My favourite author. This duo writing under one name are consistent in writing thought provoking and tense mysteries. This is no different. You can pick up any Nicci French book and know you’re reading a book that won’t disappoint. Enjoyed this as much as the others. Made sure I spread the word that this is on its way to being published.

A profound study on the impact of grief. I've always associated the writing team behind Nicci French with stylish and atmospheric crime thrillers. Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? is so much more. It starts as a real-time exploration into the mysterious disappearance of mother of four Charlotte. She fails to show up at her husband's 50th birthday party. I was hugely disappointed with the bungled police investigation, while reminding myself that this is quite often what used to happen. Charlotte's husband and children are, at this stage, extremely annoying. Only 15 year old Etty seems to have any nouse and sense of loss.
Part 2 is several years later. Two brothers, whose father Duncan was linked to the disappearance of Charlotte, start a podcast looking afresh at the mystery. The case had been scaled down with the lazy police assumption that Duncan committed suicide. The podcast interviews cause tensions and unresolved grief surfaces. Etty, a solicitor living alone in London, has built an armour around her feelings, and developments cause her carefully constructed defence to sheer away.
Part 3 sees an overhaul of the police investigation following a new incident which seems to be linked to the Salter disappearance and Duncan's death. A female detective, Maud, is sent from London amidst hostility from the local force. This part of the story is hugely satisfying as good police work is finally done.
It was touching to read both at the start and finish of the book some of Charlotte's likes. It didn't seem as if many had actually "seen" her during her life, apart from platitudes about how she made everyone feel special.
A great read on many levels.

Liked the family saga and the crime story, just felt the bungling police was just a little too charactur for my liking. It didn't fit with the rest of the book which I enjoyed reading.

I found this to be an excellent standalone thriller which I enjoyed very much. It's not a complicated plot but I loved the attention to detail, how everyone is behaving and what they are all thinking after their mother Lottie fails to show up for their father's 50th birthday party.
Written with compassion, the characters are so believable and I was quicly drawn into the drama. I liked how all the secrets unravel and nothing is what it first seems. Highly recommended.

This was an enthralling thriller which for me got better and better as the book progressed. It started at the 50th birthday party for Alec Salter which is brought to an abrupt end when his daughter is so concerned about her missing mother she contacts the police. The police fail to take her disappearance seriously until another local is found drowned leaving the Salter children in despair but even then the police effort is ill managed and eventually unofficially written off blaming the victim of the drowning for Charlotte Salters presumed death. The story continues 30 years later with a podcast about the disappearance and drowning and for me this is where the story gets more interesting. The Salter family are very disjointed and this makes for great dynamics whilst the makers of the podcast have their own agenda, When a third person dies in the area the pace really moves up with the introduction of Maud, a detective inspector sent in from outside the area as there’s concern about how the investigation is being handled by the local police. This really causes consternation amongst the local force and makes for great reading, I actually loved Maud and would love to read another book featuring her as she was a great person but also very competent. The conclusion was good and also slightly creepy, the whereabouts of Charlotte Salter was very well thought out though. Overall this had great characters and a solid plot and for me very engrossing. 9/10

At last! The writing team, Nicci French, are back on form with ‘Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?’ Whilst this latest read does not quite top the very best of the Frieda Klein novels, the quality of the characters, the immediacy of the settings and the complexity of the murder mystery to be solved are all very involving.
Set over two time periods – 1990 and the present day – we meet the four Salter children as their father celebrates his fiftieth birthday which is also the day that their mother goes missing. Nicci French captures the confusion, fear and despair of the children superbly as, in the days after the party, they begin to understand that the story of their mother’s disappearance will not have a simple ending. Friends in the village are perplexed and sad but they will never understand just how important a family lynch pin Charlotte was.
In the present day, these children are middle-aged, difficult and complicated – those who have survived, that is. They agree to return to the village where they used to live to meet up with the Ackerleys – Greg and Morgan. The latter is now a respected documentary maker and he wants to make a podcast exploring the disappearance of Charlotte and the death of his father, Duncan, around the same time. The Salters aren’t keen but what can they do? Most of their energy is being taken up with clearing the family house and planning their father’s move to a nursing home.
Back in 1990, the police made a dreadful job of investigating the case, coming to a lazy, convenient conclusion. In the present day, the powers that be decide that, with the broadcasting of the podcast, it must be looked at with fresh eyes. And fresh from London comes DI Maud O’Connor. What a great new character. Outspoken yet sensitive, clever and tenacious, she begins to shake up assumptions. Eventually she realises that, ‘…the case had seemed like a photograph developing in a dark room: very slowly, the murky images had clarified and resolved. It had seemed at first like a violent mess, and now it had sharp outlines, and stated to make sense. Horrible sense.’
Hopefully, Nicci French will develop Maud further in future crime stories. She could become a worthy replacement for Frieda Klein!
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Nicci French have been writing consistently good books for too many years for me to remember, and this might be one of my favourites.
The sympathy I felt for the family left behind for thirty years always wondering... it was more than I expected to feel for people who aren't real.
The book had a few characters I just felt connected to, Etty , and Maud (who I'm hoping we might see more of)
The conclusion came as a surprise, which is always pleasant.
Always good to have a new French book.

I'm a massive fan of Nicci French so I was really excited to read this book. As always I was gripped instantly until the very end.

I've read so many books lately with this same theme. A cold case, unsolved for a number of years until someone comes along and makes a podcast about it, re-opening old wounds.

In this book, Charlotte Salter fails to show for her husband's birthday party and is never seen again. A police investigation comes to a quick conclusion but with the body never found, her family never quite believe the police conclusion.

