Got an ARC on netgalley, not a bad read but a little predictable and drawn out. A lot of it could have been compiled into a shorter book

NetGalley gifted this ARC. Not a bad read, although a bit drawn out, the plot was good and I did enjoy,

Maggie never knew she had an aunt, let alone one who disappeared 40 years earlier. As she asks around, she learns that her aunt went missing a week after a popular nun was murdered. It seems like the two cases were related, but the more she digs, the more she learns her hometown's terrible secrets.

I thought this was a fantastic book from a debut author. You're pulled into Maggie's investigation and are fed clues that keep you turning the page. The mystery was intriguing, and the answers were clever. I highly enjoyed this read and recommend it to others.

Okay so first off, the movie/show/etc you’re thinking of while you read this is the Netflix original “The Keepers”. It’s obviously quite different but the parallels between the school and the archdiocese are what had me wondering for a good chunk of the book and I finally figured it out!

This made me so profoundly sad. There were so many genuine plot twists and also so many things that I expected to be plot twists but turned out just to be the tragedy you’d expect it to be.

You have to suspend disbelief for a little bit, that in about 2 weeks Maggie has uncovered things Ted had been apparently trying to figure out for years (maybe Ted is just a bad detective? But he is nice so we will allow it). But they work so well together and create their own little ragtag crew of investigators, which I adored.

Overall tragic, riveting, and so many layers deep that you find yourself just as invested as the characters.

This is a borderline 3 stars for me- maybe more of a 2.5 stars. There was a major disconnect for me with the fact that main character did not know that she had an aunt until she was at her grandmother’s funeral. How is that even possible? No pictures. No nothing. And the relationships in this book were just a bit much for me. I think this book was trying to be a psychological thriller, but it was really just a cold case thriller,

Maggie has come “home” for a funeral and she has been dreading it. She has a strange relationship with her mom and the plan is for her to come and then head back to her home home in the UK. However she sees a strange man at the funeral and then learns that she had an aunt that went missing in the summer of 1972. She has NEVER heard that she had an aunt. Her mom nor her 3 uncles have never mentioned her- again I ask how is that possible?? Anyhow Maggie kind of becomes a dog with a bone and will not drop it until she learns what happened. She hears things like Minna (her aunt) lies. She liked to tell stories. She most likely ran away. But then Maggie learns that Minna’s teacher Sister Fran was murdered right before Minna disappeared. That is too coincidental right? Now Maggie has a group (Ted the hot cop, and Gretchen the alum) who are also invested in finding out what happened for their own reasons. The more they dig, the more they realize that there was a large scale cover up going on. What really happened to her aunt? Has too much time passed for her to find out?

With this being 2.5 stars, I don’t know that I would rant on this as a recommendation but maybe you will have a different take on it then I did. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Debut novel, what?! I am so impressed with this book, and honestly would have never guessed it was the first for this author! I have read MANY a mystery/thriller and I must say this is the first that there was never a moment that I wasn’t interested. I find with a lot of books in this genre of there are times that it just feels like there’s too much or not enough information and it can drag on, or feel like it sped too quickly through parts. That didn’t happen in this book at all. It flowed so smoothly, had just the perfect amount of information, and kept my attention the entire time.

Minna lies. But does she? Or does everyone else?

Maggie returns home to the US from the UK for a family funeral and during her stay finds out she has an aunt she never knew about and uncovers a decades old unsolved murder. With the help of some new and old friends she dives head first into a very determined investigation that brings attention to many buried secrets of her town and even her family. With so many unpredictable twists and truths that come to light this one will keep you guessing.

The author did an incredible job weaving together the story with past and present. The character building was done so well and had me feeling like I personally knew the people of Boweridge. There were characters I loved, others I hated, and many had me feeling very emotionally invested in their parts of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The nun part sort of reminded me of a famous local murder of a nun here in the Baltimore area-- I wonder if it was the inspiration? This was much more of a small town however and wove the story into a more recent timeline of a woman trying to figure out about her aunt who disappeared and her secretive mother.. I thought they did a good job of fleshing out both storylines.

I did notice the author was British and the American characters used terms that we don’t us in the US like “smallholding” and “outhouse” to mean an out building and not what seemed to be an outdoor toilet building. She bizarrely washes her hands in a cloakroom at one point.

This book is a solid mystery that will keep you guessing. The characters are engaging and easy to connect with. The story also felt authentic to the time and place of the setting, which is such an important nuance!

Great book with plenty of twists to keep me wanting more. I really enjoyed looking back on both cold cases and going along with Maggie and her discoveries. And omg that ending!!

Right out of the gate I felt for our protagonist: she is returning home under difficult circumstances and to strained family relationships. Adding on accidentally learning the family secret on top of that and it's no wonder Maggie is overwhelmed.

Everyone says Minna lies, but everyone in town here lies too. Or maybe they are the liars? As we follow Maggie on her path we realize the town is full of secrets, red-herrings, and morally dubious people.

