Cover Image: Local Woman Missing

Local Woman Missing

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Member Reviews

A gripping and immersive page-turner by a master of thrilling suspense.

Eleven years ago two women and a six year old went missing within weeks of each other, now the child has returned to recount a tale of life in captivity. Told through multiple POVs and dual timelines, LOCAL WOMAN MISSING keeps you the edge of you seat, suspect of everyone and eager to know what happened to these women. Mary Kubica never disappoints and readers will be hooked until the very last page.

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Local Woman Missing is one of Mary Kubica's most thrilling suspense novels ever. Lots of twists and turns lead you on an exciting journey about Shelby Tebow, Meredith Dickey and Delilah disappearances. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

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#MaryKubica is an author I always watch for, especially after #TheOtherMrs, and #LocalWomanMissing is the latest in a line of books that did not disappoint!
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A quaint suburb is rocked by the almost simultaneous disappearances of a female jogger (Shelby Tebow) and a mother and her young daughter (Meredith & Delilah). When the body of Shelby Tebow is found in the woods, naked, the worst is suspected of Meredith and Delilah, too. That is until the Delilah is found 11 years later.  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Told in alternating perspectives, Kubica leads us down the trail trying to figure out if the two incidences are connected, ultimately forcing us to look much closer to home than we’d like. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀
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In hindsight, I maybe should have seen the ending coming, but I didn’t, which made it that much more shocking. A solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. Thank you to @Netgalley for the arc!

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I usually decide if I like a suspense novel by if I am surprised by the ending or not. This one definitely surprised me! Manu twists and turns.

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Hot Take: A missing person thriller with a heartbreaking twist that's about our relationships and how far they can bend before they break.

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Dahlia returns home after being missing for eleven years. Her father is beside himself with relief to have his daughter back home. But as Dahlia's brother, Leo, investigates his no-longer-missing sister he realizes she may not be who she says she is. And if she's not, that means the mystery of who took Dahlia is still left unanswered. And with it the mystery of why their mother killed herself eleven years ago…the same day Dahlia disappeared.

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Local Woman Missing is a multi-perspective thriller with two running stories. The first is the present day story of Dahlia, reunited with her family after eleven years of being held captive. The second is the story of the events leading up to that day eleven years ago.

As a thriller goes, Kubica has brought in all the characters we've come to expect from a suburban thriller. There's the picture perfect stay-at-home-mom. The post-partum mom cheating on her (also) cheating husband with a man who makes her feel like a woman and not a mother. The cheating (possibly) abusive husband. The earnest husband who just wants to make everything better. The wife keeping secrets and breaking her otherwise "perfect" marriage.

It's not exactly a unique blend of characters.

However, unlike lesser thrillers, Kubica brings the setting to life by the very fact of its mundanity. It could be your street, your house, your daughter. These people aren't extraordinary. None of them are particularly bad or good. But tragedy finds them anyway.

As Kubica weaves the past and present narratives together the story becomes more and more heartbreaking as each character simultaneously experiences and grieves their own, personal tragedies starting, we uncover, with one--simple--bad decision.

As you read Local Woman Missing, you'll being to wonder what really goes on on your street, what your own neighbors are capable of, and what you'd be willing to do if your family were at stake.

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Riveting is the word for this book.

The book starts with new mother Shelby having a rough day. You get a glimpse into her life as a new mother with a seemingly unsupportive husband. The next chapter totally stunned me with a tale of an unnamed kidnapped person, and the extreme conditions that the person was forced to endure during her time in captivity. The descriptive narrative of the horror was so realistic and unsettling that at this point I was tempted to put this story down, but I thought that I would just read ‘one more chapter.’ ‘One more chapter’ turned into staying up all night to finish one of the best stories that I have read in a long time; each successive chapter revealing one more layer of a long complex story intertwining the lives of all of the characters and one fateful decision that spiraled out of control and the consequences of that decision that changed all of their lives forever.

I loved how each chapter was written in a viewpoint from different characters and went between the time of before and 11 years later. I was especially drawn to the characters of Meredith.and Leo. Meredith’s story tied the story together, and Leo’s character was so fresh and honest that I found myself wishing that he was given more chapters to tell. I thought that the ending of the story was just a tad unbelievable, but humans are such unpredictable creatures that anything is possible.

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In general, I am a fan of Mary Kubica's books (except for <i>The Other Mrs.</i>, which I thought was ridiculous--but that's another story). However, <i>Local Woman Missing</i> just didn't do it for me. The plot took way too long to become interesting--nearly half the way through the book--and then really didn't get going until the last 50 or so pages, which made it feel too rushed and got wrapped up a little too neatly. Overall, I think this could've been done a little differently, which would make it a lot better.

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Mary Kubica’s first book “Good Girl” is one of my top reads of all time so I will always jump at a chance to read a Mary Kubica book. I was in need of a good suspense book and this did the trick. I loved the plot, and I loved that it kept me guessing. The downside for me was that I figured out early on who was guilty and that’s no fun. I wish more had been written about Delilah once she was found the first time so that as the reader I could’ve felt her experience a bit more. I think it might’ve been hard to do because there were so many different things going on. Shelby missing, the husband, Meredith, her secret from Charlotte, the jerk obstetrician..... It felt like the author may have had a hard time trying to tie up all these different plots she had in one story. I don’t think they were all tied up as well as they could have been, or at least not with as much vigor as I would have preferred. This was still a good book though and I would recommend it.

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Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an ARC.

Local Woman Missing ranks as one of the best mystery/thrillers I have read - ever! I have not read any previous works by Mary Kubica, but after spending time with this master novel, I am eager to read more.

