Lisa Jewell is an auto read author for me and never fails to hook you into her clever psychological thrillers. The Night She Disappeared is one that ai had trouble putting down, each chapter ending with something that makes you keep going. Told with dual timelines, you learn about the case from now and then, with just enough information to make you want more.

In 2017, teenager and new mum Tallulah goes out for a night with her boyfriend and college mates and never comes home. Everybody things that she has run off with Zach for some freedom, but her mother Kim knows that she would never leave her son.

2018 and Crime author Sophie moves to the village with her boyfriend and finds something in her garden that will give new life to the missing persons case. She gets drawn into the story and the people in the village that were there.

So what really happened in 2017 and where are Tallulah and Zach? You will never guess! Well done Lisa Jewell, an amazing lockdown novel.

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read.

I agree completely with all of the reviewers who have described this as a gripping and unputdownable novel . I raced through it in just a few sittings and was engrossed in the story of the missing teenagers. Tallulah was particularly engaging as was her mother Kim, left behind to be tortured by the mysterious disappearance.
But it was only after finishing the book that I began to find its flaws and the conclusion, without giving anything away, was rushed and to me, a little implausible. Still a great read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for sending an arc

Epic!

Brilliant thriller by Lisa Jewell, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tallulah and her boyfriend Zach go missing after a night out.

The chapters cover before and after the couple go missing, leading to, of course, an unexpected twist and reveal at the end.

Lisa’s novels are so easy to read and they draw you in, you are invested in the characters wanting to know what has happened to this couple.

I really like how we got to know Tallulah prior to her disappearance, her vulnerability, her rise to adult and parenthood, her naivety.

A definite recommended read!

Lisa Jewell's books just keep getting better and better and this is no exception.
When Tallulah asks her mum Kim to babysit for a few hours so she can go to a party Kim didn't have a problem with it as being a teenage mum studying at college Tallulah needs some me time.
When Tallulah text Kim at 11pm to say she is on her way home Kim decides to go to bed.
When Kim wakes up at 4.30am and no sign of her daughter she is firstly angry that she hasn't come home to look after her baby but as time passes with no contact Kim phones around Tallulah's friends but no one has seen her since she headed to a pool party at Dark Place.
A year passes and Tallulah just seemed to vanish into thin air with no clues or leads to what has happened to her until Sophie the new head teacher at a boarding school discovers a sign in the woods 9f the grounds that says DIG HERE......
What will be discovered and has it got anything to do with Tallulah?

This book had me gripped from the 1st page I read in in a day I loved all the twists and turns this book took and would recommend everyone reads it
Many thanks to NetGalley & publisher for arc of this book in exchange for this review

Another corking thriller mystery story from Lisa Jewell.

The story opens on a young girl Tallulah, mother of one year old Noah having a well earned night out with her boyfriend Zak. In the morning Tallulah’s mum realises they haven’t come home and the baby wants his parents.

As a fairly new parent I really felt the sense of panicked urgency that followed the couple going missing, the mums frantic searching and her relentless pursuit for answers.

The pages are packed full of love them and loathe them characters, and some great sub plot stories thrown in to help draw you into this “dark place” community.

At times the novel deals with some emotional and hard hitting subjects including coercive and abusive relationships, gay relationships and societal reactions but these were dealt with in a really realistic way and not rose tinted.

The twists and turns to the story had me sat up late for “just one more page” so a sure sign it’s another superb read from Lisa Jewell.

Wow! I didn’t just read this story…I lived it. Lisa Jewell has masterfully composed events to unfold in perfect sequence to build suspense. I knew every character, visualised each scene and greedily absorbed each page. Consuming, gripping, brilliant!

An excellent read, the writing is of the calibre I expect from Lisa Jewell.
The book is full of twists and turns , and at times a little dark but I found the narrative compelling , and read the book in two sittings.
The book is about two missing teenagers Tallulah and Zach , Tallulah’s mum is determined to find the truth regarding their disappearance.
The story is full of interesting characters especially Sophie the author of detective stories who then herself becomes an amateur sleuth.
The writing is fast paced and keeps the reader guessing until the end.
Highly recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone.

