I couldn’t put this one down! Harper Adams has moved home to her distant parents after shooting a kid in what she thought was self defence but the gun wasn’t found. The cops have turned her back on her and when she heads home wallowing in the bottom of a bottle, the cops there have an issue with her as she believes they bungled the case of her sister two decades earlier. Only to find herself drawn in to a similar disappearance in the present day as the childhood friend of her sister – the one who should have been with her the day she was kidnapped – wakes to find her daughter is missing.

While a heroine in the story, Harper is deeply flawed and dealing with the loss of her job, life & work partner, reliant on her parents who seem to resent her after her sister’s death and numbing it with a lot of alcohol. Her detective skills and awareness are not at their peak but she fights to find Ava despite many possible suspects, someone stalking her and the police insistence that she is just a runaway.

This series brings back a character from earlier books by Denise Grover Swank, James Malcolm from the Rose Gardner Investigation series that has moved up my to read list because I want to know his history. There is already a second Harper Adams book in the works, Long Gone, available next January as Harper tries to find her way back home.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC for review.

WHAT A FANTASTIC BOOK ONE TO THIS NEW SERIES! I thought the prequel was good but I think this was even better! I absolutely Adored Harper Adams!! Harper carried a lot of baggage with her in book one but in little girl vanished you can tell how strong of a character Harper was!,I enjoyed Malcom James I was rooting for him the whole time! the action was exciting I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough what an excellent start to an incredible series. I already want more,

3.5 stars

This is my first book by Denise and I really enjoyed it.

Harper Adams is back in her home town after many years, she lost her job as a cop and is now drinking her self into oblivion. When Harper was younger, her sister was kidnapped and murdered and now her sister's childhood best friends daughter, Ava, has gone missing. Harper doesn't think the police are doing a good job looking for her, so she takes matters into her own hands to try and find her.

I love the mystery and seeing how Harper went about things, her interactions with James Malcom where brilliant and I really want to go and read more about him now! I did guess who the bad guy was but it was still an interesting read on how everyone else worked it out.

I received a free copy of, Little Girl Vanished, by Denise Grover Swank, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Former detective Harper Adams is in a bad way, she lost it all her job, house, stability, and her reputation, heading home is her only option. When her friends daughter goes missing can she find her? I thought that was a good read, but i did not like the language..

I found this to be a quite satisfying entry to a series. That is despite the fact, however, that Harper sometimes comes off as a platinum-certified ding-dong. I'm speaking specifically of the moment, for instance, wherein she hears a person's name and is like, "Where have I heard that before?" Ma'am, you literally just [spoilery detail]. I mean, my goodness.

This was my first book by this author. Detective Harper Adams had a fall from grace which cost her her job and her reputation. She goes back home to live with her parents and is drawn into a local kidnapping which seems to have ties to the disappearance and murder of Harper's sister many year ago. This was an interesting mystery that had my attention the whole time. The twist at the end was good as well! I am excited to see that his is a series so we will able to read more about Harper in the future. I am also going to look up her older books to find out more about Malcolm's past since I now know that she wrote a previous story about him. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was gripped from the first page. I could not put the book down. Character development was fantastic with enough twists and turns to keep the housework waiting. I can't wait for the next book

A thrilling start to what is sure to become a popular series.

I love a good missing persons novel and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. Full of mystery and intrigue and with plenty of twists this book kept me reading at full throttle from the moment I picked it up.

As the lead to the beginning of a new series this book certainly sets the scene and introduces you our main character Harper. A disgraced police officer who’s not only having a hard time navigating her new life without friends or purpose but also struggling with her dependency on alcohol in order to cope with feelings and emotions she’d rather not resolve.

Harpers a good character, but I felt that she could’ve benefited from being much more developed and explored. Her alcoholism is played in heavily although the fact she seems to be a highly functioning alcoholic in less than 3 months felt somewhat unbelievable. I would’ve liked to have seen more of the effects her addiction played out in terms of her abilities rather than it being focused on for dramatic effect.

A rather annoying part of her character was her inability to form firm conclusions from her observations and investigations. He continued accusations towards Malcom were exhausting to the point just rude rather than serving an actual purpose. I didn’t mind her bluntness but she makes a point of saying she has done investigative work before but doesn’t seem to apply it to outside of the force.

Overall this book is a thrilling and entertaining read and I’d highly recommend it to someone considering picking it up. I’ve not read from this author before but I will certainly be checking out others in her collection and from this growing series.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Harper Adams returns to her home town after losing her job as a detective. Shortly after she returns a child goes missing; reminiscent of her own sisters abduction and murder when they were young. As she dives deeper into this case (with the help of an incredible ex-criminal boss), the more the danger increases.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! Also, James Malcom, the ex-crime boss on the up and up was my favorite person in the book-love him! I enjoyed the pacing of the plot, character development, suspense, and questioning of who was involved. There were enough potential suspects that it wasn’t solved right away, and enough barriers for our unlikely partners to putting together the puzzle pieces. Worth checking out if you enjoy murder mystery.

This is another winner from Denise Grover Swank. She is able to capture the emotions of her characters and then translate them perfectly on the page for the reader. The mystery was well developed and the suspense reached a perfect peak. The plot twists were complex but tied the story together for a perfect conclusion. I am excited to see what this author brings next.

I adore Denise Grover Swank - I first got hooked by her delightful writing and captivating mysteries with her Rose Gardner mysteries, then her blind bake series and now I am equally obsessed with Harper! I love that there was a cross-over of characters from her rose novels, and I'm really excited to see the development of James 'Skeeter' Malcolm as he the last set of books were just tapping into his softer side.

