I've sat on this book awhile after reading. I felt super invested in the first half of the book. I didn't dislike the way it was told or how it unfolded, I think it was more that I it felt so far fetched that the vested interest I had began to wane at that point. I found it hard to rate because I was truly split on how I felt the first half versus the second. I think I wanted more of the plot and things should have been fleshed out a bit differently. Overall not a bad read.

A missing teenager. A divorced, bereft, and suicidal sheriff and his daughter dead from cancer. A snarky department receptionist. All these elements and more combine to form a page-turning story of lost dreams and powerful disappointments.

The missing girl, turns out, is the niece of a woman who'd herself been abducted and killed two decades before, the crime still unsolved. The sheriff starts to think he has a possible serial killer who has returned for another round of mayhem.

The first, oh, half or so of the book is engaging and keeps you in the story. Many characters are offered up as possible suspects—perhaps too many—and the conclusion is seen coming despite the red herrings obscuring the view.

That said, the ending qualifies as a legit plot twist that opens one's eyes to elements that came before. This is an eminently readable novel that doesn't disappoint.

This is a not-to-miss tense psychological thriller!

"Hidden Pieces" marks the debut of a new series, "Misty Pines Mysteries," from the creative mind of veteran author Mary Keliikoa. Readers are introduced to the sheriff of Misty Pines, Oregon, Jax Turner, a man on the verge of succumbing to his grief from the loss of his only child and the subsequent collapse of his marriage. But just as he's decided to throw in the towel, the disappearance of a local teenager, under circumstances very similar to a previous case that still haunts him to this day, kicks him into action to prevent the same tragic ending from occurring. The suspenseful tale hits the ground running, and the tense action doesn't let up until the final resolution is revealed.

The story unfolds from two points of view: that of the damaged sheriff and from the perspective of the missing girl's former stepmother. Elena Massey, a victim of an abduction twenty-five years earlier, was ten when she was taken along with her older sister. The only one to survive, Elena was found wandering in a rural area, unable to remember what happened or who attacked them. Sheriff Turner and his partner had been the lead detectives in Portland trying to recover the girls and find the murderer.

Allison Krueger's disappearance is baffling: no one saw anything helpful, and the clues are meager. Despite being a small town where everyone knows everyone else, the few individuals in a position to have seen something are singularly unwilling to help. Buts hints of what may have happened eventually surface, and Jax begins to identify possible scenarios and suspects. There are more than a couple of great red herrings, but surprising plot twists seem to knock everyone out of consideration. The answers are there for readers to pick up on, but I was in the dark until almost the very end.

Misty Pines is a quiet community until the kidnapping. News traveled quickly, and no one believed that any of their neighbors could be the perpetrator. Its seaside location abuts large, forested areas, making searches for the missing girl difficult and time-consuming, but the combination created a unique and atmospheric setting.

With its complex characters and intricate plot, I recommend HIDDEN PIECES to readers who enjoy psychological suspense, thrillers, police procedurals, or mysteries set in the Pacific Northwest.

What an intense, dark, twisty novel in this first of the new #MistyPinesMysteryseries! Love Mary Kelikoa! Check this one out! I

Thank you, Mary Kelikoa & Netgalley for my copy! All opinions are my own.

A suspenseful mystery. I can understand and relate to the main character, feeling like all is lost. Then, something happens to propel him forward, giving life meaning. This should be made into a movie.

Sheriff Jax Turner is a lovable depressed man who can't get over his only daughter dying of cancer. His wife leaves him, too, and he's ready to end it all. But then he gets a report of another missing girl, Allison, and he has to solve the case, first. Lots of connections and coincidences in this mystery novel which make it seem too unbelievable. I also kept getting the characters confused--so many of them! I did foresee the big plot twist but I appreciated many of the secondary characters, like the Sheriff's secretary. Very strange how a friend had spyware on her friend's phone--what the heck? and munitions were everywhere in this area for some reason and leaking into the ground? Really? Conclusion--fast and enjoyable read, even if it had some plot holes and issues.

Not my fav. This book was very suspenseful but required me to suspend reality a little too much to believe it. It has MANY twists and turns….just too many for me.

Take a long-suffering cop who is at the end of this tethers, a girl who may have been kidnapped by someone or has left town of her own volition, a convoluted perpetrator and put them in a story of redemption and new beginnings, you get a compelling and heart-tugging story which terrifies, confuses and triggers the reader's empathy all at the same time.

