This was an excellent page turner! I read it in 2 days on the beach. The viewpoint of a teacher on a field trip is spot on. Smith keeps you on the edge of your sit with suspect after suspect leading to the surprise villain without going crazy deep. Makes a great beach read.

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and Miranda Smith for letting me read “The School Trip” in exchange for an honest review.

The initial setting of this story is beautiful. The pumpkin patch, the cornfields, the barn are described in an alluring light filled with children and laughter which this book needs because it has a pretty slow start action-wise. It only starts moving forward towards the middle of the book when Claire is kidnapped.
From then on it gave me Castle vibes in the hunt for Claire's whereabouts! As the story progresses, everyone's a suspect to Emma and the police - I fell into that trap! I also loved the chapters from the abductor's POV as it made me more engaged in his/her motives.
The ending was a little abrupt but it leaves the reader with interesting afterthoughts.

This book had me up til 3 AM! This is another AMAZING psychological thriller! I’ve never heard of this author, however after reading her book I’ll be binging more! I finished this book roughly in 2 days! It’s a really fast paced thriller which I personally love! I had multiple theories about the plot twist, however I was very wrong. I also loved that about the book, that I couldn’t guess the twist(s)! I got serious Criminal Minds vibes from the legal point of the book! This book is tragic, heartbreaking, thrilling, while at the same time heart warming. I would give this book a 4.5/5! I’m so excited for it to be released and highly recommend it!
I would like to thank @netgalley, Bookouture, and Miranda Smith for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own!
This book releases on 4.13.23!

I really enjoyed the plot and idea of this book. It was enjoyable and easy to get into. I found myself finding some plot holes in the book that I couldn't ignore and it felt very repetitive at times which got a little annoying. For this I rated the book a 3 star and would still recommend the book to others.

The School Trip is a page turner that has you wanting to read just one more chapter. Miranda Smith nailed that feeling when your kid goes out of your sight for a moment through this entire book. It only takes a second, a blink of an eye and they are gone, can’t be found … vanished. The feeling of panic that then turns into determination of figuring out who did this and why.

I connected with each of the characters in this book at different points during the book which was good and bad all at the same time. I felt the end of the book was a bit rushed but I had connected with each of the characters so even though it felt rushed it also felt complete.

Overall an excellent read that keeps you saying just one more chapter. I enjoyed this book immensely and have already added more of this authors books to my to be read list! Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for an honest review.

A routine trip to the pumpkin patch turns into every teachers worst nightmare when a child goes missing from the field trip.

Emma, one of the teachers also has a daughter to keep track of as well as her own class of students.

Emma has been struggling with single parent life since the sudden death of her husband

A slow start but picked up soon enough.

Realistic characters. Mostly realistic situations.

The culprit came out of nowhere and seemed a little unrealistic to me.

3.5 stars

Thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for the arc.

This book was written so well and kept me drawn in the entire time. Miranda Smith is an awesome author and I love her style of writing. Very suspenseful with a twist.

The School Trip by Miranda Smith was good, and a book that I enjoyed. The first quarter of the book was a bit slow and took a while to read through, maybe because, from reading the description I knew it was a rouse for what was coming.
I really like books that take place in a short amount of time, which this one does. Once we got to the main story, I was turning the pages much more quickly. I would recommend this to a “light thriller” reader who doesn’t like gore. This book had enough mystery to keep me reading but wasn’t triggering like some thrillers/mysteries can be. I am rating this book at 3 stars, and would recommend this to friends who are looking for a nice fast paced read.

I am a kindergarten teacher so I was immediately drawn to this book. It was fast paced and had lots of twists and turns. Thanks for this ARC.

Gripping thriller about a mother who's little six years old daughter is kidnapped..Her fear,her loss, her emotions and her courage is described excellently. I loved this book. It's a book which you wsnt to finish in one setting. Shocking and twisted mystery. Brilliant 👏

I loved this one! As a parent missing kid stories really give me the creeps and this was no exception. Fast paced and oozing suspense. It zig and zag through a story that you won’t believe. The characters are incredible and the story flowed beautifully. I was captivated from page one.

The School Trip by Miranda Smith

Published: April 13, 2023
Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Fiction
Pages: 311
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Miranda Smith writes psychological suspense. She is drawn to stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations, complicated women, and dark impulses.

“But I guess you never really know how a person acts behind closed doors.”

Emma is a hardworking teacher who tries to do her best after the sudden death of her husband. This field trip was supposed to be fun—a day at the pumpkin patch. No one was supposed to disappear.

I loved how the story funneled into intensity while maintaining an intense pace. The subtle escalation was so well done. I found the emotions within this book genuine and well-written.

I liked Emma; she was a mom doing her best. And she wants the best for her daughter, always. I liked how family was a theme, both chosen and biological. I also found the use of forgiveness beautifully done.

This is a fast-paced thriller from the first page. I loved how characters were stacked to make you suspect everyone- I fell into that trap! I enjoyed this book and am excited to recommend it.

This had me reeling.
I was so scared and sad and then I cried at the end. What a lovely book.
It was a lot for me as a school employee and mom of two second graders but I still liked it.

wow! congratulations I really couldn't put this book down. Read it long into the night.. it had me hooked from the first chapter. it's tense and captivating and an excellent read by Miranda Smith.

