Ten years before the novel begins, Autumn was snatched from a supermarket and, despite a wide-ranging search, was never found. Since then, Francine, Autumn’s mother, blaming herself for allowing her daughter to be unsupervised for a short period of time, has been losing herself in drink, while Will, Autumn’s father, has made a highly successful career on the back of the kidnapping, which he justifies by claiming that he’s keeping Autumn alive in the minds of the public. Their marriage has fallen apart before the start of the novel, and Will has remarried.

The books opens with Francine receiving a note, saying 'I know where she is'. The note turns out to have been written by an unkempt, unwashed girl, Lena. When Francine meets Lena, she learns that Autumn is now called Mel, and that she lives in a house in the forest with a number of other girls, and that they are all regularly abused by men in sex parties. The house is well-guarded by dangerous men, and escape is virtually impossible. Lena refuses to go to the police, claiming that the police already know about the house and the girls, and are participants in the parties. Lena doesn’t know where the house is, but she is able to give Francine one piece of information, which sets Francine on the road to finding her daughter.

I won’t say any more as I don’t want to give away spoilers in what is a fast-paced adventure story that keeps the reader turning the pages and, at times, holding their breath as Francine takes one tremendous risk after another to find out whether or not Lena was telling the truth, and if she was, where the house is located and whether Autumn is still alive.

As with many such action stories, the reader is required to suspend disbelief throughout, and to avoid mentally asking to know more about the characters, their actions and reactions, than the author has chosen to give, but the story moves so quickly that the reader doesn’t realise they’ve done so until the book is over. It makes this novel a good holiday read.

I was a little disappointed by the ending, which skated over the final events and felt rushed, leaving as it did the reader to draw their own conclusions about what probably happened to the minor characters. In the final pages, it felt as if the situation was being set up for the author to write a series of novels involving the two protagonists. Importantly, though, the main story line was resolved.

I’m grateful to Netgalley and to the publisher for a free copy in return for an honest review.

"I know where she is" is what is written on the note that has come in Francines door. Francine is convinced that the note relates to her daughter Autumn who went missing from a mall 10 years before. Her ex husband Will does not believe so. Over the years they have dealt with her disappearance differently. Will has pushed Autumns case to the limit, making a lot of money through writing books and appearing publicly although he believes deep down that Autumn is dead. Francine has chased her own demons using psychics, mediums and vodka. Will dismisses Francines beliefs about the note even when a young woman appears to say she wrote the note and knows that Autumn, now called Melody, is still alive.We then follow Francine on a thrilling, scary, sometimes violent journey to find Autumn against all the odds.
I cant say I enjoyed this book as the subject matter is very dark, diving into the world of abduction and abuse. But I read it in 2 days because I had to find out what happens Francine and the girls. It is a thrilling exciting scary story and the ending is excellent, finishing the story but there is the possibility of a sequel.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Canelo for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I Know Where She Is was my summer holiday read, it certainly kept my adrenaline levels up.

Although I found the start of the story a little slow, I found part one nessisary to set out the storyline. As soon as part two started the story raced ahead and I happily plowed through it.

The story while gripping, as a mother, it was also heartbreaking in places. I completely understood the mothers attitude of never being able to give up.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy crime stories but arnt to sensitive to certain subject matters.

Unfortunately, the subject matter wasn't for me. I'm sure this is a great book, just not the one for me. I couldn't finish it but the writing was gripping of what I read.

Wow! I was hooked from the first page of this book.
The story starts with a broken family whose daughter disappeared 10 years previously and becomes a thrilling,exciting discovery of crime and secrets. The characters and their actions were written so well - I could imagine them in my mind perfectly as if in a film.
I was disappointed when it ended!

The concept of the story was good but at times I found it very far fetched. Francine was totally focused on finding Autumn and would stop at nothing to find her . Overall a good read

One day Francine and Will's little girl, Autumn, is kidnapped and taken to a house deep in the woods.

Fast-forward 10 years and Francine and Will are now divorced living separate lives when one day Francine receives a letter in the mail saying "I know where she is". A strange girl then turns up telling an unbelievable story on how Autumn, now known as Mel, is still alive and captive in a house with lots more girls. Could it really be true? Is her little girl still alive? Will doesn't believe her so Francine goes off on her own rescue mission.

What follows is a heartbreaking story of love and what a mother would do to find her child. I found the story fast-paced and tense. The writing was descriptive and put me on edge and I read this book in one sitting.

