The Vanishing Triangle

The Vanishing Triangle is a triangulation of sites in Ireland where eight women have been abducted and never seen alive again. Claire McGowan is a well known fiction writer and grew up in Ireland herself. She tells the stories of multiple women who went missing and the little to no reaction their kidnapping causes afterwards. Cleary the society at large is an issues.

I would have liked more works and references cited in this book. As a someone who has only visited Ireland, it's a bit hard to follow at times but I can see real similarities between the situations depicted in the book and issues in the US. The four decades of changes in society alone make this book worth reading - a powerful and damning look at Irish society.
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An interesting look at the disappearance of women in Ireland. Good if you like real life crime and want to find out more about things that happened in Ireland. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

This is not an easy book to read. However, it is informative. If I were reading this book about America, I would probably not have been surprised. One tends to think of Ireland as calm and serene, except for some exceptions, of course. One does not realize that serial murderers live there also. Why not? I have no idea other than they are not made public as much as in our country...this author has done extensive research...at times, it was difficult to read the details and keep track of the dates...that being said, this is a can't put down book...is it a warning to young women everywhere? Perhaps...One does not know how much warning to give...when to let go...and the author pointed out good questions...why not women walking alone? This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review electronically...I look forward to more from this author.

True crime

I jumped into this book without having any idea what it was about. I was pleasantly surprised by the contents. Claire McGowan writes about the epidemic of missing and murdered women in Ireland during the nineties. The vanishing triangle is the geographic area, centred on Dublin, in which a spate of women went missing between 1993 and 1998. There are theories that this was the work of a serial offender but there are many other theories and McGowan offers only an educated guess on some of the cases. She also identifies many other disappearances that may or may not be related to eight cases she focuses on.

What she does really well is put these disappearances into the social and political context that was Ireland during that era. It was a time of great social upheaval and the Troubles were still going on. Homosexuality had only just recently been de-criminalised and I don’t remember the specific years but in the same era as contraception was legalised - yes, you read that right, it was so recent! Abortion was still a no-no. Divorce was only allowed very recently and the last Magdalen laundry only closed it’s doors in 1996! Ireland was still in the grip of the Catholic Church and sex was still a shameful subject. Particularly for women.

Conviction rates for sexual assaults are still very low today but back then it was extremely difficult. Women were made to feel shameful for simply going about their lives. A lot of abuse was hidden behind closed doors and not spoken of for shame. It is therefore not surprising that the police response in many of the cases sought solutions that blamed the women. Did she run away with a man? Did she take a dangerous path home? Was she dressed provocatively? Was she depressed? Maybe she killed herself? And so on.

McGowan also stresses the Troubles themselves seemed to dominate the news. What is one missing woman when a bomb has killed many more? I found the book interesting and informative although of course, as a woman, it’s all very depressing to see how little has changed. I don’t think the issue is worse in Ireland than anywhere else but, nevertheless, it was an interesting piece of research, especially as the author lived through those times in the same area and can speak with conviction of her experiences.

On the other hand there was a lot of repetition and drawing of potentially long bows. Many thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

I enjoyed her previous novel What You Did!
But the Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan was just as amazing.
Such a well written novel and not at all what I was expecting!
Great characters that were fully developed.
The writing is simply brilliant and hooked me immediately.
It was very suspenseful. I could not put this book down. It sent me on a rollercoaster of twists and turns until I got to the very end.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Amazon Publishing UK & Little A,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

This was a hard book to read, faced with so many young women going missing and yet seemingly so little effort put in to finding them or if they had been murdered, who by.
The author gave a lot of insight to them but also seemed to be piecing them together with very little evidence to go on.

I received an arc of this book in exchange for a review.

I'm a fan of this authors books and this one was different from the rest. Well, it was different from most. It was really all about their take on these women that went missing in Ireland. They go through what it was like then. How it felt safer than it really was even with the soldiers hiding in the hedges they had to be afraid would shoot them as they walked from school. It went through the accounts of what they knew of different women and as with all true crime you don't always get a nice and tidy answer to what happened.

I'd say this book so different than what you'd typically see so it's not for everyone but was definitely interesting.

Loved Claire McGowan’s The Push, so really pleased to have been offered this arc, thank you.

The insights to the thoughts and views of the author of the organisations and authorities within the island of Ireland at the time of the setting are dark and deeply disturbing, and it must have taken great courage to make such a stand. These institutions are huge, particularly the Catholic Church, and although we are all aware of the faults and misdemeanours within such organisations, it takes a brave soul to face them down. In these more enlightened times, perhaps women will be treated as fairly and as humanly as men by the powers that be.

This book is an account of murders and missing women in Ireland, both sides of the border, from 1993 to 1998. Due to the lack of evidence, incompetence and poor interest, the majority of these crimes have never been solved. The fact that these crimes received so little attention could be because of several issues, including that they happened to women who must have asked for it, or there were more serious problems to worry about.

The Ireland of the author’s childhood is a contradiction, on one side there is the beautifully idyllic countryside, with youngsters allowed to roam. Then there is the worry of “The Troubles”, another side to the coin, blighting all lives.

The author grew up in the eighties/nineties, and says that even with stricter parents, she was still allowed to wander, and it was common for lifts to be offered and taken, often from strangers, in the rural areas where public transport was a wish more often than an event.

Although this book centres on ‘The Vanishing Triangle”, through her research McGowan as discovered many more vanishings, from as early as 1972. All, or any of these events could be linked in with the Triangle, or maybe it is pure coincidence. It’s never been fully considered that these crimes could be linked, remember this was a time before DNA came to the fore, plus the police either side of the border did not communicate very much. What McGowan has done has brought the events together, explaining the possibility of connections and similarities. Was there one perpetrator, or many at work at this time? Or even murderers working in partnership? Of course it’s highly probable that there was more than one killer, as some of the victims must have known their attacker/abducter.

This book is mind blowing in its construction and totally absorbing, I was left wondering “What next? Why didn’t the authorities see the connections?” Although it is an Ireland of two halves, it is still a very small country, easily navigated and travelled, so it could be one or two people. Perhaps we shall never know.

So many women, in the main forgotten and ignored, whose lives were taken from them and no justice served.

As written this was a country with a “culture of silence” that prevailed throughout Ireland in these times, and “a land ruled by corruption, cruelty and deep hypocrisy”.

If there could be one improvement in this book, it would have been a timeline graph to help keep the crimes in order. There were so many names it was difficult to keep them in some kind of order. Nevertheless, this did not spoil a well written, thought provoking book. Enjoyable is not the right expression for something so awful, perhaps appreciative is more apt.

Thank you NetGalley.

This is my 4th book by this author so I was excited to see she had come out with a new book in May 2022. Based in Ireland about 8 women in the 90's who went missing and then found murdered. This book is different than other book she has written. We learn about all these missing women and their details involving their cases. A lot went unsolved all those years ago. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

This was a hard book to read, both about the violence/fear that women have to deal with and how inadequate the justice system is in dealing with it/protecting men, short sentences, being released to re-offend.. There was a lot to read and some of it was repetitive. It was interesting to learn more about Ireland and the culture there. A small country that was considered both safe and dangerous, where it often was dark in the mid afternoon. Women being blamed for what men did to them. This is about five unsolved cases of women who were still missing in the mid to late 90's and it's connection to both earlier cases and to more current ones

The Vanishing Triangle is a true crime novel, based on several woman who have gone missing in Ireland. While I normally really enjoy Claire McGowan's books, this did not scratch that true crime itch for me
I felt that there was more focus on Claire's own town and history than on the women that had gone missing, and Claire tried too hard to tie the Troubles into this

This was such an interesting book that completely kept my attention. It is very well written and well researched. That being said, the subject matter is hard and sad and depressing.
Thank you to net galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interesting, heartbreaking crime novel. It's just a bit difficult to follow, as I'm not familiar with Ireland, so I found myself googling quite a bit, so if you aren't from Ireland, you may find yourself doing that as well. The stories of these women are well-researched, and I appreciate the time that went into this. I think true-crime readers are going to really enjoy this one!

I don't usually read any type of true crime but having grown up in the same area as the author, albeit a few years earlier, the subject matter was of great interest to me. In the 90s I was in my twenties, working in Belfast and travelling over the border for nights out. I was always aware of the chance of getting caught up in a bomb, you couldn't grow up in Northern Ireland during the troubles and not know the risks. But I didn't realise that my nights out in Dundalk could have left me vulnerable to a more insidious threat. I had heard talk of bodies being found in the Wicklow hills but it was almost an urban legend. I had certainly never heard a news report confirming this. It was only about 5 years ago on a break in Dublin that I caught a documentary on RTE, the national Irish TV channel, about the fact that so many women had gone missing in the same area during the 90s. I was horrified that this had not been reported at home which was only a couple of hours drive up the road. In fact, until I read this book, I had never heard of it again.
I think Claire did a wonderful job with this book. As a novelist she knows how to capture the reader's attention from page 1 so she was able to tell this story without it feeling dry and boring. I loved the way she pointed out clumps of what could be coincidence or may be something far more sinister. My only criticism, and it's more of a suggestion, would be that some kind of map or timeline would make it easier to follow the individual cases, especially if a reader doesn't know the area. This book has really got me thinking about just how small Ireland is yet the media acts as if the North and the South are oceans apart. These terrible events could have just as easily taken place on either side of the border. Hopefully one day these womens' disappearances will be solved but sadly in many cases it is already to late for their families.

I love Claire McGowan as a crime writer-her books have always felt well researched and authentic so I was curious about this as it’s something of a departure for her. Although saying that, it’s incredibly obvious that this book means more to her in someways than her fictional work-it positively radiates with her personal penchant for the truth about the real life crimes contained within its pages. The author knows that there are other books out there about the horrific murders and disappearances that took place very near to where she was born and raised and she decides to concentrate on the social and emotional fallout from that period in time that now feels completely at odds with our current social media driven society. A lot of information is given very quickly and the only thing I would say is that it would have been useful to have had some sort of timeline/graphic to refer to where all of the women were grouped together in one place. This would have made it easier for me to process each case as often the narrative came back to victims several times. Saying that, I did love the way everything was finely chopped down and then reconstructed in different ways to look at coincidences and similarities until all the pieces were there but with too many missing to complete the puzzle, this was never going to be a “grand reveal” true crime expose and I’m glad of that.
Fascinating, deeply disturbing and thought provoking-highly recommended.

In the 1990s a number of women vanished in Ireland. They were all from the same general area which became known as the vanishing triangle. The author carefully investigated each of these disappearances, the people who were looked upon as suspects and the faults of the Police. It is well reported but my problem was all the speculation regarding what may or may not have happened to these women (some just girls). Many of her conclusions make sense but have no proof of any kind showing why and how these conclusions were reached. Her suggestions for improvements were spot on. Many of these women remain missing today. Their families deserve better. Thanks to Net Galley and Little A for an ARC for an honest review.

I have read all of Claire McGowan's books and this one is a different style of writing. Its a documentary rather than fiction. Nevertheless I enjoyed it and found it informative and interesting.

This is a book of true crime. While difficult to read because of the subject material, I think the author does a great job of making people aware of the large number of missing women in Ireland. I had no idea this was so prevalent there. This information will sure stay with me.

In the past I've enjoyed Claire McGowans fictional novels. This true crime book is centred around missing and murdered women within a specific area in Ireland. On one hand its full of information but on the other it is also full of what ifs and who-done-its. I felt it was overly long and extremely repetitive.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Claire McGowan is becoming a recognized name in the thriller world.  I really liked her novel The Push, but this attempt at true crime falls a little flat.  Think too much Ann Rule plus "ripped from the headlines" with more than a dash of memoir.  Plus at times it reads a little like a senior thesis.  The author admits that she is stepping out of her comfort zone, but perhaps she should have just fictionalized what she knows of the story instead.

I don’t really have strong opinions on this book, it was just ok. Whilst learning about the disappearances mentioned was interesting, the book was very repetitive and I wouldn’t really call it a true crime book.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan troubles my heart and made this night to restless for me to sleep.
The book was difficult for me to follow, but told in a straight forward way.
I found it hard for me to keep track of the areas and people involved and kept getting things muddled up in my mind.
The book is set in Ireland where young and old women disappear from their home, car or simply walking down the street.
Where a few bodies are found, but even more never discovered and few killer’s brought to justice.
Some people think a family member being murdered is the worst thing that can happen.
I think the worst thing is never recovering your loved one’s body and solving the case.

I really enjoyed this book, I’m from the same area as the author and a lot of the places, her memories, and what she talks about are very familiar to me. I loved all this authors books and I can’t wait on the next one.

Many thanks to netgalley and Claire McGowan fir the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

My thanks to Net Galley and Amazon UK Publishing for the chance to review this book about a group of women missing in a triangulated area in Ireland.

