Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, for the review copy. This is an unbiased review of the author's work and style. If you want plot lines and spoilers please see the publishers blurb and other reviewers' reports.
This is my first Claire Douglas novel and I have to admit to being puzzled. Looking back over her previous works there are trend and themes that reoccur. I find this worrying as it could imply a lack of imagination buy the author or an author who is still trying to work out how to satisfy her own needs in the writing.
That said I enjoyed the book and I will endeavour to read her other works to see how she develops.
For those who enjoy a good 'whodunnit' and aren't plagued with a need to beat the author to the denouement, then this is one for you. There should be a warning to wearing a seat belt as the story unwinds, as there are plenty of twists in the tale.
Four stars and worth them.

This is the first Claire Douglas book I read and wow- it will not be my last! This fast paced thriller alternates between the past and the present and is told from the point of view of Jess, a local journalist who has a personal connection to the family (including Heather, the suspected murderer) and Heather's mother, Margot. The book is full of twists and turns as you try to figure out the present- is the suspected killer of Clive and Deirdre Wilson really the one who did it and how is it related to the disappearance of her sister, Flora, in the 90s? There are several characters introduced throughout that had their own secrets and made you question were they involved in the murders or disappearance of the Flora somehow? This book kept me up way past my bedtime as I had to know what happened and boy did the end shock me. Highly recommend! Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this one it was just amazing.
My third book by this author and by far my favourite.
I just adored how this was all connected together and I'm blown away with how the author has managed to connect the dots to make sense of everything while still managing to keep me in the dark through the journey.
This was such an impressive feat and managed to keep me guessing as well as constantly surprising me with its many twists and turns.
From that shocking beginning where two people are shot down in cold blood seemingly at random to that final end-game, I was seriously transfixed.
This had such real characters with flaws and all and I loved that nobody here was perfect.
I thought Jess herself was such a raw and real person who was by far her own worst critic.
I felt such sorrow for Margot who had lost one daughter only to potentially love another.
I changed direction in my mind so many times over where this might go.
This really was a work of pure genius and I really can't recommend this enough.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of And Then She Vanishes.

When local reporter Jess gets involved in a murder involving an old school friend whose sister went missing many years ago.
Jess finds herself caught between the friendship from her past and her need to prove herself as a journalist.
Douglas knows how to spin a good plot and this is pacy with plenty of twists and turns as the past catches up with Jess and her friend.
A recommended read if you like a bit of a page-turner rather than more complex characterisation. This is Douglas’ fifth novel and they are well-crafted.

I was grabbed straight away by the premise of this book, I too have a long lost childhood friend, I too have regrets about how we grew apart , this leads to every character being very personable and makes you invested in their journey. The writing is pleasant and engaging but alas the ending let me down. Still a good read though with a nicely knitted story.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penquin UK - Michael Joseph for the ARC.
This is a really intriguing read. Well-plotted and intricately woven between events in 1994 and 2012.
1994 - Sisters Heather (14) and Flora (16), together with Jess (14) who has become part of the sisters' family, visit the Summer fair. Fairground worker Dylan takes a shine to Flora and, against Heather's protestations, begins a relationship with him. One night Flora goes missing. She has never been found.
Eighteen years later, Jess is a journalist on a local newspaper in Bristol. Two people have been shot in a village near to her best-friends' home and Heather is in hospital in a coma after trying to commit suicide in the family barn. With her connection to the family her editor is relying on Jess to sign up an exclusive story from Heather's mother, Margot.

The story takes the reader through the delicate path of Jess's relationship with Margot, Heather and Flora; her need to get a story against the guilt she has regarding the last time she saw Flora and Heather.

There are lots of twists to this as gradually the past catches up to the present and some awful truths are revealed.

Has Jess's past from her newspaper-reporting job in London caught up with her. Is someone stalking her, meaning her harm?
What really happened to Flora, and what is the connection with the 2 people that Heather shot?

All will be revealed.

A good read; some passages regarding descriptions of the friends' 1994 lives I found extremely repetitive. Otherwise, I enjoyed it, and just had to find out the ending - which is somewhat surprising. Couldn't work it out - a left-field conclusion.

