Member Reviews

The Vanishing Triangle describes a section of Ireland where eight women have disappeared. Some of their bodies are found and some are not. The author discusses each of the cases, giving the readers a view of the complicated social/political/economic factors that may have prevented the solving of such cases.

The first few pages of this book are chilling as one of the crimes is told from a second person view, inserting the reader straight into the middle of the action. The writer has a clear voice, and I couldn’t help but enjoy her narrative style. Although there was a lot of information in this book it was told in a personable manner, that kept the reader connected to the story.

There were times that I got some of the women and their stories confused, there are a lot of names, some of them similar or the same in this book. Perhaps it would have a better idea to have each chapter on a case-by-case basis to make them more distinguishable.

I found learning about Ireland and its history riveting, I was surprised by some of the facts the author highlighted. I live in the UK and had no idea about some of the things that had occurred there and are still occurring there at the current moment.

I feel this book would have benefited from a map of the area that the vanishing triangle was fixed in along with markers indicting the areas the women were abducted from and where some of the bodies were found. It was hard to imagine the proximity of some of the areas.

Overall, McGowen does a fantastic job of showcasing issues that are both historical and still relevant today, it gave me a lot of food for thought.

Rating: Four Stars

Thank you to NetGallery and the publish for the advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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Interesting and heartbreaking. True crime novel that was very well written and made me care. Thank you netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

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The Vanishing Triangle: The Murdered Women Ireland Forgot, Claire McGowan.

A true crime investigation of a series of murders and disappearances in Ireland over 20 plus years by crime fiction author McGowan.

This feels neither wholly true crime nor wholly memoir as McGowan combines true cases with her own memories of the Ireland she knows along with key historical moments. However this is constantly engaging, with a disturbing number of unsolved historical femicides. It would benefit from a bibliography however but nevertheless, a tragic, informative read.

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From novelist Claire McGowan, this is a true-crime investigation concerning women who disappeared int he 1990s in roughly the same area. Why was there so little publicity about them, Claire asks, and how could they vanish without trace? This is a great insight into life in 90s Ireland’s and the position of women in society. Claire wants us not to forget these women, and this is a powerful book.

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This is slightly more different than the authors genre as the is a book true life crime fiction.
The book is based around Ireland in the 1990's and looks into the murders of several victims at that time.
All the women disappeared within the now know 'Vanishing Triangle '.
To explores several theories about who could have taken and murdered these victims.
And interesting read.

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A very different read from Claire McGowan. A true crime account of missing women in the 90's whose cases were never pursued properly. A lack of investigation to connect these cases in the triangle of area surrounding Dublin. An honest account with the not so pretty history of Ireland. A really interesting dark and moving account.

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I have heard of these women before so I was intrigued to find a book telling their stories. I really enjoyed this book. It was very thoughtful provoking and informative.
I recommend to anyone interested in True Crime!
Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for this title in exchange for my honest review.

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As a huge fan of Claire McGowan's previous fictional work this was a totally different kettle of fish.

Non fiction tells us about eight women who went missing over five years in Ireland.

This was sadly not for me and i struggled to make my way through the book, maybe because it was not what i had expected.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for leaving my honest review.

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The Vanishing Triangle is a terrifying story about murdered and forgotten women in Ireland and all the prejudices that existed (and might still exist) within Police Departments regarding the disappearance of women and sex crimes. Although this is a true-crime story focused on Ireland, it is not too far from the reality we had in Brazil prior to the creation of special Police Branches headed and worked by women to deal with women cases. This book is a sad recollection of a time that many want to forget but should be kept alive till these cold cases are solved.
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

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Claire McGowan's The Vanishing Triangle is a laudable literary feat; brilliant, breathtaking, and terribly frightening.