Author very well researched the information in this book and clearly told all of the women's stories along with historical content of Ireland at the time. My only issue was the author put a lot of her on perceptions and speculation as to what happened to these women. Tough content but good read .

After reading and loving The Push I was intrigued to be invited to read and review Claire’s new book, especially as it was nonfiction.
The Vanishing Triangle is the game given to an area in Ireland, similarly shaped to a triangle that hides the truth about a number of women who have vanished without a trace within its boundaries. Claire has thoroughly researched a number of these cases, and discovered even more that she was unfamiliar with, to discover that many are still unsolved, undiscovered and unknown even to locals living close by. Claire grew up in Ireland and admits that some of the cases were given such little publicity that even she, as a girl/young woman living locally, had no idea of the existence and subsequent disappearance of a number of these females.
I found the stories of these women compelling, especially when combined with the storytelling behind their last movements and sightings which are told poignantly in the book. As a woman and a mother, quite a few hit home and along with the statistics of violence against women and recent news stories, made me wonder why more isn’t being done to protect half of the population from the other half.
A very thought provoking and objective read. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review.

A different type of bok from Ms McGowan as in it is fact based.
The book presents a tale of failings in society and police procedurial work during the later part of the 20th century in both sides of the Irish border that allowed numerous women to be abducted, raped and murdered.
This is by no means a graphic book and the gory details are kept to a minimum.
It does however set the reader thinking as to how there could have been such a high level of incompetence and with the links between the cases having bene identified, how many innocent lifes might have been saved.

This tackles issues in Ireland that I have been unaware of until now. Everyone knows about ‘The Troubles’ and the violent deaths, but this issue of the many missing, presumed dead women and girls is largely unknown. Even the author, who hails from near this ‘triangle’ hadn’t heard of many of these cases. I was shocked also to read the dates when abortion and homosexuality became legal, far later than would be assumed. The church, the police and the generally male centric society have not merely glossed over the problem, but in many ways have blamed and shamed the victims. A lesson for us all here.

This was a difficult book to read because so many of the rapes and deaths have gone unresolved. It is an important book to shed light on the culture, circumstance, and biases that created the environment for these women to just vanish without a trace. Recommended reading

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon publishing for an advanced reader copy.

I was definitely engaged in this investigation and inquiry in this true crime book by Claire McGowan. I love her books and knew she would present the facts and speculations in an interesting way. My first thoughts are how compelling and disturbing that these people are missing in Ireland and no clues can be found. I know there are some reviews that are negative towards this author, but it is more an awareness for people like me that had no idea this had happened.

I shuddered over the lack of analysis of 8 young women vanishing without a trace during this time period between 1993-1998. They could not connect these atrocious crimes to a serial killer. This was before DNA could be used as an extraction of evidence, even though there were similarities and differences as well as influences during this time period that hindered or played a huge role. Sad to say that the prejudice against women was mind-blowing with victim shaming and secrecy beyond my imagination.

The research into that time period was astounding and forthcoming that I was unaware of leaving me impressed with her studies not to mention she was a child at this time sheltered or unaware of the fear released in their area. The children were more worried and scared of the "troubles" The Northern Ireland conflict in 1968-1998 between the Protestant loyalist who wanted the province to remain part of the United Kingdom, and the Roman Catholic republicans wanted Northern Ireland to become part of the republic of Ireland. I'm not even going to attempt to understand all of their history, but I felt she did a good job at explaining it. In this movement, there was social upheaval, political unrest against homosexuals, contraception, abortion, divorce and the Catholic Church sex scandals. Less emphasis was placed on the missing people and more on the intrusions and bombings.

Claire analysed the similarities and differences between the crimes and counteracted the social changes with the influence of religion and politics. Clever speculations that left some readers upset, I thought was brilliant. I'm glad she brought this to my attention and even though it was compelling as well as disturbing it had me going down a rabbit hole. The only disappointment is I will probably never travel to this beautiful country.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for this title in exchange for my honest review.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is an informative true crime narrative of years of unsolved murders, kidnappings, and disappearances. Through much research many of the crimes are revealed while others remain. The crime history is challenging to pursue.

I like the author and was interested to read this book. I thought she painted a vivid picture of the time, life in Ireland and the difficulties women faced. The crimes were particularly bleak and sad, in their nature of ‘forgotten-ness’. For a true crime read, I felt there was something missing- a lack of structure and an emotional connection through the storytelling. It was interesting but I wasn’t completely gripped.

An interesting and thought-provoking book, which makes me realise (again) that the "good old days" were usually anything but. I know very little about Ireland (north and south) so it was fascinating to see how these crimes were often facilitated by the situation at the time. Hopefully things are very different now.

My thanks to Claire and Netgalley for allowing me to read the Vanishing Triangle prior to the publication date.

The title refers to an area in Ireland where 8 women went missing over a number of years. Some would never be heard of again, others would be found murdered.

Interviews of potential witnesses resulted in a deafening silence as they took the decision to emulate the 3 wise monkeys, See no evil, Hear no evil and Speak no evil.
Looking at the bigger picture, it is possible that the witnesses refused to speak because of the hatred for the RUC, but it could equally be because they feared for their own safety were they to be seen talking to the RUC. After all, this is a country which had a government but the paramilitary organisations often had more influence.

This is only a tiny part of the story. Claire touches on the numerous aspects of Irish society which influence women’s lives.

This was a time before integrated technology and social media allowed for information to be shared quickly. (It was only in the early 1990s that the Griew report resulted in a major overhaul of IT provision within the RUC which would support communications between the divisions.)

It is an interesting book but in my opinion, it does not provide a truly balanced view of the complex situation within the country.

It would also have been helpful to have a chart/map of the dates , locations and outcomes of the incidents for the readers who are not familiar with the country.

It's devastating that a story like this has to be told. In 1990s Ireland, women were disappearing at an alarming rate while residents weren't even aware it was happening. The title comes from a specific area where most of the disappearances occurred; that fact alone should have thrown up some red flags. The author grew up here and was close to the age of several of the woman that vanished so she has a first-hand account of society at that time. The news was dominated by the political turmoil and these disappearances weren't even on the radar. Sadly, that may well have been the case even if the Troubles weren't occurring, such was the attitude towards women in general.

Police often dismissed the concerns of relatives, believing the women to have left on their own accord, or if they suffered from any mental health issues, they must have taken their own lives. But as the author points out, they certainly didn't bury themselves, so their bodies would have been found, eventually. That's the obvious and disturbing fact - the bodies have never been found, even decades later. Clearly, these women met a terrible fate and the perpetrators were never brought to justice.

There was also the tendency for the officials to blame the victims, condemning them for how they dressed, how they acted, for traveling alone and accepting rides from strangers. How dare these women go about their daily lives when danger lurks behind every corner! How dare they be sexual beings who don't look forward to a life of pregnancies and obedience to their (often abusive) husbands. It sounds facetious, but this was the norm, this is how young women were raised. The truly disturbing aspect is that it's barely any better now, decades later.

It's also upsetting that in some cases there was a clear suspect but due to technicalities they were never charged, were charged decades after the crime, or only served a fraction of their sentence. That can be almost as hard as not knowing, when the families of these victims come across these suspects going about their daily lives, due to the small size of the towns they live in. Having to cross paths with someone they can almost guarantee hurt their loved ones is a terrible burden to bear. I'm surprised no one inflicted their own justice upon these men. Sure, that would be lowering themselves to the standards of criminals, but in a society where victims like these women were ignored and forgotten, would it even matter?

Claire McGowan’s crime fiction is always enjoyable but, as she says in this detailed exploration of real missing women, fiction always allows the reader a satisfying or at least a logical conclusion. In ‘The Vanishing Triangle’ this is not the case.
McGowan grew up in rural Northern Ireland during the 90s when many of the women she has researched disappeared. A few bodies have been found but, for the most part, the whereabouts of these women remains a mystery. For a long time, nobody much seemed to care. Few disappearances were even newsworthy at the time. Why?
In this exposition of bungled investigations, engrained prejudice, sectarian violence and the pronouncements of a corrupt, judgemental Church, McGowan looks unflinchingly at her homeland and presents the reader with some hard truths. However, whilst many readers may find themselves shocked at her reminders of Ireland’s draconian laws on abortion, divorce and homosexuality, at the centre of this book is a truth to which, sadly, we can all relate: society assumes that women must be entirely responsible for their own safety, that if they are assaulted it is somehow their fault.
Whilst the charm of the Irish charm and their beautiful countryside is what most of us imagine now that the Troubles are receding into the past, McGowan shows us that beneath these clichés is commonly accepted domestic violence, prurient judgements and isolated communities in which it appears to be easy to capture and kill. This is not an easy read and nor should it be.
My thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, Little A for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Not my typical read. I really snatched up this book because I liked the authors previous book. I don't know if it's because I don't like "true crime" stories but I found this book to not be what I expected. While I am saddened by the accounts that happened, in 2022, none of this surprises me, not even knowing it happened in the 90's, Evil has always been there, I know this.

Eeeeeesh this was a big nope for me. I’m a fan of the fictional work. This? Not a good road to go down. I was intrigued with finding out about these women and her true crime outlook and then I quickly realized this was a book about jumping to conclusions and like watching some sort of jumbled warped biased unsolved mysteries show. Then add the writing - it was like I was reading case files myself. On repeat.

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

The author relates what happened in Ireland, specifically in Dublin in the 1990s. I like that she relates her life during that time. The book centers in an area, a triangle in Dublin where several women had dissappeared and almost nothing had been found about. The text narrate the rol of different institutions in Ireland and how they reacted to those facts.

True crime podcasts and youtube videos are some of my favorite to listen and watch to pass the time.

I remember reading this authors previous work and really enjoying it. Seeing that she was moving into non-fiction and true crime I was really interested to read this one.

Where this missed for me was the way it was written. I would have liked to know more about these cases but they way it was written it didn't really help. It was very name, case, cause of death, and then repeat with no real conversation between that. I appreciated the bits of Irelands history and the background of the time period when these murders occured. This one might have been better as a podcast versus a book.

Thanks to Amazon Publishing for sending this my way for my honest review.

This book was a real eye opener! Thanks to Claire for having the confidence and knowledge to research this subject! It amazed me how little was done in the search for these ladies ( but life in the 90s in a quiet place) it seemed the norm, as in so many other parts of the country/ world.. I found the book enjoyable and thought provoking.

Claire McGowan is known for her crime fiction, but "The Vanishing Triangle" is a work of nonfiction that amply demonstrates how different fiction is from real life when it comes to solving crimes. As Ms. McGowan notes several times in the book, if she was writing a novel that involved the crimes detailed in the book, the scrappy detective would pursue all possible leads and overcome all odds to find the killer, who despite thinking he was really clever, would make mistakes or be undone by his own hubris. However, fiction is not real life, and solving the mystery of the disappearances and murders of some of the young women discussed in The Vanishing Triangle has proven elusive. The author focuses on a series of disappearances of young women in an area around Dublin, Ireland between 1993 and 1998, but she expands the story to discuss earlier and later disappearances and murders in that area and elsewhere in Ireland and Northern Ireland. In some cases, the missing woman's body was found and the killer caught and convicted (although the prison sentence was often not long). In other cases, the murderer is known or likely known but the necessary evidence to prove guilt is lacking, including sometimes the body of the missing woman. The author discusses the various factors that contributed to these cases not being solved, or taking so long to solve, including a culture of silence and shame, and how mistakes, failed connections, incompetence, or even corruption allowed murderers to remain free for many years, increasing their victim count. It is an interesting, and at times disturbing, book.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This is not fiction this is a true crime story. In Ireland between 1993 and 1998 eight woman disappeared suddenly just snatched off the streets ,some were found murdered but some were never found causing such distress to their Families .This book tries to investigate and it seems that there were many more woman who suffered the same fate but the Police never seemed to be able to convict anyone so most of the cases remain unsolved .Very sad that this can happen but I think I would have preferred to have read a fictionalised version with a proper ending .Thank you NetGalley for my ARC

McGowan has written a fascinating examination of the murders of multiple women in Ireland in the 1990s. They were more than women who lived on the margins but their disappearances and deaths didn't receive the attention that the murder of other women did. This looks not only at the investigation process but also societal perceptions. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Hopefully this will find an audience beyond the true crime genre.

