This book was mis-categorized. It should have been in True Crime, not General Fiction.

The Vanishing Triangle — known in Ireland as The Triangle — is a disturbing area where several women disappeared. The author lays out their cases and tries to draw conclusions. Either way, their disappearances were disturbing, and most of them were raped.

This book made me feel sick to my stomach. There is so much evil perpetrated by men against women. They need to be held accountable, but most of them aren’t.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing Little A for gifting me a digital ARC of this true crime book by Claire McGowan - 3.5 stars rounded up.

In the 1990s, eight women went missing in a small triangle area of Northern Ireland. In an area reeling from The Troubles, these women were basically ignored and their cases floundered or ignored.

I'm a huge fan of Claire McGowan's thrillers. This one was a tougher read for me. I'm probably more of a timeline reader when it comes to true crime; this book was ordered by and stressed the political and societal issues in Ireland and the world. Therefore, I never got quite as involved in the individual murders and missing women stories because there were so very many stories, as well as mentions of them to understand societal issues. But it was a good and necessary read - there is not one among us who is not important and no death or missing person should be ignored. And no victim should be shamed because of their sex, profession or clothing choice.

Overall, this read was informative and shines a light on forgotten disappearances and murders, bringing their stories to light. I feel terrible for not liking this one as much as I feel I should have. I was engaged with the story, but the idea that most of these facts led us nowhere new (also, most of these crimes don't seem to be connected) left me feeling like some of it was unnecessary. I believe these cases deserve the attention given by the author, but generally this true crime just wasn't for me

3.5 stars

A very impactful book.
Some chapters I was just shaking my head and tutting to myself,other chapters felt annoyed at the callousness of the killer (s).
This book really made me think about the justice system and the police with their attitudes towards women even today.

This book documents the authors search for truth. She looks at missing women to figure out how their loss impacts other. It is a detailed account that tries to offer hope and solutions.

The Vanishing Triangle is a hard look at true crime in Ireland in the 90s centered in Dublin their are eight women who are missing. But due to technology delays which the author knows by growing up there believes there are many more. Well written even for those who have never been to Ireland.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this digital arc. All opinions are my own.

A very interesting book with a fascinating look at the tragedy of murders in both north and Southern Ireland. Very sad how woman where treated but things are improving thankfully. A good read. #TheVanishingTriangle #NetGalley

A true crime novel that delves into the missing girls and women of Ireland. We learn about the missing, the police and the circumstances. If you are a fan of 20/20, Dateline and all the murder shows, this will be up your alley!

Thank you NetGalley!

I found this book really interesting. The amount of women and the close proximity to each other is staggering. The author freely admitted she was no investigative journalist so I had to forgive how the text was and how she bounced from one case to another and did seem to repeat herself quite a bit. But all in all this book would definitely be worth a read, especially if you're interested in the murders of these women and all the facts gathered to include in this book.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free arc book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #amazonpublishing, #evawoodsakaclairemcgowan,

This one was a pleasant surprise! I felt a lot of tension while reading it, in the best way. I'm such a sucker for true crime, and I think a lot of people will devour this.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is a comprehensive re-examination of the tragic and unexplained disappearances of eight women from a triangular-shaped region of Ireland along the east coast to a point the midlands in the 1990s.

McGowan who is a native of a small town not far from the border with Northern Ireland, analyses patterns between the victims ages, status, last known locations and the times that they disappeared in an attempt to draw conclusions that might uncover potential perpetrators. Social factors, the transport infrastructure and existing institutions are all put under the microscope to identify the contributing factors such as people unwilling to report unusual happenings, women forced to accept lifts from strangers (or acquaintances) or cross dark parklands due to the inadequacies of the public transport system at the time.

This is a compulsive review which focuses on the injustice of what happened, how families found coping so difficult and the inability of the Garda to find these women or prosecute anyone for the heinous crimes that the women undoubtedly suffered.

Having enjoyed Claire McGowan's books, I relished in reading her true crime novel. The author shines a bright light on the disappearances of eight women in the 1990s who were never found. All went missing in the same geographical triangle without a trace. Compelling read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little A books!

I have previously read fiction books by Claire McGowan and enjoyed them so being a fan of true crime I was looking forward to reading The Vanishing Triangle. Unfortunately something about it missed the mark for me. I found it thought provoking but there was just something missing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my ARC.

This focuses on missing women in Ireland the problems are that not enough coverage is given in the media to highlight these missing women.... At the time the internet wasn't as accessible as it is now, mobiles weren't for the majority and the troubles are still rife. People who did see anything or suspected someone seemed to keep their mouths shut for fears of repercussions! So many women missing in and around the same areas, could they be connected or all seperate?maybe now with more DNA testing available they might be able to find who killed some of the women and hopefully find the other women who are missing even if it is their body! At least the family would be able to have some sort of closure unlike nowhere they don't know what has happened to them.

Many thanks to Net Galley for letting me read this book.

True crime isn't really my cup of tea, so whilst I didn't love this, I'm aware that it may be a case of 'it's not you, it's me'.

The writing was good and I could tell the book was well-researched, but there was a lot of anecdotal stuff from the author that felt a bit self-indulgent.

Not for me I'm afraid but this will find its audience.

In the 1990’s there were lots of women murdered and never to be found in Ireland. This is a book describing a lot of the missing women, the lack of police concern depending on the woman that was murdered and the men that served very little time in prison. I was astonished when I read this book because I had never heard of any of this before. What I found so troubling was the fact if the woman had a child out of wedlock the police stance on it was she was not a worthy person. Or if they had seemed depressed oh well! It was sickening to read how some of the potential killers would rape then kill, then head home to bed down next to the wife like just another day.

There were lots of names of the women to try to keep track of in the beginning of the book but the farther I got into the book it was easier to keep straight! Author did a good job of refreshing the women and their circumstances.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is well written but I had some trouble getting into this book. It's all about true crime in Ireland in the nineties. Just a little hard to follow, and I had no idea what the content of this book would be about.

Very thought provoking. The author explores the Irish culture of secrecy and mistrust of police and government. There are many examples of missing women and bungled police searches that show how pervasive the problems are for women in Ireland. She doesn't really solve any of the murders or disappearances but she shows there are many similarities in the cases and in some of the cases the murderers names were an open secret but due to Irish libel laws she couldn't name them. (Which as an American this was frustrating to me. I wanted to know more about the perpetrators.)

This book was very dark and sad but a great read.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan has a wonderful voice. The author seems like she is writing you a personal letter or having a casual conversation, while examing a horrible subject. The Vanishing Triangle refers to a series of murders and rapes of women in Ireland. Most have been unsolved. I enjoy the way the author explains things thoroughly without using technical language. If you enjoy true crime, this is a great read.

I love Claire McGowan's books and it was interesting to read one in a different genre to her usual books.
It was unbelievable that so many women's killers, abductors and rapists have gone unpunished and the crimes not even investigated.
Well done to Claire for highlighting these issues to the world.
Thank you to Netgalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Claire McGowan for an ARC in return for an honest review.