This book had me hooked from the first page! It was fast paced and jam packed with twists and turns. The drama was endless, but in the best way: family drama, friend drama, relationship drama.

I’m a huge fan of detective/police stories, so I was super excited to find out the journalist works closely with the lead detective to solve a 20-year-old cold case, all while making a podcast about it.

In this small little town, everyone was suspicious and I couldn’t tell who to trust. Everyone seems to suspect that it was something paranormal, but what secrets of their own are they hiding? What do they know that they aren’t saying out loud?

I definitely recommend picking up this book (out now!) and I’ll 100% be adding more books by Claire Douglass to my tbr!

Would you stay in a cabin in the woods all by yourself?

𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
- 𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜
- 𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚟
- 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚎
- 𝚄𝙺 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐
- 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢/𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊

Twenty years ago, four girls are driving home along 'The Devil's Corridor' after a night of clubbing when Olivia Rutherforrd, the driver, sees someone in the road. In her effort to avoid hitting them, the car crashes and Olivia awakens some time later, her leg trapped and her friends gone. They never turn up. At the 20th anniversary, Jenna Halliday, a BBC reporter, arrives to interview people in town about the case as she prepares a podcast. As Jenna pursues her own investigation for the podcast, she receives threatening notes that make it clear someone there has something to hide about what happened all those years ago despite hints of the paranormal and stories that The Devil's Corridor is haunted. There was a side plot that eventually made sense but along the way seemed like a distraction from the main story. The characters were well developed, flawed and not always sympathetic but in a way that made them seem more real. Overall: an interesting premise and a plot that held my attention and threw a curve ball or two.

The writing really snags your interest and the plot holds it. I was really invested in the plot and finding out what exactly was happening in this weird town. While reading I found one of the most appealing things to me is the representation of someone recovering from an injury. It was really refreshing to see how the author seemed to just get it when talking about Olivia's recovery. it was authentic (and I can say that from personal experience). But it wasn't just the physical recovery I thought was represented well, but the mental--the feeling of having to rely on someone else when you'd rather do it yourself then realizing at some point that maybe you can do more yourself.

Jenna was a fresh take on the journalist chasing a story, instead of being all about the story she really showed her human side. She seemed more concerned with how people were feeling and on actually helping, instead of only the story.

However, though the plot was interesting it wound up being a very convuluted thread that ultimately ended in a simple and underwhelming plot. It was an enjoyable read, but I felt that the ending was unsatisfying.

A digital ARC of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books. The opinions are my own and freely given.

This takes place over a 5-day period, when Jenna comes to the small town to investigate the disappearance for a new podcast, on the 20th anniversary of 3 girls' disappearances. She is met with hostility from the parents of the girls and overall, the people of the town. She meets Dale, who has been assigned to investigate the cold case and he and Jenna work together trading information. This book is alternating POV between Jenna and Olivia, the survivor of the car crash in which the girls vanished.

There is a whole section of this book that I really found myself bored reading. There are 9 "new" different characters that are in Thailand. There is no date when the events transpired, but I suspected it is before the 20-year-old accident. Of course, this part of the story does feed into the investigation, but I had a hard time even liking any of those characters. In present day, I liked all the characters but Wesley, Olivia's longtime boyfriend. I had a hard time figuring out who too trust.

The epilogue wrapped up everything up beautifully and I didn't have to wonder about any piece of the book. I would recommend reading this book, for the mystery of what happened that night with the girls.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Claire Douglas.

I really enjoyed this book! This is my first Claire Douglas book, and I am definitely going to be reading more by her after this one. This book follows two women who are the main characters of this story: Olivia- who was a part of an accident 20 years ago that left three of her friends seemingly disappeared into thin air, and Jenna- a podcaster who has come to the town to do some digging into this case in the present day. The book goes back and forth between the women's POVs, and they really had me cheering for both of them throughout the story. How do three people just disappear without a trace?! Everyone is a suspect in this town, which keeps you guessing the whole time. There is also another story intertwined into this, which seems so random at first, but the way it all comes together at the end was brilliant. This was a solid 4 star read for me! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the ARC of this book! Out everywhere today 1/10/2023.

A compelling mystery with likable characters that manages to weave a strong mystery and a surprising ending. The eeriness of the cabin that Jenna stays in and the danger of the forest contrasts with the cheery holiday-time feel of the small resort town for a very strong sense of place. Four young women were in a car accident driving home from a night out one evening and when the driver awakens she finds her leg crushed and no one in the car with her. 20 years later still no one knows what happens, but journalist Jenna Halliday is determined to find out. Give this book a shot if you like shades of gray and if you know that cheery small towns can hide the darkest deeds of all.

I greatly enjoyed the slow build up of Olivia and Jenna's stories. There were so many twists and turns within discovering the truth of Olivia's accident. I always love a good book that is told from multiple POV, I feel that it brings more to the story to be able to understand from different character's perspectives.

@clairedouglasauthor hooks you within the first few pages of The Girls Who Disappeared and when I say hooked I mean 😱… what a way to start a book! I binged this almost immediately because I had to know what happened. The clues leading up to the twists are so subtle and paint everyone as a potential suspect with a different motive so you never know quite who to trust - this is one of my favorite types of thrillers because it keeps me on the edge of my seat. I did not guess the ending nor anticipate any of the surprises so job well done 👏🏻👏🏻

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
I absolutely loved this book. It’s incredibly mysterious. It has continued suspense while building up the characters. The twists kept coming and I didn’t expect them at all. The writing style really grasped my attention and I was hooked. Couldn’t get enough. I needed to know what would happen. I felt like I was in it. Highly recommend this Psychological Thriller.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short chapters
Continued suspense
Mystery
Cold Cases

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴. 𝘈 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 . . .

𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭'𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳. 𝘈 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘙𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢. 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦 . . .

Can you imagine spending 20 years wondering what happened to your three best friends in an accident that has left you a daily reminder in the form of a perpetually painful leg injury? I was amazed by how well Olivia coped with all of that! Add to the complexity of the story are flashbacks to the time of the accident and to a trip to Thailand, that obviously must be related (but how?). To help suss everything out is a BBC journalist, Jenna, who is trying to distract herself from her failed marriage. I liked her character as well as the cold case detective that shows up. I could easily see the two of them continuing on in a future installment. The story does drag for a bit in the middle and I felt that several parts could have been eliminated to make for a tighter higher suspense story. But I remained engaged until the very last page!

Twenty years ago tragedy struck the small town of Stafferbury in the UK. While driving home from a night out an accident occurred leaving Olivia badly injured and her three friends missing. Completely disappeared. It’s the twentieth reunion of the accident and Jenna, an investigative journalist, has come to town to interview those involved for a future podcast, one that she hopes might bring some new light to the old case. Meanwhile, the cold case has been reopened and DS Dale Crawford is following some new leads. Interspersed with chapters about a trip to Thailand in 1980, it’s hard to see where Douglas is going to connect the two storylines, but connect she does in quite the unique way without missing a beat! With an atmospheric locale and hints of the supernatural, there’s a creepy vibe throughout. When Jenna starts receiving threatening messages and there’s a murder in the woods, she’s not sure who to trust. After all everyone has a secret! What happened that dark and dreary night and will Jenna’s investigation put her very life in danger? This a compelling read from start to finish and while some of the twists I saw coming, others I did not! Good job! Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thank you to. Netgalley and Harper for this digital ARC. Claire Douglas has done it again. This is a 5 star read. A masterful and complex storytelling that is sure to be on every mystery and thriller list in the near future.

The Girls Who Disappeared is a domestic thriller with totally unexpected twists and turns. Claire Douglas weaves the reader through a journalist's exploration of the disappearance of three girls and the survival of the driver has caused the small town much speculation about the accident that occurred twenty years ago. Skillfully moving through the past and present lives of the people involved in the story, Douglas has the reader caught up until the very end. Loved the menacing tone, romantic parallels, and deceitful characterizations.
#thankyouNETGALLEYfortheprivilegeofreadingthisARC!

