Laura Powell wrote such haunting words that came together into a storyline that I couldn’t stop thinking about for days after finishing. 

Books are always an amazing way to get through tough times in life but this was definitely a favorite of mine. I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it and had to turn every page till the very end. I was beyond saddened that it was over but was so much better for the content. 



Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the gifted review copy. All opinions are my own.

I got this book thinking it would be a police thriller, as it mentioned a serial killer.  There is in fact a serial killer loose in the tiny village of St. Steele, but there's so much more to the story than that!  Chapters alternate between 1956 and 2006 in this tale of love, loss, and guilt.  The characters were well written and interesting.  There were twists and turns along the way that I didn't see coming.  Definite recommend!

In Laura Powell’s The Unforgotten, a flock of reporters descends on the Eden Hotel in the Cornish village of St. Steele after a second young woman is murdered by a brutal killer. Fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent lives there with her mother, Delores, the hotel manager. Hotel is rather grand, it’s more of an inn, with the two of them doing most of the work. Betty’s mother clearly suffers from a dramatic, rapidly cycling bipolar disorder that sometimes leaves Betty picking up all the slack and which has made her mature for her age. She befriends John Gallegher, one of the reporters, a son of privilege who is resented by the other reporters. He’s tall, dark, and handsome and Betty falls hard. But then so does he, and she’s underage.

As more murders accumulate, opinion focuses on the local butcher, though Betty is certain he is innocent. She saw how he acted with her mother when Delores was clearly in a mental crisis and thinks he is too gentle to be the killer. In time, she is certain she knows who the killer is, but can she tell and if she does, will people believe her?

Meanwhile, the story jumps ahead fifty years into the future when the so-called Cornish Cleaver gives an interview in the press. Mary, a woman who is facing a crisis in her own life is shattered by the news.


While identifying the murderer is critical to the story of The Unforgotten, the story is not about collecting clues and making deductions. This is a story about relationships, obligations, love, and guilt. No one really solves the murder, though the identity is revealed in a devastating way. The revelation is fair, though, and makes sense, even though it may be surprising to many readers. What is more shocking, though, are the decisions people make out of love, decisions that are morally wrong. Does love justify what they do?

We are asked to believe that a grand moral sacrifice was made for love, but the decision is made on someone’s behalf without letting them weigh in. The author sees it as proof of love, I saw it as cowardice. This book made me angry, but that speaks to its power. I think the decisions are so wrong, not romantic at all, but Laura Powell sure made me care.

I received an e-galley of The Unforgotten from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Unforgotten at Gallery Books | Simon & Schuster
Laura Powell author site

Past and present, ghost or despair collide in this beautiful story of grief and second chances at life and love.

I read this in one sitting.  The world Laura Powell created was so vivid, it was hard to return to my own.  Her use of language, as well as descriptions of the people and the events, were spot on to keep me enthralled to the last page.

This book is right clever and I liked it. I found it a good debut novel. Betty is 15 and her home is less than stellar. Even grown, at the age of sixty-five, she hasn't resolved her childhood issues. That happens, and I was glad the author didn't gloss that over. People deal with things long after they occur. The shift from her childhood to her adult life is well written, with the perspective of time, some things get better, but other things are worse. Somethings are "unforgotten". 

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the advance copy.

1) Plot/Pace

In this story, we follow Betty Broadbent, a 15-year-old girl, who lives and works with her mother Dolores at Hotel Eden in St. Steele, a village on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The year is 1956 and the town has recently been hit with a slew of murders by the "Cornish Cleaver", all young blond girls. The hotel is booked with news reporters one such man whom Betty takes a liking to named John Gallagher. They form a strong attraction to one another but the problem is Mr. Gallagher is twice her age. With the murders happening more and more things in this town become tense for everyone. Betty is grown far beyond her years because she has to take of her mother who has a drinking problem and she seems to be hung up on a married man. Then the story will alternate to 50 years later where the story unfolds through a woman named Mary who suffers from mental illness. She see's an article in the paper from the Cornish Cleaver and he talks about his innocence. Mary has a panic attack and talks about how she let an innocent man go to jail to protect someone else. The story goes back and forth between the two time periods and we learn the truth about what happened and who the killer was. The pacing was steady. The book was neither bad nor was it fantastic. It was enjoyable and light. The ending twist was the best part because I did not expect the killer to be who it was. But the very ending was anticlimactic because it left me with a cliffhanger.

