Wow! There are thrillers with twists and then there is Local Girl Missing. A slow burning thriller that builds up to a crescendo of twists!
Twenty years ago 21-year-old Sophie Collier disappeared one night in her small Somerset hometown of Oldcliffe-on-Sea. Her best friend, Frankie (Francesca Howe), is devastated and left the town soon after the tragedy. Now she is back, answering the desperate call by Sophie’s brother Daniel to help him. To help him finally discover what happened to his sister. The impetus to his renewed search for the truth is the discovery by the police of a woman’s foot – that believed to be of his long-lost sister after she vanished, leaving only her trainer on the seaside’s dilapidated pier.
The story is told through the present narrative of Frankie and through Sophie’s old diary entries from 1997, prior to her disappearance. Eerily the two voices weave back and forth, from the past to the present. From past shared loves, to the death of a boyfriend witnessed by the girls as young. To the present and renewed love interest between Daniel and Frankie, to her former boyfriend Leon who was Sophie’s big love the months before her disappearance.
All seems connected and as Frankie arrives the past seems to invade her present existence. Quickly she begins to regret her return as ghosts literally appear to haunt her in the town, around the flat she resides. Letters appear alluding to knowledge of a devastating secret. She hears a baby’s cry every night, yet no family resides in the other apartments. Frankie’s friendly father appears more and more in the past story-line. Why? He ran a hotel in which the girls worked. How far does family come before friends? Who really is the enemy? Can one tell? Frankie’s distress and confusion is palpable but still she remains in the Oldcliffe. Unwilling to leave Daniel. Desperate, it seems, to discover the truth of her best friend’s disappearance.
The novel quickly builds to one where everyone is held under suspicion by Frankie.
I had expected a great novel by Claire Douglas as I’d been hooked by her nail-biting debut of ‘The Sisters’ where nothing was as it seemed. This book only confirms the expertise and adeptness of the author. The writing is taut, tense and gripping. The undercurrent of menace bubbles beneath the surface – a real psychological drama. Intense, shocking and frightening. Absolutely wonderful.
I received a free copy of this book from the NetGalley in exchange for a honest and impartial review.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher: Penguin UK
Publication Date: 11th August 2016
Price: £ 4.99 Kindle – Amazon UK
£ 3.85 Paperback – Amazon UK
$ 6.03 Paperback – Amazon US
Annika Perry 
excellent review Annika..i think it’s an art to write reviews from what you perceive…I do read and write…but i feel miles to go before i write a book review..
Thank you so much! 😀 I think you’re right that there is a certain art to writing reviews and when I started I was very unsure how to go about it. I read various resources for some help but mostly studied book reviews from fellow bloggers and then with time found my own style. Appreciate your comment. 😃
Ya.. I can read your passion in writing reviews from your words..
Great review, Annika! Now off to add yet another book to my ever-growing TBR list 🙂
Thank you, Julie…I was lucky to manage to chip away a bit at my TBR pile this summer but since have added many more! Good stress! 😀
Very well done !
Also plz do check my blog I am a new starter
Thank you and look forward to reading your blog. Hope you enjoy looking around here! 😀
Yes , I do !
Definitely a review that will send me to the library. I saw ‘The Sisters’ just last week and passed it by, but will definitely pick it up now. Annika, thank you. Always so nice to be introduced to a new author. 🐞
Johanna, I’ve kept my eye out for her next book since reading The Sistes last year and was chuffed to bits to find this on NetGalley to review. A real treat! Enjoy them both! 😀
I love a good thriller. This looks like something that needs to be added to my TBR. Great review!
Karen, since you like thrillers this one will be perfect and I have a feeling Claire Douglas is one to keep an eye out for! Thank you for your kind comment. 😀
Great review. Off to check this book out. I have Sisters on my kindle and am eagerly waiting to get to it. 🙂
Thank yo so much, Debby! Of the these both brilliant thrillers I must admit I think The Sisters is my favourite – such an unexpected twist and tightly written throughout! Enjoy them both. 😀
Now I’m really looking forward to reading them both. Isn’t it amazing what reviews do for a book? Thank you. 🙂
Absolutely and I’m finding I’m picking up more books from reviews on blogs then from on Amazon these day!