Jenna Halliday is a journalist attempting to create a true crime podcast in a rural town in South England. Twenty years ago, four young women returning from a night out crash on Devil's Crossing, a road rumored to be haunted. Three of these women disappeared, never to be seen again.
From the start, this story had an ominous and eerie vibe to it, from the haunted road through deep forest to the field of standing stones, and the close-lipped and secretive townspeople. I liked the two separate storylines with no apparent connection until everything clicks together at the end. I read this book in one night, it was that good!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How can one small community harbor such a deep trench of secrets and deception?
Jenna descends on the community in rural England to cover the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of 3 girls back in 1998.
I liked the mystery part. I couldn’t make the connection to the Thailand flashbacks until way late in the book.
One female character was reprehensible. The author leaves one final twist of the story that came out of left field.
There is one error: the author has two characters using airbnbs in 1998, which was impossible since the company didn’t begin until 2007.
Other than that, it’s a suspenseful read.

instagram and goodreads post linked

*Mini Review*

I really enjoyed this! The setting and atmosphere were written wonderfully and made me feel really immersed in the town and I could picture the settings. I loved (and hated lol) the characters in this story. I also looooove a thriller with a dual timeline and multi POV!

I would recommend this if you love a good dark family secret aspect to your thrillers!

Olivia is driving her three friends home after a night out in 1998 and the weather is not good. Olivia grows more tense as they drive because she is driving what is called Devils Corridor leading Stafferbuy to Wiltshire and it can dangerous. All of a sudden a random man appears in the middle of the road and in order to avoid him Olivia swerves and crashed. When she wakes up her friends are gone and she alone but she has no idea what is going on and where they went. 20 years later and it is anniversary of the girls disappearance and Jenna, a BBC podcaster, decided to travel to investigate the disappearance. As we hear more and more about the story of the disappearance we also get insight into Olivia through the dual story line. Between Olivia and Jenna we start to learn what truly happened.

I enjoyed this and loved the setting of the book! It has a dark and wiry feeling to it and you start to get a feeling of town folklore and myths. It has a kind of supernatural feeling to it and especially when referencing Devils Corridor. It is very much a creepy and dark feeling and like shadows are lurking behind you. The characters themselves are not great characters and I was not really a fan and they really had no depth. The book was slow and took some time to really get into it. I got bored at moments and had to push myself to read more. Another part of this book that bothered me was it too easy of a plot and too clean cut, very stereotypical. i was disappointed at the end of the novel and let down.

From the publisher- "Three missing girls. A twenty year mystery. A woman who may be able to crack this cold case.

In a rural Wilshire town lies The Devil's Corridor. A road which has witnessed eerie happenings from unexplained deaths to the sounds of a child crying at night.

But nothing more puzzling than the Olivia Rutherford case. Four girls drove home but after their car crashed only Olivia was found.

Twenty years later, journalist Jenna Halliday is covering the case. But the locals aren't happy with this stranger's arrival. Least of all Olivia.

Jenna soon starts receiving threatening notes and it is clear someone wants her out of this town before she suffers a dark fate..."

This was a well-written and fast-paced read. I enjoyed it immensely. I love Claire Douglas' work and have found most of her novels entertaining and engaging. With that said, however, I have to echo what other reviewers have stated and assert that I did not enjoy the end of the novel nearly as much as the first part. I was intrigued from the opening paragraphs but toward the end I really struggled to stay involved. I enjoy Claire Douglas so I believe this is just a one-off and I just didn't find the plot.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to more from Claire Douglas!

Thank you to NetGalley, Claire Douglas, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks/Harper Paperbacks for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and well-paced. I found it easy to follow along with and not easy to predict. There were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

This review will be posted to my Goodreads and Amazon accounts immediately and also to my instagram account (@ginganinja333), and to my newly created bookstagram (@paulas.book.nook).

This was an excellent book. The story is well written and has several red herrings that make the mystery one that is more difficult to solve. I enjoyed this book immensely