Mary Kubica does it again. Local Woman Missing will have you on the edge of your seat dying to know what is going to happen next. Must Read

content warnings: child abuse, brief mention of self-harm, murder, malpractice (more info: male doctor ignoring a female patient's needs during a birth, using his hands on her non-consensually, performing a dangerous procedure on her without full disclosure of the risks; graphic depictions of a pap smear and pelvic exam, male doctor being unnecessarily rough and dismissive towards a female patient.)

It's a shame when a novel loses all the stars it's built up right at the very end. But then you think about it and honestly those stars you gave it weren't based off the story but the fact that you spent a fevered 4 hours reading it. For me this novel is a veeeeery tentative 3 stars.

Aaaanyway! LOCAL WOMAN MISSING was good, but it wasn't. The novel is about a young woman that's gone missing after going out for a run, and a little girl that goes missing a week later. The missing girl shows up 11 years later and sets in motion a series of events that nobody could have predicted.

The plot was interesting and I liked the duelling timelines TO START, though that is something I usually don't love... And by the end I didn't like it. Shocking. I found myself doing math during it to try and figure out what the heck was happening! The thing about the duelling timelines is that they work until they don't. Once you get to the climax, the duelling timelines stop working. I know what happened, there's no point in going back anymore. I knew more than the main characters! Usually in thrillers I like when I am slowly finding things out with the MC's, you know.

The other thing about duelling timelines is that it creates a sort of tension that isn't there in the actual meat of the story, so when I got to The Scene when the event happens and I was just like... that's it? We find out what happens to Shelby and instead of being like oh wow!, I was half super nonchalant about it and half pissed. The following decisions the characters made were incredibly stupid, to be frank, and looking back there was absolutely not one single hint about it. A good thriller gives you a little nudge in that direction, and this one didn't. It was almost like Kubica wanted a shock value surprise instead of a story that made sense. On top of the decisions those characters made, the tie up at the end.............. like, what? I'm not saying it's impossible to have done what [redacted] did for 11 years, but can we get more than two pages about it?!

This next paragraph is full of spoilers (sometimes the mobile app shows spoilers without the hyperlink so just warning you!!! SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!:::: How on EARTH would an autopsy get a cause of death so wrong? In both cases! A murder ruled a suicide, which was very obviously a murder. The murderer wasn't standing in the proper position to even make it look like a suicide, come on. AND the autopsy would have shown that the head wound happened well PRIOR to death hours earlier, instead of what they said "hit her head on the way down after stabbing herself". I understand it's a crazy thriller book, but at least get some real medical research in here, my god. NOT TO MENTION the other death. They didn't know cause of death but they still put someone in jail for it? On what evidence? Some bloody clothes??????? This wasn't a police thriller, I get that. We had absolutely no POVs from a detective, and that's fine, but we still need some sort of real-life possibilities. Speaking of detectives, as an aside, the part where it comes out that the detective lied about the identity of the girl.... just for a bad plot twist! Terrible lmao. SPOILERS OVER.

Anyway. We spent so much time going over birthing techniques and affairs, that the ending didn't have time to be a full, fleshed out story. I felt like it was stolen from me. I also didn't like a single character except Delilah and Leo. And Carly. Who were all children!!! Why did every single adult suck so much? Why did I fever read this novel while simultaneously rolling my eyes over it constantly? We'll never know!

Most reviewers loved this book, so I'm definitely in the minority. But some reviewers said some of Kubica's other books are better, so I might look into them! Hopefully they're a little less all over the place than this one.

Finally, an amazing thriller! This is my 29th book of the year and my first five star review. One of the reasons I love thrillers is that I can always finish them, but then usually something ends up being disappointing. Not in this one... I absolutely devoured this book. All of my questions were answered, I did not predict the ending or twists, and the multiple narrators and timelines kept it interesting and suspenseful. Definitely check this one out when it is published on May 4!

When one woman goes missing from a small New England community, no one can believe it. But when, weeks later, a mother and her 6-year-old also go missing from the same community, there are even more questions. What could have happened to these women? Are the disappearances connected?

11 years later, the missing little girl reappears and everything is turned upside down again. Told in alternating timelines, we slowly discover what happened all those many years ago...