At first, I was not loving the different point of view/narrator and going back and forth of then and now, but after finishing the book I realize how masterfully done it all was. Just when you think you are forming an opinion of one character, you hear another person’s point of view that makes you second guess your assessment. I spent a few late nights reading further and further - just so I could finally find out the truth. When all the stories linked together and the truth was revealed, I was absolutely shocked!

Wonderfully written by an expert of the genre - I wholeheartedly give ‘Local Woman Missing’ 5 stars!

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I quickly devoured this latest book from Mary Kubica. I was very quickly drawn in to the mystery. I loved the twist in this one, I had an idea of who had taken Delilah, but I couldn't figure out the reasoning. Another great read!

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Local Woman Missing is a novel about not one, but two missing women and a child. Eleven years later, the child turns up. There are several POVs (point of views) which go back and forth between 11 years ago and now, Kubica shows her writing talent by using different character styles of their voices. Surprises appear.
When my Kindle showed I had only ten per cent of the book left, I was anxious that I might not get answers to my questions. Even though we knew who the killer was by this time, I still wondered: Whoa! How'd that happen? Where is she? Fortunately my questions were answered by the time I finished the book.
Highly recommend!

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Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin publishing and the author, Mary Kubica for an arc edition of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

YES!!! A solid 5 stars, Mary Kubica is back in full force with her newest mystery thriller. I loved this book, it made me remember why I loved Kubica's book so much. It sucks you in from the start and kept my attention until the end. I know it's a good book when I find myself one handed all day!
This story is chock full of secrets and guilty characters! What makes me love this story is that I could clearly keep track of the different characters and storylines throughout, the writing was clear and well developed and so well tied together.
Definitely a recommended read to my fellow fans of thriller and mysteries ! A great upcoming summer read !

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Fabulous story. Drew me in instantly. Never saw it coming. Read it cover to cover. Amazing author. Highly recommend and will read every story she writes.

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First, Shelby Tebow, a young mom, goes missing. Next, the community bands together when Meredith and her six-year-old daughter Delilah go missing. Can they find the mother and daughter before something tragic happens? Are the two disappearances connected? Evidence is found, but the trail quickly goes cold. Eleven years later, Delilah mysteriously returns. Can she help make sense of what happened all those years ago, or will her reappearance only bring more questions?

Told through multiple POVs, this story was captivating and fast paced. I have an odd relationship with Mary Kubica, not loving her first few books but falling hard for When the Lights Go Out & The Other Mrs. This one fell somewhere in the middle for me. I did not guess the ending, which is everything you want in a thriller, and it was mostly all believable. I'm not one to post spoilers (snitches get stitches 😂), so, suffice it to say, I felt the end was a bit rapid and unsettling after all the build up. Still worth the read & I'm still on board for wherever Kubica wants to go next!

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Mary Kubica has been one of my favorite authors for a while. Local Woman Missing was such a crazy ride that had me guessing until the end--and really, is there no other way for a book to be?!?! Delilah is a young girl who has been kidnapped and held captive in a completely dark room. Her mother, Meredith, has also gone missing, but eventually turns up dead. Meredith's husband and teenage son cannot move on from the tragedy--and then one day, Delilah is found. What transpires from there is the most insane, fast-paced, reckless fight to find out what exactly happened to Delilah, where her kidnappers are, and who killed Meredith. Told from rotating perspectives, this book was quite an experience!

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I've enjoyed all of Kubicka's previous books, but this is one is so grim and horrifying that I was unable to finish it. Thank you for the chance to preview it, and I apologize for not being more helpful.

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I feel like Kubica is on a roll with her last two books, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next! Here are my thoughts on her latest:

I feel like with most mystery/thrillers I read these days, I am able to figure out the big twist before it happens. That does not always take away from my enjoyment of the book, but with the sheer amount of reading I do, I tend to sense the outcome of these books. However, I was completely SHOCKED by the big twist in this one. I did not see it coming in the least, and it makes me want to go back and reread to look for the clues that I missed along the way. If you are looking to be surprised then pick this one up!

I loved that Kubica added some diversity in terms of sexual identity with the inclusion of a lesbian couple. I think it added some depth to the storyline, and I would have liked it if this had been explored just a tad more that it was.

Although the main characters were well fleshed out, I felt that a bit more character development could have happened with some of the secondary characters, particularly the babysitter and the neighbor across the street. They were referenced enough that it seemed I should have a stronger sense of who they were by the end of the story.

Since Kubica is a local author for me, I always love trying to guess the locations she uses in her stories. I love local settings, and they make me feel just a little bit more comfortable envisioning the story taking place.
As much as I was shocked by the big twist, I felt like there were a couple of small loose ends with the ending of this one. It didn’t take away from the overall impression of the book, but I am left with a couple of questions that I would love to discuss with someone!

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People don’t just disappear without a trace… Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish next. Are these incidents connected? 11 years later, Delilah returns.
Mary Kubica's book is about domestic secrets and how they are kept buried. Past and present timelines 11 years apart and 3 narrators (Meredith, her son Leo, and her best friend Kate). This psychological thriller is hard to put down. I'm looking forward to the author's next book and I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin/Park Row publishers for a free copy for an honest review. Published 5/18/21

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Whenever I see a Mary Kubica title, I am sure to pick it up. Her books never disappoint. This one is told in different viewpoints in the present and eleven years earlier. It is truly well written because I was not confused at all. The plot twists are terrific and they just keep coming throughout the entire book. I would recommend this title to readers who enjoy a suspense novel that keeps you on your toes.

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I love love love me some Mary Kubica and this one did not disappoint!

Meredith and her daughter, Delilah go missing. Another local woman goes missing right before their disappearances. Told through multiple different view points, this story had me hooked the entire time. The story bounces between present day and what happened with all of these disappearances 11 years ago.

Kubica’s best book yet in my opinion.

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