This is a true crime investigative analysis into the cases of missing and murdered women which occurred during the 1990s, in a small Irish countryside where the author grew up. The fact that she lived in one of the villages where the shockingly horrific crimes against women occurred, adds to the very moving nature of her work. The crimes were indeed the stuff of nightmares, or perhaps the scariest fiction/film you can ever imagine. But it's all true. Women went missing; just vanished out of thin air - over and over again. Kidnapped, brutally attacked, raped, murdered, left for dead. It went on and on, for years.

Her work shines a bright light on the social and political climate of the era; one in which women - daughters, mothers, loved, missed - were easily ignored or forgotten altogether by the police force and judicial system. In one case, the investigation did not begin until the young woman had been missing for three months. Three months. How could this happen? McGowan addresses this question, and many more.

The Vanishing Triangle is not an easy read. It is, however, a critically important, and fascinating, read. We must continue to study the past and ask the difficult questions; The Vanishing Triangle is a stark reminder of that fact.

I am immensely grateful to NetGalley, Claire McGowan, and Amazon Publishing UK, Little A, for the opportunity to read this brilliant work, in exchange for my honest and wholly independent opinion.

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Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me…I lost interest very early on. I put it down and didn’t look forward to picking it back up.

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Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a writer of Rue Crime myself, I understand the difficulties of writing on this subject. I thought this book was a good account of a very sad story. A recommended read.

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An interesting real life book about women who disappeared in Ireland in the 1990s. Their cases remain unsolved and it is felt that religious and political ways of the time hindered the investigations. An interesting view and good to read more about Ireland of that time.

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This is a very different type of story from what Claire McGowan usually writes. These are true crimes and not fiction. Although, the missing women and the triangle angle of these murders are interesting. McGowan doesn't give any more insight into these murders. It's more of a regurgitation of the facts. Often she goes in circles between these murders and the story never goes any further than the back and forth. It's an odd book.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK, Little A and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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The deadly truth about 8 women who vanished without a trace in the 1990s in Ireland. Deaths that were not politically related went ignored. Claire's research was thorough and mind blowing. So informative but shocking non the less.

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This book was great and VERY eyeopening. If you enjoyed the Netflix series about Sophie, the woman from France who was mysteriously murdered in Ireland and the killer still has not been apprehended, this book will definitely scratch the true crime itch for you. I really appreciated the fresh look at not only that case but others that had clearly gone mostly unknown to people outside of Ireland. The author clearly did serious research and had very interesting insights into the reasoning behind why so many of these murders/missing persons cases went unsolved. I highly recommend this book if you have interest in true crime, but also if you are curious about how borders between countries can affect the search for missing individuals. Great work.

This ebook was provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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True crime book about Ireland's missing women, the search for them and the devastation left to the ones left behind.

Tells alot about Ireland in the 80's & 90's - living in a time of war and strife - about those who survived and those that just went missing.

Good read - well worth the time.

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The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan is a true crime story about murders in Ireland, where the author grew up. Before starting this book, I had thought it was another one of McGowan's fictional thrillers; I did not realize this was a true crime story that McGowan investigates and exposes dark secrets that shadowed over her childhood home -- Ireland.

I personally prefer McGowan's fictional novels. This was not her best work. I understand these crimes happened in Ireland, a place she probably holds dear to her heart but she allow too much of her bias into the narrative.

Thank you to the publisher, author Claire McGowan, and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

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A tragic true story of eight women who disappeared in Ireland in the 1990's and the cases remain unresolved and the bodies undiscovered. This true crime book discusses the facts and speculates about what could have happend and why there has not been any justice. Thanks to NetGalley UK and Amazon UK for the ARC.

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Claire McGowan is an exceptional writer, but her new true crime story didn’t resonate with me. Telling the story of eight random women that went missing between the years of 1993 and 1998, McGowan talks about crime in Ireland and the way the justice system protects violent men. The story came across on the boring side and with quite a bit of speculation as no trace of the women ever surfaced. It’s a story that Claire, herself feels apart of as it happened in the Area she grew up in. It just wasn’t as compelling as it could have been.

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