I received this book from a friend.
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: September 7, 2021
Summary:
2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.
Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.
The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah’s friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.
She never returns.
2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.
‘DIG HERE’ . . .
A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s remarkable new novel.
My thoughts:
Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite thriller writers and I love that her books are always so different. I never know what to expect with her books and that always keeps me guessing what is to come and that is exactly what happened here!
This book had all some of my favorite tropes in a thriller – a cold case, a creepy mansion and of course family secrets – and these all combine to give us a captivating story that hooked me right from the start. The mystery of the missing teenage couple just grabbed my attention and the way that this story was told, moving back and forth between a few different timelines really amped up the suspense. It’s a slow-burn for sure, but I was so invested in how everything would connect that I found myself totally consumed by this story, even when I wasn’t reading it.
This book had me guessing all the way through. This is as much a character-driven story as it is a thriller and this is definitely where Lisa Jewell excels. She is able to nail both with such precision, giving us characters that are fully developed, relatable and flawed. These characters are in tough spots in life and you can’t help but sympathize with them. As for the thriller aspects, I loved every part of it. I hadn’t put the pieces together until they were almost all there.
This was the perfect balance of mystery and family drama and I could not read it fast enough! I am so glad I finally got a chance to read this one and definitely recommend picking it up if you have not read it yet!
