I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and have recommended to customers at my bookstore. Well written and excellently plotted, I found it to be well worth reading.

Loved this book. Slow paced at the start as we get to know the situation but about 1/2 way the twists and turns come out to play. It has short chapters. The ending is superb which actually makes the book.

It's a nice story, for someone like me who read a lot of books of this genre it was just medium but I think new people to the genre they will enjoy it. A bit long that needed but interesting story. you can see my full review here: https://youtu.be/Kc0Jc-NjIH8

This book was such a great thriller and had me hooked. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns and highly recommend this book to lovers of crime fiction.

Hope Miller has no idea who she really is following a car accident 14 years ago in Indiana.

Hope goes missing and Lindsey her friend reports her missing, after she has gone to work/live in the Hamptons. Lindsey is getting very little help from the Police, so calls Det. Ellie Hatcher for help.
This is the latest instalment of the Ellie Hatcher series, and is a great read.

I loved this book! It completely captured me, and although at the start I worried it would be an issue that I hadn't read other books in the series, it didn't matter. A really good brain twisting book with a wicked twist !

A real page turner, I love thrillers with links to the past and there are so many twists, secrets and connections here that I could not stop reading. It is so cleverly plotted and I loved the characterisation of Ellie, Lindsay and Hope.

A good read
Not read her books before
But will definitely be reading more by this author
Thanks NetGalley

This twisty crime thriller from Alafair Burke involves a woman who identifies as Hope Miller and was in an accident fourteen years ago. The book features the author's NYPD detective, Ellie Hatcher, which is part of a series although The Girl She Was stands alone. Hopewell, New Jersey was the place Hope called home for many years, but moving to East Hampton and becoming an estate agent, preparing houses for sale is her ambition that she realises. Hope's best friend, Lindsay Kelly, a lawyer, doesn't hear from her for a few days so she rings Ellie. As connections are revealed, so are abundant twists and misdirections, creating a compelling read to keep you guessing. An intriguing and suspenseful tale with a shocking ending; a super read!

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Faber and Faber Ltd via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

*Also called Find Me

The girl she was by Alafair Birke.
HOPE CAN BE A DANGEROUS THING...
She calls herself Hope Miller, but she has no idea who she really is. Fourteen years ago, she was found thrown from an overturned vehicle, with no clue to her identity. Hope started a new life, but never recovered her memory. Now she's missing. With nowhere else to turn, Hope's best friend, Lindsay Kelly, calls NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher. In pursuit of answers, three women search for the truth beneath long-buried secrets. And when their searches converge, what they find will upend everything they've ever known.
Apparently this is part of a series but it doesn't state that. This was a very good read with good characters. I liked the story and plot. Different. 4*.

This was a really great mystery novel that kept my interest all the way through. I have not read any other books that this author has written on her own but have read quite a few that she has co-authored and all have been great reads. The story is quite far-fetched but it did not stop my enjoyment and I would totally recommend.. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to an early review copy.

I first discovered Alafair Burke and the Ellie Hatcher books more than 10 years ago. While I loved the series the last book left me feeling a little disappointed. I felt that both Ellie and I needed closure so I was really excited when I saw that the series was being resurrected. I therefore began this read with a sense of great expectation and I wasn't disappointed. A character with amnesia, especially one who has been suffering for 15 years, always heightens the tension in a story. The author here did not impose an opinion about Hope's former life. She could have been an innocent woman fleeing an abusive or a serial killer who was fooling everyone. The reader is left to make up their own mind resulting in a book that had me reading into the early hours. I now feel that Ellie's story has received the ending it deserves..
I would advise anyone new to this author to read the series in order as you really need the backstory to fully appreciate this book. Incidentally I also recommend the books upon which Alafair collaborated with the late Mary Higgins Clark as the are great stories which can be read stand alone or as a series.

Having read the other reviews I have to say this book does move slowly. But to be honest I loved it. Rolled over me and strong female leads. Just great.

This is the first book I read by Alafair Burke and won't surely be the last as I found it gripping and highly entertaining.
I was fascinated by this story full of secrets and red herring: we don't know who was Hope and we don't know why she disappear.
Her friend Lindsay will do anything to bring her back and Ellie, the detective, is involved and will discover things from the past.
The plot is a bit slow paced at the beginning but the unexpected twists and red herring kept me reading.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Girl She Was is my first read by Alafair Burke but I’ve been wanting to read this author for some time after hearing really great things and being a huge fan of crime or psychological thrillers. I love stories which use amnesia as an element.

This book is a standalone, but it features one of the author’s recurring characters, NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher. I feel like having the backstory for this character may have been helpful as I felt little connection to this character. There are quite a lot of characters in the story to keep track of.

I found the overall pace of the story a little slow but it had some enjoyable moments to keep you reading. The mystery, twists and ending were okay, not bad but not wow-worthy.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alafair Burke, The Girl She Was, Faber & Faber 2022

Thank you NetGalley for this uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl She Was works smoothly as a standalone detective story, while bringing to fruition some of the queries that have haunted detective Ellie Hatcher about the past. Readers of previous Alafair Burke novels will recognise her. However, new readers are given the necessary information in some deftly devised plot lines. Clever links are drawn between the Hatcher siblings and new characters, Hope Miller and Lindsay Kelly.

Hope Miller is the name taken by the victim of a car crash, who for fifteen years has lived in the small town of Hopewell, contriving to build a life anew after having lost her memory of anything before the crash and her recovery. Lindsay Kelly is a lawyer who befriended Hope from the time she found her barely surviving the crash. The women are linked by friendship and interdependence. Hope, telling Lindsay that she hopes to forge some independence from her past fifteen years, where the common understanding is of her as a victim, moves to East Hampton.

Hope’s disappearance establishes the plot which brings together people from her past, Ellie Hatcher and her past, a detective who has spiralled downwards after his attempt to gain justice for the victim of a racially motivated arrest and Kelly and her partner, Scott. The plot also raises serious social issues, that, while intrinsic to the story, do not overwhelm it. The characters and detection remain the central focus, a credit to Burke whose narrative moves at a fast pace while continuing to develop the characters, lay some clues to the detection part of the plot, and subtly works to demonstrate the complexity of Hope and Kelly’s relationship. The way in which Burke draws upon their pasts and family relationships to explain their behaviour adds another layer to the narrative.

This is the second of Alafair Burke’s novels that I have read, and I am pleased to add her to my list of detective novelists that shall continue to read

Having read a previous 2019 standalone novel, Alafair Burke’s latest The Girl She Was seemed an opportunity too good to pass up. It begins with three seemingly unconnected women, the first a realtor with amnesia after a car accident, the second a lawyer and the third a New York police detective on holiday. These three protagonists’ stories unfold and gradually weave together as the disappearance of the first woman is investigated by a disinterested cop at the insistence of her best friend, the second woman. Careful attention to the narrative is important at times, as a brief mention of some trivial thing is actually a major link in the unfolding chain of events. As more connections are revealed, so do the twists and turns, creating a riveting read to keep you guessing how it all gets resolved. A four-star read rating and tip – seek out her other works. With much thanks to Faber and Faber Ltd and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given, without bias to any familial connections.

The synopsis of "The Girl She Was" had me hooked from the start. Hope Miller has had amnesia ever since a horrific car accident 14 years earlier. She doesn't know her past, her family or the kind of person she was. Hope begins a new life in Hopewell but mysteriously vanishes one evening in the Hamptons.

I would describe this is a slow burn thriller/mystery, but never before have I been so hooked and intrigued to keep reading! The plot and characters were well thought out and the atmosphere and pacing were spot on. I would definitely recommend this book.

I started reading Alafair Burke when she co-authored with Mary Higgins Clark and I’ve read all of her solo books since and I’ve really enjoyed them all and this was no exception. I had an inkling early on of where the story was going to go but the thing I like best about her writing is that little twists are dropped throughout the book which really keeps you on your toes. Even though I sort of guessed who the ‘bad guy’ was going to end up being there was so much involved in the story that the twists still felt really satisfying. Beyond that I’ve found that she writes really compelling characters, even those that didn’t make a huge impact in the book are written really well and I’m hoping that some of them make an appearance in future books as well.

First time reader of Alafair Burke and I am definitely a fan! This was a brilliant slow-burning thriller/mystery that really packs a punch. The novel follows Lindsay Kelly, whose best friend 'Hope' suffered a terrible accident years before that left her in a state of amnesia, completely unaware of her past. The incredibly flawed characters and the vagueness of the direction of the novel made for a reading experience that was both compelling and frustrating. The first half moved a little slower than I liked, but the second half really delivered in its suspense and the unravelling of the mystery. Knowing that some of these characters exist in other works by Burke definitely makes me want to check out the rest of her catalogue. Many thanks to Faber and Faber for this ARC via NetGalley.