"Hidden Pieces" by Mary Keliikoa begins on a beach, where Sheriff Jax Turner sits in his car contemplating suicide; he had lost his daughter to cancer and has still not started to move on from it. But he is interrupted by the police station's phone operator when she informs him of the disappearance of a teenage girl. Though Jax hopes for a quick resolution on the case, which seems likely owing to the acrimonious relationship between mother and child, the case takes on a convoluted path of twists and turns, with Jax encountering weird and suspicious people in the course of his investigation.

Upon learning that the child is the niece of another woman who had lost her life in an abduction many years before, Jax begins to suspect that there is more at play here than a straight-forward abduction. While the various avenues of hours investigation lead him on another path, the involvement of the relative of a suspect leads the team on a search for an elusive individual. How will Jax handle this new case which seems like an echo from the past? Will he be able to save the girl before she is harmed by the perpetrator? Who is the culprit?

Author Keliikoa has given a new definition to the tragic hero through Jax Turner. He is defeated to the soul and the author has made the circumstances pertaining to his state convincing enough not to seem as a mere plot point. His relationship with his ex- wife Abby is complicated and engaging enough for the readers to root for them to get back together. The journey his character goes through the book and the way it serves as the catalyst for him to come back to the living, is rewarding to read.

The pacing of the story is perfect; at no place did I feel that the story is dragging. Keliikoa has the gift of taking her readers into the minds of the people she has created in her pages. They may be as simple as they come or be the last person you ever want to associate with; we still know what propels and ticks them. Layers and layers of complex emotions and tensions run through the narrative making it an engaging book which a reader will mostly find very hard to put down.

This is a great start to a terrific series and I can't wait to read more of her books.

3 Stars (4 stars up to 75% and 2 stars for the last 25%)
One Liner: Not my favorite trope!

Sheriff Jax Turner is on the brink of ending everything forever when he is forced to solve the case of a missing schoolgirl. Jax is determined to not lose this chance and find the fourteen-year-old Allison. However, he soon realizes that the case is a lot more complex and might be connected to a kidnapping case twenty-five years ago. He couldn’t solve it and couldn’t let go of it either.
Dealing with the loss of a daughter, broken marriage, and depression, Jax has to sort through the lies and half-truths of witnesses. With so many people unwilling to reveal even the necessary information, Jax’s attempts to save Allison become frantic.
Can he save the girl this time?
The story comes in the third-person POV of Jax Turner, with a few chapters from Elena’s.

My Thoughts:
Book one of the Misty Pines series works well as a standalone. I got this ARC last year but couldn’t read it on time. Now that I have book two waiting, I decided to tick them off the list.
The book starts with a short prologue where Allison is kidnapped. Then, we see Jax Turner deciding to end his life when the news reaches him. With no alternative, he begins to work on the case and hopes bringing Allison back safe might help with some of his demons.
The first half of the book is quite good. While the beginning is slow, the pacing gets better over time. It is a bit confusing with names like Emily and Elena, but not for long. There are quite a good number of characters, though.
Jax’s POV reads semi-frantic and suits his state of mind. He is a deeply troubled man and not that easy to like. He also tends to be fixated on suspects, some with reason and some even when not necessary. Still, all of this makes him real rather than perfect.
Trudy is my favorite character in the book. I hope she is in book two and we get to know more about her life. The other characters aren’t yet fully developed. It takes time when setting up a series, so that’s fine.
The second half starts well, but the last quarter is a mess. I know some readers will love that kind of twist, but I hate that stuff. More than 15 years ago, I was impressed by the trope when I read it the first time, but not anymore. Also, it led to a truckload of plot holes in an otherwise decent plot.
I did guess about the culprit, but only after the hints appeared in the last section. Readers do not have enough information to guess, which is not fair. Moreover, despite the details matching, the reveal doesn’t feel strong.
I like the development of Jax’s arc toward the end. It makes me eager to book two and see whether he gets better.

