One missing. One a murderer. One trying to find the truth.

For two years of their childhood, Heather and Jess were inseparable, Jess became part of the family, until one day Flora, Heather's older sister, vanishes without trace and Heather & Jess drift apart. Eighteen years later, Jess is back in her home town working as a reporter for a local newspaper when she is called to cover a case involving a woman accused of killing two people and then turning the gun on herself, Jess is shocked when she discovers the accused is her childhood friend, Heather. But what is her motive, she is a happily married mother of one, with everything to live for, Jess decides to dig deeper to find out the truth.

This book is the 6th (including a short story) by this author and I've loved every one I've read so far and this one was no exception, from the opening chapter and the first murder to that final twist at the end, I was hooked. The story is told over two timelines, 1994 when Flora disappeared and the present day, 2012 and is told from the perspectives of Jess and Margot (Flora & Heather's mum), it is full of twists and they all have their secrets, some that they don't want revealed, EVER! Another cracking read from one of the Queens of Suspense!!

I'd like to thank Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads.

I love an English crime storyline and this captivated me from the start lots of storylines running up to adjacent to and retrospective to the crime and then just when l thought l had it worked out it served up a curved ball great ending l thought but wrong again a final throw of the dice at almost the last page

I read a lot of this genre and sometimes they can be a bit predictable, however I found that this was quite a page turner and kept my interest throughout. I felt that it was well paced and came to a satisfactory end. I enjoyed the characters and the build up of tension throughout. The story centres around a girl that went missing years ago and the consequences for the family. I thought that it was quite a believable story and could happen. I liked the character of Jess and wanted her to do well in her reporting job. However I did guess halfway through one of the big reveals but it didn't spoil it as I wasn't hundred percent sure. I will certainly read more of this author and recommend this book as one of the better ones in this genre.

Twisty and (page) turney, as others have said. I raced through this novel. A story of girls, friendship, sisterhood and - of course - secrets and lies.

Twisty and gripping. This book starts in the heart of the action and keeps up the pace. I enjoyed the characters and it flowed well. Great read.
ARC copy.

Many years ago, in the quiet town of Tilby, teenager Flora Powell went out, never to be seen again. Now, her sister, Heather, has committed an unthinkable crime, her own life hanging in the balance. Journalist Jess, tasked with writing about the event, has more reasons than most to uncover the truth – she used to be Heather’s best friend and was there the day Flora disappeared. Jess knows she must face her past and return to where it all began. Just what exactly happened to Flora and how is it linked to current events?

This is one of those books that gets you hooked from the first chapter as we witness the fatal shooting of a man and his elderly mother by a calm, cold-blooded killer. From the outset, we are introduced to the main mysteries in the book: Who is the killer? Who are the victims? What links them? As the book progresses, it soon becomes apparent that there are more secrets in the Powell family and that the disappearance of Flora seems to be, somehow, linked to the killings. The story alternates between the present day investigation and the run-up to Flora’s disappearance, twenty years ago, providing us with a fast-paced, gripping plot that just makes you not want to put the book down!

I liked the character of Jess who we see battling with her emotions, feeling the pressure from her boss to exploit her relationship with the family to secure exclusive interviews with the family. This was particularly difficult for her as we discover the reason for her leaving her previous post was due to the much-publicised phone hacking scandal, so she could really do with keeping her work above board. For much of the book, I did not know how I felt about Heather, but I think that this is the author’s intention: she is a multi-faceted character who, to understand her fully, you will need to read the whole book.

Although there are some parts of the mystery that do not come as a surprise, there are quite a few red herrings along the way which make you change your theory as you are reading. There are enough shifty characters to make you question which of them were involved in Flora’s disappearance, each with their own motive. The revelation of what exactly happened to Flora is a particularly shocking one, and one that filled me with hatred for those responsible.

I have really enjoyed reading Claire Douglas’s books before – take a look at my reviews of Last Seen Alive and Local Girl Missing – and this one is another fantastic read. If you’re looking for a thriller that will grab and hold your attention, one of those ‘just one more chapter’ books, then Then She Vanishes is the book for you! Highly recommended!

