I really enjoyed this novel. The characters are well developed and the intricate plots keep me guessing from start to finish. There are various relationships featured in this story and they are all relevant giving depth and width to a cleverly plotted novel.
Claire Douglas has gone from strength to strength, and a new book from her is always something to enjoy - and recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity top read and review this book.

Struggling journalist, Jess is shocked when she hears that her old school friend has seemingly committed two random murders and is in a coma after attempting to take her own life.
On a personal level, Jess misses her old friend and would love to reconnect with Heather and her family but the journalist in Jess can't help but feel that her personal connection to the case is a way for her to get the scoop of a lifetime by gathering inside information.
As she gets close to the case, Jess becomes conflicted and events from their shared past come back to haunt her. Did Heather really kill two innocent people, and if so,why?
I loved this book. I am a fan of the author's other work , but this novel particularly grabbed my attention. All of the characters are well thought out and so vividly described that it was easy to become invested in their story.. What an amazing story it turned out to be too!
Once I started to read the book I couldn't put it down until I knew the truth about what had happened and I was gripped until the very last page..

This was such a gripping read, full of suspense. I had to know what happened.
Double murder, missing person, attempted suicide.
Full of twists and turns, I thought I'd figured it out.
Margos daughter flora vanished when she was 16.
2 residents have been murdered. Margos other daughter Heather is in hospital after attempting suicide.
Jess is a reporter, she was once friends with the family, Heather's best friend. Jess is trying to keep her boss happy while not taking advantage of the family she was once so close too.
Definitely recommend. Will look for more books by this author.
Thank you for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Then she Vanishes is a very clever crime thriller,which is fast paced and keeps you guessing all the way through.Full of twists and turns it starts with a double murder and the murderer just calmly walking away.! The story goes from past to present written mainly though Jess who is a newspaper reporter on a small time local newspaper.Heather who is accused of the murders is an old childhood friend of Jess ,they were best friends until Heather's sister Flora disappeared when she was sixteen and has never been found .I really enjoyed this book the characters are so well written I almost felt I knew them! The ending was just brilliant ! Many thanks to the Publisher,the Author and NetGalley for my preview copy in return for an honest review .

A slow-burn mystery building up to several reveals.

Jess Fox is a journalist who's hurriedly returned to the area she grew up in to get away from scandal in London. Life at the local paper is placid and slow until her best friend from her teenage years guns two people down one morning.

Jess's boss is clear - get the story.

Heather, Jess's old friend, is in a coma after apparently shooting herself in the chest. Her mother is falling apart. And she remembers Jess as the girl who walked away from Heather when she was needed most, who upset her terribly. Can Jess persuade Heather's family to trust her and find the truth? Anyway, why would Heather shoot two people she has no obvious connection to?

Has it got anything to do with her sister Flora, who vanished into thin air when she was sixteen?

This is an interesting crime story, from a journalist's rather than a police angle. The author uses multiple character viewpoints including Heather's mother, which I found quite a refreshing voice. Jess herself is a complicated character and coming to grips with both her far and recent past as she digs deeper into the Heather's alleged crime.

I do sometimes get frustrated with stories where the main narrator is holding something back from the reader, and there is a bit of that here, but that was my only real niggle.

It's not a big flashy TWIST TWIST mystery, but it is compelling and satisfying and sometimes that's all you need.

What a bloody good read
We have come to expect things from this author and she has absolutely delivered. Highly recommended

Another fabulous read from author Claire Douglas. I just love how she pulls her stories together, answering all the questions one could have, but at the same time leaving us wanting more. Just when you think you know, there’s another shocker round the corner. Gripping, a real page turner & I highly recommend it.

A story of the bonds of sisters , of family. Heather is thought to have killed two people at random and then tried to kill herself. Jess used to be her best friend, although the friendship faded when Heather's sister Flora went missing. Jess, a reporter, is torn between a big story and her friendship with the family.

An amazing book

As i try to expand my reading genre, i read the blurb on this book and decided it was worth my attention. For me it was a gripping page turner. I had to know what happened next.

Gripping, suspenseful read. I really wanted to know what happened to the characters and to understand who did what and why!