2) Characters

The characters were interesting people and really dynamic. They were all flawed human beings and somehow all connected in this weird web of trouble. The antagonist was never clear until you had the whole picture which was very interesting when we found out. That being said I didn't connect with the characters much. This was much more of a plot-driven novel but the characters were well written and distinct in their voices.

3) Writing

The writing was mysterious and enticing. You really had to read until the end because the twists didn't stop until the very last page. The author wrote with some dark undertones and taboo themes but it was enjoyable. The romance did not take precedence but the age gap was necessary to the overall outcome of the plot. If their age wasn't a problem then many of the characters lives would've been much different. It was intriguing how the murders weren't their fault but a lot of it came down to their silence. But the author did a great job of depicting the love, loss, descent into madness, and overall strife and grief that everyone faced.

Genre - Murder Mystery
Pages - 304
Publication Info - Gallery Books, February 6, 2018
Format - Digital
Stars - ⭐⭐⭐

I received a copy of “The Unforgotten” by Laura Powell through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to say first off that this really isn't the type of book I would normally read. I was a bit mislead by the fact that this was being advertised by a few vendors as a  “Ghost/Paranormal” read. Alas, there were not ghosts nor were there any paranormal experiences. There was however confusion and a story that was a bit convoluted. I really had a hard time following the story that spanned 50 plus years and kept going back and forth from 1956 to the present. I was confused by the Mary/Betty character. The identity of the killer comes at the very end of the book, which is fine, however it was baffling and I just could not get to that place or understand the reasoning behind the killings. An ambitious debut, but it came up a bit short for my liking.

Synopsis (from back cover): For fans of Louise Penny and Tana French, this haunting debut novel “with a slight Broadchurch feel” (Sunday Herald) explores the devastating repercussions of a long-ago crime as it delves into forbidden relationships, the emotional bond between mothers and daughters, and the dark consequences of harboring secrets.

It is the summer of 1956, and fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent has never left the Cornish fishing village of St. Steele or ventured far beyond the walls of the Hotel Eden, the slightly ramshackle boarding house run by her moody, unpredictable mother. But Betty’s world is upended when a string of brutal murders brings London’s press corps flooding into the village, many of whom find lodging at the Hotel Eden. She is instantly transfixed by one of the reporters, the mysterious and strangely aloof Mr. Gallagher—and he, fully twice her age, seems equally transfixed by her.

The unlikely relationship that blooms between Betty and Mr. Gallagher is as overlaid with longing and desire as it is with impropriety and even menace. And as the shocking death toll rises, both Betty and Mr. Gallagher are forced to make a devastating choice, one that will shape their own lives—and the life of an innocent man—forever.

With narratives that shift from 1956 to the present day and back, The Unforgotten is a mesmerizing and eerie portrayal of two people bound to each other by a secret that has the power to shape, and destroy, lives.

An inventive combination of an historical mystery and an unreliable narrator tale in the present day. The twists at the end are both devastating and necessary. A beautifully written and deeply imagined book. 

My full review appears unsigned on the editors' picks page of a major bookseller.

The Unforgotten deals with a series of killings in the town of St. Steele in Cornwall, England, and their aftermath 50 years later through the eyes of Betty Broadbent.  Laura Powell captures the nuances of living in a small, seaside town quite well, and I was easily transported there by her descriptions.  There are several flawed characters that have an impact on Betty as she experiences her 15th year during the time of the "Cornish Cleaver" murders, and she does not escape her encounters with them unscathed.  

I liked how the book went from 1956 to 50 years later, and the obvious impact of the crime on Betty.  This book has several unexpected twists, heartwrenching and haunting moments that stay with you after you've finished.  It deals more with the effect of the murders on the citizens of St. Steele than the role of the police investigating the crime, so it definitely is not a police procedural novel.

I found The Unforgotten to be a well-written and engaging book with hints of both melancholy and hope.  It will definitely keep you guessing throughout.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.  All thoughts and opinions are solely my own.