This book was a quick and intriguing read. Though I started to piece together bits of the story along the way, I still enjoyed the journey. I've read most of Mary Kubica's books, and they are always un-put-downable and scratch my thriller itch :)

It is always the husband, am I right? Well, not so fast, as this time we have a missing mother Shelby, who goes out for an evening run and never returns. Would she desert her newborn baby and husband? This is a low crime neighborhood and after all, if she didn't just run away from her life, who else besides the husband could have made her vanish.
Weeks pass, when another husband reports his wife and daughter missing. Six-year-old Deliliah and Meridith Dickey don't come home, and her husband Tom and their young son Leo are left alone. If it is the husband, what is his motive and why didn't Leo disappear too?
The story is told from Meredith, Deliliah, Leo, and their neighbor Kate's POV. Told in the then and the now, we learn of the circumstances that lead to these shocking events. Meredith has been hiding many things from Tom, but were they the reason she is gone? Kate is devastated by Tom and Leo's loss and uncovers a connection between Shelby and Meridith. Maybe we need to look beyond the husbands as someone else had ample reason to want to silence these women.
Full of potential suspects and red herrings, ultimately, all of my suspicions were 100% incorrect. I am not sure how I feel about the ending. The reasons for the disappearances were quite sad in my opinion, and I couldn't quite get my head around what this person(s) had done. That being said, while trying terribly hard to avoid spoilers and yet not be totally vague, I flew through this book. All the puzzle pieces come together slowly but surely, and the first chapter really grabbed my attention.

Great mystery! Weaving well developed characters into a web of lies, betrayal and deceit is what this author does best!

The book moves quickly leading you through so many possibilities - so many ways that could account for the missing people (not just one!).
Thoroughly enjoyable - fast read that will leave you thinking for some time how the most heartless can hide in plain sight!

In LOCAL WOMAN MISSING, Mary Kubica has written one of the most suspenseful opening salvos in recent memory, taking the child-in-danger trope to new highs. While the local woman gets the title, it was Delilah who had me on the edge of my seat.. The story kept me guessing all the way through.

Plot twists abound! Features many strong female characters fighting for life. When a local woman goes missing, the entire neighborhood is affected. Secrets. Lies. A page turner!

Intriguing. This well-written book gripped my attention and did not let go. The characters were well fleshed out and the twists kept me guessing. I'm looking forward to reading more books by Mary Kubica.

I found this book interesting, and was engaged throughout, but the ending ruined it for me. When the truth came out, there was just too much that wasn't believable. The book was well-written and I'm sure that lots of people won't have an issue with the ending...but for me, it just didn't work.

I really enjoy this author's writing style. It flows nicely and makes the story interesting. I did not see the end coming and was surprised by the whodunit. I look forward to her next book!

Okay-this book deals with some pretty heavy stuff. It contains graphic scenes- some include children and abuse. I enjoy this book for the most part. It was easy to get into but it's told from three different POVs and at times I had to go back and check who I was reading. It also jumps from different places in time which was confusing at times. However I enjoyed this story, it was good mystery with a good conclusion. I didn't know what was going to happen which was great. I enjoyed the big cast of characters once I got used to the POV switches. Overall, this is a good mystery that will keep you guessing till the end!

Eleven years ago Shelby disappeared, just after giving birth to her daughter. 6 weeks later, Meredith and her 6 year old daughter Delilah also go missing.

Suddenly, Delilah turns up, having scavenged her way through the darkness to find help and come home, 11 years later.

This novel was <i>on fire</i>. I read it in one sitting and the last few chapters were twisty and crazy in only a way that Kubica can pull off.

Great read. I think this is my favorite of all Mary Kubica’s books so far. I was a little hesitant at the start because it was going back and forth between times and characters, but it was well worth it in the end and I cannot wait until this hits the shelves!!!!

Compelling, suspenseful, and full of wild characters, Local Woman Missing is a must read!

I will read anything and everything Mary Kubica writes! In her latest release, Local Woman Missing, Meredith and her young daughter Delilah go missing just blocks from their home. Just before they went missing another woman in their neighborhood, Shelby, also went missing.

Eleven years later, Delilah reappears out of the blue and is reunited with her family. Delilah's return comes with more questions than answers, though.

One thing I loved about this book was the alternating points of view because the way the author wrote them brought so much suspense to the story. I thought the pacing of the book was great, even if it did make me stay up way too late reading!

The characters! Mary Kubica writes such great characters. Something that I think often lacks in thrillers is character development, but in Local Woman Missing, the characters had so much depth and intrigue. I never knew who to trust, who to root for, or even who I liked! But that's something I enjoy in thrillers, it keeps me on my toes!