To summarize, Hidden Pieces starts and progresses well but falls flat at the end. Mystery writers need to stop using THAT trope. It feels amateurish.
Thank you, NetGalley and Level Best Books, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Level Best Books for this DRC.
This is in my genre but it wasn’t for me. I never connected with the suicidal sheriff or any of the other characters. There were multiple mysteries and twists and turns, which is usually great, but not so this time. The final two twists were unfair to the reader and unbelievable.
#HiddenPieces #NetGalley

Ok this was a fantastic read that I really wished I read sooner. It looks like it is book one in the Misty Pines series and I am very happy to see that. I love police procedurals and this one was right up my alley. It starts off with a young girl gone missing and all signs point to a runaway. The more that comes to light the more that all is not as it seems. Sheriff Jax Turner has his own demons that haunt him, and I will just leave it there. This is a dark, atmospheric thriller that I could not put down and just absolutely loved. I’m already waiting for the next book and cannot wait to read it.

Thank you to Level Best Books and NetGalley for the ALC to review.

The book opens with the town Sheriff thinking about taking his life (TW) when he gets a call about a missing young girl. He leaves her personal life aside and goes to work to find the girl. This is a very well written book. You can feel the Sheriff’s pain in his personal life and the many complex relationships in the book. This is not a book with happy families and simple home lives but it is a crime thriller so you expect this. I loved how the relationships made the story come alive. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves police procedurals and a good mystery.

I just don't know on this book. Jax, the sheriff is about to commit suicide when he gets a call about a missing girl. Ok. Good premise.
My problem with Jax was he was so fixated on who he thought did it, that he closed his mind to other suspects. There were some good coincidences and character development.
As the book drew to a close, the author threw a curveball that is unfair to readers who like to figure out on their own who the guilty party is. Then the ending was so convoluted that I had to go back and read again to figure it out.

Twists and turns are entertaining, and even when they are a bit strained, as I find they are here, it still (kinda') worked .. a woman with confused identity, and difficult marriages all around are at basis of this child-kidnapping story .. the insider who knows it's all happening! Main protagonist and solution solver, Jax is a troubled man .. not sure a real person could have coped. All the cops are dodgy, it seems, but our man and the little girl pull through.

Very interesting story. Lots of twists and turns. Well worth reading.
I really enjoyed I'm not done with you yet.

Looking forward to more from Mary Keliikoa
Many thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC and opportunity to enjoy this wonderful book

Hidden Pieces by Mary Keliikoa is so tense, atmospheric & has all the right ingredients for a super unputdownable suspense thriller. I loved the setting, the town, Jax & all other characters in this book! While I quite figured out the whodunnit the narration, plot were thoroughly enjoyable! The various twists were not big surprises but did the job just right. I ended the book wanting to know about Jax & the going ons in Misty Pines. Such a beautiful & suspenseful place to be! I look forward to reading the next book in this series & the next too!

Thank you NetGalley, Level Best Books & Mary Keliikoa for the arc!

Complex, complicated and intense novel. Following troubled protagonist sheriff Jax Turner as he investigates the disappearance of a teenage girl.
I liked the character progression of this one and the story had so many twists and turns that were unexpected I found the police investigation to be engrossing and liked the way it unfolded.
I will definitely be picking up the next book in this series.

4 stars!

I feel like this book is so underrated! I think the only thing was that the ending got a little bit too outlandish. That being said I was definitely hooked by the missing teenager mystery and I was sucked in from the very beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely loved this book by Mary Keliikoa, the first in the Misty Pines series. I was hooked from the first page and could not put it down. If you like a good mystery and thriller I highly recommend you read this. Thank you Netgalley for this arc.

Cover: Meh. It’s an anonymous cover, as nothing stands out. A real shame, it doesn’t do the book any justice at all.

The story is inversely proportional to the cover. While the cover is nothing to write home about, Hidden Pieces is a delightful thriller—posing me with a bit of a problem, haha. It’s hard to write a review when a book is good and has no real flaws; gushing gets old fast (j/k, I’m happy when I find 5 stars novels! :D)

First thing first, the ending. Wow. I saw tiny clues scattered here and there as I was reading, but they were so subtle you had to pay close attention to pick them up. Red herrings were a bit more in your face, so! Well done! That’s how a thriller should work.

The story itself, while not a pinnacle of originality as it deals with a missing person, is captivating, probably because of good, well-rounded characters. Jax Turner, the MC, has a past troubled enough to elicit sympathy, but that doesn’t tip him into over-the-top brooding territory. I also liked the relationship he has with his ex-wife—I’m happy to see a civil relationship for once rather than hate-filled ones.

Third pov done in a marvelous way, good grammar, a pleasant rhythm supported by a lot of dialogues; I couldn’t ask for more.

5 stars on GR and well-deserved.