate of Margo’s who went missing in 2004. With her father recovering and time on her hands Margo helps another old classmate, Austin, investigate for a TV documentary he is filming….but someone doesn’t want the mystery solving.
Great characters and an intriguing plot make this well written, fast paced thriller worth reading. Would definitely recommend.

Having read and really enjoyed The Family Tree I was really excited to have been accepted by Netgalley and Harper Collins to read this advanced copy. I am not obliged to leave my review.
Margo returns to her hometown to care for her dad following recent surgery on the day that her friends remains are found in a local swimming hole. Jessie went missing 15 years previously and was thought to have run away. Margo reconnects with Austin,a friend from school, who is in town to work on a documentary about Jessie. Together he and Margo question key characters from 15 years ago in the hope they will uncover the truth. But someone feels Margo is getting too close and wants to put the frighteners on her.
This novel did not disappoint, I loved the relationship between Austin and Margo, the town and its characters were all closed books but with chinks in their armours. I had my suspicions many times but each time it was a red herring. If I have one criticism it was the ending left me hanging but I guess that just adds to the story 🙂🙂
Star rating 4.5

Overall this was an enjoyable read. The premise was good. The plot was straight forward. The characters small in number but well written. However the story felt very predictable and I had worked out who the killer was shortly into the story. Unfortunately for me I didn't enjoy the documentary feel to it. I did want to read it to the end to see how it all panned out. I did feel the ending was quite abrupt.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Avon UK for an Arc in exchange for an honest opinion

A reasonable story set amongst American teenagers whose peer mysteriously disappears and then surfaces, literally, years later as dead and foul play clearly was involved.
We follow the narrative of her friend from the time, who herself has gone through plenty of trauma including her mother dying in a tragic accident (with a question mark) when she was young and a recent failed marriage. The suspects are the usual ones you’d expect and are cast as potential killers reasonably enough, for example the entitled rich boy with anger management who was the boyfriend of the missing girl and various jealous girl friends from the clique. The dynamics of teenage Americans is slightly cliched even down to the cheerleader aspect which isn’t entirely my thing, to be entirely honest. I also guessed the twist far too easily and early for my liking as there were a lot of pointers suggesting it which were hard to ignore. That said, it’s well written and fairly enjoyable and did hold my interest well.

Margo has just returned home after a years long absence to care for her father after his surgery. Margo hasn't wanted to some home since that fateful summer when her friend Jessie disappeared. Upon arrival, however, Margo learns that Jessie's body has just been discovered in the secret swimming hole.

The true crime show "Into Thin Air" is back in town for more interviews to do an updated show.

There are so many people who could be responsible for Jessie's murder. Unfortunately, I guessed the killer pretty early on, but not other aspects of the reasoning and others involved.

I loved the premise of the book and found it interesting throughout.

3 1/2 stars rounded up

Many thanks to netgalley and Avon Book, UK for the arc

There is something about murder mysteries set in small towns that I love. This is a typical story of people having to go back in time to their childhood traumas, because a girl who mysteriously disappeared at the end of her high school years. A TV crew comes to town to film an episode of this old case, and it turns out there are many secrets in town, sinister secrets that many wish would be hidden forever...

I immediately found the characters I liked and the ones I disliked, which is important to me in small town dramas. I found the case to be a fairly typical one, so it is important to have the perfect characters to make the book stick out in a good way I think it worked well in this book. I couldn't quite figure out what had happened back in the days, and I found the ending to be sad, shocking, and surprising.

This book is well-written, intriguing, and the story unfolds and flows nicely.

When She Disappeared is one of those books that I found quite frustrating, the story was okay, basically the body of a girl is discovered 15 years after she was thought to of run away. Which leads to a documentary TV crew re running the story of the new discovery as they had originally interviewed all the prime suspects years before. But with out giving the rest away, I found the story had massive holes with in the plot and this distracted me greatly.

When I saw that the authors of The Family Tree had a new book coming out, I knew I needed to add it to my TBR right away! When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry is an unputdownable thriller that will appeal to fans of Serial: The Podcast and true crime documentaries. The story revolves around Margo, whose best friend Jessie disappeared 15 years ago. Now, margo is back in her hometown and helping a documentary crew review the case. Will she find out more than she's looking for? Highly recommend!

In 2004 Jessie Germaine disappeared, now years later her remains have turned up. Margo has returned home to look after her dad just as the remains turned up and helps an investigative crew unearth what happened.

I loved The Family Tree and was very excited to read more from the authors and was not disappointed. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Very interesting premise and I loved the pacing and plot. My only drawback was I felt like there were a lot of characters that I kept getting confused with one another as they were in the background a lot.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review.
This book kept me guessing right up till the end, what an ending I need more. I shall definitely keep an eye out for other books by these authors.

When She Disappeared follows Margo, a thirty something who returns to her hometown after a long time away to help her Dad recover from a surgery. Upon her arrival, she finds out that the body of Jessie Germaine, her formed best friend, has been discovered in the town after being missing for a number of years. The disappearance of Jessie was never solved, and a TV show called Into Thin Air did an episode on it. With the discovery of the body, the TV show returns into town, with Austin, Margo's high school friend and crush, to do a follow up episode. Margo is offered to help solve the murder/create the episode, interviewing leads and trying to find as much information as possible to hopefully avenge her friend.

