3.5 stars.

It has a very strong and promising first half but the second half for me did not deliver because of the superficial and poorly portrayed grief by the family and the unrealistic ending.

** spoiler alert **

One would expect that the family whose child is missing and possibly murdered is completely distraught and non functioning but here they are happy that they've got to spend 5 years with her. No parents would comfort themselves this way, not years later but especially not when the tragedy has just happened. There are occasional tears and break downs to try to make it believable but then there are many dialogues, a barbeque and random gatherings in between that made no sense and made me wonder: did you forget that YOUR child is missing or her body is suspected having been found?? Kathy seems to be too quick to move on. Her pain becomes less and less visible as the book goes on as if she disassociate herself from the child.

I think that's the problem when writing a book about a child's murder. It is too horrific to really understand it or describe it and there is nothing realistic or good to be written about the family going through it unless one focuses on other characters that are not as close to the child.

The ending is difficult to believe. The murder of Charlie seems quite unnecessary (you can retrieve the DNA from a dead body if needed) and not the guy's MO. The whole mother's angle was also from nowhere. The red herrings are too gruesome and unnecessary. Certain turns can be easily foreseen. But the rest of the story does tie up together so I can see a certain audience really liking the book.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of the honest review.