Cover Image: Local Woman Missing

Local Woman Missing

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Member Reviews

This was a pretty disturbing book to read - children being abused and two murders in a neighborhood. I just wanted it over so I didn’t have to think about it for a long time. Once you get to a certain point in the plot (maybe 80%), you can see where it’s going. I guess it is interesting about all these crazy neighbors and the problems they have with each other.

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Dark and suspenseful novel that keeps right reading until the very end. I try to predict the ending of a book prior to finishing but Mary Kubica doesn't disappointment because I completely got the ending wrong. I would recommend this book to mystery and thriller lovers alike. So far I have enjoyed every book she has written.

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This mystery kept me guessing all the way to the end. There were so many twists and turns. The characters were very well developed. I grew to dislike many of them and to love many of them. And boy, was I taken by surprise at the ending! Great story!

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This is one of my favorite thrillers I’ve read in a while, and definitely my favorite so far from this author! The twists and turns in this were unmatched, and I could not put it down for the last third of the book as the story unraveled. The constant downpours of rain described in the book really helped to set the scene and make it feel very dark and spooky. So good!

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This is one of those page turners that you just can't put down. Kubica does a great job of leading you towards certain assumptions but twisting your perceptions of characters that you had grown to love to reveal the answers to the mysteries right at the end. So many likable characters in this book that you want to see a happy ending. Highly recommend!

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Local Women Missing drew me in with the terrifying perspective of a young girl being held in captivity finally escaping. The multiple view points and back story was harder to get into, but overall a solid mystery/thriller that keeps you guessing and a shocking twist ending that you'll love to analyze for its unlikelihood.

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The opening of this thriller hit all the right notes: rapid switching between narrators and timelines, mystery narrators, kidnapping, murder, disappearances, and secrets. I won’t go too far into plot points because part of the point of a thriller is not knowing what comes next, so I’ll defer to the publisher on that front. The tension was well built and swelled for the first two-thirds of the novel, but the conclusion didn’t make good on the promises implicit in the early parts of the story. Some plotlines fell off entirely, and others seemed to take the easiest and shortest way out, rather than using the complex set up that the author had me so invested in, which was frustrating.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review via NetGalley.

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** spoiler alert ** This book started out with a great hook that kept me turning pages and I stayed up too late several nights because I was excited to see who done it. Now that I have finished the book, I can safely say that there were several story lines that didn’t get wrapped up or even feel like they needed to be there (who cares about Meredith’s relationship with the neighbor’s husband and was he actually the one Shelby was meeting that night?).

As details of what happened began to surface, they all left me feeling very “huh?” at how unrealistic it all felt. When Delilah first came home, who knew that Leo’s intuition that she wasn’t the same girl who left was spot on? I thought it was metaphorical – whatever happened to you turned you into someone else, but nope, turns out that it was actually a different girl. What?!? Why?!? And the reveal that Bea hit Shelby with her car and forced Meredith to help her hide the body in the woods…this simply didn’t feel like a plausible decision that Meredith would go along with and left me wondering how her car had no damage to show that would have raised any suspicions. And then Bea murdered Meredith and then hid Delilah in her garage/music studio? And once they found Delilah, she re-joined her father and brother and lived happily ever after? I’m not normally one to pick apart whether a story feels real, because I understand that a reader needs to suspend belief when reading fiction, but this was too much for me and I felt like there are so many ways this could have gone that would have made for a better thriller.

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Her first book was amazing.. and unfortunately I feel that each one is slowly becoming more cookie cutter and more predictable as they are published.

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I listened to this book as an audiobook and initially I was really struggling going back and forth between all the characters and trying to keep track of what was happening. I think it would have been easier to read.

There were some good twists in the story. We start off hearing about Delilah who is locked in the basement in the dark for an indeterminable time.

Meredith, Delilah’s mom has committed suicide.

We also learn that one of Meredith’s past client's Shelby is dead and was killed by her husband. Her husband has been in jail for the past 11 years.

So are these missing and dead people connected? Or is this a local town with bad luck?

So are these missing and dead people connected? Or is this a local town with bad luck?

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When one woman goes missing from a small town everyone is worried. When a second one goes missing along with her small child, the town is turned upside down. Eleven years later, the child, Delilah is found. She is now 17, but can't remember much from her life before her capture. As she returns to her life, we find out what happens two months before she is taken up until a few days after she goes missing. Told from four points of view: Delilah; her mother, Meredith; Kate, their neighbor; and Leo, Delilah's little brother, who was too young to remember his sister. Leo is determined to find out what happened to his mother and sister when he was so young.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Another book I couldn't put down. This was one of the best books I have read so far this year. In my mind, everyone was a suspect. It's always the husband, right? He was on the list, all the friends, even the women themselves that went missing. I had no idea who was to blame for all the craziness that happened in this book. Two missing adults, one missing child, and for 11 years, no one has any idea the truth about what happened. The twists and turns had my head on a swivel. This is one book that you will pick up and not put down until the very end. You will stay up way past your bedtime to get this one read.

One of Mary Kubica's best.

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I have enjoyed each thriller written by Mary Kubica, and I will continue to read anything she puts out there!

Local Woman Missing is a hometown thriller set around the disappearance of a woman and her daughter over a decade ago. This book is written from multiple characters perspectives and different timelines. I was hooked from the beginning and had my guesses about what happened, but was proven wrong with a big twist I honestly didn't see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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When Shelby Tebow, a young new mother, goes missing from her quiet Chicago suburb, people start to suspect her husband. But when Meredith Dickey and her young daughter Delilah disappear 10 days later, residents start to suspect something more sinister may be afoot...

Entertaining and twisty from the get-go, I found this to be one of the more compelling mystery/suspense thrillers I've read in a while! I understand why some have said this is a slow burn, as the first hundred or so pages creates a kind of build-up to the true mystery/drama underneath. But I can honestly say I didn't expect any of the twists along the way and was pleasantly surprised with how well this was crafted.

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In LOCAL WOMAN MISSING, Kubica gifts her reader with another richly dark thriller. As a rule, I think it is safe to say that disappearances are unnerving. However, when you have someone return after over a decade, this is where the story really kicks into gear as the suspense and tension grow.

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I’m a big thriller fan, and ‘Local Woman Missing’ by Mary Kubica checked all the boxes for me. It was a riveting, wild ride that kept me in its atmospheric grip from beginning to end. Absolutely recommend to thriller and non-thriller fans alike!

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This one was.... fine, but for some reason it didn't grab me. Mary Kubica is known for her thrillers, but none of them have ever wowed me. I keep trying though!

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I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book. The characters were well developed. Most of them were very likable. The plot moved well and even though it bounced back and forth through different time periods, it was easy to follow. There were a couple little aspects that I thought were sort of unnecessary for the plot until it came around with a big twist. And there’s one thing I don’t think they ever answered for me.

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I love Mary Kubica, but Local Woman Missing did not resonate with me. The beginning is riveting, but the middle drags. The alternating of the protagonists slowed the pace. And the final chapters left me underwhelmed. I am still going to read everything she writes, but this isn’t one I will be purchasing.

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Wow! Another awesome book by Kubica! Will keep you interested & the twists are A+. Definitely recommend.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Mark Kubica doesn't disappoint! I was immediately captivated by the story and it kept me hooked the whole time. It was a little implausible at points, buy it didn't take away from the story. The alternating perspectives helped keep this a fast paced novel.

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