All right Claire Douglas, we need to have a talk because I’m a little upset with you. Your latest book cost me two nights of sleep because I could not put it down. From the moment I read the dramatic and mysterious prologue I was hooked, desperate to know more.

A sleepy seaside down in southwest England is shaken to its core when a beautiful, sweet young teenager named Flora disappeared without a trace. Eighteen years later, Flora’s remaining family is once again blasted across the headlines when it appears her younger sister brutally murdered two people at random before turning the gun on herself.

This was an atmospheric and intricate tale about the bond between sisters, mother and daughter, and childhood friends. Bonds that can withstand the test of time and trauma and come out stronger for it. This was also a tale about the hidden underbelly simmering beneath the idyllic surface of a picturqesue coastal town.

“Twisty” is an overused term these days but in this case it aptly applies. Especially when it came to the way all these character’s lives were still intertwined nearly two decades later, often in ways none of them could possibly fathom. It was a complex story full of emotion and intrigue that kept me guessing.

I can’t believe that I’ve never read anything by Claire Douglas before! I’m definitely going to be picking up more of her books because if Then She Vanishes is any indication, Douglas sure knows how to write a domestic thriller.

Loved this book a lot of emotions reading it seeing life through the characters at different stages of their lives and how this affected them as adults never would of guessed how it would end which for me Is the making of a good read!!

This book had me hooked from the first page all the way to the end. Double murder for no apparent reason alongside a long-time missing persons case brings a shamed journalist face to face with her past and the secret she's held for 18 years. Brilliant read.

Claire Douglas's fifth novel has one of the most dramatic opening chapters that I think I've ever read! March 2012 - seen through the narrator's eyes as they stand outside a house, shotgun in hand, seeming very calm and in control. This sets the scene and forms the basis of what is to come.

Then She Vanishes is not only a gripping whodunnit but it's also an enthralling whydunnit and I could not turn the pages fast enough as the whole chain of events leading up to this horrific and shocking crime unfolded slowly and skilfully.

The story goes back and forth in time between 2012 and the summer of 1994 when the fair came to town and sixteen year old Flora disappeared and never came home again, leaving behind her bewildered mother, Margot (a character I really warmed to and felt empathy for) and younger sister Heather.

As Heather lies in a coma due to a shotgun injury, her then best friend, Jess, now a journalist working for the local newspaper, and no longer in touch with the family, has to return to her roots and obtain a story, while confronting her own conscience and guilt about that night Flora disappeared. Margot was a mother figure to Jess in those days and the way in which their friendship was slowly and tentatively re-ignited was an absolute pleasure to read.

This is a complex story rich in detail, with family secrets, divided loyalties, betrayal, selfishness, guilt and fear with sympathetic and well drawn characters. It has surprises and shocks - the story was at just the right pace - the perfect read for anyone who likes a good mystery full of suspense.

I loved this book. The story flowed from the first chapter with a stunning opening prologue. Jess reunites with a childhood friends family. Her estranged best friend has been accused of a horrific crime. The family already has a tragedy in their past. A really riveting plot with great characters and lots of suspects and secrets. Gripping!

This starts off well, with a couple being murdered and the suspect then apparently turning the shotgun on herself. What really happened? It's an unusual premise, as, the person doing the investigating within the story, is a journalist who was also the childhood friend of the murderer.

Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character, but, the author does a great job of this not being confusing.

It's a good story, I just found it slow and dragging in parts.
Solid 3* read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

Everything changed the night Flora Powell disappeared. Heather and Jess were best friends until the night Heather's sister vanished. Jess has never forgiven herself for the lie she told that night. Nor has Heather but now Heather is accused of an awful crime. And Jess is forced to return to the sleepy seaside town where they grew up, to ask the question she's avoided for so long: What really happened the night Flora disappeared?

The story starts with a murder and a young woman Helen in a coma after she try’s to take her own life. Jessica is asked to write a piece on the incident only to find that she knows the family from childhood and is torn between her job as a reporter and her relationship. There is a history as Helens sister flora disappeared from a fairground when she was young and had not been seen since. The book goes between the past and the present but is really easy to keep pace with. A page turner as every page leaves you with another question. Brilliant and engaging.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK Michael Joseph for an advance copy in return for a fair and honest review.