Overall, an amazing, suspenseful read with twists that feel like they jump right off the page!

I have long been a fan of Mary Kubica. She usually writes a gripping, page turner, edge of your seat type thriller and she stayed true to her style with her latest book. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The story is centered around two crimes that occur close together in a small town outside of Chicago. In the first crime, a local woman goes out for a late night jog and never returns home. Shortly thereafter, a mother and her 6 year old daughter go missing as well. Law enforcement as well as the townspeople believe the two,crimes to be related but nothing can be proven and the two crimes go unsolved for 11 years. The author introduces us to not only the victims of the crimes but to the people most affected by these crimes. Her chapters go back and forth between the time of the actual crime and 11 years after the crime ( the present). I will admit that this was a bit confusing in the beginning of the book as I was trying to figure out who was who and what year it was, but a third of the way into the book things settled down and it was much easier to follow.

This was an absolute page turner for me! I could not put this book down and read it in record time! There was even one point in the story where I didn’t want to turn the page because I was afraid of what was going to happen next. Mary Kubica is the queen of unseen twists and turns in her storyline and I can honestly say I did not see this twist coming! Unfortunately, the end of the story was too far fetched and not realistic enough for me so I can only give this book 4 stars. That being said, I would still recommend everyone to put this on their TBR list!

LOCAL WOMAN MISSING is a novel about a missing child and two women from the same community that go missing approximately ten days apart. Right away, you want to know who is responsible for this, or is it possibly two attackers with completely different motives? Are the two women connected? If so, why are they missing? If not, where is the child?

Seriously, I’ve been a big fan of Mary Kubica since her debut, THE GOOD GIRL, was published in July 2014. That was a damn good book. Loved it. Mary Kubica has the amazing ability to take a happy, peaceful community and turn it into a terrifying deadly nightmare. In this novel, the neighbourhood is suddenly a place where women are afraid to go for a run alone, to leave their kids with a sitter or neighbours, to stop by a bar for a drink, or even to get a medical exam to see if they are pregnant. Friends, family, and neighbours are scrutinized for what they witnessed or at least what they thought they witnessed. Accusations of extra-marital affairs are happening in almost every household. The trust between spouses is weak and almost broken. Lies are spewed throughout, and secrets are kept right up until the explosive ending.

I’m happy that I don’t live in this community. However, this story makes you wonder if it is possible this could happen in real life, with people you know quite well. This novel was an excellent read for me. Two things near the end stretched my belief a bit thin (and the author never really explains), but my imagination can fill in the blanks with several different scenarios, so all is good. I honestly think that LOCAL WOMAN MISSING might be the best Kubica novel yet!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Park Row Books for allowing me to read an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

My rating is 5 out of 5 stars… because I love reading books that are full of suspense and keep you guessing about who the killer might be, books that talk about how scary motherhood really is, books that inspire and educate me (like using birthing doulas and the medical side of giving birth), books that explore relationships between married couples; books that dip into the mindset and point-of-view of children, books that delve into the evil minds of random ordinary people, and books that make me stay up until 2 AM reading until I finish the book. This book nailed all of that.

This book’s neighborhood based suspense reminded me of Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty. I enjoyed the suspenseful, fast pace and multiple perspectives (neighbor, wife, son) of this read. At first, this book feels like an incredibly tangled web of perspectives, timelines, and locations. Everything eventually syncs together and becomes a cohesive novel. I will say, throughout the entire book I felt like there was just too much going on; sometimes less is more when it comes to suspense! The ending was a good twist and definitely interesting. Overall an enjoyable read!

Told in dual timelines and multiple POV’s this book had me flipping the pages fast to unravel this mystery.
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Local woman Shelby goes missing after a jog. Soon after Meredith and her six year old daughter Delilah go missing as well. With two local women and a young girl missing the town is on edge, but with little clues the case goes cold.
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Eleven years later Delilah returns home unraveling shocking secrets that will haunt this close knit town. I could not get to the ending fast enough.
Everything culminates in a fever pitch that I did not see coming with a highly satisfying ending.
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Kubica is queen of the domestic thriller and this absolutely does not disappoint!
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This book is available May 18th
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Thank you to #NetGalley and #ParkRowBooks for an arc in exchange for an honest review

The first portion of the novel absolutely hooked me! I had to find out what happened next. The book alternated between past and present with a few different POVs, some I enjoyed more than others. In particular I liked the POV of the brother. One of my favorite novels by Mary Kubica, it did not disappoint!