In the 90's, a friend's family had an exchange student from Ireland that would visit them on a ongoing basis. And they talked about how her country was violent and so I had some understanding, but it wasn't until I picked up The Vanishing Triangle that I gained a deeper understanding of both the physical violence that existed during that time, as well as how deeply unsafe women and girls were during that time as well.

McGowan's account of the women that Ireland basically forgot is jarring and upsetting. Especially since these eight women have never been avenged, even after things started to change. And how knows how many more women have suffered similar fates but simply didn't have loved ones to even champion for them enough for anyone to realize they were missing.

I enjoyed the premise of the book along with the tales of the individual women. I did find that the book lacked more of a connecting thread or continuity in their stories. And maybe they just didn't exist. But I think then maybe I would have preferred each women introduced in her own short story of sorts?

Special thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. This one is available now.

This was the first true crime novel I've ever read. I enjoyed how well it was written and the facts about the cases and about Ireland.

True Crime is one of my new favorite book genres, though I do watch a lot of true crime. I didn't get into really reading it until last year. I have a little obsession with missing people, like how can someone disappear without a trace, then how the law can just assume they left on their own. That is why I picked up The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan, and it didn't disappoint me. Her writing was very easy to follow , it made someone like me who nothing about the missing girls understand what was going on. The only Issus I had was it was a little slow in parts and I had to put it down a couple of times so that I would get into a reading slump.


Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK,

Wow even though I am not Irish I was not aware of the story which made such a riveting read.
It is scary to think about how these woman have been missing for such a long time and with varied suspects you would think there would be some conclusions. I really felt for the families who don't have the answers never mind the bodies to rest.
This was handled with respect for all affected by their disappearances

I love Claire McGowan books and was really thrilled to be given the chance to read this book. Not her usual genre and it took a while to get into but it was really well researched and really well written.

I'm sorry to say that this book wasn't what I was expecting, and not really my type of read. I'm sure other people would enjoy it though.

The disturbing subject matter of the life in Ireland and the difficulties women faced along with he crimes makes this a hard book to read, however i felt how she wrote gave you a vivid picture of the time, The crimes were particularly bleak and sad. It points out the danger of being a woman in Ireland in the 90s.

Great book love Claire McGowan well written can't wait for her next one ...Thanks Netgalley for this ARC

I love this author's fiction books, but I was not as engaged with this turn at true crime.

I was very interested in the cases, and I love learning about Ireland as a whole, but for the most part this never really came together for me. Definitely try her fiction books though if you are looking for a new author.

I have read all of the books by Claire and never am disappointed! This was amazing and am ready for the next one! I’m always left wanting more because you are just in awe of the style of writing and never want it to end!

This is a fascinating true crime account of a section of Ireland: the land of St Patrick, limericks, leprechauns, four leaf clovers . At least that’s what immediately comes to mind when you think of this warm and hospitable country.
   Well this book introduces us to the dark side of life for women in a particular time frame ….the 90’s, not that some of what if exposed in this book had also been happening long before then. This is a focus on the disappearance of 8 women within a certain geographical triangle on the map. The names of the women and other various people who were interviewed are really irrelevant…..and there were many. It was the HOW and WHY did these women just vanish without a trace.
   What this reader took away was the disrespect for women, the influence of catholic church in regard to women, the lack of skills and interest in searching for missing girls by the police. Men who were prosecuted for assault or murder served little to no time for their crimes.  Political factors North vs South Ireland were demonstrated in how police did not share information about the missing.
   The Irish people are very private. So the author assumed there were people out there who knew “something” about these disappearances but never shared it.
   The author covered many aspects of life in Ireland at the time of they serial killer wave which contributed to how it could happen: rural life, few cars, familiarity in small towns, and this did not justify the acts, only how it made it easier for the abusers to seize their victims.
   It was a sad and disturbing book that showed a historical pattern of hidden abuse and disrespect and the silence around it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. A very interesting read covering the disappearance of a number of woman in Ireland in the 90s. Well written and putting the various cases in the context of the Ireland of that time it was a good read.

This was a different read than I was expecting but I enjoyed it. It was very informative and at times too much so. Overall it gave a lot of food for thought and is a tell of some very tragic events! Thanks netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I'm sorry to say that this book really wasn't for me. I found it too upsetting to get very far with it. I am sure that a lot of work went into the research and writing but somehow knowing these were actual crimes rather than a work of fiction was too much for me to bear.

Crime author turned true crime. A great combination. Claire McGowan looks into the vanishing triangle, an area of Northern Ireland where several women have gone missing. She analyses all of the cases linking it to local rumours. It was nice to see Clare have a go at non-fiction.

I have read a few of Claire's previous books and really enjoyed them so when this one became available I didn't even read the blurb but jumped at the chance to read it. I was a bit confused at first before it dawned on me that this wasn't one of her usual fiction books. I found the book interesting and informative as I hadn't heard about the murders and disappearances, but I also found it a bit hard going too and unfortunately not for me.

The Vanishing Triangle by Clare McGowan is her exploring the women missing in Ireland during the 1980’s and the 1900’s. when she first looks at five women missing.
It is an interesting look at how women missing over that period of time were viewed and how the police investigated these missing people. Some men were openly suspected of the rape and murder of these women but never charged, other men were charged for one woman’s death but not other deaths and murders that were similar.
It is also noted how Ireland has changed in many ways, with different views on homosexuality, abortion and religion.
A change from the author’s normal fiction book but an interesting subject with no easy answers.
Highly recommended

This book gave me a lot of food for thought. It was very insightful. Frightening to think of these things taking place so recently.

The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Ireland in the 1990s seemed a safe place for women. With the news dominated by the Troubles, it was easy to ignore non-political murders and sexual violence, to trust that you weren’t going to be dragged into the shadows and killed. But beneath the surface, a far darker reality had taken hold.

In this candid investigation into the society and circumstances that allowed eight young women to vanish without a trace—no conclusion or conviction, no resolution for their loved ones—bestselling crime novelist Claire McGowan delivers a righteous polemic against the culture of secrecy, victim-blaming and shame that left these women’s bodies unfound, their fates unknown, their assailants unpunished.

I have previously enjoyed a book by Claire McGowan so I jumped into this book without realising that this was a true crime book instead of a novel. I knew nothing about these disappearances but to me this book just felt under researched. This was just for not me and I will be making sure that the next book I read by Claire is fiction.

Rating 3/5

This was a very important difficult yet fascinating read. It is clear the amount of effort and research that has went into this book and it really shows how much respect the author wanted to afford to the victims. The book is broken down into chapters that detail different reasons for which those who were killed or went missing in the vanishing triangle didn't get the attention or support they deserved. One of the hardest parts about this book is how little has changed in respect of some areas and how far Irish society still has to go in relation to how it views and treats women. I would be interested to read more true crime non-fiction from this author.