I really enjoyed this book! This is my first Claire Douglas book, and I am definitely going to be reading more by her after this one. This book follows two women who are the main characters of this story: Olivia- who was a part of an accident 20 years ago that left three of her friends seemingly disappeared into thin air, and Jenna- a podcaster who has come to the town to do some digging into this case in the present day. The book goes back and forth between the women's POVs, and they really had me cheering for both of them throughout the story. How do three people just disappear without a trace?! Everyone is a suspect in this town, which keeps you guessing the whole time. There is also another story intertwined into this, which seems so random at first, but the way it all comes together at the end was brilliant. This was a solid 4 star read for me! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the ARC of this book! Out everywhere today 1/10/2023.

A compelling mystery with likable characters that manages to weave a strong mystery and a surprising ending. The eeriness of the cabin that Jenna stays in and the danger of the forest contrasts with the cheery holiday-time feel of the small resort town for a very strong sense of place. Four young women were in a car accident driving home from a night out one evening and when the driver awakens she finds her leg crushed and no one in the car with her. 20 years later still no one knows what happens, but journalist Jenna Halliday is determined to find out. Give this book a shot if you like shades of gray and if you know that cheery small towns can hide the darkest deeds of all.

I greatly enjoyed the slow build up of Olivia and Jenna's stories. There were so many twists and turns within discovering the truth of Olivia's accident. I always love a good book that is told from multiple POV, I feel that it brings more to the story to be able to understand from different character's perspectives.

@clairedouglasauthor hooks you within the first few pages of The Girls Who Disappeared and when I say hooked I mean 😱… what a way to start a book! I binged this almost immediately because I had to know what happened. The clues leading up to the twists are so subtle and paint everyone as a potential suspect with a different motive so you never know quite who to trust - this is one of my favorite types of thrillers because it keeps me on the edge of my seat. I did not guess the ending nor anticipate any of the surprises so job well done 👏🏻👏🏻

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
I absolutely loved this book. It’s incredibly mysterious. It has continued suspense while building up the characters. The twists kept coming and I didn’t expect them at all. The writing style really grasped my attention and I was hooked. Couldn’t get enough. I needed to know what would happen. I felt like I was in it. Highly recommend this Psychological Thriller.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short chapters
Continued suspense
Mystery
Cold Cases

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴. 𝘈 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 . . .

𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭'𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳. 𝘈 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘙𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢. 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦 . . .

Can you imagine spending 20 years wondering what happened to your three best friends in an accident that has left you a daily reminder in the form of a perpetually painful leg injury? I was amazed by how well Olivia coped with all of that! Add to the complexity of the story are flashbacks to the time of the accident and to a trip to Thailand, that obviously must be related (but how?). To help suss everything out is a BBC journalist, Jenna, who is trying to distract herself from her failed marriage. I liked her character as well as the cold case detective that shows up. I could easily see the two of them continuing on in a future installment. The story does drag for a bit in the middle and I felt that several parts could have been eliminated to make for a tighter higher suspense story. But I remained engaged until the very last page!

Twenty years ago tragedy struck the small town of Stafferbury in the UK. While driving home from a night out an accident occurred leaving Olivia badly injured and her three friends missing. Completely disappeared. It’s the twentieth reunion of the accident and Jenna, an investigative journalist, has come to town to interview those involved for a future podcast, one that she hopes might bring some new light to the old case. Meanwhile, the cold case has been reopened and DS Dale Crawford is following some new leads. Interspersed with chapters about a trip to Thailand in 1980, it’s hard to see where Douglas is going to connect the two storylines, but connect she does in quite the unique way without missing a beat! With an atmospheric locale and hints of the supernatural, there’s a creepy vibe throughout. When Jenna starts receiving threatening messages and there’s a murder in the woods, she’s not sure who to trust. After all everyone has a secret! What happened that dark and dreary night and will Jenna’s investigation put her very life in danger? This a compelling read from start to finish and while some of the twists I saw coming, others I did not! Good job! Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thank you to. Netgalley and Harper for this digital ARC. Claire Douglas has done it again. This is a 5 star read. A masterful and complex storytelling that is sure to be on every mystery and thriller list in the near future.

The Girls Who Disappeared is a domestic thriller with totally unexpected twists and turns. Claire Douglas weaves the reader through a journalist's exploration of the disappearance of three girls and the survival of the driver has caused the small town much speculation about the accident that occurred twenty years ago. Skillfully moving through the past and present lives of the people involved in the story, Douglas has the reader caught up until the very end. Loved the menacing tone, romantic parallels, and deceitful characterizations.
#thankyouNETGALLEYfortheprivilegeofreadingthisARC!

Jenna Halliday is a journalist attempting to create a true crime podcast in a rural town in South England. Twenty years ago, four young women returning from a night out crash on Devil's Crossing, a road rumored to be haunted. Three of these women disappeared, never to be seen again.
From the start, this story had an ominous and eerie vibe to it, from the haunted road through deep forest to the field of standing stones, and the close-lipped and secretive townspeople. I liked the two separate storylines with no apparent connection until everything clicks together at the end. I read this book in one night, it was that good!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How can one small community harbor such a deep trench of secrets and deception?
Jenna descends on the community in rural England to cover the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of 3 girls back in 1998.
I liked the mystery part. I couldn’t make the connection to the Thailand flashbacks until way late in the book.
One female character was reprehensible. The author leaves one final twist of the story that came out of left field.
There is one error: the author has two characters using airbnbs in 1998, which was impossible since the company didn’t begin until 2007.
Other than that, it’s a suspenseful read.

instagram and goodreads post linked

*Mini Review*

I really enjoyed this! The setting and atmosphere were written wonderfully and made me feel really immersed in the town and I could picture the settings. I loved (and hated lol) the characters in this story. I also looooove a thriller with a dual timeline and multi POV!

