A spooky road called The Devil’s Corridor has had several eerie things happen over the years. One in particular was twenty years ago when a car crashed. Olivia was knocked out in the accident and when she comes round, the three friends who’d been travelling with her have disappeared.

Now a journalist, Jenna, comes to the area to investigate the incident and make it into a podcast. The locals aren’t happy with this intrusion, and Olivia certainly isn’t keen to co-operate. Then Jenna starts receiving threatening letters, so somebody wants her out.

Well-written and gripping.

Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Joseph, and Penguin Random House for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

I have loved all of this author's books and was super excited to read this. Maybe I had too high expectations but I didn't enjoy this as much. Bit predictable and the ending was a bit of a let down.

3.5 rounded down

In 1998 Olivia Rutherford is driving her three friends home from a night out, the weather is bad and she grows more tense as she drives down Devils Corridor leading to Stafferbury in Wiltshire. Suddenly a man appears in the middle of the road, she’s swerves but unfortunately crashes. When she regains consciousness she realises her friends have disappeared. Where are they and who is the mysterious man?

It’s 20 years on and as the anniversary of the girls who disappeared approaches, Jenna, a BBC podcaster, travels to the area to investigate.
The story is told in dual narratives by Olivia and Jenna and its interspersed with a Thailand timeline.

One of the biggest strengths of the novel is the setting and the atmosphere created in and around the town which has standing stones and plentiful myths, legends and folklore such as the Devils Corridor which definitely gives you the creeps. The shades of the mystical and supernatural are really good although you constantly wonder if there is a more earthly explanation.

There are some weird unsettling incidents which give eerie chills and there’s an escalation in the danger levels. I like the potential of the mystery of what happens to the missing girls as it becomes clear there is concealment, secrets and lies galore. The characters are quite complex they’re not necessarily likeable, the exception being DS Dale Crawford who I like from the start.

However, it’s not the fastest of paces, in fact, at times it’s slow. This isn’t helped by some repetition and over explanation. It’s the ending that I find to be the biggest letdown as I’m expecting much more. It’s too neat yet also strangely OTT. Go figure! So it’s a mixed picture but not a bad read by any means.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A brilliant read. Thoroughly engrossing with a storyline that held my attention throughout. Two stories are involved but eventually you see the connection. It made it even more intriguing. Sad to have finished reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a little slow for me and a bit repetitive. However the ending was good and it would be a good holiday read as it’s easy to pick up and put down.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC. I absolutely loved this book, well developed characters and a brilliant story!

Twenty years ago, Olivia was seriously injured in a car crash with three friends. Those friends were never found. Now journalist Jenna is reviewing the case. Can she solve the mystery? Is she putting herself in danger?
The story is an interesting one as the disappearance of the three friends is really baffling. A parallel story in Thailand unfolds and the possible links between the two stories keeping us guessing.
However, the full relevance of the Thailand story and the events of the night of the accident segue into a plot which frustrates the reader. It is almost impossible to piece together ourselves and the the true villains of the piece feel a little overstated and unconvincing.
I'm a massive fan of Claire Douglas's thrillers but this didn't do it for me.

I just love any books from Claire Douglas and have read them since her first one. In all her books I love the twists and turns that make you try to work out the “who dunit “
The book as always is well written and it keeps you guessing and trying to work out the next chapter..
Loved the twist at the end, and I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Claire.
My thanks as always to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House .Penguin for the early read

This is an excellent read. It's so intricately plotted that it kept me glued to it, with no idea how it was going to end. The setting is really vivid - I was shivering despite reading it on a sunny June day. The story is incredibly engrossing, and the characters are all interesting. At some point, everyone looks suspicious! I was so curious to see how the two strands of the story would come together and it was a brilliant reveal. I haven't read this author before - what an introduction!

Four girls go out for the evening. One returns and the others vanish into thin air. On the 20th anniversary of their disappearance, journalist Jenna is looking into the case. As she uncovers long held secrets, she is about to discover someone has been lying for a very long time.

Well written and compelling with a nice twist. Great read.

I cannot wait to read more by this author. This author has now become a go-to author. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

Claire is one my favourite go to Authors!