I really enjoy the previous work of Claire McGowan, so I was thrilled for the opportunity to read and review "The Vanishing Triangle." While this is a departure from her works of fiction, I love true crime, so I happily dove in. There are definitely some interesting highlights in the book - I truly appreciated getting a better understanding of life in Ireland in the 1990s. It was such a tumultuous time in the country's history, and reading a first-person account of life there was fascinating.
The women who went missing in the "Vanishing Triangle" and beyond during this time absolutely deserve a look at their disappearances, their lives, and the system failures that kept them from justice. This was obviously a project McGowan felt passionately about, and it shows.
I did think that this book could have used more in-depth research, and better organization. There was a good amount of jumping around that would be easily solved with a different structure.
Regardless, as someone who knew nothing about these cases, I was fascinated and engaged by McGowan's input.

This is an important piece of research into the unsolved murders of young women in Ireland. It begs questions about why the police did not pursue some of them more actively. It is more a historical record than a story likely to capture readers’ attention. At times it can be upsetting.

A mixture of young and older women go missing in 90s Ireland the author tells about the investigation and hunt for these women.The news is dominated by The Troubles so non -political and sexual violence is very easy to ignore.The author tell a story of buttoned lips and silence and inadequate policing.
A different book by the author well written and heartfelt at times difficult to read my only moan would be it was maybe a tad to long and parts were repeated.
Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for the ARC

Ireland in the 1990s seemed a safe place for women. With the news dominated by the Troubles, it was easy to ignore non-political murders and sexual violence, to trust that you weren't going to be dragged into the shadows and killed. But beneath the surface, a far clearer reality had taken hold. In this candid investigation into the society and circumstances that allowed eight young women to vanish without trace = no conclusion or conviction, no resolution for their loved ones = best selling crime novelist Claire McGowan delivers a righteous polemic against the culture of secrecy, victim-blaming and shame that left these women's bodies unfound, their fates unknown, their assailants unpunished.

I had no knowledge of these murders until I read this book. There's lots of violence and it tells of the fears the women have while facing the justice system. There's a lot of repetition which could be irritating. It's more about the authors thoughts and opinions rather than true facts. The terrorism of the Troubles in Ireland would have hindered the investigations. Parts of this book were really interesting, but there were other parts that were irrelevant.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AmazonPublishingUK and the author #ClaireMcGowan for my ARC of #TheVanishingTriangle in exchange for an honest review.

Crime writer Claire McGowan has grown up in a small town in Northern Ireland which she always perceived as a safe place despite the Troubles. Of course, the news daily reported about bombings and people killed but what she hadn’t been aware of was the incredibly high number of girls and women who were abducted or simply vanished in both Northern and the Republic of Ireland. Some of the cases happened close to where she lived, happened to girls her age who roamed the same places when she did but she has never even heard of it. Only rarely was a suspect arrested and even more seldom convicted for rape or murder. How could the country have such a high number of women murdered and except for their families nobody seems to care?

I have enjoyed Claire McGowan’s crime novels for some years now, not only because the plots are suspenseful and complex, but also because she manages to capture the atmosphere of a place, to create a special mood that can only exist there. With her deep understanding for the people and the places they live and which shape their thinking and acting, I was curious to read her true crime investigation of femicides.

What her enquiry uncovers is not the Ireland that has attracted tourists and business for decades. It is a country that was shaped by the Catholic church and whose legislation was far behind other European countries in terms of women’s rights. With the Troubles, it was often safer not to have seen anything and, first and foremost, not to say anything, thus atrocious crimes could happen in broad daylight in front of everybody’s eyes. The deeper she digs the more cases she finds and can link to a small area, the so called “Vanishing Triangle”, where an astonishing number of woman have disappeared and whose cases remain unsolved.

McGowan tells the women’s stories, lists the evidence and also provides reasons why their bodies are still missing or why prime suspects still walk free. All this grants a look in the country’s state in the 1980s and 1990s – a lot has changed since, but still society and police often fail female victims today.

A read which is as interesting as it is disturbing. I really enjoy listening to true crime podcasts thus the topic attracted me immediately. What I really appreciated was that Claire McGowan did not take a neutral position towards her account but you can sense her anger and the incredulity with which she looks at her findings and which makes you wonder why not more people shout out because of this.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan

I normally love reading Claire McGowan books but I must admit that I have only read her fiction novels. But The Vanishing Triangle is not my cup of tea.

The Vanishing Triangle is a none fiction book about the murders and disappearances of girls in Ireland in the 1990s and how it was kept very hush hush with the police not seeming to care very much.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Amazon Publishing UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

From bestselling suspense author Claire McGowan comes a nonfiction book about missing women in 1990s Ireland. Multiple women, mostly young, went missing in an area that came to be known as “The Vanishing Triangle.” Most of their disappearances are still unsolved today. Despite growing up in the same area, Ms. McGowan didn’t learn how widespread these crimes were until many years later.

The disturbing subject matter makes this a hard book to read, but the author does a compelling job of introducing us to the missing women and making convincing cases that their disappearances were the result of foul play. What is particularly well done is the author’s social commentary on violence toward women and the skillful way she puts the crimes into political and social context – inadequate police response, attitudes toward women, victim-blaming, and the wide-reaching effects of religion. Although a bit repetitive and at times confusing to a non-Irish reader, this book is a fascinating and well-researched look at these women’s cases, and it is clear how deeply they affected Ms. McGowan.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Review of Advance reader’s Copy/Uncorrected Proof eBook

In 2018, as a young woman got off a bus in Carlow, someone snatched her, stuffed her into a car, and drove away. Eighteen years later, a similar attack occurred, but a witness with a mobile phone called the police, and the attacker was located. A bloodstained note revealed the location of the victim; however, the twenty-four-year-old woman was dead . . . raped, and strangled . . . she’d died within forty-five minutes of her abduction.

Sadly, these events weren’t unusual in Dublin, Ireland where between 1993 and 1998 eight women disappeared in an area some eighty miles surrounding Dublin . . . the “vanishing triangle” referred to in the title of this true crime publication.

Was a serial killer at work in Ireland in the 1990s? Why, when so many women vanished, were the Gardia unable to solve any of the cases, unable to locate the missing women, even years after they’d vanished?

=========

The author, who grew up in Northern Island, reveals how several women vanished, but no one in authority seemed to care. Cases went unsolved, often for years, until the discovery of a body. But, for many of the families, there are no answers, no bodies to bury, no person to hold accountable.

There are no answers for the families of the missing, but the author provides the socio-political context for those years, a time of social upheaval, a time when women had no access to contraceptives, when abortion was illegal, and when, according to the author, “homophobia and intolerance remained rife.”

The stories of so many women missing, with little or no effort to find them, make this a difficult book to read. It is dark and disturbing, especially when the reader realizes that, at its heart, the culture, the society, and the politics of the time are a large part of the problem. Blaming women for what happened to them is nothing less than an insidious excuse for a failure of due diligence, a failure to conduct proper investigations for the missing women. Justice for the missing, and for their families, requires a significant change in the manner of investigation.

The stories of these women are compelling; the book, thought-provoking. There is much here for readers to consider, much that will remain with them long after turning the final page.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Amazon Publishing UK, Little A and NetGalley
#TheVanishingTriangle #NetGalley

This was a fascinating read. I had never heard of these cases and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about them, though the information is quite shocking! If you are a fan of true crime, this is for you. I can definitely picture this as a series on Netflix, and I hope the extra attention brings closure for these families!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Amazon Publishing UK and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

An interesting story about the disappearance of women in Ireland. It’s a different read emotionally, but well worth it.

A real eye opener of a book. The sheer amount of women who have gone missing in Ireland is shocking, particularly when combined with the information on how little effort was put into finding the perpetrators. McGowan gives an interesting viewpoint as someone growing up in Ireland during. The height of the troubles and also whilst women her own age were being raped and killed in mysterious circumstances.
As this is nonfiction there are no final conclusions, grand reveals of a serial killer nor a sense of finality, however it does make you think about how vulnerable women are and how much of a man’s world it was in these times (and sadly to some extent still is). I would recommend for anyone interested in this time period or finding more out about the vanishing triangle in Ireland.

The book by ClaireMcGowan is actually a true crime story. The book covers a series of murders committed in Ireland in the vanishing triangle. A geographical area of concern.
Ms McGowan has certainly done her research into these crimes. I had certainly never heard of the murders before.
A solid read but i prefer Claires other books.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to see an ARC

Read through netgalley- this was a really interesting and difficult read focusing on unsolved murders/ missing person cases in Ireland. I thought that the author bought together well the political climate and difficulties well and overall the tone was sympathetic and well researched. Very different to her fiction books which I also love. Bit heavy subject matter so slow read but an interesting one.

I didn't realise this was a non-fiction book, I just went for it because I generally enjoy Claire McGowan's books. I didn't really enjoy this one though. Whilst the subject was very interesting, and I was reminded of just how archaic Ireland is in the way people, particularly women are treated and expected to live, I found the book too repetitive and nothing really came out of the author's 'investigations'.

I have read a few of Claire McGowan's books before and enjoyed them so I was looking forward to reading this 'true crime investigation' by her. After the first couple of chapters, however, it was clear that this book wasn't up to the high standards of her fiction work.

'The Vanishing Triangle' tells the story of a number of women who disappeared in Ireland in the 1990s, close to where the author grew up. The subject matter is fascinating and I hadn't heard of these disappearances and murders before, so I did enjoy learning about them. However, the writing jumped about all over the place from one missing woman to another, then mentioning other vaguely similar crimes. I found it quite hard to follow and parts of it were incredibly repetitive. The book felt more like a jumble of thoughts than a properly crafted project and mainly focused on the author's opinion of what happened to the women as the cases are largely unsolved.

Overall, I wanted to love this as I do rate the author and the subject matter was interesting; as a book it had so much potential but I feel that it was let down with the poorly organised and executed writing. The only saving grace was that it was fairly short.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

This book is really good. At first I thought it was just a novel I was soon hooked on the story and how difficult it was to unravel the past in the search for justice.

Despite the horrific nature of this book, I enjoy delving into the history of women in the Vanishing Triangle in the 1990s. McGowan makes you feel utterly horrified at what occurred in Ireland in the 1990s, a period when I was growing up and knew nothing of these disappearances. Even as a woman in my early 20s in the mid 2000s visiting a friend in Arklow and going out I felt totally safe and perhaps this helps explain how these murders or disappearances occurred. McGowan explains factually the nature of these disappearances and the events in Ireland at the time that might have led these to be swept under the carpet or ignored. The loose border too helps explain so much. Reading this book I felt I wanted to know more, and yet at the same time I was shocked by how people just vanished.

This is a true story of Ireland in the 1990's. Not the usual story of the troubles and violence but of eight women disappearing.
They were never seen again or heard of and their bodies were never found. More shockingly is that no one was ever tried or convicted of any crime leaving no conclusions for their families.
was this the work of one killer or was it something or someone more sinister.
Claire McGowan reveals the corrupt system than and one that is still failing women today.

Equal parts fascinating and heartbreaking, McGowan takes the reader through some notable disappearances that took place in what has been dubbed The Vanishing Triangle. Whilst this book does provide some theories for the what became of these women and who was responsible, it is not the intention of this book to give an be answer to these questions. What this book does is explore the factors that have contributed towards these disappearances remaining unsolved as well as possibly expand the list of women included as part of the Vanishing Triangle.

This is a book that is written with a lot of compassion and understanding as well as being very aware of the messaging that those perceived as girls by society receive from a very young age. I appreciated this awareness and also the time that McGowan takes to essentially rip these messages apart by highlighting the different circumstances surrounding each disappearance.

This was an interesting, although difficult, read about women who have disappeared in Ireland over the last few decades. While a few cases have been solved (one twenty years after the crime was committed!), most haven't and to this day their families have no idea what happened to them.

The author gives the scant details that are available, piecing together the women's last-known activities, and gives her personal thoughts on what might have happened. She also talks about the political and social situation in Ireland at the time, which had a big influence on these crimes.

Fascinating, sad, heartbreaking at times, it shows another side of Ireland that people rarely speak about, and the misogynistic attitudes that allowed these crimes to be committed. Recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for affording me the privilege of reading this book by Claire McGowan.

To me there's a fine line between fiction and nonfiction when it comes to murder.  An author researches in depth giving the reader a lot of detail but usually with a successful outcome. 

However I'm not a reader of true crime, preferring to leave some of the reality behind and walk into the world of make believe. 

So picking up the varnishing triangle and after reading the prologue I was shocked to learn of the number of females who had gone missing in Ireland.  The prologue alone was sadly gripping.  

Myself, as a girl growing up in England during this era I had no idea of the events unfolding across the water at our neighbours.  We only heard about the troubles occurring in Northern Ireland. It may be that these disappearances and murders were actually broadcast in the British media but I was a schoolgirl so I probably wasn't paying much attention to the news in those days.

Growing up in 70s England we felt safe, we gave people who pulled up in cars, directions, got into friends parents cars without a second thought went out alone and thought nothing of walking home from school or shops at night via the alleyways and side streets.  I knew my home turf well so I never considered it being anything other than safe. Mobile phones didn't exist so some of the time our parents had no idea where we were. We came home when we knew it was tea time.