Many thanks to S.B.Caves, the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

I am really pleased to be part of the blog tour for this book, as part of the Canelo tour. Firstly, I do love the unreliable narrator type of thriller books, which I assumed this was, but it is so much more. I did gender stereotype the author too, as I assumed that the writer was in fact a woman. The reason why I thought this was because of the main character, Francine. The best part of this book is her transformation. At the beginning of the book she is just how you imagine a mother with a missing child to be: broken, abusive and abusing, isolated, alone. By the end of the book she is so much more, and I assumed the writer was a woman because of the way he portrayed just what a mother will go through, inflict and endure to get her child back. This book is dark, and delicious . I loved it - 5 stars from me.  It's only 99p right now, so I would grab it while you can, and delve in.

I Know Where She Is was a brilliant and captivating read. A mother dealing with the grief and guilt of losing her daughter Autumn, Francine holds on to some glimmer go hope that she is still alive. Yet she wasn't prepared for an inconspicuous letter to lead her in pursuit of her daughter. Francine uncovers a web of child abuse that is deeply embedded within the higher echelons of society, muddying her hunt for Autumn.

A tale that should be filled with woe and sorrow, instead shows courage, determination and the strength of a mother's love.

I was instantly hooked and devoured it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this book!

Thanks to Canelo and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

When I picked up this book I had no idea I was about to be thrown head first into an action packed, utterly gripping, edge-of-your-seat ride. There’s no gentle introduction – right from the beginning this is high tension reading, with dramatic, explosive scenes coming one after the other at breakneck speed.

The book starts at the approach to the 10 year anniversary of Francine’s daughter’s disappearance. Francine is a mess – drinking to excess then overexercising to counteract the damage. Her fragility and brittleness transcends from the page, and with the help of her aloof, distant and exasperated ex husband, it’s unclear how reliable she is. When first the letter and then the strange and disturbing Lena appear, I had no idea if this was a trick, a desperate delusion or in fact real.

As Francine discovers more about Autumn’s disappearance and the intervening years, a sense of dread and horror settled over me. There’s some disturbing and upsetting themes covered, and I was physically shaken at some of the scenes. This book is pretty dark – more so than I originally anticipated. Yet there’s a sense of determination, unbreakable spirit and a fight for survival throughout, which had me gripped and praying for a positive resolution.

What I really liked about this book was the developement of Francine, from broken and unstable to quite frankly, kick ass. Yes, there’s quite a lot of suspension of belief needed here (for reasons I can’t really go into to avoid giving away spoilers) but the action scenes towards the end literally had me holding my breath. I thought I’d worked out another big secret, which I expected to be revealed at the end and was surprised when the book petered out much more quietly than I expected. I may have misread the hints, but it just felt slightly unfinished and could have done with a little more closure in my opinion. Overall though, this is a gut-punching, fast paced read which I couldn’t put down. I’d definitely read more by this author in future.

I received a copy of this book from Canelo in return for an honest review.


The first thing that I noticed about this book was the front cover of the book. You can tell that it is a thriller and the name of the book pops out. The synopsis of the book was also very interesting to me and I had no idea how the book would go once I started reading it.


You meet Francine, Autumn’s mother, who has never given up on the search for her daughter despite it being 10 years. She arrives home to find a note on the floor which says “I know where she is”, there is no return address, name or contact details from whoever has left this note, but immediately, Francine knows this is about her daughter, and contacts her ex-husband about the discovery. However he writes off this discovery as the work of trolls and tells Francine he won't help.



Francine doesn't give up hoping to find her daughter and meets Lena a short while later who tells her about a girl called Mel. Francine is convinced Mel is her daughter and takes Lena in to find out all the information she can so that she can get back her daughter. There are however many obstacles as Lena isn't exactly mentally stable and she is alone as her ex-husband refuses to help.


We learn soon after what has happened to Autumn and why she was abducted and how she is still alive. I didn't expect the book to take this turn in the subject of what happened to her, but the book kept you on your toes switching in the parts of characters so you learn more about what is happening to them and their view points.


Overall, you're rooting for Francine to get her daughter back as you can see that she will do whatever it takes to get her back, even if it means killing people! The book ends with the whole family being reunited and Francine's plan for the future; even though she is reunited with Autumn, the danger isn't over and I could see the story possibly carrying on into another book. I'd recommend this book if you like thrillers!

Fantastic story full of unexpected twists and turns. This was an original storyline for me and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

I'm going to skip to the end here and say that this better be the first book in at least a series of two, or I'm not going to be happy! It's left open as if it is, but that isn't to say that ''I Know Where She Is'' isn't complete - it is, don't panic! And it's good!

I was plunged right into the world of Francine, the alcohol-dependant mother of the lost/abducted Autumn who has been missing for 10 years. At first I was a bit unsure how it was going to play out with Francine rather than the police on the search for Autumn, but (despite the extraordinary luck she had) it worked pretty well. The lack of police involvement is explained quite believably, and though it does miss that authority involvement and discussion, I was always willing Francine to succeed.