I really liked Harper - I didn't like her decisions so much - but that made this book different to the others which I really appreciated. I like how Grover Swank always takes you along on the ride of her mysteries and you find out everything alongside the main characters. It really makes you feel like you're right there next to Harper!

I love the twists and turns present in all of her books and this one was no different (in terms of a delightful surprise twist), and how it was wrapped up without feeling rushed always leaves me feeling satisfied and hungry for the next instalment.

I've been a DGS for years and following on reading this book - I can only see that continuing. EVERYONE needs to read this.

First, thank you NetGalley for providing this advance copy for me to read and review. Fantastic book and story! Kept me guessing the entire time and the storyline was so detailed and realistic. Characters and their lives were well written and drew me in. Definitely a book I recommend and I also look forward to the next Harper Adams book in this series, not to mention other series by this author.

Little girl vanished is the first in a new series featuring ex detective Harper Adams set in small town America.

It opens strongly, revealing plenty of background issues for our lead character, and the impact these have had on getting her to her current position.

We are also introduced early to other potential narratives which the book could follow, and hooks you in from the start. The main theme is based around a kidnapping, which is a terrifying reflection of Harpers own childhood where she sister was kidnapped. As the coincidences and similarities start to pile up, Harper has to figure out if this is just another tragic event, a link to her past, or another horrifying alternative. There are plenty of periphery characters introduced to us but it’s easy to keep track of who is who, and a number of potential narrative arcs set up early on to provide intrigue, touching on some tough subjects including kidnap, murder, child abuse, and local corruption. At times it makes for a difficult read due to the sensitive nature of the topics but there is nothing gratuitous in the authors approach and it all lends to the story.

As a main character, Harper is obviously flawed and far from perfect, but it is easy to understand the reasons behind her behaviour and emphasise with her. I found myself rooting for her fairly early on, and found those around her stifling and judgemental of her character, and you could easily identify the reasons she doesn’t always play by the rules due to her past and present relationships and trauma.

The writing style is beautiful, and flows easily from one scene to the next, making it an easy read for a complex narrative. You feel the suspense build up the further you get into the story, and you have no idea where you’re going to be taken next or how it will resolve itself, which leaves you itching to read another few chapters each time. The story concludes nicely, bringing all of the pieces together, with an ending I didn’t see coming. We leave Haprer in a better but still not perfect situation than when we started, but this just sets us up nicely for the next in series.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, would recommend and looking forward to the next instalment.

Thank you to Netgalley and booksgosocial for a copy of this ebook for review considering. All views are my own.

4.5⭐️

<i> Disgraced, ex-detective Harper Adams is perfectly content wallowing at rock bottom. She’s lost her job, house, and reputation, and it only gets worse when she’s forced to move back home to Jackson Creek, Arkansas, the one place she swore she’d never return.

But everything changes when she gets chilling news. A childhood friend’s daughter is missing…and it’s eerily reminiscent of Harper’s sister’s kidnapping and murder two decades ago.

Not her business.

Except with the police fumbling the case at every turn, Harper realizes she might be the only one who can save the girl.

And she might need the help of a former crime boss to do it. </i>

Wow. This was a captivating mystery from start to finish. Harper was excellent as the FMC, a flawed but sympathetic lead, and don’t even start on James Malcolm. These are characters I can see following through a whole series, and I’m not usually one for serial mysteries. But in this case, I’ve already made sure to add book 2 to my wishlist.

Thank you Denise Grover Swank, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

A thrilling start to a new series.
Harper is a ex detective who returns to her home town and get caught up in a missing child case which has memories of the past.
A very good story with drama,angst,secrets twists and a surprise character.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Little Girl Vanished is a brilliantly written story. I found it impossible to put down. The story focuses on Harper. A disgraced ex detective who is forced to return home to Arkansas. She had a troubling past. Her sister was killed as a child. Now back home. There's a chilling case of 'deja-vu' when a young girl goes missing. She feels she has to investigate. Enlisting the help of a former crime boss (who clearly hate eachother) to try and "crack the case" that seems a little too close to home.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Little Girl Vanished by Denise Grover Swank. I really enjoyed this book. I like that the main character is strong but still flawed. I think it might have been a bit over the top in regards to police incompetence but that might be just my own experience. I liked the twist at the end.

Rating: 4 stars ⭐️

I was soo invested and really liked the suspense! 🔍

This new series from Denise Grover Swank is definitely worth the read and will get you hooked from the start!

It starts with Harper Adams, she was a Police detective until there was a deadly incident that ruined her life.

She moved back to her hometown and got a call that someone’s daughter that she knew from the past was kidnapped, just like her sister, 20 years ago..

This is the first book I've read from this author but I'm excited to try more!

Please be aware that Little Girl Vanished contains sensitive subjects and topics. (grief, death of a child, alcoholism)

Thank you to Netgalley, Denise Grover Swank and the publisher for providing me with this copy. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely love, Denise Grover Swanks books, I have read more of her books than anyone else's!
This is a new series that I'm very excited about. A character that many loved in her long Rose series is a character in her Brand New series here.
You do not want to miss out on this new book! It's every bit as good as I thought it would be!
I cannot wait for the next one!
Good job, Denise! I truly enjoyed it!

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Denise Grover Swank, and your Publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book!

This book is full of suspense, and it grabs the reader from the first page. Harper is a strong lead. Characters are well-developed and relatable. There are several twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and guessing. Little Girl Vanished is a thrilling start to the series, and I look forward to the next installment.