When I started working in the 80s I had to walk home not being able to drive.  I remember hearing that the Yorkshire ripper was at large and even though I wasn't in Yorkshire or the from the profession he targeted I vividly remember it still put me on high alert. 

I still struggle with real crime stories because stories are meant to be fiction aren't they!  The vanishing triangle feels like a book of fiction, like it's all made up,  it's really quite scary to think this actually happened and fiction is exactly what it isn't.  

Claire writes with passion and you move through the chapters with speed, with every turn it seems more and more unreal that it really is real. The attention to detail from Claire's research is mind blowing, getting your brain around the fact that there were so few clues and that no one seem to find a pattern. That the rest of the world did not know about this and the lack of importance of information out there that all females needed to be vigilant. It's has mind blowing as it is disbelieving. Thank you Claire for giving these women recognition and for bringing to our attention the horrifying events that occurred.

A digital ARC of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK, and Little A. The opinions are my own and freely given.

I appreciate the research and time this book took to write but I wasn't really a fan. I thought it jumped timelines too much. I understand the author was trying to point out the danger of being a woman in Ireland in the 90s however, there were too many victims' names thrown about. By the time I would get to the next chapter and the victims were mentioned again, I couldn't remember the specifics of her disappearance. Then there were men that were found guilty or suspected and they too got mixed up in my mind. I couldn't remember who was convicted for what crime and when it was mentioned I couldn't remember those specifics either.

The author seemed to downgrade the country so much it makes me never want to go there.

I found it boring and couldn't wait to finish it, knowing there was no real ending since no one has been convicted. There are suspects but no proof. No one knows if it was the work of a serial killer, or multiple people. And no one knows if these cases were at all related.

There was no demographic of how big the triangle is. Not being from Ireland, I had no frame of reference, and I couldn't tell if it was a mile or several hundred.

Only 6 women's cases were investigated. Operation Trace was told to focus on these 6 only and no one else. I expected this book to be more about the victims then the politics and religious views of the country.

The author talked about The Troubles, but again not being from Ireland, I don't know what that is, and it was not explained.

This book really sheds light on how the police victimized the missing women. Assuming because they showed signs of depression, they must have committed suicide, they may have been considered sex workers, so their disappearance was their fault, or they were young and just ran away.

Again, there was so much research that went into this book, and this being the authors first true crime novel she did a solid job, it was just too confusing for me.

Being a fan of Claire McGowan, I went right in when I saw a new book was being published. Only after did I realize that it was a true crime instead of a novel. I dove right in anyway.

The author is giving us an overview of woman disappearing during the nineties, all relatively in the same area. She doesn't limit the investigation to the official eight who disappeared, but she has broadened her inquiry to almost the whole of Ireland. From the beginning she clearly states that she wanted to know more about these older cases and try to find out what had caused so many to disappear with so little publicity. This gives another approach to the whole book, focusing more on background than on facts and figures about the cases themselves. Which is logical as there are very little facts to go on. With the lack of technology from that era, the women almost literary vanished without a trace.

So instead we get a very good insight in what life was in the nineties in Ireland, and how women were considered almost second hand citizens by the church, the police, politicians, by society in general and by men who felt empowered to take whatever they wanted without having to take any responsibility. To make things worse, all this happened during the Troubles, the time that Ireland was plagued by terrorist attacks, and very little attention or time and resources were available for solving any other crimes.

So, this book is not for you if you want a factual account in a clear timeline of all the victims, but it is recommendable if you are interested in the societal upheaval during this decade and the role of women in general, and the paradigm shift that happened afterwards. I can imagine that this book is very personal to the author, as she has also weaved a lot of her own impressions throughout, growing up in the area in that timeframe. I also think that she is hoping that this book might bring up the cases up again, as an extra stepping stone in making sure their lives will not be forgotten.

A sincere thanks to NetGalley, Little A and the author for an advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for an eARC for an honest review.

This is the second book I've read by Claire McGowan, and I found myself enjoying this a lot, and acknowledging the realities of what transpired in the book.

This is a true-crime non-fiction book, about crimes that have mainly taken place in Ireland in the 1990s. We are shown the grim realities of the 'vanishing' of young women, and how the systems that are there to protect us, do nothing, and those who are meant to protect us don't seem to care, save for the families of those missing women.

McGowan talks briefly about some of her childhood during this time, and how all the missing women never made the news to inform the public. Along with this, how many already suspect or knew who committed the crime, but once again the system allowed these predators free to continue their crime or even leave the country.

While she does acknowledge that there are those who do go above and beyond to help solve the crime, most of these crimes still remained unsolved, and not everyone gets the closure they seek, and notes that there are things that can be improved and done better to help these victims and families.

I love Claire McGowan and enjoy her fiction stories. I am also a fan of true crime and Irish history. I was so looking forward to another 5 star read from McGowan, but this book just didn’t work for me. I felt like McGowan was making connections to crimes that may not necessarily be connected. There were also a lot of blanket statements and stereotypes about the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland versus actual evidence. I understand that the culture certainly impeded official police investigations, but this felt very convoluted.

I’ve read one other book by this author and It was excellent. She’s done it again. Really good book. Kept me reading into the night and have added her to my favourite authors list. I don’t want to spoil this story so rather than rehash the plot I will just say. Read the book!

The author brings to light how women are being let down by the system that is supposed to protect them. When you think of Ireland, you think of lovely, verdant hillsides and sheep gamboling through the meadows. It doesn’t seem the type of place that would. blame dead women for their circumstance rather than pursue the perpetrator. This is a very interesting read. How sad that the system places so little value on women .

The island of Ireland is known for many things, both good and bad. From its lush green hills and beautiful coastline to its fame as the home of Guinness. It is also an island split in two, with both historic and religious problems causing the period known as 'the troubles' to anyone reporting on current affairs during the 1990s.

What it wasn't known for was its unusually high number of killings not related to political unrest which were swept under the carpet, kept hidden, for reasons which now seem ludicrous. These victims were all women who, in some way, were perceived to have deserved what happened to them! They were unmarried mothers, divorced, or 'living in sin', their descriptions as outdated as the cultures which left their parents, children, partners and siblings desperate for information which was never forthcoming.

Claire McGowan is a crime author, something she unfortunately felt the need to mention a little too often! This is her first foray into true crime and in some ways it shows. I did find the historic references interesting as, albeit from the other side of the Irish Sea, the troubles were a constant part of our everyday lives through the news headlines of the day. She does show a compassion for those left to pick up the pieces and a definite desire to help if she can.

There are, unfortunately, no first-hand accounts or photos to help give an idea of where these crimes took place. Although the history of both Northern and Southern Ireland should be fresh in the minds of those living there that isn't the case for the rest of the world and it is hard to picture the desolation or inaccessibility in some parts of what we are constantly reminded is a relatively small island.

I was as surprised as the author about the lack of information available at the time about these missing women and the apparent lack of determination by those in law enforcement to discover the culprit or culprits. Her narrative does at least give these victims and their families a platform which they don't seem to have had before but for a newly released book there seems to be no new information included from after 2020.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. I found this informative but needing more detail on locations, victims, and those searching for answers.

I am finding it difficult to give feedback on this as I didn't realise it was factual. It is well written if a little repetitive but the writer is good at giving insight into the imagined feelings of the victims. The lower star rating is only because it didn't appeal to me personally.

Claire McGowan is such a talented writer. She Is an author I love to spend my money money so scoring this book for free was like Christmas!
This was such an interesting book, that really made you feel very emotion.

Definitely will be buying this on Audible for a re-read/listen

I did not really read the blurb of this book when it was offered to me from net galley as an ARC. I really didn’t request this book, it was given or offered to me by the author because I had bought a book of her’s. So my review will be short. It went on and on about missing woman in a certain period of time, in Ireland in the 1990’s and I understand the author is from Ireland but it truly became so tedious to read and repetitious. I truly thought I was offered a new fiction book of hers. Thank you net galley for this ARC but it was truly not what I expected but I have only myself to blame. Others might find this interesting. For me it just when on and on.

Heartbreaking non-fiction account of a bunch of unsolved murders of women in Ireland in the late 1990s through early 2000s. McGowan looks at the crimes individually and also tries to find patterns. She also speculated about how societal forces in Ireland at the time may have meant that some of the crimes were not investigated as rigorously as they should have been.

If you're looking for a happy ending, this isn't the book isn't for you. It's a start. Now true crime podcasters need to get on the case and demand justice for these women and their loved ones.

While I found the information shocking and informative the format was lacking. I felt like I was being taken around in circles and forced myself to finish reading rather than jump off.

Admittedly this is not typically the type of book I read. But I do love true crime stories; maybe this one was just not focused enough for me.

I am fan of this author, and have enjoyed several of her fictional thrillers. This was a different type of book being true crime non-fiction. The author talks about many, many murders of young women in Ireland, her birth country, and the surrounding economical, political, scientific contexts of the murders over time. It felt a bit disjointed and too stream of conscious for me, there were so many names, stories, and details to try to keep up with. I found it a bit drawn out, I do think it is valuable to have all these missing women named and remembered. If you are interested in true crime in Ireland, this book is for you!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In the 1990's, Ireland seemed a safe place for women. It was easy to ignore non-political murders and sexual violence. Claire McGowan delivers a candid investigation into the culture of secrecy, victim-blaming and shame. McGowan reveals an Ireland of outdated social and sexual mores, perceived propriety and misguided politics. Was an unknown serial killer at large or was there something even more insidious at work? Eight women went missing from an area roughly 80 miles around Dublin. This is a fascinating read and well-researched by McGowan. I enjoyed this book as it was very passionate to McGowan to write. I would like to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK Little A for a copy for an honest review.

It is an eye opening look at the large number of unpublished cases in the 1990s of missing women in a very small area of what is presumed to be the picture perfect, safe country of Ireland. Were these disappearances overshadowed by “The Troubles”? Was it perhaps a lack of concern for these women’s whereabouts because the perception was that the young women either ran away, committed suicide or somehow deserved what had happened? Did the lack of resources, competence and communication between a divided Ireland and blurred borders cause these cases to be ignored or investigated too late? Witnesses in these disappearances were few. Today’s ability to test DNA is a possible means to identify the killer or killers, however the majority of bodies of the missing women who are presumed dead, have never been found. This is a well written albeit uncomfortable read with no clear answers.

True Crime isn't a genre I've read since the old days when, pre-internet, you couldn't get instantaneous news online. This caught my eye since I'd read and enjoyed the author previously.
As an American I've always dreamed of visiting Ireland, this is a side not highlighted on travel sites.
The disappearances, deaths or murders of women in a specific area from 1993 to 1998 is researched and theories discussed by the author.
The politics, border issues between Northern and South Ireland, the Catholic church, and the police response is addressed. It was both enlightening and terrifyingly disturbing.
There are many facts, theories and possibilities, but no happy ending to this story. I was again reminded how women are ignored, abused and discounted all over the world. Knowledge is power and hopefully this story will continue to bring change.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance digital copy of "The Vanishing Triangle" by Claire McGowan and to Little A publishing. These are my honest personal opinions given voluntarily.

I have loved all of Claire McGowan’s fictional books which meant that I was super keen to read this true crime investigation.
I met my husband in a rural pub in Ireland and fortunately I couldn’t relate to many of the cases in this book!
It’s an informative, shocking and emotional read. I finished it a couple of days ago but keep thinking about the cases.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s not a genre that I would normally pick but I’d definitely recommend it.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is well written but I had some trouble getting into this book. It's all about true crime in Ireland in the nineties. Just a little hard to follow, and I had no idea what the content of this book would be about.

Very thought provoking. The author explores the Irish culture of secrecy and mistrust of police and government. There are many examples of missing women and bungled police searches that show how pervasive the problems are for women in Ireland. She doesn't really solve any of the murders or disappearances but she shows there are many similarities in the cases and in some of the cases the murderers names were an open secret but due to Irish libel laws she couldn't name them. (Which as an American this was frustrating to me. I wanted to know more about the perpetrators.)

This book was very dark and sad but a great read.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan has a wonderful voice. The author seems like she is writing you a personal letter or having a casual conversation, while examing a horrible subject. The Vanishing Triangle refers to a series of murders and rapes of women in Ireland. Most have been unsolved. I enjoy the way the author explains things thoroughly without using technical language. If you enjoy true crime, this is a great read.

I love Claire McGowan's books and it was interesting to read one in a different genre to her usual books.
It was unbelievable that so many women's killers, abductors and rapists have gone unpunished and the crimes not even investigated.
Well done to Claire for highlighting these issues to the world.
Thank you to Netgalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Claire McGowan for an ARC in return for an honest review.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is a comprehensive re-examination of the tragic and unexplained disappearances of eight women from a triangular-shaped region of Ireland along the east coast to a point the midlands in the 1990s.

