So I’m sitting here after finishing this book, and all I can think is: obvious story is...obvious.

This book is being billed as gripping, thrilling, best twists yada yada yada. I guess slow, poorly executed, and obvious, don’t really sell books.

While reading this book, I have discovered that I detest stories - particularly those in the mystery/thriller fad we appear to be in - when they allude to a past transgression/s, several times, before the thing is eventually unveiled. In this book there were so many and by multiple characters, and by the time each reveal came along I was like: “are these the twists?”
Because they weren’t very twisty, nor surprising, in fact it was 100% expected.

I couldn’t warm to any of the characters, the opening chapter was incredible, but fell rather flat from that point onwards. And as unreliable narrators and characters go, this one left a lot to be desired. Such a shame, I was really looking forward to it. I’ve seen a lot of rave reviews, so maybe it just wasn’t for me.

Or Maybe I need a break from this genre.

I was invited to read this book by the publisher, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Many thanks to Claire Douglas, Penguin - Michael Joseph, and NetGalley for the invitation to read and review an arc of this book.

A mystery about secrets and families set in the West Country.

It seems like an open and shut case. Heather has been seen walking into a house and killing a man and his mother, before attempting to take her own life. Now she lies in a coma.

Jess was once Heather’s best friend although something happened to their relationship and they drifted apart after Heather’s sister Flora disappeared. She’s now a journalist on the local paper, trying to rebuild her career that was nearly derailed by a scandal that saw her depart a London paper.

With her unique knowledge of the family at the centre of this crime, what is Jess willing and not willing to do – either to further her career or to discover what has actually happened?

This is the first book by Claire Douglas that I’ve read, and she skilfully weaves a tale that incorporates teen friendships and relationships, against a contemporary backdrop of media intrusion into the lives of victims. There’s plenty going on here. Is Jess being stalked? How is her rival at the local daily getting the inside scoop on a story that should be hers? And just what actually happened that summer of 1994 that seems to have lead inexorably to what’s happened today?

All in all, this is perfect summer reading.

A thrilling novel After a terrible tragedy happens Heather is seriously Injured and hospitalized When Jess an old friend of hers and now a journalist hears what happens and becomes involved she helps uncover a lot of secrets As thing start to unravel and relationships and friendships are tested some lives will never be the same again A thrilling novel with lots of twists along the way which keeps you guessing right to the end A fantastic read

This is the second book that i have read by Claire Douglas. The first being 'Last Seen Alive' which i very much enjoyed. I thought 'Then She Vanishes' couldn't be as good as the first, but i was wrong. It was excellent and if i could give more than five stars i would. I seldom write what a story is about as i prefer one to read the book for themselves, but i do highly recommend. Cannot wait to read more by this author.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, freely given.

Then She Vanishes kept me engrossed from the first chapter to the last with murders, missing people, lies and secrets. The 2 main characters had been close friends in the past and the book is as much the story of a need to reconnect as it is a murder/psychological thriller.

Filled with twists, turns and red herrings, this was a gripping and fast paced read that I found difficult to put down. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Then she vanishes by Claire Douglas is a 4 star read.
Claire Douglas is a new author to me so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story. I found the book to be a slow starter and struggled a little but I’m glad I kept at it. This book has lots of twists and turns, great characters and an enjoyable plot line. I would highly recommend this book and can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.

This psychological thriller is set in Bristol. It opens with a double murder of an elderly woman and her middle aged son. The suspect is found seriously injured, apparently by her own hand, and spends much of the book in a coma. The main character, Jess, is a journalist and childhood friend of the suspect. This incident reunites her with this friend and her mother and brings back memories of the suspect's sister who went missing eighteen years previously when she was aged sixteen.
I enjoyed reading this novel and appreciated the red herrings and twists before the final denouement. Some of the minor characters (Jess's work colleagues and her boyfriend) were interestingly written and sympathetic. Jess's work situation as a journalist for a small twice weekly local newspaper is well described. Overall however I found some of the coincidences stretched belief a bit too far and some issues were either rushed over or left unresolved.

Thanks to the publisher via Net Galley for a complimentary ARC of this title in return for an honest review.

If I’m totally honest I found that this book dragged at the beginning, a lot of too-ing and fro-ing, and I got a bit fed up, but, I pressed on and about halfway through, I’d worked it out!!

It was more or less as I thought, without spoiling it for other readers. It was, in the end quite enjoyable and the characters were believable.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for the ARC.

This is the first book I have read by Claire Douglas, but it most definitely won't be the last. From the very opening chapter I was hooked, desperate to know what could drive someone to such a desperate and, ultimately, deadly act. It just seems, well, crazy. But was what happened the act of a mad-woman or was there fare more rational thought behind the act than you may understand?

This is the story of two friends, Jessica and Heather. When Heather's sister, Flora, disappears, their friendship, and their world, is torn apart. Nothing, it seems could bring them back together. That is until Heather commits an unthinkable act which forces Jessica, now a reporter in Bristol, to return to their home town to discover the truth behind what happened. What would turn a girl, so kind and thoughtful, into the kind of person that the police and the press, think she has become?