Had high hopes for this one, especially seeing all the high ratings.

The beginning started off strong and drew me in, but it started fizzling out about a quarter of the way through. While I was curious to find out how things played out, there just weren’t any surprises here. That, along with the cookie cutter characters made this read fall short of my expectations from this author.

I’m still a fan, and look forward to seeing what she comes up with next. 😊

ARC provided by NetGalley

I love Claire Douglas's books and know that they all have carefully woven, complex plots with realistic characters.

"Then She Vanishes" features a hard nosed journalist with a well-concealed soft centre, who is tasked with writing a feature on a double murder which took place in her sleepy seaside home town - a place she left many years ago. Her estranged best friend from school is lying in a coma, having seemingly shot two innocent victims in their home early one morning. We follow Jess as she investigates, interviews, encounters old acquaintances and agonises over what to print and what to leave out for the sake of her old friend and her family. Everyone has secrets and there are mis-directions and red herrings galore, before the whole truth is finally revealed in the epilogue - thankfully, all loose ends are tied up by the end of the book.

All in all, a cleverly plotted, interesting and well-written book, as I've come to expect from this author. Highly recommended, 5 stars.

Wow! Just 5 super stars wow! Claire Douglas’ Then She Vanishes was everything a mystery and thriller should be and more! When Jess demoted reporter now living in Bristol after packing in the big life of London receives the call to write a story on two murders and alleged suspect she has no idea that this case will take her back in time. To a time both idyllic and horrendous. Because Jess knows the suspect. Her former best friend Heather whom tragedy has already struck almost 18 years earlier.

Jess never had a stable family life growing up and so when she and Heather meet in school and start to form a friendship Jess is over at the caravan park with Heather, her older sister Flora and the mother she wishes she’d had, Margot. It is 1994. And life is sweet. Sweet for all concerned until that day they visit the Carnival that is in town for the summer.

At 16, sister Flora finds first love and like most 16 year olds nothing will keep her away from Carnival operator Dylan. Much to the annoyance of Heather who is worried about her sister. Can’t understand Flora’s fascination with him. Why they are keeping secrets from each other for the first time in their lives. Heather wishes that Flora could see what Heather sees. Dylan is dodgy. Dylan has questionable friends. Dylan is up to no good. And so begins the rift between the sisters until that awful day that Flora disappears. Seemingly without a trace.

Back in the present, Heather is in a coma after a self inflicted gun shot wound and fall. It allegedly happened right after she kills a mother and son duo. A 40 something male and 60 something female. But why would Heather do something so completely out of character. Working hard to rebuild her relationship with Margot, the long suffering mother of Flora and Heather, Jess slowly builds a bridge and trust and eventually has Margot’s permission to write the story that will paint Heather in a different light other than the public’s perception of a cold blooded killer.

The two lean on each other and begin to rely on the other once more. As events unfold in the present Jess can’t help but wonder if the past is catching up to them and that this tragedy may very well be the key to answering very tough questions from the past.

Read the book. You will be riveted. Special thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK Publishing for this fantastic ARC.

An enjoyable thriller which I had to read quickly as it made me really need to know how it was going to unfold. I did not expect the way it ended but all in all it felt like it was a believable end result and not hastily tied together like some thrillers I’ve read. Without revealing the storyline, which I try never to do, it reminded me that not everyone is what they seem to be, a good relationship is worth working for by talking through problems and sometimes, very rarely, justice is more important than the truth. However, personally I found that a week after I had read it I had forgotten all about it! So thank you Netgalley and publisher for the chance to read it but for me this was a forgettable story.

A truly gripping read. The story of two sisters and an old school friend. One sister missing presumed dead, another found shot and in a coma and a childhood friend who is now a journalist. Written between two eras of them as childen and the present day makes an enthralling story.
Once I started I could not put this book down, it cleverly drew me in to get to know the characters and with every twist and turn it just got better and better. A great book with a great ending. Claire Douglas delivers again and again.