McGowan who is a native of a small town not far from the border with Northern Ireland, analyses patterns between the victims ages, status, last known locations and the times that they disappeared in an attempt to draw conclusions that might uncover potential perpetrators. Social factors, the transport infrastructure and existing institutions are all put under the microscope to identify the contributing factors such as people unwilling to report unusual happenings, women forced to accept lifts from strangers (or acquaintances) or cross dark parklands due to the inadequacies of the public transport system at the time.

This is a compulsive review which focuses on the injustice of what happened, how families found coping so difficult and the inability of the Garda to find these women or prosecute anyone for the heinous crimes that the women undoubtedly suffered.

Having enjoyed Claire McGowan's books, I relished in reading her true crime novel. The author shines a bright light on the disappearances of eight women in the 1990s who were never found. All went missing in the same geographical triangle without a trace. Compelling read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little A books!

I have previously read fiction books by Claire McGowan and enjoyed them so being a fan of true crime I was looking forward to reading The Vanishing Triangle. Unfortunately something about it missed the mark for me. I found it thought provoking but there was just something missing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my ARC.

In the 1990’s there were lots of women murdered and never to be found in Ireland. This is a book describing a lot of the missing women, the lack of police concern depending on the woman that was murdered and the men that served very little time in prison. I was astonished when I read this book because I had never heard of any of this before. What I found so troubling was the fact if the woman had a child out of wedlock the police stance on it was she was not a worthy person. Or if they had seemed depressed oh well! It was sickening to read how some of the potential killers would rape then kill, then head home to bed down next to the wife like just another day.

There were lots of names of the women to try to keep track of in the beginning of the book but the farther I got into the book it was easier to keep straight! Author did a good job of refreshing the women and their circumstances.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This focuses on missing women in Ireland the problems are that not enough coverage is given in the media to highlight these missing women.... At the time the internet wasn't as accessible as it is now, mobiles weren't for the majority and the troubles are still rife. People who did see anything or suspected someone seemed to keep their mouths shut for fears of repercussions! So many women missing in and around the same areas, could they be connected or all seperate?maybe now with more DNA testing available they might be able to find who killed some of the women and hopefully find the other women who are missing even if it is their body! At least the family would be able to have some sort of closure unlike nowhere they don't know what has happened to them.

Many thanks to Net Galley for letting me read this book.

True crime isn't really my cup of tea, so whilst I didn't love this, I'm aware that it may be a case of 'it's not you, it's me'.

The writing was good and I could tell the book was well-researched, but there was a lot of anecdotal stuff from the author that felt a bit self-indulgent.

Not for me I'm afraid but this will find its audience.

A true crime novel that delves into the missing girls and women of Ireland. We learn about the missing, the police and the circumstances. If you are a fan of 20/20, Dateline and all the murder shows, this will be up your alley!

Thank you NetGalley!

I found this book really interesting. The amount of women and the close proximity to each other is staggering. The author freely admitted she was no investigative journalist so I had to forgive how the text was and how she bounced from one case to another and did seem to repeat herself quite a bit. But all in all this book would definitely be worth a read, especially if you're interested in the murders of these women and all the facts gathered to include in this book.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free arc book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #amazonpublishing, #evawoodsakaclairemcgowan,

This one was a pleasant surprise! I felt a lot of tension while reading it, in the best way. I'm such a sucker for true crime, and I think a lot of people will devour this.

Such a sad and shocking true crime novel about women who have gone missing or been killed and failed by the law enforcement who should have tried harder to find them but also sometimes who have protected the criminals at the expense of the victims.

An interesting read about crimes I wasn’t aware had happened.

It’s always good to create awareness, it’s unfortunate that the crimes have not, as yet, been solved.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This true crime book examines the murders of woman in Ireland, especially in the 1990’s. It’s the first true crime book I’ve read but no the first by this author. It was Interesting to read the fiction and non fiction books. It also brought to my attention the terrible treatment of woman and people in Ireland either through laws or society’s expectations of them. Victim blaming, police not investigating immediately are just a few of the unjustices. It makes me appreciate todays technology with CCTV and cell phones. This was a very eye opening book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.
It was an interesting book, the author has a way to tell all the cases that you felt that you are reading the news. I felt that Claire made such a incredible work to search all the cases of the "missing" women.
It was a short book but well written.
I never imagine that Ireland has so many cases of missing women, i get shocked. I really like how she was following the clues, tracing the movements. It made me feel that this is how she prepares to write her other books.
I want to read other book from the author and feel how she create a story based on the stories she has read and found in her research

Great book for those who like real life crime stories. I enjoyed it and was somewhat surprised to hear about such crimes in Ireland. We tend to think of it as a simple, beautiful, serene country. It is just so sad to think how easy it can be for someone to go missing and never find out what happened.

Clare McGowan is a writer whose fiction I enjoy very much. In The Vanishing Triangle she turns to non-fiction and the disappearance of eight woman in Ireland whose stories are little known and whose disappearances have not been resolved. McGowan starts from the premise that (as suspected by the police) these missing women are linked by a serial killer. However she soon starts to speculate that perhaps this is not the case and that at least some of them were murdered by partners and ex-partners who were known to be violent. To support this she looks at other cases of missing women and what might have happened to them.

McGowan does a good job in outlining the misogyny of Ireland both north and south,. Some of this book makes very hard reading indeed. In many cases the incompetence of the police (Gardai in the south) is staggering and their complacence in the assumptions they make can only be explained by a total lack of respect towards women. The Church, the state and sectarianism politics are all held to account and it doesn't make for comfortable reading. It might have been the fact that I was reading this on Kindle but at times I found it hard to follow the narrative and to keep track of who was who. It also seemed a little repetitive at times and I thought it needed a tighter structure. But it is worth reading it to remind yourself about the huge numbers of women who are killed by men every year (in the UK, one women is killed by a man every three days) and that the men who kill them are often known to them. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

‘Imagine this. You’re a young woman in rural Ireland, the kind of place where bad things don’t really happen.’

Ms McGowan writes about a darker side of Ireland in the 1990s, an Ireland in which eight women went missing without a trace between 1993 and 1998. There are other disappearances as well, which may be connected. The vanishing triangle she writes of is a geographic area, centred on Dublin. There are several different theories about these disappearances: perhaps they are the work of a serial offender. Will we ever know?

‘Eight women missing in the same area, and it took years for anyone to even connect them.’

Ms McGowan writes of the background to these disappearances, the social and political context in which they occurred. The Troubles were still ongoing in Ireland in the 1990s, abortion was still forbidden, the sale of contraceptives was illegal until 1985, and women were not treated as equal.

In many of the disappearances Ms McGowan writes about, the missing women were blamed: perhaps they had dressed provocatively, taken a dangerous route home, run away with a different man? Perhaps she had taken
her own life?

It reads as though these disappearances did not matter to the authorities, leaving family and friends without support, to grieve and worry alone. This is not an easy book to read and I finished it wondering where the balance rests between investigation and speculation.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and the Amazon Publishing UK for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Thanks NetGalley for my advanced copy. I was really excited to read this book however it nearly wasn’t worth rating at all. Amateurish, repetitive writing. Boring - I am surprised I finished it. A fascinating series of deaths with many common traits that could have made a really interesting read. I hope the families don’t read it as it did nothing to help find these poor girls and womens’s murderers just supposition- why write a book with nothing much to say???!! If I could score 0 I would!!

This is a difficult and yet important read. I love this author’s fiction writing and I was intrigued by this book.

The vanishing triangle is a non fiction book about things discovered in Claire’s research for her writing. Unlike her fiction these missing women and murders are not all neatly tied up.

The book gives good insight into Ireland in the ‘90s as well as attitudes to women.

A difficult read that highlights the scale of the missing people issue, as well as considering sexism, cultural issues and changes in DNA, CCTV and internet/mobile phone usage.

This book was mis-categorized. It should have been in True Crime, not General Fiction.

The Vanishing Triangle — known in Ireland as The Triangle — is a disturbing area where several women disappeared. The author lays out their cases and tries to draw conclusions. Either way, their disappearances were disturbing, and most of them were raped.

This book made me feel sick to my stomach. There is so much evil perpetrated by men against women. They need to be held accountable, but most of them aren’t.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing Little A for gifting me a digital ARC of this true crime book by Claire McGowan - 3.5 stars rounded up.

In the 1990s, eight women went missing in a small triangle area of Northern Ireland. In an area reeling from The Troubles, these women were basically ignored and their cases floundered or ignored.

I'm a huge fan of Claire McGowan's thrillers. This one was a tougher read for me. I'm probably more of a timeline reader when it comes to true crime; this book was ordered by and stressed the political and societal issues in Ireland and the world. Therefore, I never got quite as involved in the individual murders and missing women stories because there were so very many stories, as well as mentions of them to understand societal issues. But it was a good and necessary read - there is not one among us who is not important and no death or missing person should be ignored. And no victim should be shamed because of their sex, profession or clothing choice.

Overall, this read was informative and shines a light on forgotten disappearances and murders, bringing their stories to light. I feel terrible for not liking this one as much as I feel I should have. I was engaged with the story, but the idea that most of these facts led us nowhere new (also, most of these crimes don't seem to be connected) left me feeling like some of it was unnecessary. I believe these cases deserve the attention given by the author, but generally this true crime just wasn't for me

3.5 stars

A very impactful book.
Some chapters I was just shaking my head and tutting to myself,other chapters felt annoyed at the callousness of the killer (s).
This book really made me think about the justice system and the police with their attitudes towards women even today.

This book documents the authors search for truth. She looks at missing women to figure out how their loss impacts other. It is a detailed account that tries to offer hope and solutions.

The Vanishing Triangle refers to an area in Ireland from where eight young women vanished into thin air never to be seen again. The author discusses the cases & wonders if there was a serial killer operating in the 1990s &, contrasting her comparatively peaceful childhood with the wider issues of the Troubles (political struggle), examines why so many women going missing didn't raise a red flag & merit further attention?

I thought this was a riveting read. It's not a book where the author sets out her case for who committed the crimes, McGowan admits that early on, it's a book which looks at the social issues in Ireland & Northern Ireland at the time. As well as the aforementioned Troubles, McGowan details a culture of misogyny in Ireland for generations. I found that what really came through is the frustration & anger as to why people came forward with witness evidence months or years later when it was too late, or failed to intervene when they saw a young woman being dragged back into a car, or when cases & evidence were mishandled or lost. I found myself feeling the same when reading how the women were either dismissed as runaways or suicides (even though none of their bodies were ever found). Other cases which should have been considered as part of a pattern were written off due to the woman's age or circumstances - prejudices raising their heads at every turn - or because they were a little further afield or happened later on.

Due to the passage of time & without a body, it is difficult to say with any certainty what happened to these women. There are similarities between the cases, & the author asks: is it worse to have had one prolific serial killer in the area or to find out that there were several different sexual predators in the area at the same time? It's a chilling thought.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Amazon Publishing UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

The Vanishing Triangle is a hard look at true crime in Ireland in the 90s centered in Dublin their are eight women who are missing. But due to technology delays which the author knows by growing up there believes there are many more. Well written even for those who have never been to Ireland.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this digital arc. All opinions are my own.

A very interesting book with a fascinating look at the tragedy of murders in both north and Southern Ireland. Very sad how woman where treated but things are improving thankfully. A good read. #TheVanishingTriangle #NetGalley

Claire McGowan is an exceptional writer, but her new true crime story didn’t resonate with me. Telling the story of eight random women that went missing between the years of 1993 and 1998, McGowan talks about crime in Ireland and the way the justice system protects violent men. The story came across on the boring side and with quite a bit of speculation as no trace of the women ever surfaced. It’s a story that Claire, herself feels apart of as it happened in the Area she grew up in. It just wasn’t as compelling as it could have been.

A fascinating insightful read. Fascinating, sad, heartbreaking at times, it shows another side of Ireland that people rarely speak about, and the misogynistic attitudes that allowed these crimes to be committed. Recommend you read this heartbreaking true story.

In the 1990s, eight women vanished from the same area in Ireland. Their cases are officially unsolved, their bodies mostly undiscovered, their stories untold.

The trouble with true crime is that, with so many ongoing cases, it is easy to overlook individual ones, especially when the trail has grown cold. In this book, the author strives to correct this by telling us the tales of these women and many others who were abducted and murdered in Ireland during this time.

I found the writing engaging and liked how the author made the setting come alive with her discussion of the culture and social mores of Ireland during the time of the disappearances. It provided much needed context about the kind of world that these women lived in and why their stories may have been overlooked.