What I loved about this book is the way in which the author manages to create that real sense of kinship between Heather and Jessica, even though, technically, at least in the present day, it is nearly two thirds of the way through the book before the two friends are reunited. You get a real flavour for the friendship, for the close bond between the two girls, from the way Jessica's memories are presented, and more from the scenes which flashback to their childhood which intersect the chapters at various points throughout the book. They are not overwhelming in number, but those short scenes take the reader back to that fateful summer where everything changed, and gradually allow the reader to build up a picture of what really happened.

The story is told predominantly from the points of view of Jessica and Margot, Heather and Flora's mum, who Jessica knew as a child, and who Jessica has a hard job convincing that she is only there to help and not to gain some journalistic scoop. Don't get me wrong, that is why Jessica is first sent to Tilby and it is her job. But you really do get to see the softer, more compassionate side of Jessica when she is back on home turf, no matter how tough an exterior she likes to show to the world. I did grow to like Jessica, Margot too and wanted them both to find their peace, and the truth, whatever that might be.

The story is quite tense at times, and with the central theme being not only the crime Heather stands accused of but the disappearance of Flora all those years earlier, there are some dark themes that lurk around the periphery. And it is the periphery as nothing is dealt with in a gratuitous way, but you do get a keen enough sense of what has happened that it will leave you both shocked and saddened by what comes to pass. There are a lot of secrets being kept, and half truths being spoken, and it is hard at times to see which of the characters is being honest. Certainly it appeared that every one had a reason to want to avoid the whole truth, but the only person without a clear reason for what they did, or were accused of, was Heather.

The characterisations in the book were fab and I could feel the inner turmoil of the characters, particularly for Jessica, between what was right morally and what was right for their heart. Those struggles made them very human. Even Adam, Heather's husband, as brusque and angry as he appears, was still relatable and I felt for him as much as I did Margot at times. The pacing was perfect, the truth being drip fed in a just regular enough intervals to keep me on the hook and still leaving me desperate for more. Full of suspense, mystery and intrigue, I raced through this in less than a day which for me, this year, is impressive.

If you like a slow burning, mystery laden thriller that is full of emotion then I'd definitely recommend this book. You won't be disappointed.

“I feel calm...Not as I imagined a person would feel who’s about to commit murder.”

An exciting, twisty thriller full of suspense about secrets kept for almost two decades that merge with the shocking, and seemingly motiveless, murder of an elderly woman and her son in a sleepy seaside town.

This gripping story is told mostly from the perspectives of Jess, a journalist rebuilding her life in Bristol after she left London in a cloud of controversy, and Margot, the mother of Heather, who is the woman accused of killing two people before she attempted suicide. There appears to be no motive for the crime. She didn’t know the victims so why murder them in cold blood? It also flashes back to August 1994 when Heather’s older sister, Flora, went missing and even to Heather in her coma.

“The image I’ve always had of my one-time best friend is warping and distorting in my mind..”

Jess isn’t just a journalist in this case though, she grew up in Tilby, the location of the murders, and the alleged perpetrator was her best friend until the summer of 1994 when Heather’s sister, Flora, went missing and secrets tore them apart. Now Jess not only has to do her job and get the story, she also has to face things she’s been running from for the last eighteen years and face the best friend she betrayed.

But is Heather guilty? Both Jess and Margot insist that the murders are out of character for the gentle, kind and loving woman they knew. She’s happily married with a longed for child, why would she do this? But while saying these things out loud they both secretly wonder and allude to there being another side to Heather. Something lurking beneath the surface that they’ve tried to ignore.

"Do you remember what she told you? it was a secret you promised never to tell. And if you had told, it might not have happened".

Jess has been hiding a secret about Flora’s disappearance all these years and is wracked with guilt over what she never told anyone. But she promised she wouldn’t. And at 14 years old she thought she was protecting the person who swore her to secrecy, not putting Flora in danger. But she isn’t the only person keeping secrets; everyone is keeping them in this twisted tale, even Heather in her coma teases us with secrets and possible answers to our many questions if she could only wake up. What we don’t know is how all these secrets piece together and how all our characters are linked.Nothing is simple and everything will be revealed.

They didn’t lie when they said the final chapter was even more shocking than the first - Wow! The dramatic prologue was chilling, the whole book had me on the edge of my seat, but the final chapter was sensational and startling. The author cleverly keeps you on tenterhooks playing a guessing game right until the end and the payoff is totally worth it. This was my first read by this author but I now want to go and read her previous books. You won’t be able to put this book down.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Claire Douglas for the chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A great book with a good storyline and characters that were both interesting and flawed. This kept me guessing until the end and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

An enjoyable read, with lots of twists and turns along the way. It all developed at a good pace and developed the characters as it went along.

