Publisher: Park Row
Release Date: May 18, 2021

I love Mary Kubica’s thrillers. She’s an auto-buy author for me, and her latest LOCAL WOMAN MISSING is one crazy ride! The prologue and first chapter were amazing, definitely hooked me immediately. The prologue sets up some fabulous ominous tension about what’s to come. And the first chapter that follows! Wow, it was one of the scariest, most nail-biting things I’ve read in a long time. My anxiety was on high alert (but in a good way)!

Overall, I thought the book was suspenseful and entertaining, however I had some issues with it. The premise is that three people have gone missing. First, it’s new mom Shelby Tebow. Then soon after, Meredith Dickey and young daughter, Delilah disappear. What happened to them? Over a decade passes, and suddenly Delilah reappears with a grim story to tell about her missing years, which reignites interest in the cold cases of the other two women.

My main gripe was that I did not buy the motivation behind the whole situation, I guess? The ending was so far out there, you must be able to suspend disbelief. Meredith’s character was particularly frustrating. Some of the things she hid from people or things she did/didn’t do were unbelievable. She’s a doula, after all, hired to advocate for people, but she couldn’t do that for herself??

Even with my quibbles, I’m glad I read it. Looking forward to her next book. (Purchased the Nook book.) — 𝓓𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓪