This book got off to a slow start, told from many points of view. When Celia Lily disappears, her husband Jack is under suspicion. His mother has recently written to him basically telling him that he will inherit only if he is a widower, and now he cannot find the letter. And there is a painting at the center of the story - really, the painting is what causes the whole chain of events that ends with two people dead. The story, once it really got going, held my attention, and the descriptions of rural Tasmania, especially in the heavy rains, were wonderful. I didn’t especially care for the repeated use of very short and simple sentences

This goes against the grain of most other reviews currently available for this book, but I felt like Vanishing Falls was an awful mess from beginning to end. The writing style is juvenile and simplistic. The characters are pretty poorly developed and completely inconsistent, with the exception of Joelle. This isn't saying much because Joelle is mentally traumatized from an incident when she was fourteen. This could be a strong point for the book, but it just doesn't work for me. The book is also told from three other points of view, one of which is completely unnecessary and adds no value to what story exists. Which was another issue with the book. What is the book supposed to be about? Cliff's drug usage? Jack's painting that's worth a boatload of money? Jack's wife disappearing? Joelle's husband potentially having a secret past? Then there's the random insinuations that come and go about Cliff and Jack's wife and Jack and Cliff's wife. It was incredibly difficult to follow where the author wanted to take the story and I probably would have never attempted to finish it if I wasn't writing a review for it. I do not recommend this book.

This book wasn't bad but it was not my favorite. It takes place in Tasmania. A wealthy woman goes missing. There are several characters that could have done it. The narration shifts from different characters. All the characters seem to have their own secrets. You are compelled to keep reading to find out what has happened to the missing woman .

mystery, Tazmania, suspense

Tazmania. Even the name is exotic, like the rainforest itself. There the author has created a mansion of the British tradition, a natural but strange waterfall, and some very interesting characters. And a mystery full of twists. The publisher's blurb is a good hook, and spoilers are just wrong, but I liked it very much.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from HarperCollins Publishers/William Morrow Paperbacks via NetGalley.

I’ve heard about this one from a few book bloggers, so I was excited to give it a try. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Oh, how I love books like Vanishing Falls. This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so imaginative and detailed that the information of the world building, as complex as it is, never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind. Vanishing Falls is a wonderful, dark and incredibly rich mystery/thriller novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

Vanishing Falls takes place in Tasmania with a mysterious and questionable history. The Calendar House, the main focus of the town, belongs to the Lily’s. The historical house has been passed down for generations. Celia Lily, Jack Lily’s wife, goes missing one night and with all the plot twists and handful of interesting characters, Jack becomes the main suspect. A town ravished with drug addiction, murderous history and clicks of friends... who can you really believe or more importantly trust? I loved the descriptive way Vanishing Falls was depicted. At times I could imagine being in the story myself, however, the suspense happened in the last few chapters and was not as suspenseful as hoped. I loved the characters, especially Joelle and how she found her voice. The title is Vanishing Falls, aside from the mystery plot, the description of the place itself took me to the falls in all of its beauty.

I wanted to love this book because based on the description it sounded like such a unique and interesting mystery. The locale, Tasmania was fascinating and so very well described. At times I actually felt I was there. I found all the characters compelling and the dialogue well written and the book on the whole was well plotted but it just seemed to lack in suspense or real mystery. I think it had real potential but somehow the suspense just didn't get there. Having said, I liked the story and loved the town of Vanishing Falls. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

I was really excited to read this book. While it promised a story in the beautiful small town of Vanishing Falls (which it did deliver). It lacked delivering on the suspenseful part. It just didn't leave up to what it promised.
3 stars for well written characters & detail of Vanishing Falls; making me feel like I was there. I just wanted more from the story itself.

Vanishing Falls is a story that happens in a town named after a falls and mystically vanishes right down a river. The town’s dark secrets that date back to 1800s comes to light when Celia Lily disappears from her home. The story and the characters are well written with suspense element and coincidences that add up seeming like its a incident that happens once in a while. But the ending seemed predictable for me and did not live upto the story build-up. I could read this book again just for the story flow and the suspense.
Thank you NetGalley, Poppy Gee, Harper Collins Publishers and William Morrow paperbacks for reader’s copy of this book. This review is my own opinion and was not influenced in any way!

Rich and beautiful Celia Lily has vanished from her husband’s opulent home in the Tasmanian rainforest. The town is named after its most striking yet ominous feature – Vanishing Falls – a waterfall that disappears into an underground river. As the town is riven by suspicion over Celia’s disappearance, long-buried secrets come to light.
There is much to like about this book. The Tasmanian setting is distinctive and richly described. It’s delightful to hear of a platypus paddling down a creek. Characters are sketched deftly, and in few words. One character likes another, we are told, not because he feels he can be himself with him, but because he feels he can be nothing. The setting of the disappearance is wonderfully eerie: The Calendar House dates to the late 1800s and represents the periods of the year architecturally: four floors, 365 windows, twelve hallways, seven staircases.
Unfortunately, the story does not fulfill the suspenseful promise of the setting. The probable answer to the puzzle is clear early on, and the suspense turns on revelation of motive for the disappearance and whether any characters will be harmed. This seemed insufficiently involving. Most characters were less than likeable, and they had a tendency to make disclosures/revelations against interest without clear motivation.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book and would read another book by the author for her skill in setting alone.