This is the second novel I have read by Claire Douglas and it was brilliant. I read this within 24 hours as the storyline ebbed and flowed with such skill. We have all been in some of these situations, at least I have – best friends falling out, trouble with sisters of best friends and gorgeous guys at the fair, which rolls into town every year.

The story is mainly told by Jess, who is a journalist on a small local paper within the Bristol area. It is clear that something untoward has happened in her career when she was based in London. She is living with Rory in Bristol and they appear to be an ideal couple.

There is a double murder in the town where Jess was raised as a teenager and it appears as if her one time best friend, Heather, is the murderer. Going back to her roots with her best friend, Jack, who works with her on the paper we begin to uncover secrets from the past. Heather’s sister, Flora, disappeared when she was sixteen and has never been found and both Heather and Jess have secrets about the last night she was seen.

The characters were all excellently developed and the intertwining and surprises were many and carefully plotted. The novel covered difficult subjects with empathy and understanding.

Full of twists and turns right up to the final page this is an excellent read and highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and Claire Douglas for my ARC in return for my honest review.

I get excited when I hear a new Claire Douglas book is coming out. And then she vanishes doesn’t disappoint. This is the 4th book of the authors I have read and loved them all.
Jess is a Journalist for the local weekly newspaper. She has returned to her hometown of Bristol after living and working in London on a daily tabloid. She has returned with her boyfriend Rory, who is a teacher. Her Assignment is to investigate a woman that has shot dead two people and tried to kill herself. Heather is her name and presently in a coma. When she goes to the hospital, she finds out that the woman in question is her childhood friend Heather and she meets her mother Margot. When she was sixteen Margot was more of a mother, than her actual mother. Jess and Heather were close, until something happened one day, and Heather’s sister Flora disappeared never to be seen again. Heather suddenly feeling apprehensive of her task. But her boss is glad of their relationship and wants her to delve deeper to what happened that fatal day.
The story is told in two points of view of Margot and Jess and go back and forth in time, showing the background story for each character which made it more suspenseful. This had an intriguing plot, with lots and characters and many twists and turns, especially the ending I wasn’t expecting. This is another great novel from Claire Douglas.

Another brilliant read by Claire Douglas. If you've not read any before I do recommend that you do.

This one is about family secrets. Brilliantly written with you being drawn into the plot and you just have to hold on and find out who dunnit!

Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas a four-star read that will have you searching. This is one that you have to pay attention with as the alternating chapters and POV and timeline will keep you on your toes, but once you get into it, you will be gripped. You need to be a detective to figure out who done it in the end, as it’s so well done, it starts with a bang and unfolds like a flower before your eyes and reveals the story. Jessica is a great journalist as she tells a great story, set in a seaside town so well written you can taste the salt in the air.

What a compelling read! Every chapter seemed to have a further ttwist. I could not wait to read on. It is a brilliant book well worth a read.

The disappearance of Flora when she was just 16 is seared into the minds of most people in her small seaside town but they have all moved on with their lives.  For her mother, Margo, sister Heather, and Heather's best friend, Jess, things are different. Almost without realising they have stagnated; carrying on their everyday activities but with memories are never far from the surface until without warning a devastating tragedy brings everything back into sharp focus once again.

Everyone, it seems, has something to hide in this story and gradually, as secrets are revealed, the story of what happened the day of Flora's departure begins to inextricably link the past to the present. The two main parties can't put their side of things into the mix however and so it's left to Jess,, newly returned home and now a journalist to speak for them.

The main characters in this book are well written and believable. Their stories are told in two timeframes and in the first and third person but still they behave as I would expect the circumstances they find themselves in would dictate. All play an important part in dissecting their history until what really happened is revealed in a satisfying ending I absolutely didn't see coming.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to fans of both Claire Douglas and twisting, turning, exciting, crime fiction.

I enjoyed this book. It discusses the problems families have with teenage children from an adult perspective and explores the impact of loss and uncertainty on the parents - and friends. I felt that it took a while to get going but then I wanted to pick it up and continue the story. It was easy to engage with the characters as the story continued and there are interesting twists as the book reaches its conclusion.
The main focus is the disappearance of a teenage daughter and the impact of the lack of information on the family. Some of the detail is harrowing but not gory.
I recommend this book.