Twenty year old Nina and long term boyfriend Simon have been together since high school and are making it work though they are at different colleges. They are both in their New Hampshire hometown for a school break when the two go to spend a weekend away, climbing and hiking at Simon’s family vacation home in Stowe. Simon comes home early from the weekend, claiming that he and Nina broke up. Nina does not return. Nina’s family is frantic, where is Nina? Meanwhile Simon’s family is doing whatever it takes to protect their son.

Shades of Gabby Petito in this book which may be geared toward young adults but actually mainly focuses on the parents of both Nina and Simon as they try to search for/shield their respective children and the author does a good job of making all the parents fairly relatable as they all go to incredible lengths. The only thing missing is a picture of the real Nina which is never really apparent here, but maybe isn’t really necessary, as the book isn’t so much about that. This definitely kept me interested and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject matter,

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced ecopy of What Happened to Nina?

I'm a fan of Dervla McTiernan's other books, so it was no surprise that this gripped me right away. The story reminded me so much of the Gabby Petito case from a couple of years ago, but it definitely brought it's own originality and twists, especially towards the second half of the book. It was a great look into true crime obsession, the speed that rumors fly and take root online, and how far one might go to protect those they love, no matter their faults. I highly recommend this for crime fiction lovers.

A girl who we know has an abusive boyfriend disappears. Her parents want answers, the boy’s wealthy parents want it to go away, and the police are stymied. The tension goes up….and up.

This is a powerful collective character study. The question isn’t who done it, it’s how will the uncertainty be resolved. I found it an absorbing and powerful novel that leaves us with a moral quandary.