<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.</i>

3.5 stars rounded up

I’ve never read anything by this author and I will definitely plan to check out more! It’s a well-paced thriller with solid character depth that is often missing from similar types of thrillers.

Rose Campbell is a former London police officer who travels to Australia after her estranged daughter disappears, along with the two young children who were in her care. The children are part of the wealthy Fisher family, about whom nobody seems to have a kind word. Mal Blackwood is the Australian police investigator who is assigned to the case. This is Blackwood’s final case before his retirement. (That is such a cliche that it immediately turned me off.)

Rose and Mal do not work together on this case. They engage in parallel investigations, which involve questioning a lot of people. There is a great deal of talking and explaining in this book, rather than showing us what happened. Ultimately, neither investigation solved the disappearance. The answer just dropped into the laps of Rose and Mal. The explanation of the crime was too much of a soap opera for me and the ending of the book was sappy. I did manage to finish the book, but it was just OK.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher. The narrator was adequate, although she did not differentiate voices.

A tense and suspenseful thriller. The characters are well developed and the writing is excellent. I enjoyed this one and the narration by Sophie Loughran is terrific. This is my first book by this author, so I’ll be looking at her backlist.

This is an addictive mystery set in Australia. When a nanny and the children of a very wealthy family go missing, everything shifts into high gear and the clock starts ticking. The investigators aren’t sure if the nanny took the children to protect them from someone at home, or if something else is going on. The story is told from multiple POVs, and each one adds something intriguing to the overall mystery.
This was such a good listen, and Sophie Loughran did a great job narrating the characters. While I felt the tones and inflections weren’t as strong for many of the female characters, it didn’t take away from the story.

After reading some of my GR friends' reviews for this one, I could not wait to dive in. Unfortunately, for some reason I just didn't entirely click with it, and I cannot for the life of me put my finger on exactly what it was that didn't work for me. It's a solid police procedural, but it spent too much time on secondary characters which really slowed down the overall pace for me. It was ok, but I'm afraid it will not be very memorable.

“When She Was Gone" is an entertaining and exciting police procedural. This book was not on my radar, but I am so glad I picked it up. (How can you pass on that cover?!) I was hooked from the first chapter and could not put it down. It was an intense and fast-paced story. With its dual POVs and short chapters, I absolutely flew through it. There weren't any crazy plot twists, but it still held my attention and kept me guessing the entire time. This was my first Sara Foster book, and I will definitely be reading more. I enjoyed her writing style, and she truly had me on the edge of my seat.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Sophie Loughran. She did such an amazing job bringing the story to life. It was an addictive and unpausable audiobook. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Rich people acting badly, domestic abuse, infidelity, PTSD, and just plain rotten individuals all play a role in this edge of your seat mystery as an Australian police detective on his last case tries to find out what happened when a young nanny, her boyfriend, and her two young charges go missing from an isolated private beach in Australia. The estranged mother of the Nanny who was herself an ex-policewoman in the UK and is now an expert on domestic abuse joins the hunt in Australia much to the dismay of the local police. The story is told from multiple points of view which allows us to understand how things have gotten to this point and what must be done to save the children.

When She Was Gone by Sara Foster

𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗞
British mother and ex-police officer Rose Campbell races to Australia to find her missing daughter Lou - a nanny suspected of abducting two children from a powerful family. Leading the investigation is Detective Mal Blackwood who tries to manage this complex kidnapping as he approaches retirement.

𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡
The audiobook narrator does a fantastic job with the accents, bringing the characters to life. However, I found it unusual that she didn’t deepen or alter her tone for Blackwood, the main male character.

The majority of the book alternates between Rose and Detective Blackwood.

Rose was a force - something she’d grown into after the trauma she’d experienced. Blackwood was pretty decent for a cop - they’re usually portrayed as useless in thrillers, but I respected his desire to improve and change.

I found the book very entertaining and exciting, eager to know what had really happened. When we got the truth, I was relieved it was good; although there’s no shocking twist, the reveals and ending more than made up for it.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗?
Despite its strong focus on domestic abuse, this isn’t a heavy read. With a balance of character development and plot, I both loved and highly recommend this book.

Thanks to @Netgalley and
@blackstonepublishing for access to this advanced readers copy

Somehow, someway this was my first book by Sara Foster. I’ve clearly been missing out. This was the perfect amount of twisty without being overly confusing or too off the rails. I genuinely could NOT figure out who was to blame until it was revealed, yet it felt completely natural to the story. Another example of how money can bring out the absolute worst in people. I enjoyed how even our “good guys” had their own flaws and nobody was to be perceived as perfect. It made the story that much more relatable and realistic. The narrator was easy to folllw and fit the story well. I did however switch to print on and off.

This was my first Sara Foster novel and I am pleased to say that I will 100% be back for me. I initially requested this book solely because of the cover. I went into this book completely blind not knowing one thing that this book was about. I was immediately hooked from the beginning. I was honestly on the edge of my seat the entire time reading/listening to this. I thought the character development was executed great and I never felt like anything got lost in this mix. Another one of my favorite things in this book is the short chapters. It always feels like you read much faster when you can fly through chapters. Though there wasn't any major jaw dropping twist, I loved enjoyed the mystery and wanted to know where this was going! This is a really enjoyable crime thriller that you could easily read in a day!

Audiobook/Book Review 📖🎧🔎

Thank you so much Blackstone Publishing for the gifted ARC and ALC!

When She Was Gone
by Sara Foster
Narrated by Sophie Loughran

About the book 👇🏽

Former London police officer Rose Campbell has been estranged from her daughter, Lou, for almost a decade. But when Lou disappears from a remote beach in Western Australia—and the police suspect her of kidnapping the two young children in her care—Rose is asked to help bring Lou home.

This is the final case in DSS Mal Blackwood’s illustrious career—and there’s a lot riding on it. The missing children are heirs to the Fisher property empire, and while their multimillionaire grandfather is breathing down Blackwood’s neck, the media storm is intensifying.

Rose arrives in Australia intent on proving her daughter’s innocence, but how can she be sure of that when she’s no longer part of Lou’s life? Meanwhile, as Blackwood begins to expose the Fishers’ secrets, the investigation takes a dark turn.

🔎 My thoughts:

This was a very fast listen! I initially started reading the physical book but very soon after I started, I needed to do things around the house and ultimately finished it via audiobook. The narrator was great and held my attention throughout the entirety of the story. I will say this was the first book I’ve ever read/listened to by this author and it was a solid mystery. I’d read another! The character development was on point and although there wasn’t any major twists, the story was still pretty good. I’d recommend this one to my friends! When She Was Gone is out 4/1/25!

Happy reading 📖 🎧🔎

Rose has been estranged from her daughter, Lou, for years. Now, Lou is suspected in the kidnapping of the children in her care. A former London police officer, Rose will use all of her skills to try to find the real culprit, and prove her daughter’s innocence. An intense and enjoyable police procedural.