However, the writing felt oddly stream-of-consciousness, and the many women mentioned means that the author did not go into much detail about any of them. Also, she makes a lot of casually thought out assertions about the crimes and where the bodies may be, as well as relating a lot of hearsay - what 'everyone' knows about the cases that can't be truly put into print - which made for a pretty patchy reading experience.

Ultimately an interesting starting point for these cases, but the whole of the book felt under-researched.

Non-fiction isn’t usually my thing. This story intrigued me, and having read books by the author before. I thought it would be worth a chance.

I am glad I did. I enjoyed getting the authors view on things and has made me think that some authors should actually be detectives.

Even if non-fiction isn’t your thing but you enjoy books of this genre then I would recommend

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon UK for the chance to read an advanced copy of The vanishing triangle by Claire McGowan. I have enjoyed several of the author's fictional novels, and so when I was offered this true crime story about missing and murdered women in Ireland in the 1990's I decided I would take a chance. I like true crime, but usually when they are written in a dramatization. This was not. While the author definitely investigated, the material was missing her usual flair and it was just like reading facts, just the facts; and speculation. I was expecting more. If you are interested in the social and political views of Ireland in the 1990's you can get a feel for it by reading it in the book. 21/2 stars rounded up.

I really enjoyed this book. It is nonfiction, but wasn’t as ‘heavy’ as other non fiction books tend to be. The material itself was heavy, but it was easy to read/digest. I had never heard of the vanishing triangle before, and I was shocked to learn about all of the women who have disappeared and never been found in Ireland. It is absolutely heartbreaking to think of all of the women and families who have been affected by this, and all of the men who have gone free.

This story was very interesting initially but gradually became more repetitive, continually naming the same girls who had gone missing.. The story didn't seem to have a purpose or possible conclusion.

This is a real life crime story about women who went missing in what they called a triangle in Ireland from 1993 to 1998. Well researched and good for the real life crimes readers.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a advanced copy.

The author does a good job of researching and explaining to the reader how many cases of missing/murdered women may (or may not) be related. However, there's not really a thread to tie everything all together in the end. A lot of it felt like a bit of a stretch and really just seemed to focus on crime against women in that section of Ireland. It would be interesting to see how this area fares vs. other city areas around the world, taking into account the numbers of crimes, population density, etc. to see if there really is a higher crime rate or even a higher rate towards women.

Overall, an interesting read, but not really one with any conclusion since many of these cases are unsolvable.

I truly love Claire McGowan fictional works, so when I got an invitation to read The Vanishing Triangle and found out it was a true crime story I was very excited.
Because, let's be honest, though true crime can be a very interesting genre, sometimes the writing style happens not be its strong point. I knew I wasn't going to run this risk with this book, which indeed flows effortlessly and reads easily and in virtually no time.
The Vanishing Triangle is about unsolved crimes so you must expect assumptions, hypothesis and guesses, even some stretched ones. All in all it is an eye-opener that gives a good insight in what life was about in Ireland in the 90s for women.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a writer of Rue Crime myself, I understand the difficulties of writing on this subject. I thought this book was a good account of a very sad story. A recommended read.

An interesting real life book about women who disappeared in Ireland in the 1990s. Their cases remain unsolved and it is felt that religious and political ways of the time hindered the investigations. An interesting view and good to read more about Ireland of that time.

This is a very different type of story from what Claire McGowan usually writes. These are true crimes and not fiction. Although, the missing women and the triangle angle of these murders are interesting. McGowan doesn't give any more insight into these murders. It's more of a regurgitation of the facts. Often she goes in circles between these murders and the story never goes any further than the back and forth. It's an odd book.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK, Little A and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

True crime book about Ireland's missing women, the search for them and the devastation left to the ones left behind.

Tells alot about Ireland in the 80's & 90's - living in a time of war and strife - about those who survived and those that just went missing.

Good read - well worth the time.

This book was great and VERY eyeopening. If you enjoyed the Netflix series about Sophie, the woman from France who was mysteriously murdered in Ireland and the killer still has not been apprehended, this book will definitely scratch the true crime itch for you. I really appreciated the fresh look at not only that case but others that had clearly gone mostly unknown to people outside of Ireland. The author clearly did serious research and had very interesting insights into the reasoning behind why so many of these murders/missing persons cases went unsolved. I highly recommend this book if you have interest in true crime, but also if you are curious about how borders between countries can affect the search for missing individuals. Great work.

This ebook was provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The deadly truth about 8 women who vanished without a trace in the 1990s in Ireland. Deaths that were not politically related went ignored. Claire's research was thorough and mind blowing. So informative but shocking non the less.

A tragic true story of eight women who disappeared in Ireland in the 1990's and the cases remain unresolved and the bodies undiscovered. This true crime book discusses the facts and speculates about what could have happend and why there has not been any justice. Thanks to NetGalley UK and Amazon UK for the ARC.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is a true crime story about murders in Ireland, where the author grew up. Before starting this book, I had thought it was another one of McGowan's fictional thrillers; I did not realize this was a true crime story that McGowan investigates and exposes dark secrets that shadowed over her childhood home -- Ireland.

I personally prefer McGowan's fictional novels. This was not her best work. I understand these crimes happened in Ireland, a place she probably holds dear to her heart but she allow too much of her bias into the narrative.

Thank you to the publisher, author Claire McGowan, and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I have heard of these women before so I was intrigued to find a book telling their stories. I really enjoyed this book. It was very thoughtful provoking and informative.
I recommend to anyone interested in True Crime!
Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for this title in exchange for my honest review.

As a huge fan of Claire McGowan's previous fictional work this was a totally different kettle of fish.

Non fiction tells us about eight women who went missing over five years in Ireland.

This was sadly not for me and i struggled to make my way through the book, maybe because it was not what i had expected.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for leaving my honest review.

The Vanishing Triangle is a terrifying story about murdered and forgotten women in Ireland and all the prejudices that existed (and might still exist) within Police Departments regarding the disappearance of women and sex crimes. Although this is a true-crime story focused on Ireland, it is not too far from the reality we had in Brazil prior to the creation of special Police Branches headed and worked by women to deal with women cases. This book is a sad recollection of a time that many want to forget but should be kept alive till these cold cases are solved.
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

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Claire McGowan's The Vanishing Triangle is a laudable literary feat; brilliant, breathtaking, and terribly frightening.

This is a true crime investigative analysis into the cases of missing and murdered women which occurred during the 1990s, in a small Irish countryside where the author grew up. The fact that she lived in one of the villages where the shockingly horrific crimes against women occurred, adds to the very moving nature of her work. The crimes were indeed the stuff of nightmares, or perhaps the scariest fiction/film you can ever imagine. But it's all true. Women went missing; just vanished out of thin air - over and over again. Kidnapped, brutally attacked, raped, murdered, left for dead. It went on and on, for years.

Her work shines a bright light on the social and political climate of the era; one in which women - daughters, mothers, loved, missed - were easily ignored or forgotten altogether by the police force and judicial system. In one case, the investigation did not begin until the young woman had been missing for three months. Three months. How could this happen? McGowan addresses this question, and many more.

The Vanishing Triangle is not an easy read. It is, however, a critically important, and fascinating, read. We must continue to study the past and ask the difficult questions; The Vanishing Triangle is a stark reminder of that fact.

I am immensely grateful to NetGalley, Claire McGowan, and Amazon Publishing UK, Little A, for the opportunity to read this brilliant work, in exchange for my honest and wholly independent opinion.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me…I lost interest very early on. I put it down and didn’t look forward to picking it back up.

Fans of true crime will devour this book.

Fans of Ireland will be challenged by the violent, gritty look past the expected tales of leprechauns, beautiful views an welcoming citizens.

An informative, chilling story of eight murders.

The Vanishing Triangle describes a section of Ireland where eight women have disappeared. Some of their bodies are found and some are not. The author discusses each of the cases, giving the readers a view of the complicated social/political/economic factors that may have prevented the solving of such cases.

The first few pages of this book are chilling as one of the crimes is told from a second person view, inserting the reader straight into the middle of the action. The writer has a clear voice, and I couldn’t help but enjoy her narrative style. Although there was a lot of information in this book it was told in a personable manner, that kept the reader connected to the story.

There were times that I got some of the women and their stories confused, there are a lot of names, some of them similar or the same in this book. Perhaps it would have a better idea to have each chapter on a case-by-case basis to make them more distinguishable.

I found learning about Ireland and its history riveting, I was surprised by some of the facts the author highlighted. I live in the UK and had no idea about some of the things that had occurred there and are still occurring there at the current moment.

I feel this book would have benefited from a map of the area that the vanishing triangle was fixed in along with markers indicting the areas the women were abducted from and where some of the bodies were found. It was hard to imagine the proximity of some of the areas.

Overall, McGowen does a fantastic job of showcasing issues that are both historical and still relevant today, it gave me a lot of food for thought.

Rating: Four Stars

Thank you to NetGallery and the publish for the advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Interesting and heartbreaking. True crime novel that was very well written and made me care. Thank you netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

The Vanishing Triangle: The Murdered Women Ireland Forgot, Claire McGowan.

A true crime investigation of a series of murders and disappearances in Ireland over 20 plus years by crime fiction author McGowan.

This feels neither wholly true crime nor wholly memoir as McGowan combines true cases with her own memories of the Ireland she knows along with key historical moments. However this is constantly engaging, with a disturbing number of unsolved historical femicides. It would benefit from a bibliography however but nevertheless, a tragic, informative read.

From novelist Claire McGowan, this is a true-crime investigation concerning women who disappeared int he 1990s in roughly the same area. Why was there so little publicity about them, Claire asks, and how could they vanish without trace? This is a great insight into life in 90s Ireland’s and the position of women in society. Claire wants us not to forget these women, and this is a powerful book.

This is slightly more different than the authors genre as the is a book true life crime fiction.
The book is based around Ireland in the 1990's and looks into the murders of several victims at that time.
All the women disappeared within the now know 'Vanishing Triangle '.
To explores several theories about who could have taken and murdered these victims.
And interesting read.

A very different read from Claire McGowan. A true crime account of missing women in the 90's whose cases were never pursued properly. A lack of investigation to connect these cases in the triangle of area surrounding Dublin. An honest account with the not so pretty history of Ireland. A really interesting dark and moving account.

This book is fascinating. I'm a bit of true crime buff, but I'd never even heard of this "phenomenon." I'm so glad that I picked this up. I think it's very important that McGowan is honest about not just what happened, but the context in which it was happening. She did a great job placing the murdered and missing women in the broader context of the culture of Ireland in the 90s as a whole. McGowan also talks about how far we have to come as Western societies as a whole to even scratch the surface of protecting women.
I found this book absolutely fascinating in the context that it gives. I also truly commend Clair McGowan for tackling this so brazenly and honestly and speaking the truth at all costs. It's so important that these women's stories live on.

This was a difficult subject to read about, but McGowan handles it with the care these stories deserve. I struggled to stay with it because of its weightiness. In the end, though, I"m grateful to have gotten this window into the author's personal connection to these stories of missing women.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy for review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I love to read about true crime but this fell a bit short because there is not a tidy ending. However, I love Claire McGowan's writing and she clearly took this project on because of the importance of the subject and the personal nature of the location. She does a nice job of blending the reality of the location, with the border and the friction between the religions, with the general "feeling" that people still felt safe, like the evil things don't happen there. I appreciated this voice that spoke to how these crimes were perceived at the time. I would have liked more from the journalistic side of the story.
Overall, an important topic and one that needs to have focus shone on it.
#TheVanishingTriangle #NetGalley #AmazonPublishingUK

A look into a series of mysterious deaths of women in the 1990s-2000s in Ireland. This was a time marked by turmoil, especially with the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The author investigates to see if there is something more nefarious going on.

I'm glad these women are being written about, but I wish there was a different organization. I think if it had been more linear it would've been easy to follow. The author also ultimately concludes that the likelihood of a serial killer is slim. I wish that this had been in the intro and then she said something like because of this, I'm choosing to focus on the victims and their stories. I think that would have been a more compelling narrative.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Probably my fault but I didn’t realise this was a true crime book and assumed fiction like her other work. It’s a genre that I don’t enjoy much and sadly therefore didn’t particularly enjoy this (I’ll have my true crime in the form of a Netflix documentary thanks!).
The writing is good as usual but was too unconnected for me, and with no real outcome felt too unfinished.
Fans of the genre might love it though!

I appreciate a passion project. I am not a big true crime reader, maybe many are like this? Stabs in the dark at unsolved crimes? I don't know. Not for me, prefer her fiction novels!

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

I really enjoyed this book! I’d never heard of these cases, so it was interesting to read about them and connect them to everything else happening in Ireland at the time. I’m glad that Claire McGowan is able to shine a light on these women and their stories.

I received an ARC of, The Vanishing Triangle, by Claire McGowan. This book is so well written. The poor families of the victims, they walked out the door one day, and never came back.

This is not a book I expected from Claire McGowan. I have only ever read her fiction books before. What an eye opener and what a mystery. Being “real life” and not fiction there are no clear conclusions as to what happened to these women (although Claire does have her own theories) or even if their disappearances and deaths are connected, so if you like a nice neat ending this is not the book for you but if you are interested in what life was like in Ireland during The Troubles, want to see the darker side of life in a country which is normally portrayed as Guiness, Leprechauns and kissing the Blarney Stone, then I thoroughly recommend it. It is terrifying how little time and effort was put into finding these missing women. This is a country where divorce was not legal until 1995 and abortion until 2018. It would seem that between the church and The Troubles women were very low down in the pecking order. How the police could dismiss these missing women as suicides or runaways is beyond belief, especially in the cases where the bodies were never found, but it does seem they looked for the easy way out with so much more to occupy their minds.

Claire has done her research in a thorough and clear sighted way and not allowed her conclusions to be coloured by the fact that Ireland is her country of birth. She tells it how it is, warts and all and touches on what it was like to live in Ireland during The Troubles. I don’t think enjoy is a word you can use about a book which is mainly about the senseless violence of the 1980s and 90s, women who disappear, some never to be seen again some killed and not receiving the justice they deserve and grieving families looking for answers. It is, however, interesting and informative. Despite being an adult during this era I knew nothing about these murders and disappearances.

This book came as a surprise to me who was expecting another exciting Claire McGowan fictional book. Instead it gives an absolutely fascinating account of different women who suddenly disappeared in Ireland during the 90's. It asks pertinent questions as to why so little was done to find answers yet gives credit where it is merited. This was all analysed against a background of the social and political history of Ireland. A truly riveting book.

I do not usually read true crime but I have always enjoyed Claire McGown’s books. This one was a tough read in as much as the content was very scary and sad in the same measure. How have these things in Ireland gone on so long almost unnoticed. Obviously the troubles are a great part of the problem. So many women have disappeared, not all young, over the years and very few bodies have been found which must be terrible for the families left behind. We all know the role the Catholic Church (I am a catholic myself) has played in the abuse etc over the years and how the Priests were just moved around by their hierarchy – terrible and I would guess it still goes on. I know that Ireland is a torn country and still is today. The problem with many of the women who disappeared were due to the days before DNA profiling, mobile phones etc and it was interesting to read that some murderers were found many years later due to DNA which they themselves thought would never happen. I am not sure how the Police etc investigated with these tools and as some of the women were classed as depressed or a street worker the police put them down to their lives. What about the ones who disappeared near Christmas etc with no “baggage”. How were they investigated. Not well I would guess. I do feel that with the evidence we have today many families, if these disappearances happened today, would have closure but, of course, that assumes the bodies are found. Terrible traumas and it made me very sad to read about this. On saying this I am pleased to have had the opportunity and have learned a great deal because of reading this book. I think Claire McGowan dealt with this book really sympathetically as well as not pulling any punches with the narrative. We can all learn lessons

I like the premise of the book but found it confusing and subjective. Personally it didn't work for me.

The idea of a famous crime fiction author researching and writing about a real-life string of murders is already compelling, but where this book succeeds is that the focus isn't on the forensics or speculations, it's about the way Ireland let these women down.

McGowan writes in detail about how Ireland's "culture of silence" led to evidence going unreported for too long, or people staying out of the way when they heard or saw something disturbing. Like the priests who dug up a body and didn't immediately say anything, or those people who drove past Jo Jo Dullard being dragged by her hair into a car.

This book was important to read, but incredibly hard to get through because of just how many women and girls were forgotten in the last forty or so years. It's incredibly well-written, though, and I'd like to read McGowin's other books because of how good this was.

Having loved the author's previous book, I was excited to receive a widget for this one. What I expected would be a thriller fiction turned out to be a true-crime story with the author's insight and perception of the time period, the quality of life and the unsolved crimes during this period.

I was interested in the book to begin with as I have never read anything in the true-crime genre. However, I found it difficult to stay invested in it for long. This is not a reflection of the author's writing but on my own reading preferences.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Such an interesting read. So hard to imagine how this could happen and it makes you really feel for the families. Absolutely breaks your heart.

It isn't that I think serial killers can only be found in the United States. It's just that most of the stories I have been exposed to happened somewhere in this country. There is even an unsolved case here on Long Island, the Gilgo Beach Murders. That being said, I was very surprised to learn about these missing women in Ireland. I have always thought that small towns are more likely to be full of community spirit and caring for your neighbors. Another foolish fantasy, a leftover from my childhood growing up in a very small town.
The setting for The Invisible Triangle is far from my home. In the 1990s, a series of women went missing. To the police and even to some of their families, these were people who just chose to walk away from their lives. Never seriously investigated and with no one connecting the dots, vital clues and the hope of finding the person or persons responsible vanished, just like these women. It was quite instructive to see how the political climate and social norms played such a large role in these tragedies, and not in a good way. The author had to rely on a lot of hearsay and supposition because so little is known. I wish there had been more evidence, but the author had to work with what was available.
Some true crime books end without closure, and this is one of those times. I would hope that maybe someone reads it and has a tip to share with law enforcement. Quite an informative eye-opening look at a side of Ireland I never knew existed. 3.5 stars.

Claire McGowan, a crime novelist, looks into unsolved disappearances of young women in Ireland in the 1990s in her non-fiction book The Vanishing Triangle. McGowan notes an important detail that has hampered a lot of investigations in many countries, misogyny and patriarchal police forces, as factors in not bringing a person or people to justice in the eight missing women cases that she chronicles.
This is a well-researched, empathetic look into the injustice that the victims and their families have faced since their disappearances three decades ago. Women were blamed for their disappearances, and instead of searching for the missing women or their perpetrators, the institutions that were supposed to protect them failed.

What an incredible yet sad book. This author wrote about how many missing persons (mostly women) are in Ireland at any given time. She highlighted several cases of people who went missing and to this day, no bodies have been found. Many of the families of the missing person have passed away without knowing the persons fate. People may know information or may not want to get involved. The author expressed her disdain at the lack of attention to these cases and why it takes so long to look for clues or information. I was shocked at how many cases are left unsolved in Ireland. This book is very eye opening about this problem everywhere. No one is safe.

A true crime investigation of a series of disappearances in 1990's Ireland, that looks at violence against women and a culture of silence and secrets.

I struggled to get through this to be honest. There was very little flow in the structure of the writing and a whole lot of repetition that made it feel more like a first draft. From the start we are bombarded with names and dates and places, over and over again with not enough time dedicated to any of them to form any real connection. So, despite them being repeated countless times over the course of the book, it was very difficult to differentiate between them.
And although she made clear from the start these crimes were not something she could solve, she simply wanted to find out why they could happen, I don't think that goal was acheived. There was a lot of speculation and admonishment of the culture and institutions in place at the time, but it just seemed to go around in circles.

I was shocked to realise upon finishing, how short this book actually is, it felt so much longer(and so much longer than it needed to be).

Thank you NetGalley and Little A for my e-arc of this title, recieved in exchange for an honest review.

Having just finished The Vanishing Triangle I am stunned by the facts contained within. The author presents the facts - as she knows them - clearly and her frustration with the things that hampered each investigation is evident. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to publication.
Growing up in Ireland in the 1990s our author felt it was a safe place. Yet she soon becomes aware of a dark undercurrent to her seemingly idyllic homeland. People feared getting caught up in The Troubles, but - for most - daily life was uneventful. Unfortunately, in researching this book she learns that Ireland in the 90s was also the kind of place where eight women could disappear leaving no trace.
The book focuses on these cold cases. Each of the eight women involved disappeared and no trace of their body has been found. Assumptions may have been made by gardai about these women, which certainly impacted the investigations, and there was a terrifying lack of evidence to help. People talked, and rumours abound of men known to have committed similar crimes that couldn’t be arrested. While this is fascinating, there’s little to add to the story.
Instead, McGowan focuses on her reflections on life at the time and the societal pressures that impacted the investigations. We get a personal response to her childhood Ireland and it is a damning portrait that is painted. While McGowan evidently loves her homeland, her frustration at the judgments made and the societal beliefs that continue to influence such investigations is clear.
There’s no answers. For the families involved I can only imagine how paralysing it is to have such a situation occur. While this book was an interesting read, I feel its primary purpose is to act as a reminder of these missing women. Someone knows something, and it would be nice for the families to have closure. Even better would be for a book such as this to force change to at least try and minimise the chances of such things occurring again.

Fascinating! I was hooked reading about these missing and murdered women and the research into the cases. McGowan does an amazing job not only honoring the women but respecting their memories.
Seeing what men, men if power, churches and more get away with was another piece that’s quite important.
As someone from a second generation Irish Immigrant family, it really interested me, and it showed just how much work we need to do as women and for women.

Thank you Claire McGowan for this book!

Claire McGowan is telling a story that needs to be told. While it is unclear how many of the missing women are victims of the same person(s), the sheer number is alarming and it's important that it be brought to light. There are times when this book, especially in the first half, reads more like a catalog of events rather than an investigation. I appreciate the author for honoring the memories of these women.

Hmm - I know this is a true crime story... But it just didn't really work for me.
I found it a bit boring.
However, I do like the idea of bringing new attention to these crimes... Such crimes should never be forgotten!

I have loved all of Claire McGowan’s fiction and couldn’t wait to read The Vanishing Triangle. However, it is nonfiction and not nearly as good as the author’s novels. She mentions Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark which is widely viewed as a classic of true crime/nonfiction, but I’ll be Gone is meticulously organized and the story creates tremendous suspense. I didn’t feel Triangle was organized which makes it hard for it to be suspenseful. The material about 1990’s Ireland is very well known especially in the US and Europe and I didn’t find McGowan’s descriptions and explanations added much to the murder victims’ stories. If this book had been written when the scandals were breaking about the Catholic Church it might have added to the conversation. But in 2022 it is not news that the Church (particularly John Charles McQuaid) ran a tight ship especially in the area of sexuality while a large number (one is too many) of priests and nuns behaved in ways absolutely antithetical to the values they aggressively pushed onto the laity..

I was offered a preview copy of this to read by the publishers and hadn’t really paid much heed to the fact this is a fact-based book.

The account of numerous murders and disappearances of women in Ireland in the 80s and later is one which Claire McGowan obviously felt compelled to write. Her fury and disbelief at the way these cases were handled scorches through every single line of this book.

Because of this, I think that there is a lot of repetition, and it can be hard to follow her evidential threads.

I hadn’t heard of these murders and that’s the very issue that seems to have driven Claire on. The brutal rapes and murders of all of these women appear to have been largely dismissed, remained unreported in case of recrimination and retribution. Ireland seemed to want to remain so untarnished by the appalling violence against women that McGowan reports that it just ignored what was happening.

McGowan’s anger is palpable and I couldn’t put the book down but as she says, there is no conclusion. Her evidence undoubtedly will have identified men who are very likely to have been the murderers but no one is really looking to make arrests - even with the new team looking into the cases. So there is no pay off. The only justice for these women and their families is that Claire McGowan has kept their names alive and is telling a new audience about the horrific failings of the Irish/Northern Irish police when it came to investigating these disappearances and deaths.

It’s an interesting read but McGowan’s incandescent fury makes for an outpouring of details and information that left me feeling horribly agitated and confused. It’s a story that should be told but it wasn’t what I had expected.

This is very different to other books of Claire McGowan's that I have read. However, it was a really interesting read and helped me learn more about Ireland and the political and social upheaval it went through in the 1990's. The premise of the book is the disappearance and/or murder of so many young women and the fact that no one seemed to really care or want to make links between them to potentially explore the possibility of a serial killer being at large. I did feel like I needed a board to write down all the facts about each case so I could try to work out the connections as McGowan did as, at times, it was hard to keep track. I enjoyed the book immensely-it was a very different read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Received an ARC via NetGalley.

It’s hard to give a rating for a book with such grim subject matter. It’s not like reading about a plethora of murdered women is really enjoyable. But it’s certainly interesting, in that grim sort of way; how does it happen, why does it happen, etc.

I liked how the author framed the story. She wasn’t going to solve it so she doesn’t go into the investigations or the forensics, so she placed the focus on why these cases get overlooked, why they to unsolved, why we place fault on women. It’s an interesting but depressing way to look at things.

I’m glad she’s given attention to women who have been overlooked. I do wish maybe she had organized the book differently. I felt like there’s a bit of retread bc focusing each chapter on themes. Maybe organizing by woman or by timeline might have made things more cohesive?