The story is controlled well with the novel being split into three parts; the switch between the first two in particular being really successful in their joining and their ability to shock. The story did have echoes of relatively contemporary and despicable crimes though on a (hopefully) exaggerated scale; which in turn meant that the whole plotline was also believable.

The writing is fluent and it is an easy read which I managed to finish in a day. Oh I almost forgot to mention the fact that I didn't like Francine's ex-husband Will, I got a bad vibe from him for some reason!

Anyway, ''I Know Where She Is'' is a good, enjoyable story (which hopefully will lead to another). If you like a good crime thriller this is definitely worth a read.

This book really got under my skin! I was invested in the story from the word go - started at breakfast, unfortunately work got in the way but as soon as I got home I had to finish it -up till 2am!! Francine is a very real character - we see the effects losing her daughter had on her and how it has affected her life for the past 10 years. And when she gets a message saying "I know where she is", will anyone believe her? And will she get her daughter back? With current stories of widespread corporate child abuse nowadays nothing about this story couldn't happen, and yet it was so awful that reading it was like watching a horror film with my hands over my eyes. I had to know what happened, and yet I was afraid to. Brilliant suspense writing, showing the far reaching effects of a mother's love.

This was a book I wasn't sure of at the beginning as it took me a couple of chapters to connect with, but once we connected my excitement grew with the story.

I can't imagine what it would be like to have a child taken from you in such a way never knowing if they were dead or still alive. This is what happens with Francine. The only thing she has held onto for ten years is hope , its hope that has kept her from completely going under, afterall, her ex husband is one hell of a no hoper at all, he really comes across to me a swine, hes given up all hope, hes married again, child on the way, and when Francine approaches him about something to do with their long lost daughter Autumn hes really thinking there is something wrong with his ex, shes barmy for even 'thinking' the item she has in front of her would lead or could lead them to their long lost daughter, hes of no help whatsoever.

A girl turns up Lena who professes to know where her daughter is, is she mad to even contemplate listening to this crazy young woman?

I loved this thriller in the end, it kept my attention and me turning pages, enough for me to keep moaning at anything or anyone that kept interrupting me!
Slow at first but really did pick up and well worth it for me.


My thanks to Canelo via Net Galley for my copy.

This is a gripping thriller that gets going quickly and I read it more or less straight through. You need quite a strong stomach and I found some scenes fairly disturbing, but that certainly didn’t stop me reading on. Slightly unusually for this genre, the characters are very well drawn and believable, particularly Francine, the main protagonist, who has a difficult back story and isn’t always very likeable. She finds herself in an extreme situation, but her reactions make sense and feel authentic. The action-packed resolution is slightly less plausible, but by that time I was completely caught up by the narrative and didn’t care. This is an excellent read and I would definitely recommend it.

Really enjoyed reading this book - one of those you want to know what the next chapter brings. I really felt for Autumn's mother and then once Autumn was introduced into the book for her too.

This book started strongly. I was intrigued from the opening pages and it certainly seemed to have a lot of potential.

I really liked Francine when we first met her and (frighteningly) could relate to her weird rules - when she could drink and eat junk and trade-offs in terms of exercise… there was a sense of her attempting to retain some semblance of control and normality when she really just barely hanging on.

However the plot became somewhat implausible for me when Francine decided to kidnap someone for information / leverage and then attempt to overpower a dozen armed men (most of whom were supposedly ex military types) to potentially rescue her daughter.

Things fell into place a little too smoothly and it was almost impossible to believe Francine could actually succeed against ridiculous odds.

I would also have enjoyed a little more closure. I know it’s implied that the baddies will be uncovered, but it’s a little vague (the release of information - and beginnings of the thread of secrets to the journalist). And finally I wasn’t sure if the final lines were meant to be an indication of there being a bigger secret. I know Autumn suggested that her mother wasn’t really to blame for her kidnapping but if the implication is that someone else was involved (and I can’t say more) then it was a little too subtle for me to pick up. And if that wasn’t the intention I didn’t get the point of the last lines.

I think this is a good debut but might have benefitted from a some changes to the second half of the novel (and its plot). In addition to a structural edit (look at plausibility) also noticed a few small editing issues - different spelling of names (Lesley / Leslie) for eg.

2.5 stars

I Know Where She Is by SB Caves was a thriller about Lena who was trying to find her young daughter who had gone missing almost a decade before. I enjoyed this book, it was fast paced and I could not put it down and read it in one day. The subject matter is not for the faint hearted. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.