This was a very complicated thriller that kept you on your toes. Lots of flashbacks which show what really happened and there wasn't a really dominant character. A can't put down kind of book, a great read with a acceptable conclusion.

Then She Vanishes is a very enjoyable read and I struggled to put it down to go to sleep. I don't want to give away the plot but It certainly kept me guessing to the end. Very fast paced with plenty of twists and turns. Highly recommended.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jess is trying really hard to impress her new boss after a scandal in her last job. When she is assigned to report on a double murder, she's determined to get the scoop - but the accused is her childhood friend, Heather. Why would Heather kill two innocent people? And will anyone even speak to Jess given what happened many years before, when Heather's sister Flora disappeared?

This was a brilliant, tense crime/thriller/mystery. Jess and Heather were both really intriguing, layered characters with so much history to them. I felt like I really knew them both. The addition of Flora's story was clever, and I loved the way that there were newspaper articles included here and there. It's a slow, engaging read that builds and swells to a really satisfying conclusion - if you're expecting shocking twists at every turn then this may not be for you, but if you want a lazy, heady, character driven thriller that will pull you in and have you reading into the wee hours, this is your story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, I think it's the thriller of Summer 2019 for me so far.

You know you have found a good book when you don't want to put it down. I liked that it told the story from a few different sides. Jess is a reporter and finds out that her childhood best friend is thought to have shot and killed 2 people and then herself. She goes back home and reconnects originally to get the story for her newspaper but then she starts to realize she needs these people back in her life. The mystery is could her friend Heather have really shot and killed 2 people or was there more to the story? And what really did happen to Heather's sister Flora? The writing style was very good and easy to read. You should definitely pick up this book.

This is such an exciting read with many twists and turns. I highly recommend it! I couldn’t put it down and read it over a weekend. It’s about two sisters, Flora and Heather, and what happened to them and Heather’s friend Jess in the 1990s. In the present day, Jess is a journalist and when something terrible happens to Heather, Jess investigates and finds all her loyalties put to the test. She has to balance the demands of her boss with her feelings for the family who were so kind to her as a young girl. The narrative flows seemlessly from past to present and I was totally absorbed in this very well-crafted psychological thriller. Definitely five stars!

I loved the other books by Claire Douglas that I’ve read – her third and fourth books, Last Seen Alive and Do Not Disturb, so I had high expectations for her latest book, Then She Vanishes. I was not disappointed – it is brilliant. It gripped me from the start and never let me go. It has twist upon twist upon twist, until I began to doubt everything I’d thought about what I’d read – I was guessing right up to the end when all is revealed. And even then the final twist took me by surprise. So good!

What more can I say? The opening is dramatic as a killer calmly and coolly considers which house harbours the victim and then enters and shoots first a man and then an older woman. Who are they and why were they killed in cold blood?

Enter Jess, a journalist reporting on the murders in the seaside Somerset town of Tilby for the local newspaper, The Bristol and Somerset Herald. She has recently returned to Tilby, her home town, after working in London and is keen to make a name for herself. But it’s not going to be easy, for it turns out that the murderer is Heather, her best friend from school. Heather is unconscious in hospital having tried to take her own life.

Jess can’t believe that her kind, generous friend Heather is capable of killing anyone. So, Jess is torn – how can she report objectively on the case and how will Heather and Margot, Heather’s mother, react when they realise she is a journalist? Their friendship had ended after Heather’s older sister Flora had disappeared, and both girls had withheld what they knew about Flora – Jess still feels guilty about what she did that summer of 1994. The story alternates between events in the present day, and in 1994 when Flora was last seen, told from Margot’s perspective. As Jess investigates she discovers things about Heather and her family she had not known as a young teenager.

Needless to say, but this is a book in which many family secrets are eventually uncovered. It delves into the nature of mother/daughter/sister relationships and of friendship and guilt. To write too much about the plot would only spoil it – you have to experience it as you read to get the full impact. At first it seems quite simple and straight forward, but of course, it isn’t.

Now, I want to read her first two books, The Sisters and Local Girl Missing.

Many thanks to the publishers, Penguin UK – Michael Joseph, for my review copy via NetGalley.

Another great story from this author. Great premise and plenty of twists and turns in the storyline to keep me guessing. Kept me interested from the first to the last page. Look forward to her next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

My third book by Claire Douglas, and my favourite so far. I like the way this is written with plenty of description helping me to visualise the surroundings and picture the characters. The story plunges in from the Prologue as we witness the murder of 2 people and the state of mind of the murderer - we have no doubt from the beginning who is the perpetrator. The story then unfolds from the point of view of Jess (both personally and through her articles in the paper as a journalist) and Margot (the mother) with occasional interjections from Heather's thoughts as she lies in a coma. Eventually the story looks back to 1994 and the twists and turns that follow eventually bring us to the conclusion. Again with Claire Douglas there are one or two far-fetched scenarios and too many characters who never came forward during the original investigation. Having said that, it was a very good read - 3 1/2 stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Claire Douglas/Penguin UK Michael Joseph for a digital cop of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.