The author did a fantastic job of weaving together a twisted and fantastic tale. It was a wonderful blend of cold case, police procedural, and cozy mystery that unraveled in perfect time. I was enthralled from the beginning and the book did an excellent job of maintaining it's spell throughout.


Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this book

This was an interesting mystery that begins in 1972 and drives an already estranged family even further apart as the secrets are kept in a small town dominated by strict Catholic morals. Forty years pass after Sister Fran is found mysteriously murdered in a diner parking lot and her student Minna Larson runs away. Minna's niece wants to unravel the truths and lies that once exposed may help her family and hold some people accountable. There are others in the town of Browerridge who have pondered the mystery over the years, too, and are more than willing to help. Bit by bit, Maggie and her team uncover evidence, find witnesses, dig through old files and newspapers and piece together the events of the past.
There are lots of twists and turns, wrong corners and dead ends in a story that will keep you guessing until the end. I recommend The Summer She Vanished to mystery readers. I received a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

If there’s one thing I LOVE, it’s a small town mystery with A GOOD RESOLUTION!!! This story really look a lot of twists and turns, and I really recommend reading this with an empty mind so you can enjoy the ride. I didn’t expect a large majority of the twists, and I felt as though they were good, solid reasonings for happened to Sister Fran and Minna.

I developed a connection with the characters that I wasn’t expecting. The author did a great job finding ways to make these characters seem real and enjoyable, even in hard moments. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this release!

Edging to a four, but the slow burn pace brings it to a personal three. Good story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy of this unexpected gem in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

What does a murdered nun from decades past have to do with a missing girl in present time? Well a lot, if the missing girl, Minna, claims she knows who murdered nun, Sister Francesca.

A thrilling tale that kept me asking “what next?”

Our main character is Maggie, a student, who has returned to Boweridge (a small town in America) to see her mother for the first time in years. They’ve had a tempestuous relationship since Maggie chose to go to the UK to live with her father…and things take a downward turn when Maggie learns that she had an aunt, Minna, that nobody has talked about. Maggie takes it upon herself to learn more.
What Maggie discovers is that forty years ago a young nun, Sister Fran, was found murdered outside a diner on the outskirts of Boweridge. A week after this seventeen year old Minna disappeared. Everyone at the time assumed she ran away, but Maggie finds hints that the two cases might be connected as Minna told people she knew who had murdered Sister Fran.
We follow Maggie as she sets about trying to uncover the truth.
The town of Boweridge is full of characters with something to hide…a lot of which links to the convent where the name of one charismatic priest, Father Tom Brennan (the brother of the Chief of Police), keeps cropping up. Rumours have circulated for years, and Maggie finds plenty of evidence of a large-scale cover-up.
This was an absorbing read. The intricacy of the deception involved angered me, and the fact that so many innocent people got caught up in this web of lies was hard to comprehend. Not all our questions are answered - the slimy Simon definitely had something to answer to - but Maggie’s investigation makes for a compelling read. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

A slow burn but still a pretty interesting and captivating story. The characters were all fleshed out well and evolved aling with the plot. The twists and turns weren't too predicable and caught me off guard. I loved the overall premise and found it really interesting. As I said, I did feel it qas a bit slow in parts but to be fair, the benefit of the slower paced sections was that you were getting more relevant vackstory or just some blatant red herrings thrown in before the pace picked up again and events unfolded further. Really well done

I feel like it took some momentum to build up and then it was a roller coaster ride to the end. This book is full of cold case type mysteries and small town vibes. This was a first read by this author for me and I was definitely intrigued.

4/5 stars

I had the chance to dive into The Summer She Vanished by Jessica Irena Smith, thanks to the ARC I received from Headline through NetGalley in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Embarking on this novel was my first encounter with Jessica Irena Smith's work, and it delivered an engaging dose of mystery. While the pacing occasionally lagged, I persevered and was rewarded with a compelling plot that pulled me in. Our protagonist, Maggie, returns home for a family funeral and ends up delving into a decades-old murder in the town that intertwines with the vanishing of a young teenager. The intricate web of dysfunctional family dynamics woven through Maggie's story added depth to her character.

Maggie's relentless determination to uncover the truth behind these intertwined mysteries keeps the reader invested. The pace felt realistic, mirroring the pace of a real investigation, with periods of activity and quiet reflection. The twists in the narrative managed to catch me off guard, a feat I always appreciate. Smith paints a vivid picture of a small town, complete with its challenges and intricacies. While some nuances like accents and slang might not have been perfectly aligned, the story's authenticity shines through. Overall, The Summer She Vanished is a satisfying mystery, and I'm keen to explore more of the author's works in the future.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, Action, intrigue, mystery, murder, great who done it, great plot twist, and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! It wasnt one of my top favorites but still worth reading! I would recommend reading this book as it was worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me

A thrilling and page turning read with a dual POV timeline this one had me wanting to know what really happened and what family secrets were being held.