This review has spoilers! I want to start by saying I really enjoyed Family Tree last year-it was a great read. This unfortunately was extremely disappointing. I think the idea behind the story was really good and had so much potential, enough to keep me reading until the end. But the execution of this was so poor. The writing felt extremely amateur, if you took away Austin and Margo's names, you couldn't tell who was who. None of the characters have any personality whatsoever, and Austin was written to sound exactly like Margo, very feminine sounding (even though he was not described that way) and unrealistic. Half of this book could've been cut and you would've ended up in the same place, there were so many added details that added nothing to the story. I guessed the ending right away. It was almost too obvious because literally nothing is happening throughout the entire story except these minor throwaway details. Margo is horrible! Like this is so unrealistic. She kills her former best friend, by accident, in regard to this horrible situation and she's just able to recover? And all that happens is she has bad dreams? Like, what? She can't be that good of an actress, sorry. She's able to go on and be around her Dad, live her life and just nothing happens? I just can't buy it. It was so predictable, especially her Dad's involvement in everything. I thought the stuff with her ex husband was so unnecessary because it never talks about her doing it in the present, so why mention it at all ? To show how she does questionable things but doesn't remember, or realize, but then she does remember the murder? And then she goes and visits the site, relives it, burns her stuff and she's over it and feels alive? No. Super disappointed in this one, it took me forever to get through, I would literally read a couple pages, get bored and exit out. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed ‘Family Tree’ by writing duo Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry so I was excited to read their next standalone thriller – ‘When She Disappeared’.

The pair certainly have an easy-to-read writing style which makes for an engaging read although it did feel a little ‘Young Adult’ in style at times. I would perhaps argue that there’s nothing too complex here that would warrant two authors writing it – I would be interested to know why this is the case and what each of them brings to the table. The storyline is exclusively told through the point of view of main character Margo, a woman who returns to her hometown just as there’s a break in the missing person’s case that happened when she was a teenager. There are occasional snippets of diary entries which drip-fed more information, but these are few and far between.

The plot is also quite straight forward with a small cast of characters and a lot of red herrings. I very disappointingly guessed the big twist 10% of the way through the book and was proved right by the end so I warn you it is very predictable! The end twist is done well but then it ends so abruptly to make for a very unsatisfying conclusion. I thought that the middle section dragged quite a lot and became almost formulaic with a piece of new information being revealed, the two main characters going to interview the person and then the interview happening again with the TV crew.

Overall, When She Disappeared is a good premise but was too predictable and dragged in places. Thank you to NetGalley & Avon Books UK for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For more of my reviews check out www.kindig.co.uk

I loved the last book written by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry so desperately wanted to read this one. It’s a slow burner with a compelling mystery at its core but I did feel that it was a little predictable from the outset. A decent enough psychological thriller but I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Family Tree.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

On May twenty six, 2004, Jessie Germaine went to school as normal and cheered at the end of year rally. That evening, she rode her bike into the forest and disappeared into thin air. Margo hasn't been back to Lake Moss since her school friend went missing. But as she returns, running from a failed marriage, the news breaks. Her hometown's swimming hole has been Jessie's grave for fifteen years. In a town where everyone know everyone = but they all have secrets - the killer is certain to be close to home.

When Jessie's body is found fifteen years after she disappeared, a TV crew want to talk to people that knew Jessie. The story started off slowly but the pace had picked up by the middle. There's not a lot that I can tell you about this book as I would spoil it for potential readers. There isn't a lot of twists but there's something captivating about this book. The ending was unexpected and worth sticking with the book for. It also left us with a bit of a cliff hanger,

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AvonBooksUK and the author #StephMullins #NicoleMorby for my ARC of #WhenSheDisappeared in exchange for an honest review.

Jessie disappeared after the end of year school rally in 2004.
Fifteen years later her school friend Margo, coming out of an unhappy marriage, returns to the town of Lake Moss to look after her father following his operation.
Margo hasn’t been back home since she left and is hoping for some calm and rest but is stunned when Jessie’s body is found in a local swimming hole.
Margo meets up with an old friend now working for a documentary maker who is doing a programme on Jessie’s death.
What happened Jessie and who was responsible? There are quite a few suspects and red herrings to keep you hooked.
3.5 Stars ⭐️ Recommended read
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.

Margo’s childhood friend Jessie disappeared just before graduation in 2004. Upon returning to her hometown to help care for her father after surgery, Jessie’s body is discovered in a cooler at the bottom
of a secret swimming hole. Margo is determined to find out her friend’s fate just as another old friend is working on a documentary about Jessie’s murder.

When She Disappeared is an atmospheric read filled with small town secrets and suspicious characters. These old high school “friends” sure have a funny way of being friendly. Each of them living some kind of lie.

Then we have Margo. Oh, Margo. What a frustrating protagonist. I wanted to shake her into reality a few times.

I really enjoyed the references to actual cold cases and the true crime junkie in me did some further researching of those cases. The documentary played a big role in the plot and I liked that aspect of it. The storyline had a very slow build up that climaxed and wrapped in one revealing chapter. However, it is left open ended for the reader to decide how it wraps up. Although I predicted a twist, I didn’t fully guess the murderer.

If you love documentaries and small town secrets, you’ll enjoy this novel.
3.25 ⭐️

This book has all the ingredients for a fantastic read. Margo travels back to her small, quaint village to help her father after an injury. Whilst there she finds that her best friends body has been discovered after 15 years. We are submerged into what feels like a high school drama including cheerleaders, school bullies, the teacher everyone is crushing on and the nerds turned success stories. We are taken on a bit of a rollercoaster (think Peppa pig land not white knuckle) to a very predictable end. My main issue with the book is it’s surprisingly lengthy for a high school mystery and even with the shocking length it just ends.

Completely all of a sudden we’re done and there are still lots of questions that I have!!!

⭐️⭐️

Not you normal missing child story. This is a missing school girl mystery with a few astonishing twists you don’t expect during the two timelines and you are completely immersed in both and I didn’t want it to end. Sold writing, solid plot, solid four stars!