I enjoyed this book. The pacing was great, the alternating chapters between the mother and the detective kept the tension going.

Three stars! Thank you to William Morrow, Netgalley and Book Club Girls for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion. I liked the story and did not guess the end until the characters revealed it. I just was not a huge fan of the timeline swapping and the interspersed police psychologist transcripts. I know they were supposed to add to the story line but I just was not into it. Overall an interesting story.

Rachael and her son, Ben, are on their weekly walk in the woods with their dog.  Ben begs his mom to let him run ahead and play on the swing.  She relents but instead of finding Ben at the swing a few minutes later, he is gone.  Frantic, Rachael starts searching for Ben and enlists the help of others who are out walking.  The police are called and a full blown search begins.  The dog is found with a broken leg and Ben's clothes are found.  

What follows is a story of secrets and lies.  Judgments based on speculation without any facts.  

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author.

I had never read anything by this author, so I was anxious to dive in! The topic is every mother’s worst nightmare...your child disappears from almost under your nose, time  is ticking by, and seemingly everyone thinks you “did it”. The characters are so well described, it’s easy to visualize the actions, feelings, and even physical appearances of each one, and the suspense of not knowing what happened to Ben keeps you wanting more. Although I was a bit disappointed with the ending, overall I think it was a solid storyline  and I would definitely be willing to read other books by Gilly Macmillan.

I love this genre and after reading What She Knew, I plan to read all of Gilly Macmillan's books.  Told in two voices, I felt that I was "living" the story and was right there.  Can't wait to read more books by this author.

This book was a psychological thriller that was somewhat slow. The plot was ok, but thrillers about missing children are often sad and so predictable. The writing was ok. I don't always like it but the alternating first person in chapters seems to be popular. Sometimes it is confusing and you have to double-check who's talking, but it is generally ok. The book is sometimes wordy in that there is quite a bit of detail that was not germane to the story. wwThe ending was disappointing and really made me feel that I wasted my timing hanging in there to the end.

This is a great  thriller about a mother's race to find her missing son. 
The writing was perfectly paced with quite a few twists. The characters were complex and flawed.
Gilly Macmillan really knows how to write a thriller. 
This one kept me up flipping pages until the very end!

This book is SO well-written!  I am positively on the edge of my seat, chewing all ten fingernails, unable to put it down.  I’m at 70 percent, but just had to post a rousing “READ THIS ONE ASAP!”  A summer sizzler, for your beach blanket.

Updated review:

Wow, Gilly Macmillan knocked it out of the park on the first try, with “What She Knew.”  This story was so tightly sprung with twists, and fake-outs and traps.  Each character was deeply flawed and human.  I loved the format of quick chapters strung together by emails and study excerpts and news headlines.  Everything about this book was great!  I can’t wait to read more of Macmillan’s work.

I enjoyed this story. A mother, Rachel and her son, Ben are walking in the woods, he asks to run ahead to the swings and that is the last she sees of him. The story alternates between her and the policeman in charge of the case. Good look at police procedures in child abduction case. Several suspects involved. The story did seem to slow down a bit, but then picked up the pace.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of this book for review.

I was completely unfamiliar with this author and had no idea what to expect, but I'm pleased to say I will definitely look for the next book in this series. It's interesting that this series revolves around Jim Clemo. Yes, he's the lead detective on the case, but the story features him messing up more than getting it right, while the missing boy's mother, Rachel, proves to have better instincts. Her detective story naturally ends with this book, though, and Clemo's story, told here through his therapy appointments stemming from the case, show him to be an interesting character, a solid cop, and a man of integrity. Despite his failings, I'm in his corner and want very much to follow his career as he grows as a person.

The juxtaposition of the two POV narratives--three if you count Clemo's therapist--beautifully portrayed the theme of perception of character. It came through in pretty much every relationship in the book The title irritated the heck out of me until I figured out what it meant, and in this context it's even more meaningful because for so much of the book, everybody was constantly making assumptions--many of them completely reasonable-- about other characters without actually knowing anything. It's a good reminder to the reader to challenge their own assumptions, but it's so pervasive and consistent that it doesn't spoil the ending. It also makes me eager to get to know Clemo's colleagues in later books, as I anticipate Macmillan will do a bang-up job fleshing them out.

I feel like Macmillan did a lot of research on both sides of this story, and she integrated it well. I especially liked her depiction of the losing situation parents are in. You're a helicopter parent until you let your vigilance slip for even a second, and suddenly you're a neglectful parent who doesn't deserve to have a child. Rachel provided a powerful voice throughout this book, and it's one that needs to be heard by parents and those who would judge them.

This was a great book! A young boy disappears while on a walk with his mother in a local park. Many suspects with motives that kept me guessing. New clues kept popping up until the very end. It was set in England so sometimes the police procedural words are different and hard to follow but it didn’t bother me in this book. Would read more from this author.

Rachel lets her son Ben run ahead on a trail they take often through the park, but arrives at their meeting place to find the swing empty and no sign of her son. A gripping tale of the search for Ben, to its surprising ending.

Engrossing, riveting, questioning, gripping and definitely an incredible psychological thriller of a read!
The book captivated me from the first word and had me staying up all hours to find out what happened!!!
Definitely a must read-it will grab you and not let go!!! I could go on, but do not wish to reveal any outcomes!
Thank you for the opportunity to have read this book prior to publication--it was wonderful!!!

Suspenseful right from the start.   Single mom Rachel is walking in the park with her eight year old son Ben and their dog, lets Ben run ahead, and the unthinkable happens - Ben disappears.  The character development here is good, and we see the police work, the anguish of the policemen, particularly Jim Clemo, and the unbearable grief and anguish of Rachel and her ex husband.  The cruelty of people who hide behind the anonymity of the internet.  Then there’ s Rachel’s strained relationship with her sister, who appears to have a perfect life - but her life is NOT perfect, and she has been keeping a huge secret since she and Rachel were children.  Lots of drama,  lots of suspense.  A really good read!

Very good book. Loved that it was told from each character’s viewpoint. I thought the ending would be predictable, but it wasn’t. It kept me guessing until the end. Definitely worth the read!

What She Knew is a thriller/suspense story about a missing boy.  It is told from the alternating perspectives of the boy’s mother and the detective in charge of the investigation.

The story moved along at a decent clip; however it would have been more seamless if the narrative did not jump back and forth between the mom and the detective.  Also, I am not a big fan of the current trend of having the first person narrator tell us the story in flashback, which is what the mom does.  I prefer a straightforward plot moving from beginning to end.

The main characters were empathetic even if they were flawed.  There were too many supporting characters with suspicious backgrounds or incidents in their past.  After a while it felt like everyone in the book was a suspect.

I like the way this story of child abduction is told. We get the view point of three different people. The poor mama and dad don’t know where to turn as is expected. The investigator spends sleepless nights going over every detail and his therapist tries to help him deal with the situation. A couple of twists made me gasp in shock. All in all, this was an enjoyable tension-filled story.

Thanks to Book Club Girl at Harper Collins/William Morrow & Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book!

This book is well written but not the topic for me.  As a child advocate i can't spend time in this virtual world.

What a WONDERFUL book. Once I  started I could not put it down. 
The story is every parent's nightmare. How she described the characters feels you know them. 
What an ending!!! 
All I can say is Great Job Gilly! Can't wait to read anothef one of your books!!