The background on Ireland covered stuff I hadn’t known before and I really enjoyed the picture she painted of the country and the time period.

Disturbing, Thought Provoking…
An area in Ireland where women went missing is explored in this factual account come true crime investigation. Along with the specific cases themselves, the society at large is considered and the opinions of the populous of the time. Thought provoking, disturbing and compulsive.

So I did not know what to expect with this book but I am in love. Thank you so much for the ARC. 4 stars. all the way. Thank you.

This is Claire McGowan’s detailed study of the mysterious disappearances of a number of women within a demarcated area (the ‘vanishing triangle’) in Ireland over a five-year period. It’s a disturbing tale of a country that didn’t seem to protect its womenfolk – or to care too much if they vanished off the face of the earth. The author grew up close by, and she adds context by telling us about her own experiences and observations at the time, making it all the more real. Chillingly, she doesn’t remember hearing about many of the cases. Where was the national outcry?
I enjoyed how McGowan brought in her experiences of novel writing, often alluding to how, if this were a fictional novel, she would leave no loose ends and there would be a definite perpetrator or perpetrators. Unfortunately, things don’t work out so neatly in real life.
Knowing she would not solve the mystery, McGowan set out to investigate how so many women could go missing without widespread protests. She examines why cases did not seem to be properly investigated, the seeming lack of urgency, why often the women themselves were blamed, and why, even more horrifically, some men known to be violent seemed to be sheltered, or to evade conviction because their cases were bungled.
She sets out the context for the disappearances, including the state of Ireland and the Catholic church, the lack of DNA testing and the issues of having two difference police forces.
The Vanishing Triangle is interesting, well-researched and well-written. My only slight criticism is that I did find it a little repetitive in places.

I was interested in this book as I know about the so-called ‘Vanishing Triangle’, having grown up inside it, close to Enniskerry (a place mentioned several times throughout). I had heard of several of the women, despite being a young teen when they went missing. I remember my parents talking about some of these cases. Some others I didn’t remember but when I mentioned the ‘missing women’ to my mother, she remembered them all, so it clearly made a big impact on her. The author seemed to imply nobody knew about these women being missing, which I found a little bizarre to be honest.

Overall, I found the book missed the mark a little for me. It felt a bit chaotic? Cases were mentioned several times here and there and the narrative didn’t really ‘flow.’ It felt a bit clunky and at times very repetitive - the author mentioned again and again about her age in relation to the missing woman she was writing about.

There is a wider topic of Ireland being a hostile place for women, which is undoubtedly true and has started to slowly improve from the 90s (which the author concedes). However I don’t believe this is unique to Ireland unfortunately so I’m not sure why this ‘angle’ was spoken about in every chapter.

On the plus side I got some more details about cases I didn’t know about and that made me go and do more reading around them.

Claire McGowan isn’t the first thriller writer to turn her attention to unsolved true crime cases. However, this isn’t a vanity project in which a successful thriller writer feels that they can solve old cases: this is something completely different. It is sheer anger at a huge travesty of justice against women that prompted Claire McGowan to write this book.

McGowan began looking into the stories of eight women in Northern Ireland who disappeared between 1993 and 1998, setting out to ask why these women’s disappearances were never solved by police. She was appalled to discover that there were far more women whose disappearances were unaccounted for than she initially thought. In fact, she writes:
‘There are too many missing women to list, not just the eight I originally began to look into’.
Shockingly, she discovered that ‘women are dying, and going missing, in disturbingly high numbers’.

In naming these women and the circumstances in which they disappeared, McGowan accords them the dignity of ‘keeping their names alive’. All these women matter, she is saying. It strikes her how quickly some women’s names disappear from public record: the women who appear on the lists of the murdered or missing are considered more important than other women because they are young, ‘decent’ and ‘respectable’.

After the Yorkshire Ripper case, it is well known that the police were less likely to devote time to investigating the deaths of prostitutes. In the misogynistic culture of Northern Ireland, the contempt for ‘unrespectable’ women and the reluctance to investigate their deaths was even more shocking: women who’d had sexual relationships outside marriage or who’d had abortions were considered to have ‘run off with a man’ or even to have committed suicide as a result of having had an abortion. Older women were discounted as potential victims of rape and murder. When links were investigated between cases, such women were not included, meaning that vital connections between cases could have been missed.

Numerous other reasons for this injustice against women are explored. McGowan asks why violent men who hurt women were protected and shielded by institutions, and, even when caught, were given ridiculously lenient sentences: a murderer was not convicted, for example, because the judge thought that he dressed well and spoke nicely.

Political turmoil also played a part in distracting police and politicians; the desire to promote Ireland as a safe and affluent place meant that unpleasant facts were suppressed; inadequate police training led to bungled investigations; the lack of safe transport options for women in rural areas meant that women were vulnerable to attack.

Interspersed with these shocking cases are McGowan’s memories of being a young girl in Ireland in the nineties. Despite living in an area in which so many women were going missing, there was a complete lack of awareness of the dangers threatening women in this apparently safe country. As someone who knows Ireland, McGowan is perfectly placed to investigate all the social and political issues surrounding the disappearance of these women. McGowan concludes that it is institutionalised misogyny that has denied the relatives and friends of these women the right to know what happened to the women they loved: ‘Ireland is still a country that reflects deep hatred and contempt towards women’.

This is a brave and unforgettable book that will rank alongside the film ‘Philomena’ in its revelations of the shocking truth about the way women are abused in Ireland.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is not my favorite book by this author, but it was definitely interesting. The true crime story of eight women who go missing in Ireland in the 90’s without anyone really trying to find out what happened to them is not just mysterious, but also outrageous. The author makes a point of the fact that Ireland was divided and that contributed to the issue of investigating these disappearances. There were a number of details about the young women that the author included and also a few extraneous details, like the scandal with President Clinton that happened at that time. I enjoyed reading the book but I cannot say I was engrossed in it. It was a dry and slow-paced book for me.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Oh WOW! I requested this ARC based on the author, not realizing this was actually true crime. The story details eight women who went missing in the early 90's with little or no trace and their bodies were never found. There was very little investigation, considering that The Troubles, a low-level war/violent conflict, were also going on at that time and women seemed to be treated as second class citizens. There did seem to be several obvious suspects in a few cases that just went nowhere!? CRAZY! There was a lot of victim blaming and also not much technology. I found the lack of technology especially interesting, as we tend to forget that this was not all that long ago that we had no cellphones, social media and internet. was a new thing. This is a disturbing account of the goings-on told from the authors' perspective. I am an American and have always longed to visit Ireland someday. This was definitely a darker version than in my dreams. Sadly, I guess crime touches everywhere. It appears to be a well-researched endeavor and I hate to say I enjoyed it, considering the subject matter, but it definitely kept me reading. I do hope someday there is some closure at least for some of the victims.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Claire McGowan and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC>

This is an invigorating book in that these missing women and their families come alive. We learn about the different names for police in the north and south. The names, dates, families and suspects are evident. The 1990’s were the times of The Troubles, and missing women were not always a high priority.

It is frightening to see how many women disappeared and how little was done. The number, the timing, and the men who were allowed to be free. I was interested in the stories. However, the sheer number and the references to the past occurrences became confusing to me. It was hard to remember them all. That is the tragedy.
Thank you NetGalley and Claire McGowan for bringing this story forward. I would have never known.

Claire McGowan certainly knows how to engage her readers. This true-crime non-fiction book focuses on a series of disappearances of women within what is known as The Vanishing Triangle. All these women have disappeared throughout the 1990s without a trace. The author is trying to shine some new light on these investigations, the general public's approach, and the authorities' lack of interest in finding these women.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in true crime stories and unsolved mysteries from Ireland.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for providing me with a free electronic version of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Vanishing Triangle is well written, accessible, and shows great care and respect for it's subject. The amount of research put into this book is impressive and maddening at the same time-the author provides all the ways that these victims were ignored and their cases mismanaged. It's a heartbreaking and powerful read that will stay with you.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

An interesting book looking at the tragedy of murders in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. I found it repetitive in places. It was okay but I think the true crime part and unsolved murders is not for me. Its good to keep the names alive as I don't remember these cases growing up in this era.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest opinion

The Vanishing Triangle is unlike any of Claire McGowan's books. I have to admit that I have not travel to Ireland and knew very little about it; therefore, I was hooked from the Prologue on. McGowan presents us a dark Ireland full of unsolved crimes where the most likely killers is walking the streets, a country that allows religion and the IRA to have a say in who gets prosecuted and who gets a blind eye. Most importantly, it shows how a bias Ireland judges women based on external reason and determine their disappearance are justified.

The amount of research Claire McGowan has done for this book is impressive.

Thank you Claire McGowan, Little A publishing and NetGalley for this copy.

The Vanishing Triangle is unlike any other book I have read. Claire McGowan takes an indepth look into variuos unsolved cases of missing women in Southern and Northern Ireland and she says from the start that she isn't looking to solve the cases. This book highlights the issues that have affected the investigations or the lack of investigation, the attitudes towards women and the authorities.

A very interesting and eye opening read.

Thanks to NetGalleyand the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was good dive into the investigation of what was going on in Ireland in the 90s. I expected more research based work, but it was a great read and definitely had me interested to learn more.

#FirstLine ~ Prologue - Imagine this.

This book was heavy., but such a dynamic true crime story. It was written in truth and honor to the missing. It was well researched and shined a light on a system that failed in more ways than one. It is a story I did not know about and I am now glad that I now do. This book will stay with you long after you finish it.

This book broke my heart, a must read about history we cannot forget. The author discussed the impact of many laws and behaviors in Ireland from the perspective of a Northerner.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is a non-fiction book about the women who went missing in Ireland in the 1990s, in an area dubbed The Vanishing Triangle. Being from Ireland, the most shocking thing to me was how little I knew about any of these women before reading this book. McGowan’s clear empathy when discussing not just the women, but also their family and friends who are still looking for them today, was so evident throughout the book. The Vanishing Triangle is a great example of what a non fiction book about true crime should be. There was no emphasis on lurid details, or glamorisation of what had happened. Instead, it highlighted the circumstances that existed at the time that let these women down over and over again. Beyond that, the author shows how few of those circumstances have changed today. The contrasts drawn between then and now was incredibly effective way to demonstrate what has changed but also what hasn’t. Despite the understandably melancholic tone of the book, it ends on a hopeful note. Claire highlights how these aren’t cold cases, how the Gardaí involved have not let them be forgotten and how people are still being questioned to this day.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is a non-fiction piece about the eight women who disappeared in the 90's in Ireland. This is a well researched book, which pushed the book up one additional star for me. These women and their lives, their stories deserve to be told and I feel that McGowan does a great job of balancing information with the stories of the women who went missing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and author Claire McGowan for this digital review copy for me to read. My reviews are voluntary and my opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this one because I have loved McGowan's other books. However, it just fell flat. This style of book was written as more of a research piece. The Vanishing Triangle is a theory about missing women cases in northern Ireland and how McGowan believes they all might some how be connected in a way. I found it very difficult to keep up with all of the different cases she kept trying to intertwine. A lot of the time when I was reading it felt like a big run-on sentence. I know where she was trying to go with this one, but it just didn't work for me.

The Vanishing Triangle is a dark and compelling read, an essay from Claire McGowan, examining the trafic disappearances (probable murders) of a number of Irish women from the 1990s onwards. McGowan is an experienced author of crime fiction and perhaps it is her interest in this topic that helped to inspire her to write this novel. It is certainly a departure from her usual work.
Throughout the essay, McGowan references many of these cases, names and stories that are at once both tragic and familiar to anyone living in Ireland during the 1990s and in more recent years - Annie McCarrick, JoJo Dollard, Fiona Pender. These unfortunate women were used as cautionary tales - young girls and women were warned to be careful, to behave themselves, dress appropriately etc. As pointed out by McGowan, on numerous occasions, we are a society struggling to overcome the oppression and guilt of a overzealous Catholic Church. And most certainly a society where guilt and secrets were part and parcel of life.
McGowan does state that she is not intending to reinvestigate any of these cases (these cases have been reviewed multiple times), but provides an overview of the cases and the concept of the 'triangle' or area where many of the disappearances took place.
The idea of the disappearances being linked is not a new one but to read of McGowan belief that this is the case, while being reminded of the facts of each case, is chilling indeed.
McGowan mentions speaking to many of the Gardaí (Irish police) involved in the cases and of their own theories but of course there is no evidence available to support these views. Many more than we have evidence to support the authors beliefs that the bodies may well be buried in the foundations of various 'Celtic Tiger buildings or the Dublin mountains.
The Vanishing Triangle is an interesting read and does add to the existing bank of opinions on this topic but sadly there is nothing new here.