Everyone thinks it was suicide, but Noelle Ehrlich knows better that the mysterious disappearance of her mom is more than an open and shut case. In her new Claymore finalist YA romance mystery, “Missing Mom” (Melange Books, January 14, 2025), award-winning veteran author Lynn Slaughter crafts an emotional mystery featuring a young dancer searching for the truth inside her own family.

Drawing upon her background in dance and the performing arts, Lynn Slaughter has written five award-winning YA romance mysteries in which artistically-inclined teens are in search of more than clues to the mysteries set in front of them. Missing Mom dives into the main character’s search for her mother that helps her discover even darker secrets hidden below the surface.

Devastated by her mom’s sudden disappearance and the evidence pointing to suicide, seventeen-year-old Noelle, an aspiring ballet dancer, doesn’t believe her mom would ever have taken her own life. She undertakes her own investigation to find out what really happened to her mother. Meanwhile, Noelle is dealing with growing romantic feelings for Ravi, her best friend and fellow dancer. And she’s worried about her little sister, who won’t talk about why she doesn’t want to visit their dad. As she pursues the truth, her story intersects with that of Savannah, a woman escaping an abusive marriage who might be the key to finding Noelle’s mother.

Missing Mom honors the resilience of women forced into impossible situations and the power of love and friendship in hard times.