Vanished on Vacation by Jenifer Ruff is the sixth book in the Victoria Heslin series, but it can easily be read as a standalone. I haven’t read the previous books, and I had no trouble following the story or connecting with the characters. In fact, I’m now looking forward to diving into the earlier books in the series!

When college student Avery Jennings goes missing during a luxurious vacation in Mexico, FBI Special Agent Victoria Heslin dives headfirst into the search. The stakes are high, the suspects are plenty, and the twists keep coming as Victoria battles uncooperative authorities and uncovers hidden truths.

Victoria is such a compelling character—her personal connection to missing persons cases adds a layer of emotion that makes you root for her even harder. The Mexican resort setting is vividly described, creating an atmosphere of both beauty and danger. While some of the twists felt a bit predictable, the tension throughout kept me hooked, and the ending was satisfying and realistic.

If you enjoy mysteries with strong female leads and high-stakes investigations, this one’s for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I love a good thriller or mystery and this was no exception. The title and cover really pulled me in. I enjoyed the pace of the story.

This book was excellent! I finished it in one go and was surprised by the ending. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the complimentary ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was such a good book. I read it in one sitting and didn't see the end coming! I would definitely recommend this book.

I recently read Vanished on Vacation by Jenifer Ruff and found it to be an engaging and fast-paced thriller. The story follows FBI Agent Victoria Heslin as she investigates the disappearance of Avery Jennings, a college student who vanishes during a vacation in Mexico. The book is filled with suspense, and the alternating perspectives keep the narrative dynamic and gripping.

I didnt realize this book was part of a series until I started it. It had great background information at the start and I did not feel lost. I enjoyed Agent Heslin and all the crime/police procedure in this book. I will be reading more of this series.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

If you enjoy lock room mysteries that move at a good pace, with vivid characters, this is the book for you. I had not read the rest of the series, but it was easy to pick up and jump right in. I could not help but root for the main character to accomplish her goal (without revealing too much)!

When one of three girls on a Mexican vacation disappears, the other two return home to the United States. Her parents and FBI special agent Victoria Heslin travel to Mexico to try to find her.

It was an interesting plot about a vanished college student and what might have happened to her. The culprit is very violent to the girls he abducts, however, so that the story becomes cringe worthy and should have an extreme violence disclaimer or warning.

A tale of caution for those who travel.

Totally didn’t realize this was a series until I started to read it. It sounded good on Netgalley so I decided to request it. Thankfully each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone so you’re not totally lost. You’re just missing some of the connections and relationships between characters. But it doesn’t negatively impact the story and there are plenty of explanations that help you piece it together. In fact this reminds me of the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. It was a quick read, but my one complaint was it felt a little robotic. For a thriller it was lacking in the suspense department and had very few surprising twist and turns. But what I did love was Special Agent Victoria, who is a total badass. She’s smart and pulls off some really risky moves, putting her life on the line (thankfully she’s also very lucky).

Avery Jennings goes missing on spring break in Mexico. She just vanishes with no trace, but thankfully her Aunt happens to be a FBI agent and request FBI Special Agent Victoria Heslin work the case and find her.
Problem is Everyone is hiding something—Avery’s family and friends, the resort’s staff, and its wealthy guests. It’s up to Victoria to dig deeper. Motivated by her own mother’s abduction years ago, she’s determined not to let Avery become another missing person statistic. The Mexican authorities aren’t cooperating, and Victoria realizes she’s up against something more powerful than she imagined. Taking matters into her own hands, she plunges into a hellish ordeal that will test her strength and courage like never before.

It’s a true crime through and through. If you are a fan of shows like FBI (on CBS) or any of the Law and Order shows (on NBC) I suggest checking this series out.

A fun beach getaway turns into a murder mystery and I couldn't get enough. I loved the characters especially the three young girls. It was a beach murder with a scenic setting.

This was my first book by Jenifer Ruff and definitely won’t be my last. It is the 6th book in the series but can easily be read as a stand alone book.
I enjoyed this book from the beginning as it was such an easy read. There were twists and turns throughout although some were a bit predictable, this did not take from the enjoyment of the book for me though.
Towards the end there were a few grammatical errors and missing words in sentences but this wasn’t a massive issue as I’m sure they will have been fixed before the book is published and released.

This was a fun quick read. I didn't realise it was part of a series when I requested it so starting with book six may appear a bit odd, however each book is a standalone thriller. There was a few explanations of things that had happened previously without making you feel lost or confused. It was an interesting read, my only niggle is the ending was wrapped up just a bit too neatly to be classed as a "thriller", but it wouldn't stop me from reading more from this author.

I started this series in a weird fashion. This is book 6 but I actually read book 7 first. Then I went back and read books 1-5 and then came back to this one. While it can be read as a stand alone it’s better as part of the series. I love Victoria as a main character but I also enjoy the side characters as well. I like that while romance was hinted early on with her partner Dante that they didn’t go there. So they have a strong friendship and their professional dynamic works really well. This mystery was really current, and played into fears people have of being overseas and contracting covid and being under different infection control rules. I think the author played a little fast and loose with Victoria playing by her own rules in Mexico but this was a minor quibble. The mystery kept me engaged and I read the whole book over a rainy Sunday. Probably stayed up too late haha. Thanks to Ms Ruff, Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this series

This was a great thriller I read on holiday! Fast-paced and filled with some unexpected twists and turns. Thriller-lovers must not miss this one!

I’m bad but I didn’t realize this was part of a series so I started with this one although it is number six in the series. It was a very quick read only 123 pages I wish it was more, this was a one day read. It was a fun read with a bunch packed in it, I enjoyed it. Everything was detailed so good it was very vivid. All the emotions were the panic that a child is missing and the grief that you may not see them again. I was fully rooting for Victoria to find Avery. This was a very feelings book I went through it all, happiness, sadness and shock. I just wish it was longer!

I didn't realize until after I finished that this was part of a series! I really loved the suspense in this one, and the story was ripped straight from the headlines we all unfortunately know. It was super fast paced!

A thrilling story about a vacation gone awry. The story grabs your attention from the start and will not let go until the satisfying finish. The writing is fantastic and the plot is engaging.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this review copy, I received this review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A solid entry into the Victoria Heslin series, I'll keep going with it!

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Even though this is part of a series, all of the books apparently work as standalones, which is how I read this. I enjoyed that I could just jump right in to book 6 and didn't feel lost whatsoever. The book did a good job of giving just enough background information about past events that you'd know what was going on, but if you've read past books you wouldn't feel like it was constanstly repeating itself.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this from the very beginning. It hooked me in almost immediately, and I finished it pretty quickly because I was really into the mystery and wanted to know what was going to happen next. I would say it was pretty fast-paced overall.

I wouldn't say that was really any sort of shocking twist or anything, but still the book kept me interested throughout. I will definitely be checking out more books about Victoria Heslin in the future.