For me this wasn’t lisa Jewell’s best book. I enjoyed it as I think it would be impossible for her to write a bad book it just didn’t grip me or dominate my attention as much as some of her past books have.

I enjoyed the concept of the story however I found a lot of it very far fetched. The characterisation wasn’t particularly strong in my opinion and I didn’t paticuarly drawn to any of them. I did enjoy the fact an author was featured within the story.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Cornerstone & Lisa Jewell for my arc of The Night She Disappeared in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing 22nd July 2021

The new novel from bestselling Lisa Jewell sees Tallulah off out on a date with her boyfriend, leaving her young baby behind with her mum. Late in the evening she texts her mum and tells her she’s going to a party with some friends from college, and Kim is happy for her to go and enjoy herself. But as the night gets later and turns into morning and Tallulah and Zach still haven’t returned, Kim begins to worry. They never do.

Two years later, detective novelist Sophie has moved into a house on the grounds of the private school Maypole House with her boyfriend, the new headmaster of the school. On the first day there she finds a mysterious note behind the garden gate telling her to ‘dig here’ and suddenly the mystery of the missing teenagers has reopened again.

This was a thrilling read that I literally couldn’t put down. I’m so glad that I had annual leave today because I’ve not moved all day just sat and read completely engrossed in the story. It really leads you down twisting, turning paths and I was finding it impossible to guess what could have happened. And when I found out I was gobsmacked. Absolutely fantastic read from one of my favourite thriller authors.

The queen of crime is back and she doesn’t disappoint either. This was a well written and carefully plotted mystery with a lot of unexpected twists. Such a compelling, absorbing and gripping novel.

Thank you NetGalley / Random House UK for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Another gloriously twisty thriller from Ms Jewell. Verging on the gothic at times with rambling houses, secret tunnels and cellars she carried it off with style while also managing to contemplate love in all its many and varied forms alongside a complex mystery. My only slight gripe is with Sophie; the conceit of her writing detective stories and then becoming involved in a real life one didn't quite work for me, almost straying into "cosy mystery" territory which isn't a genre I enjoy.
Thank you to netgalley and random house for an advance copy of this book

I read Ms Jewell’s The Family Upstairs last month, I loved it so much that When I saw her new release on @netgalley, I had to get the arc even though I had a lot of books I planned to read this month😂  Thank you @randomhouse too for letting me read this book in exchange of an honest review!

In 2017, a 19-year old mother of a newborn baby Talluah and the baby’s teenage father disappear suddenly.  They left the baby to Tallulah’s mother Kim.  The investigation goes nowhere but Kim keeps waiting for them to return.  In 2019, a crime detective novelist Sophie moved into the same area with her boyfriend who becomes the headteacher of a boarding school.  During a stroll in the woods, Sophie finds a sign that says DIG HERE and she digs…

The story is told from POVs of multiple characters and the dual timelines. Teenagers who disappered, a creepy abandoned mansion, a crime thriller writer. The setting and plot is very compelling and I enjoyed reading this book 🥰

It’s only my second book by her but I am just so impressed with her writing and storytelling.  She strikes the perfect balance of multi-POV/timelines and character development!  Maybe I don’t read enough thrillers, but I always felt like multi-POV in thrillers tend to weaken the character development.  Until Ms Jewell.  You get to know the characters well while it stays compelling until the very end of this book. 

If I am honest, I enjoyed The Family Upstairs a little bit more than this new release.  But that is just because I found some of the teenagers in this book very irritating😂  Nothing to do with her writing or the twist itself.  All in all, it is a very well-crafted and well-written thriller I’d love to recommend ❤️

Lisa Jewell just gets more skilled at telling a riveting, intriguing story, controlling what we know, how we find out facts, making us doubt who we can trust. This one starts quite slowly with 2 strands that seem to have little in common but the pace builds slowly until half way through when it becomes unputdownable and completely addictive. Loved this, can’t wait for the next one.