30 years later, those close to the situation make a podcast aiming to bring the death back to the public's imagination and finally find out what happened to Charlotte Salter.....

In most books I have read of this nature, the chapters have been alternating between the past and the present with the reader drip fed pieces of information within each storyline. Here, French doesn't do this. The first third of the book tells the story of 1990 and the disappearance of Charlotte and then moves on to tell the present day story in 2020.

I am not sure whether I think this was a better move or not. I think the first part of the book was a little slow and it may have benefitted from being broken up by the present day story playing out. Having said that, the end of the book was fantastic and I am not sure if the alternating chapters would have ruined the flow at the end as the book built to a crescendo.

I will definitely be interested to see what other people think about the format.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

wonderful i think one of the best from nicci french team .A real family mystery and full of drama ,i loved it .

I really enjoyed this latest book from Nicci French - they’re back baby!
Whereas their previous book- The Favour felt like they were phoning it in and it was flat but Charlotte Salter is them back on top and acing it high.
I really liked the individual characters of Charlotte, Maud and Etty. Alec was unlikable from the get go.
The Ackerleys were a mixed bag for sure. Five out of five

A little slow to get going but well written. A gripping and heart breaking thriller. Everything i would expect from this author. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Just before writing this review, I looked at the list of books written by husband and wife team Nicci French and was astounded to see that they have been having books published for 25 years! I have read and really enjoyed all of their books. It makes me feel very old as I remember reading the first couple when they were first published and ever since then I have been hooked, desperate to get my hands on them as soon as they come out!
Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter is a brilliant book. It starts back in 1990, when Charlotte Salter fails to turn up at her husband’s 50th birthday party. Looking back, this was a terrible time to go missing, very hard for the police to pick up leads, no cctv, no mobiles and limited forensic technology. The book then goes forward in time to the present day. Charlotte is still missing and a new podcast about her disappearance brings the case back to the forefront of everyone’s minds. Will the podcast shed some light on what happened back in 1990? Will Charlotte’s family finally get some answers? Or should the last just be left in the past?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it utterly riveting, like all Nicci French books, and read it in just over 24 hours. I highly recommend this to all Nicci French fans and all those new to their books (and with such a back catalogue you’re in for a real treat!).
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Nicci French books so was so excited to get stuck in this new one! As always, ots well written, descriptive, thought provoking and with amazing twists and explosive secrets. It did start off a bit slow but I still really enjoyed it

As a long-time fan of Nicci French (I've read all their books) this is competent - but that's a rather disappointing verdict on a duo who have given us so many standout books, not least the brilliant Frieda Klein series. This is fluently written but it feels languorous and slow, and tepid rather than thrilling. Everything about it has been done before: the 'dark secrets of the past' plotline, the rather inadequate motive, the podcast that re-opens events from thirty years ago, the small town setting where everyone knows everyone else's business. There's nothing wrong with this but it just feels unambitious in comparison the French bibliography.

Nicely written, attention to characterisation, emotive in places - but nothing new or exciting here.

#HasAnyoneSeenCharlotteSalter? #NetGalley
On the day of Alec Salter’s fiftieth birthday party, his wife, Charlotte, vanishes. Most of the small English village of Glensted is at the party for hours before anyone realizes she is missing. While Alec brushes off her disappearance, their four children—especially fifteen-year-old Etty—grow increasingly anxious as the cold winter hours become days and she doesn’t return. Then Etty and her friend Morgan find the body of Morgan’s father—and the Salters’ neighbor— Duncan Ackerley, floating in the river. The police conclude that Duncan and Charlotte were having an affair before he killed her and committed suicide.
Thirty years later, Morgan Ackerley returns to Glensted with his older brother to make a podcast based on their shared tragedy with the Salters. Alec, stricken with dementia, is entering an elder care facility while Etty helps put his affairs in order. But when the Ackerleys ask to interview the Salters, the entire town gets caught up in the unresolved cases. Allegations fly, secrets come to light, and a suspicious fire leads to a murder. With the podcast making national news, London sends Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor to Glensted to take over the investigation. She will stop at nothing to uncover the truth as a new and terrifying picture of what really happened to Charlotte Salter and Duncan Ackerley emerges.
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Schuster UK for giving me an advance copy.

While the entire village of Glenstead is celebrating her husband Alec's 50th birthday, it takes a while for people to notice that the well-liked, lively Charlotte Salter is missing. Her husband seems unconcerned but the same cannot be said for her four children - particularly her youngest child, a daughter who is still a teenager.

It turns out that the Salters had a less-than-ideal marriage, so when Charlotte's coat is found by the riverside, and the body of one of the neighbours, Duncan Ackerley, is discovered floating in the river, the police decide that this is an open and shut case where Charlotte and Duncan had an affair, he then killed her and committed suicide afterwards.

But the aftermath of these two events - Charlotte's disappearance and Duncan's death - continues to reverberate through the lives of the two devastated families and the inhabitants of the village.

It is Morgan, one of Duncan's sons, along with Etty, Charlotte's daughter, who find Duncan's body. Both are traumatized. And three decades later, when Morgan and his brother Greg return to film a documentary about the tragedy, it opens up Pandora's Box leaving the inhabitants of this small village with their lives shaken to the core all over again...

This is a gripping story, although the pacing could have been better. Editing down the length of the book would have improved the reading experience, I think it was a bit too long. But what happened to Charlotte Salter is indeed a tragic and moving tale. And well worth a read. It gets 3.5 stars.