I would recommend this if you love a good dark family secret aspect to your thrillers!

Olivia is driving her three friends home after a night out in 1998 and the weather is not good. Olivia grows more tense as they drive because she is driving what is called Devils Corridor leading Stafferbuy to Wiltshire and it can dangerous. All of a sudden a random man appears in the middle of the road and in order to avoid him Olivia swerves and crashed. When she wakes up her friends are gone and she alone but she has no idea what is going on and where they went. 20 years later and it is anniversary of the girls disappearance and Jenna, a BBC podcaster, decided to travel to investigate the disappearance. As we hear more and more about the story of the disappearance we also get insight into Olivia through the dual story line. Between Olivia and Jenna we start to learn what truly happened.

I enjoyed this and loved the setting of the book! It has a dark and wiry feeling to it and you start to get a feeling of town folklore and myths. It has a kind of supernatural feeling to it and especially when referencing Devils Corridor. It is very much a creepy and dark feeling and like shadows are lurking behind you. The characters themselves are not great characters and I was not really a fan and they really had no depth. The book was slow and took some time to really get into it. I got bored at moments and had to push myself to read more. Another part of this book that bothered me was it too easy of a plot and too clean cut, very stereotypical. i was disappointed at the end of the novel and let down.

From the publisher- "Three missing girls. A twenty year mystery. A woman who may be able to crack this cold case.

In a rural Wilshire town lies The Devil's Corridor. A road which has witnessed eerie happenings from unexplained deaths to the sounds of a child crying at night.

But nothing more puzzling than the Olivia Rutherford case. Four girls drove home but after their car crashed only Olivia was found.

Twenty years later, journalist Jenna Halliday is covering the case. But the locals aren't happy with this stranger's arrival. Least of all Olivia.

Jenna soon starts receiving threatening notes and it is clear someone wants her out of this town before she suffers a dark fate..."

This was a well-written and fast-paced read. I enjoyed it immensely. I love Claire Douglas' work and have found most of her novels entertaining and engaging. With that said, however, I have to echo what other reviewers have stated and assert that I did not enjoy the end of the novel nearly as much as the first part. I was intrigued from the opening paragraphs but toward the end I really struggled to stay involved. I enjoy Claire Douglas so I believe this is just a one-off and I just didn't find the plot.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to more from Claire Douglas!

Thank you to NetGalley, Claire Douglas, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks/Harper Paperbacks for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and well-paced. I found it easy to follow along with and not easy to predict. There were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

This review will be posted to my Goodreads and Amazon accounts immediately and also to my instagram account (@ginganinja333), and to my newly created bookstagram (@paulas.book.nook).

This was an excellent book. The story is well written and has several red herrings that make the mystery one that is more difficult to solve. I enjoyed this book immensely

claire douglas has done it again!! and by it, I 100% mean keep me up way past my bedtime so I can finish this story!

THE GIRLS WHO DISAPPEARED start with a spooky opening - a car crash with four victims but only one remains in the car at the end… the other three have completely vanished, which had me saying okay whAT 👀

the dual timeline claire douglas wrote to go about the plot really had me for a loop trying to figure out how all of these characters connect!! it was a wonderful choice that kept the reader guessing until the very end!

while I did find the plot to drag on a lot, especially during the middle, I was a super fan of all of the MCs and the struggles in their personal life.

and can we talk about all of the spooky and paranormal elements??? I was actually disappointed in the ending and how a lot of the “theories” didn’t pan out 😅

however, I really enjoyed this one a lot! thank you to netgalley and harper collins for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: niagara escarpment cabernet franc

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free Ebook copy of The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas.


One night after a night out four friends get into a car crash heading home, three of them vanish out of thin air, no traces of them ever being in the accident. This story hooks you from the very first pages. where are these missing girls, and what happened to them? We’re told the story from 3 POV Jenna a reporter for a BBC podcast investigating the 20 year old unclosed missing girls case, Olivia whose a 1 of the 4 friends and survivor from from the car accident, and Stace who ties into the story towards the end of the book. This was a fast paced mystery one I certainly enjoyed devouring.
Solid 4 star read for me.

For the most part, this book was a fast paced read. You really feel for Olivia as you get a sense that she might be taken advantage of by the people in her life because they see her as weak. Jenna, the podcaster is also very sympathetic as she becomes more involved in the story. I give the twist / reveal a solid 4 out of 5 as it wasn’t totally shocking BUT I also couldn’t predict most of it. I recommend picking this book up if you enjoy a good thriller.

“‘Everyone always tells me what to do… I know it’s because they have my best interests at heart but it’s almost like they think I stayed eighteen after the accident. I’m a grown woman. I have a voice!’ ‘Of course you do,’ I say.”

A horrific car accident.

Three missing girls.

A young podcaster digging up secrets long since buried.

This was a good mystery and it held my interest for part of the story. But, despite the title, there really isn’t that much focus on the missing girls. The writing it atmospheric and creepy and I can vividly picture the cabins deep in the woods. But the storyline was a bit simple and I just didn’t feel that pull to pick it back up.

The audio was good and has dual narrators, one for each of the main characters. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I love when there is more than one narrator. It really brings the story to life for me and I believe that the audio is actually why I kept going with this one.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Audio, Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.