A mystery that looks at the psychology of relationships, friendship and desire. Centred around a missing teenage mother and her devoted boyfriend, this is a compelling tale that deals with modern issues with flashes of gothic themes.

The story is told in three close timelines, which jump about throughout the book and is a bit confusing at the beginning. However, as the characters become more defined the timelines meld together and each is as exciting as the other. The relationship between the teenage parents is very well done and makes slightly uncomfortable reading at times.

This is a fast-paced story told from the perspective of the missing teenager, her distraught mother and a writer who wants to solve the mystery by research and solving the weird clues that surround her. Modern and easy to read, I'm sure this book will shoot to the top of the bestsellers list. This is a great read from a great author.

*Disclaimer: I was kindly gifted an electronic copy of this book by Penguin Random House SA and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

FIVE REASONS TO READ THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED
1. There is a high level of thrill mixed with a heavy dose of mystery.
2. The characters are well-developed and relatable.
3. The plot is filled with surprises but doesn't give anything away.
4. The story is told from multiple POV's keeping the reader informed, as well as leaving clues as to what happens at the end.
5. The reader starts this book with a preformed idea due to the title, but the author takes them on a rollercoaster ride adding all kinds of situations, making the reader second guess everything and wanting more.

The Night She Disappeared is the newest novel by the New York Times and Sunday Times #1 bestselling author, Lisa Jewell. As always, Lisa Jewell keeps her readers at the edge of their seats and her latest novel doesn't disappoint.

The book is divided into five parts and the story is told from three different POV's.
1. Kim Murray: Tallulah's mother, after her disappearance.
2. Sophie Beck: an author who writes detective novels, a year after Tallulah's disappearance.
3. Tallulah Murray: mother of 1-year-old Noah, Tallulah in college and her relationship with her baby's father, Zach.
The story starts off in June 2017 when Tallulah and her boyfriend Zach goes missing after going on a date night which turned into a night hanging out with people she knew from college. The next morning Kim realises Tallulah never came home, she tries contacting her daughter with no success, her motherly instinct kicks in and she knows something is wrong. Tallulah left their son Noah, in her mother's care and Kim knew without a doubt that her daughter won't just disappear on her own accord.

Then the timeline changes to August 2018, a year after Tallulah and Zach's disappearance, when Sophie Beck and her boyfriend, the new head of a boarding school, moves to a cottage on the grounds of Maypole House near the area where Tallulah and Zach went missing. Writing detective novels, Sophie has a nose for mystery and crime and her curiosity is piqued when she visits Dark Place, the now-abandoned house where Tallulah and Zach were last seen and then finding a sign 'DIG HERE' nailed to their cottage's gate. Upon further inspection, Sophie discovers a vital part of evidence that turns the cold case of the missing parents into a frantic search.

We travel back to September 2016 when Tallulah meets Scarlett Jacques. A girl who makes Tallulah find new joy in life while having a controlling boyfriend. Hiding Zach's behaviour to her mother, Tallulah lives in fear of Zach and what he will or will not do if she doesn't live according to his rules. After going to Scarlett's house for a pool party one night, Tallulah and Zach are overheard fighting and he throws something at Tallulah and threatens her.

What will happen next? Who did what? Will Tallulah really leave her son? And the burning question, What happened the night Tallulah and Zach disappeared? All of your questions will be answered. Prepare yourself for a book that leaves chills down your spine, shocking revelations and situations that will leave you with questions.
If you haven't read thrillers before, read this book, you'll thank me later. If you love thrillers, then you know what to do, read this book!

#TheNightSheDisappeared #NetGalley

This is every mother's nightmare, your teenage child goes to a party and doesn't come home. The last people to see her are uncooperative and sheds are no leads. I could not put this book down and read it over a weekend.

I loved the past/present narrative, the 3 incredibly strong lead characters and the flaky teenagers. I am a huge Lisa Jewell fan and this is by far her best yet.