Brutal murders occur in Cornwall in the 50's and this book unfolds the tale of a girl who came about the killer but did not reveal him because she was protecting someone she loved. Quite a few shocks I received while reading this book and the story was told in past and present time by a few different narrators. I think it handled the anguish of taboo love between a very young girl and an older man very well. But, there were some parts of the story you really had to suspend belief--all in all I recommend to people who enjoy thrillers with twists. 

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for a chance to read and give an honest review

This book takes place in 1956.  15 year old Betty Broadbent lives in a small town where her mother manages a boarding house.  Most of the residents at the boarding house are reporters from London newspapers who are in the small community as someone is murdering young women.   The story jumps forward into modern times into every other chapter.  The tale is quite riveting although at times it doesn't seem believable to me.  Overall is a frightening quick read which I enjoyed.

What a ride! This is a book that forces you to pay attention, which really isn't a problem because you will want o keep turning those pages. While I expected a tightly written mystery, I got that plus a really well-crafted story about obsession, madness, and guilt. I found the characters charming at first, then a little irritating, then a little scary and suspicious. The author does a good job of blending past and present, and skillfully demonstrates how the past never really leaves you. I'm not often surprised by endings, but this one had me gobsmacked. Really, really good.

I think I wanted to read this book because it was compared to works by Louise Penny.  Do not believe that, as this is nothing like Penny’s mysteries.  First of all, it is much less a mystery than a character study, and it is a confusing muddle of a story.  The protagonist, Betty, is a 15 year old with a Bipolar alcoholic mother and few friends.  The story alternates between 1956 and 2006, and that plot device doesn’t work well here.  Rather than adding suspense or continuity, it just adds confusion and disjointedness.  The young Betty alternates between working all the time to help her mother, worrying about the serial killer on the loose, and fantasizing about an older man. I also do not understand how two men could fall so head over heels for her, as she seems almost simple-minded at times and mentally disturbed at others, and not in a normal way.  Her actions just don’t make sense most of the time. She worries about her mother being vulnerable to the killer and then she goes wandering around the area all by herself.  We are led to believe that during the 50 years in-between the events described she had a reasonably normal life, but that doesn’t quite jibe with the behavior that we are shown. I didn’t find any of the characters sympathetic or likable, except Mary’s husband Jerry.  A little more clarity at the beginning of the book would have helped, but it did all come together at the end, with several surprises.  I am sure many will enjoy the challenge of figuring out all the characters.  I appreciate the opportunity from Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Betty Broadbent was horrified at the string of murders in St. Steele, the small Cornish village where she lived. The story brought a number of reporters up from London, who were all staying in the hotel Betty’s mother Dolores managed. At 15, Betty was a great help to her mother, who was an active alcoholic and very unpredictable. The reporters were basically an annoyance to Betty, with the exception of John Gallagher, a moody man who kept to himself, making Betty curious about him. The two became friends as the story of the “Cornish Cleaver” unfolded, accusing the local butcher of the murders. Though he protested his innocence, he was jailed awaiting trial, and the reporters all hurried back to London.

Alternating between 1956 and 2016, The Unforgotten’s dark narrative follows Betty on her mission to prove the butcher innocent as she seeks the help of Gallagher. The death of Dolores and Betty’s subsequent breakdown add to the darkness. The murderer is eventually revealed, in the last few pages, and I didn’t even suspect who the killer was or the reasons behind the murders. I can’t exactly say I enjoyed this book, but it definitely captured my interest and kept me reading in my quest to find out “whodunit.”

This book is difficult to rate.  I liked parts of it, but it was quite upsetting and complicated.  I was drawn to it because I had recently visited Cornwall.

WOW! I needed some time to collect my thoughts. This novel and the ending left me speechless and wondering for some time. A beautifully tragic love story with a splash or murder mystery. I'm usually not one for romance of any kind but the author did a wonderful job. The writing style and characters are what kept me intrigued with this novel. I would highly recommend this book.


Thanks to NetGalley and everyone involved!

An excellent read. Characters are well. Developed and the plot moves smoothy between 50 years. Betty meets Mr. Gallegery when he comes to report a news story in her home town. She becomes convinced that the murderer is someone different. The story continues for 50 years through Betty's life.Recommened

I think this story has promise but it didn't hold my attention, unfortunately.