Me too! 🙂
Sounds like a nail biter to me, Annika, with a little paranormal thrown in. Good review. –Curt
Thank you, Curt…the paranormal element (or is it?) really spooked me! Although it doesn’t take lot! 😀
Not having read the book, don’t know if it was paranormal. 🙂 But as for spooks, I’ve experienced 2 or 3. Definitely scary! 🙂 –Curt
Oh wow, this book sounds wonderfully suspenseful. I like how it seems that multiple plot lines are threaded together. Great review, Annika.
The interweaving plot threads had me impressed and I was trying to work out the planning board for this book! Very complicated! Lots of wonderful elements thrown in and so glad you liked the review, Lana. 😀
A great review Annika, I will definitely save time to read this one…Thanks, JC
Thank you, JC – hope you like it too! 😀 Gives you an atmospheric feel of an
English town.
This sounds like right up my alley. I like mysteries and the foot showing up means a big clue but will it be his sister? Lovely review Annika and best wishes to the author, too.
Have a wonderful weekend, friend! 🙂
Robin, thank you so much for your lovely comment and how perceptive it is…I can’t say more for fear of spoilers! A must read for all fans of thrillers I feel, so hope you enjoy it as much as I did! 😀
I feel quite scared just reading the review, Annika! Yes, I know I’m a wuss. 🙂 You’ve done a great job. Happy long weekend! 🙂
Jo, it was very spooky, dark and atmospheric. The town reminded me of a northern one, cold, windy, scary! A fun book to review…Hope you have a lovely weekend too. I’d forgotten it’s Bank Holiday as I am currently in Florida on a ‘special girls break’ with my mother. Having a wonderful time, living just on the beach. 😀😀😀
Sounds wonderful. Enjoy! 🙂 Looks like we might have a sunny one.
Sounds tremendous. I like thrillers where I’m constantly challenged to decide what’s true. This sounds like one of those. I’ll go check it out on NetGalley.
Jacqui, I was thinking of you when reading this book and how much you’d like it! The twist is subtly built up throughout the book…but so many intermingled strands. I wonder what planning and plotting system Claire Douglas uses as so much to lose track of. I think NetGalley still have this and if you haven’t read The Sisters do read that – I would say that is slightly the superior book, surprisingly enough.
Sounds like another great book to read. Bravo for the review!
Thank you, Mary Ann. A fun exciting book to read and a joy to review! 😀
Lucky you, Annika.
sounds intense
for my fragile heart,
but so happy
your’s endured 🙂
Ahh…your ‘fragile heart’…in that case maybe not one for you! I must admit this one was just readable in the evenings without giving me sleepless nights! Worried I’d start seeing ghosts!! 😀😀
A town wrapped in secrets. How true that is and somehow chilling.
I feel the whole solution lies in the relationships around the missing girl.
Great review again Annika.
Mirja
Mirja, you’re spot on! This one is all about relationships and their intermingled nature. A book that is built upon secrets from all sides – and even the reader! That’s what makes it so unusual and such a good read. One I think you’d like. 😀
This one sounds great. Love thrillers. Thanks for sharing this review.
It’s definitely among the top thrillers I’ve read and as this is one of your favourite genres a must read! Enjoy! 😀
Sounds like a fast-paced, exciting read, Annika. Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
Simmering spooky excitement, Diana that builds to one monumental climatic twist.
Well written !
Also plz do check my blog i am a new starter
Thank you! 😀 Welcome to blogging and enjoy the adventure – an opportunity to meet a great variety of friendly folk across the globe! 😀😀
Thank you very much !
I love suspense books and you have really grabbed my attention with this one. Great review (as always).
Mike
Thank you, Mike. I aim to grab your attention so glad that I succeeded! As you enjoy suspense books this is definitely one for you. Enjoy! 😀
Oh…this sounds good, Annika! I’m loving that cover too. Thanks for this great review.
Thank you, Jill and this cover is terrific – it’s what caught my eye about the book straight way! 😀 So atmospheric but obviously tragic as the flowers are decaying…and therein lies the story!
More and more I’ve been gravitating towards suspenseful books like this. Local Girl Missing sounds very good!
I too seem to have been reading a spate of thrillers recently and this is definitely up with the top ones. Think you’ll definitely like this one. 😀
I think so too!
Another great review. Thanks Anika.
Many thank, Bernadette. 😀 Once I’d finished it I knew exactly where to start the review!