An extremely enjoyable and intriguing read. The story flowed very well with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes. A cast of really well developed characters ensured the tale was woven intricately.

A good read. Twisty turny plot where everyone seems to have a past!. Just when you’re sure of the outcome and who the villains are it all turns on it’s head

This book had me enthralled and perplexed from start to finish. Everything, from friendship to family to the beginnings of both, is questionable, complex and confusing for the characters in this book. I was completely surprised by and pleased with the ending. This would make an excellent movie and one which I would watch with my feet up despite knowing what happens next at every twist and turn.

I've not read Claire Douglas before and am grateful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Then She Vanishes.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller. Jess, the main character, is conflicted enough that you sympathise with her. Heather, suspected of a double murder, is in a coma in hospital. Does Jess get involved as an old friend and how much of that privilege should she use in her job as a journalist.

The book was gripping, with additional information added along the way to make you start doubting what these people really are capable of.

I will be looking out for Claire Douglas in future.

Das Buch beginnt im März 2012 mit zwei brutalen Morden im verschlafenen Seestädtchen Tilby. Man erlebt sie aus der Sicht der unbekannten Täterin. Die Toten sind der 58-jährige Geschäftmann Clive Wilson und seine 76-jährige Mutter Deirdree, beide wurden erschossen. Unweit wurde die 32-jährige Heather Underwood mit einer selbst zugefügten Schusswunde in die Brust im elterlichen Wohnwagenpark gefunden. Sie liegt nun in kritischem Zustand im Krankenhaus im Koma. Dann folgen Zeitungsartikel darüber von der 31-jährigen Reporterin Jess für die regionale Zeitung. Sie ist hin und her gerissen, da es sich bei Heather um ihre frühere Schulfreundin handeln könnte. Doch sie hält sie eigentlich nicht zu so einer Tat fähig, so freundlich, ruhig, hilfsbereit und wohlerzogen wie sie damals war. Ihr Chef, der eine große Story wittert, sendet sie umgehend mit ihrem Kollegen Jack nach Tilby.
Auf geniale Weise schafft die Autorin es, dass man schon nach wenigen Seiten von der Geschichte eingesaugt wird. Die Autorin hat ein gutes Auge für Details.
Jess und Heather waren einige Jahre unzertrennlich. Jess hat in dieser Zeit fast bei Heathers Familie gelebt, bis ihre Kindheit und Freundschaft 1994 mit dem Verschwinden von Heathers älterer Schwester Flora brutal beendet wurde. Danach haben sie sich nur noch wenige Male gesehen. Diese Story könnte, nach den Ereignissen bei der Tribune Jessicas Karriere vielleicht wiederbeleben.
Vor Ort wird schnell klar, dass es sich wirklich um die Heather ihrer Kindheit handelt. Sie treffen auf ihre Mutter Margot. Jess wird von vergangenen Erinnerungen überrollt. Es trifft sie persönlich härter, als sie es nach den vielen Jahren als Journalistin für möglich gehalten hätte. Weiter geht es dann aus der Sicht der Mutter. Durch diesen weiteren, geschickt eingesetzten Perspektivenwechsel, erfährt man mehr über die Personen, die vergangenen Ereignisse und den Verlust von Flora.
Nach und nach werden die zunächst nur angedeuteten Geheimnisse der Vergangenheit klarer. Das Buch fesselt mit großen Geheimnisse, Erinnerungslücken, überraschenden Enthüllungen und Geständnissen. Jessicas Recherchen für die Zeitung treiben die spannende Geschichte voran. Die Kapitel aus dem Jahr 1994 kommen dem Zeitpunkt von Floras Verschwinden immer näher und ich konnte das Buch fast nicht mehr aus der Hand legen.
Die Autorin wechselt in der Erzählung geschickt die Perspektiven und setzt zusätzlich Bewusstseinsfetzen und Zeitungsartikel der Konkurenz ein, um Klärung voranzutreiben. Auch der Einsatz der verschiedenen Zeitlinien und die Zeitpunkte, der Preisgabe von weiteren Infos ist genial. Man beobachtet die interessanten Figuren gespannt. Mit Jess und Heather konnte ich mich gut identifizieren. Man empfindet intensiv mit den Figuren mit.
Auch das Ende kann überraschen und trotzdem auch überzeugen. Ich bin mir sicher, dass mir dieser Thriller im Gedächtnis bleiben wird.