This fast pace mystery/thriller had me on the edge of my seat for the 4ish hours that it took me to read it!

For the first quarter of the book we follow Emma while they are searching for a missing kindergarten while on a school field trip in October to a pumpkin patch. Then once we think everything is okay, WHAM, Emma’s daughter Claire goes missing.

The number of people lying to Emma in this novel broke my heart. I felt for her as she uncovered each new lie. I thought I had it solved at 50% but then the author through another twist and it turns out I was wrong!

If you love fast paced, thriller reads, then this novel is for you!!

I had a really hard time getting into this book, which is disappointing because the book sounded great and the reviews previously written sounded like it would be something I would like. But, it just did not grab my interest and was much to slow of a start for me to stick with. It very well may just be a personal thing, because others have given this book great reviews! I'd still encourage readers to give this book a try and form your own opinion.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC from Miranda Smith!
I flew through this thriller! It was twisty and kept me entertained. I read The Family Home by this author in November and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to reading a second book by her. I kept guessing what would come next and sometimes I was right while other times I was surprised by the twist. The character development in this book wasn't too deep, which was good for this style of book. I felt that I got to know the characters just enough without knowing every single thing about them. The connections that were made between a lot of the characters really kept me hooked, I kept waiting to find out who else knows one another and what role they may play in Emma's daughter's disappearance. 
In this book there's duel POV,  Emma and the unknown kidnapper. I would say that 90% of the book is from Emma's POV and the remaining 10% were from the kidnapper. It was refreshing to read a book that was written in a linear timeline with no time jumps and limited switches between POVs. It definitely made it an even quicker and easier read.
I think that Piper was my favorite character in this story. She ended up having her own secrets and helping Emma to make really important connections between the people in her life so that she could find her daughter. Piper still stayed kind of mysterious and I liked that. I think it would have been interesting to have chapters from Piper's POV in this book, too.
What I didn't like was how repetitive Emma's thoughts got at times. It was like the reader needed to be frequently reminded about her grief, despair, and guilt, but it was already made very clear how she was feeling. While it's obvious that Emma is still grieving the death of her husband, we are reminded over and over again about the guilt she feels because she believes his death was her fault. I cannot even imagine- but it was pretty repetitive even though the point was already made. "Would they ever be able to forgive me if they knew the truth? I don't believe they would.""Maybe this is what I deserve: to feel the full brunt of my actions that night, finally be aware of all of the pain I caused."I don't love how it seems that the reader has to be frequently reminded of things that were already discussed.

Fabulously gripping sinister tale I did actually think I should steer away from this one as a mother and Early Years teacher about to go on a trip… Anyway, as with any good thriller it plays on our worst fears and insecurities and shows them In horrifying reality in story form. There were various twists and turns, some I guessed and some I didn’t and some nice little details which added to the story, like the soda can which appealed to my inner geek. I liked the characters and the pace and the backstory and reasonings were good too. Recommend.

The School Trip was an 'unputdownable' book that kept me up way past bedtime. There was no way that I could sleep until I found out how the book ended.

Emma is a kindergarten teacher. She's a recent widow and worries about her 6 year old daughter Claire and how her father's death will affect her. As the story begins, all of the kindergarten classes take a field trip to the local pumpkin patch. Even though Claire isn't in Emma's class, they are on the field trip together. The kids have a great time - petting the animals, going on a hayride and playing in the park. Claire doesn't get to spend as much time as with Claire because she has to take care of her own class but she trusts her daughter's teacher to do the same. When a little girl goes missing, Emma works with the other teachers to find her. The police are called and when the little girl is found, the parents and their children begin to leave. That's when Emma realizes that Claire is missing. She knows that her daughter wouldn't leave with a stranger and begins to search for her. The police have a video of the park exit that shows Claire walking out of the park with a stranger. After losing her husband two years before, she is totally upset that she may have also lost her daughter and blaming herself as she wonders if there is somehow a link between her husband's death and her daughter's disappearance.

As a parent, it's hard to imagine anything worse than having your child disappear and the author takes us through all of Emma's anguish and tears. Her willingness to do whatever she can to find her daughter cause the police to begin to leave her out of their case but she's willing to go against them and follow an idea that she has about who is responsible. This book was a real roller coaster ride with lots of twists and turns. The author did an interesting thing to make things even more tense for the reader -- interspersed in the story are several chapters by the kidnapper who has an attitude that is totally unhinged. Those chapters made me worry more about what the outcome would be because I could see the unnamed kidnapper as someone willing to hurt Claire


This was a fantastic thrilling book that melded the search for the child with the grief from the loss of her husband that Emma continues to work through. I highly recommend this thriller and have ordered some of Miranda Smith's earlier novels.

I was a little apprehensive about this one being a parent whose children will inevitably go on school trips, but I absolutely love psychological thrillers so was very grateful to receive this arc!

This story had me on edge the entire time! Full of twists and turns that shocked me and made me audibly gasp multiple times. I read this in one sitting, it gripped me immediately and did not falter.
An absolute nail biter, and a quick and easy read!