I can't praise this one enough!
An absolutely compelling read, I couldn't put it down. The plot has a multitude of different threads running through, each one adding a layer of intrigue to the whole, giving a story with great depth. There are enough twists to resemble a rollercoaster, all guaranteed to keep you guessing.
Wonderfully descriptive writing, without slowing the pace. I could almost smell the sea while I read. It gathers momentum page by page and had me racing to the very unexpected final few chapters.
The characters are engaging, they mesh well with each other and add life to the plot. They are absolutely believable and well thought out, each one bringing a different perspective. They bring a whole range of issues and emotions, the younger versions of the characters took me way back into the summers of my teenage years.
Don't miss it!

Then She Vanishes is the first book by Claire Douglas that I have read and whilst the precis or blurb promised much the book itself failed to deliver on this promise.

I found that the book dragged at times and struggled to engage with the characters. I also felt that the story telling wasn't helped by the use of the tale being told by different characters.

Overall not one I would recommend

This book is set in parts with the chapters that alternate between Jess and Margot in the present day and Heather and Flora in 1994.

1994 – Sisters Heather and Flora, together with best friend Jess decided to visit the Summer fair. Then one night Flora goes missing and she has never been found.

Present Day – Eighteen years later, Jess is a journalist on a local newspaper in Bristol and once again Flora’s family is once again in the headlines. Jess’s childhood best friend Heather is in hospital with a gunshot wound. Heather is also being accused of shooting and killing two people.

Conflicted between doing her job covering the story of the double homicide and protecting her old friend she begins to investigate the case and to find out why her friend would do something as cold as murdering two people in cold blood.

What happened leading up to that, what has been going on in the town they all grew up in and does any of it have anything to do with Flora going missing?

Everyone has something to hide and gradually, as secrets are revealed the past catches up to the present and some awful truths are revealed bring past and present together.

This is a really well paced and well written atmospheric novel that is filled with some great twists, about the bond between sisters, mother and daughter, and childhood friends. The characters are all well fleshed out with their own flaws and you can’t help but become invested in their stories, even if you don’t fully like them!

A very clever psychological suspense novel that will keep you guessing and guessing wrong throughout.

Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas will be published on 27 Jun 2019 on Kindle and 08 Aug 2019 in paperback.

A big thank you to the author Claire Douglas, publishers Penguin UK – Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest and independent review.

https://debbiesbookreviews.wordpress.com/2019/06/16/then-she-vanishes-by-claire-douglas/

This book improved slightly as it went along though I still felt it was a little amateurish, i.e., the use of adjectives such as twinkley and crinkley when referring to eyes were a little irritating and I found much about the plot highly improbable. I kept going until the end but unfortunately wished I hadn’t bothered. Sorry!

Just finished Claire’s new book and overall it’s an easy read, but for the first 65% of the book I felt like something was missing. It’s quite a slow burn and pace.

Then She Vanishes is a very enjoyable read. Numerous times I was sure I knew exactly where the story was going only for everything to be turned on its head! In the small seaside town of Tilby a woman calmly strides into a terraced house and shoots dead an elderly woman and her son. A short time later the gun used in the murder is found next to a woman with a possible self inflicted gunshot wound. It would seem obvious that she's the killer, the only problem being a complete lack of motive. Why would Heather Underwood, a relatively ordinary wife and mother shoot these people dead? Could it have any connection to the disappearance of her sister Flora more than 20 years previously? A local reporter and one time friend of both sisters is determined to find out the truth. Thank you Netgalley for my advance copy.

A thriller with lots of twists and turns following the character of Jess. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

I really enjoyed this book it kept me guessing all the way through. I wanted to know what happened and the story kept my attention through out. Recommended author and book.

Not my usual genre but WOW what a read
A real page turner which had hooked from the very first page. This is very clever writing and has the reader sent in so many directions and never in the one they should be heading. Enough tension and suspense to keep the reader thoroughly entertained and as for the ending WHAM no way did I see that coming. This read is classified as women's fiction wrong a bloody good psychological thriller. An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended.
I would like to thank the author, Penguin UK and Michael Joseph and Net.galley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

A young woman shoots the lock off the door of a seaside cottage, goes upstairs and shoots a middle-aged man dead, then shoots his elderly mother. A young woman is found at home having ostensibly shot herself. The gun matches the one involved in the double murder. What exactly happened and why?

An engaging thriller, but I felt that the denouement stretched credibility somewhat.