Mum, there's some people here from college, they asked me back to theirs. Just for an hour or so. Is that OK?!

Midsummer 2017: teenage mum Tallulah heads out on a date, leaving her baby son at home with her mother, Kim!

Thank you to Net Galley, the publishers and the author Lisa Jewell.

I have many books on my kindle by Lisa Jewell and read this as my first read by the author as kindly approved by Net Galley.

My apologies for the delay, as so many books sent to me by publishers and authors as well as Net Galley.

At 11 p.m. she sends mum a text message. At 4.30 a.m. Kim awakens to discover that Tallulah has not come home.

Friends tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a pool party at a house in the woods nearby called Dark Place.

Tallulah never returns.

Sophie a novelist has just moved into the headmasters house in a boarding school with her partner who has just started working there.

Out on a walk to explore the local area she finds a cardboard message nailed to a fence. The message reads ‘Dig here’ and an arrow pointing downwards.

This message turns out to be a clue to a missing persons case. A teenage couple disappeared a year before in that area and have never been found.

A sign that says: DIG HERE . . .

A cold case. An abandoned mansion. A family hiding a terrible secret.

Prepare to be hooked by this slow burning thriller.

The chapters alternate between 3 time periods each about 1 year apart, once I was familiar with the characters it was an intriguing mystery.

Early on you know who is missing, Lisa Jewell utilize multiple timelines, and she is mostly successful with it here, but sometimes slows the pace and tension, but does manages to leave you hanging after each chapter, eager to learn more.

There is so much backstory to Tallulah that it consumes the story without getting to the point until about three quarters of the way through when things start to heat up and it starts to get interesting, with twists, explanations and two unbelievable final scenarios.

Clever story, but sometimes a little slow burning for me, a lot of story and characters to understand but last few chapters much better paced and interesting.

Three to four stars. 3.5 Really

A riveting, fast paced thriller that I did not want to end. Believable characters and strong narrative kept me turning the pages. Lisa Jewell is a cracking author and this novel is one of her best.

Lisa Jewell has done it again with this twisty thriller - always impressive to see a writer really master a new form so completely. Of Jewell's thrillers and thriller-lites to date, my favourite is Then She Was Gone, in which the villain does something so Messed Up I still can't quite believe someone wrote it! This novel treads over familiar territory to Then She Was Gone, with a more optimistic and upbeat style that keeps you holding onto hope, even when you're not sure how things will turn out at all...

Jewell often writes about teenage motherhood, with some of her young-mum characters getting new leases of life (Melinda McNulty, Melody Browne, Delilah Lilley and Kirsty Mellon) and several of her characters saying that they wish they'd had babies early to 'get it out of the way.' I'm sure there's something to be said for that, but in this book teenage motherhood is exactly as grim as you'd imagine, with heroine Tallulah having to stay with her controlling boyfriend Zach because of the child they share and her own insecurities.

Lula's real ally is her mother, Kim Knox, who also had her babies young but wants more for her and her family, and is helping Tallulah study to be a social worker. However, Zach wants to transplant her to a new-build flat on the ring-road, removing her even from Kim (and her childcare and emotional support). When Tallulah meets Scarlett, a troubled posh girl with a magnetic personality, and the two fall in love, she is desperate to be rid of Zach - but how far are they prepared to go?

A couple of years on, Tallulah and Zach's disappearance is shrouded in mystery, but when Sophie moves to the neighbourhood with her partner Shaun, the new headmaster, her detective novelist skills come into play and she sets about trying to discover what happened once and for all. There are a few loose ends, such as sexual tension between Kim and the detective, and Sophie and Scarlett's old boyfriend Liam, and I did wonder if Sophie's name was a nod to Sophie Hannah's sleuthing of A.J Finn - but that might be a bit of a reach!

Anyway, as I said, one of her top three thrillers and already in fine company, this is one to devour - and it's pretty thought-provoking about love, parenthood and sexuality too.