A really enjoyable psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns to the plot. Some of the characters are a bit clicheed, but overall they are fairly believable. One of the lessons from the story is not to make assumptions - you never know who you can really trust. There is a final twist at the end which I found quite easy to predict. As with the previous book I read by Claire Douglas, this is well written.

This is the second book by Clare Douglas that I have read and enjoyed it even more than the first.

Newspaper reporter Jess covers a double murder story that has taken place in her childhood town, little does she know to start with that she might know the suspected murderer her once close childhood friend Heather. The story goes back to Jess’s past and her friendship with Heather and her sister Flora, tragedy hit the girls when Flora disappeared one night twenty years ago without a trace. Suspicions were pointed at her boyfriend and even her uncle who was close to the family.

Jess starts to dig into the case and try to discover if her friend really did commit the murders and what happened to Flora all those years ago. It turns out that if certain people had been honest at the time then Flora might have been found saving a lot of heartache for the family.

A great novel that I whizzed through, cannot wait for the next book from this author.

This kept me intrigued, I certainly liked the different perspective, which is usually a Detective of some rank albeit sergeant or inspector. I quite liked the idea behind it.

It was a good drama and I predicted several outcomes, which kept me guessing.

The setting was described well and I could imagine it, this in itself is the sign of a good author,that with the fact of 3 late nights in a row reading it .

Thanks to NetGalley, Claire Douglas and Penguin UK for the opportunity to read and review this book

Then She Vanishes starts off with a chapter sure to grab any reader's attention! The reader is privy to the thoughts of someone who very calmly drives to a home in a sea-side town, blows the front door lock apart with a shotgun and proceeds to murder the two people inside the home. Seen while leaving by a neighbor putting his trash out, the murderer decides to let him live and drives off. It is 6:30 AM Friday, March 9, 2012.

Jessica Fox, 32, a journalist trying to start her life over following a professional scandal in London, works for the Bristol and Somerset Herald, a small newspaper published on Tuesdays and Fridays. Assigned to cover the double homicide, Jess is stunned to learn that the woman seen leaving the house with a shotgun immediately following the shots and who is later found unconscious with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, is none other than her best friend from childhood, Heather.

Why would Heather shoot a man in his fifties, and his mother and then turn the gun on herself? It just doesn't make sense to Jess. Heather and Jess drifted apart following the disappearance of Heather's sister Flora in the summer of 1994 when she was 16 and Heather and Jess were 14. Flora is presumed dead, but her body has never been found.

Jess's boss is thrilled to find she has a personal connection to the case, hoping to scoop the dailies (almost impossible for a paper which publishes only twice a week to do). The more Jess learns about the case, the less she feels she can be objective in her coverage.

The story is told through 3 POVs, that of Jess, Heather, and Heather's mother, Margot, and alternates between the events leading up to Flora's disappearance in 1994 and present-day 2012.

Douglas fills pages with twists and turns, some predictable, some not. After the burst of the first chapter, I had difficulty with the somewhat slow pace of the book. There's a lot going on within these pages, and the time necessary to fill-in the back stories on each had me wishing that the pages would turn themselves a bit faster. I wasn't sure I wanted to stick with it, but in the end, am glad I did.

Looking at other reviews, I realize I'm going against the flow with this review. It is the first book by Claire Douglas I've read, so I had no preconceived expectations as others might. It's possible I picked this up at an "off time" for this particular read. Could be many things, it happens. Given the number of Claire Douglas fans, I'll definitely try another one of her books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penquin UK Michael Joseph for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.