What happened all those years ago...

This thriller had me on the edge of my seat from the start. It was so twisty, full of suspense, Claire had me guessing right to the end. This read will keep you on tenterhooks, all my theories were totally wrong, which is great as no one like a predictable story.

A must read and I highly recommend you pick this one up.

5 out of 5 from me.

Amazing! I literally couldn't put this one down. It's so cleverly written with so many layers and strands that all come together beautifully..... but in a completely organic and natural way. Its told over a dual character pov and there's also 2 timelines, each one voiced very clearly so it never gets blurry or confusing. The characters are all well written and complete, they're 3 dimensional and noone is who you think they are. The whole mystery is very well laid out with hints of the supernatural sprinkled in. It has this eerie, unsettling vibe to it and your skin really does itch when you're reading about the scenes set in the woods at night. You don't see the twists coming until the very last minute and even once it's all been laid out.... there's that one final piece that just completely blindsided you. Amazing!

A gripping thriller which keeps you hooked. Three girls disappear. Where have they gone? I loved this book and would recommend. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

It’s best to trust nobody in this town.


Something really odd is going on around here. Maybe it is better to not believe it’s mystical or supernatural or whatever it is some of the locals believe. But it’s calculated and linked to the events surrounding Olivia’s three missing friends.

The Devil’s Corridor is an apt name for this long, straight A-road that leads to the market town of Stafferbury in Wiltshire. Over the years there have been reports of many strange happenings; unexplained accidents, apparent suicides, sightings of hooded figures, and the sounds of a child crying in the dead of night. But none more mysterious than the Olivia Rutherford case twenty years ago this week. Three young women disappeared from a crashed car and haven’t been seen since.

Twenty years later, journalist Jenna Halliday is covering the case. But the locals aren't happy with this stranger's arrival. Least of all Olivia. Jenna soon starts receiving threatening notes and it is clear someone wants her out of this town before she suffers a dark fate.

Fast-paced and mysterious, this thriller is for everyone who likes the unknown, secrets from the past. Greed, shame, and sorrow are three concepts in this novel.
The characters are complex, Olivia just wants to hide away and disappear as her friends, so she disappears in plain sight. She even accepts a relationship with someone who doesn't like her very much. Jenna fights with her own domestic demons and the villagers vowed to their secrets.

Atmospheric, intriguing, and touching novel.

Another cracker by Claire Douglas - after Olivia is trapped in a car crash, she awakes to find her three passengers are gone (and later finds out they are missing). The tale picks up 20 years later where the mystery starts unravelling.

I enjoyed the chapters about Thailand and feel like I should have put two and two together but the nicknames certainly threw me off.

This kept me guessing the whole way through and I honestly sped through it to find out the ending!

Thank you for this ARC!

A fantastic read that I couldn't put down. Twisty and unpredictable and kept me guessning all the way through. I would highly recommend.

This was a decent thriller for me - my first Clare Douglas book and she is certainly an author I would read again.

The Girls Who Disappeared is about.......well, three girls who disappeared. 20 years ago Olivia Rutherford was driving her car and crashed with her three friends who were passengers. Olivia was trapped and eventually rescued however her three friends disappeared without a trace and have never been spotted in the past 20 years.

Coming off the back of a break up with her husband, journalist Jenna Halliday travels to rural Wiltshire to make a podcast of what happened 20 years and to try and solve the mystery of where these three girls went.

Like I say, this was an enjoyable mystery novel. I think the author done a good job of setting the scene which had undertones of the eerie and supernatural. The story was well paced and the dual perspective of both Jenna and Olivia worked well and allowed the reader to see the story from these two very different perspectives.

I don't want to spoil anything so all I will say is that the way it tied together was a bit neat for me and I am not sure why that wouldn't have been apparent in the past 20 years.

If you enjoy these types of mystery/thriller novels then you will enjoy this.

Thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House, Penguin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Another really fabulously well written book. By best selling author Claire Douglas. This book has so many twist and turns and is completely absorbing and gripping from the very first page.

I probably binge read this book in about 2-3 days. I absolutely loved it. I was gripped straight from the beginning and couldn’t put the book down throughout. Highly recommend