Two estranged sisters reunite after their missing mother's backpack is discovered, and inside it are clues that could shatter both of their lives. I really enjoyed this book by Anni Taylor. I sped through it because I just couldn't put it down, with twists that left me guessing to the end. Amazing story of family, forgiveness, and heartache.

Lily and Iris are estranged sisters who parted ways as children when their mother disappeared while traveling around Australia. Now 24 years later the police find their mother's backpack and reopen the case. Lily now lives in Pennsylvania with her son and is curious about the case. She travels back to Australia and connects with her sister Iris. But when Lily unlocks the gut-wrenching events of the past, everything she thought was true about her family is A fast moving story with a few twists that enhance the story. Lily and Iris are estranged sisters who parted ways as children when their mother disappeared while traveling around Australia. Now 24 years later the police find their mother's backpack and reopen the case. Lily now lives in Pennsylvania with her son and is curious about the case. She travels back to Australia and connects with her sister Iris. But when Lily unlocks the gut-wrenching events of the past, everything she thought was true about her family is A fast moving story with a few twists that enhance the story.

Birds In Flight - Anni Taylor

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

A family shattered by a past of secrets and imagined rejection, two sisters recreate their mother's road trip in an effort to determine what happened to her and to their sister.

A well-written, beautiful story about the strong bonds of family, even one at times a family you wish you were not a member of...

Read this heartfelt story (it brought me to tears) about two women who relearn the love their mother and long-lost sister held for them.

Until next time, hold your family close...

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Wow. This was an amazing book. Well thought out by the author. Really enjoyable read.

In an effort to confront her past when new evidence surfaces, Lily returns to Australia to try a solve her mother’s disappearance, which includes confronting her sister Iris about that fateful night. The sisters are almost polar opposites, and clash as they fight for information and then finally set out to recreate the fateful road-trip where their mother and one of the neighbor girls that came with them disappeared. And boy do they get answers. Some very interesting and uncomfortable answers, complete with twists I did not see coming at all! I was floored at times!

It was certainly very reminiscent of real sister relationships and a story that contained an intense mystery as well as a genuine portrait of strained family relationships.

The ending was really intense and tied up all the loose endings, which was great and I really liked that we got the answers to all of our questions, down to some of the finer details that were mentioned earlier in the story, for example, why their mother hated a certain type of flower. It was very satisfying.

But what made it 4-star instead of 5-star for me was that I wish the ending was a little less “realistic” than it was. This was the perfect story for a little bit of a fairy tale ending, but instead the author went practical. And that took away some of the magic of it.
****MILD SPOILER!!!!****
I wanted a certain character to say “Screw it, I’m doing this!” And instead she said “We’ll see.”Sometimes I want yo suspend belief and just believe in the happy ending, you know? Just let me.

But overall, this was a great book that I would heartily recommend. Both for its mystery and its domestic storyline, which was touching and engaging.

Not my typical type of book to read but I really enjoyed it. The storyline was intriguing & I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next.

This is a superbly written book. It kept me guessing all the way through to the end. I was so caught up with it all. This will be a nice suggestion for book club!

I always enjoy this author's books but I loved this one! What can be better than a road trip, and the one in this book which explores the Australian coast and visits so many places I know well was delightful.

Of course the scenery and the highlights of each place visited is just the background to the story, the relationship between the two sisters, Iris and Lily, and the mystery of the disappearance of their mother. I found Iris a most unlikeable character which made it easy to believe that she and Lily could have been estranged for so many years and the build up to their reconciliation is also credible.

Anni Taylor writes really well and this book was practically unputdownable. I totally failed to pick the guilty party but the author did set up several possibilities. The ending is bittersweet but true to life.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a good mystery with lots of interesting characters and a beautiful Australian setting. Five stars.

This was. a great story and I devoured it nearly in one sitting. So well written and such an interesting story. I would definitely love to read another of this authors books again. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

In 1998, Elsa Jorgenson suddenly disappears during a road trip with her daughters, Lily and Iris, in Australia. Iris also vanishes briefly, but returns, and the girls begin a tumultuous journey without their mother, who has completely vanished. Twenty-four years later, Lily returns to Australia, determined to get answers. She will start with her estranged sister, Iris, for Lily is convinced Iris is keeping secrets.

Birds in Flight is a compelling and nuanced mystery that will keep you guessing. The secrets and revelations are riveting. Among the serious issues discussed are mental health, depression, abuse, abandonment, and cult-like behavior. This book is so richly layered, and as each layer is lifted, more of an absolutely intriguing mystery is revealed. It's a dynamic story of family secrets and the quest to finally solve them. It's also a road trip book in more ways than one, as Lily and Iris retrace their mother's footsteps and learn her life story.

I had a hard time putting this mystery/adventure down, and the conclusion is clever, heartbreaking, and unexpected. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a complex mystery that explores family dynamics. This is a story you won't soon forget.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

This turned out better than I thought. There are many angles to the story that kept my interest. I liked it when the daughters finally found the journal and many pieces fell together for a more solid picture of what happened that night.
I missed one key piece that I failed to pick up on that factored large in the overall plot.
There is one flaw—the author has a character using an iPod in 1997 but those didn’t appear until 2001.

Would you do anything to get the answers that haunted your life for 24 years?

Lily receives a life-changing call that may finally give her the opportunity to find her mom, even at the reluctancy of those around her, including her sister Iris.

24 years ago, during what Lily and Iris believe to be another of their mothers “breakdowns,” their mother Elsa takes them and two orphaned girls on a road trip across Australia. Their road trip ends with 2 missing people, Iris acting suspicious, and 11 year old Lily trying to comprehend.

This story is a heartbreaking and eye-opening look into a woman’s fight to be free. A mother’s strength. And the reality of the picture we paint to shield our kids from our pain.

Author Anni Taylor wrote this story so beautifully, with such amazing insight into each character. I will keep Elsa in my heart from this point forward ❤️

A beautiful story about family, secrets, marriage, and sisters, set in the beautiful landscape of Australia. This book is part mystery part drama and I loved it. The relationships were so interesting and it kept me guessing until the end.

It was wild to read a thriller set in my home state and locations I know so well.

Birds in Flight was a well written thriller that I devoured in one day. It follows the journey of estranged sisters trying to solve their mothers mysterious disappearance 24 years ago.

A really solid mystery, with a twisted plot line and beautifully descriptive scenery and characters.

Loved it!!

It was 1998 when Elsa Jorgenson and her two daughters, Iris and Lily, did a year long road trip through Australia. From America, Elsa had left her husband behind, saying they needed space, telling her children they were divorcing. But the night Elsa disappeared, last seen running along the highway, with twelve year old Lily alone in the caravan, not knowing where Iris was either, was when the two girls' lives changed irrevocably. Their father took them back to America and once Iris was old enough, she returned to Australia, where she'd remained, estranged from her sister all those years.

It was twenty four years later that Lily, living with her son Jake and Lily's father in Pennsylvania, received a telephone call from a police officer in Australia. Her mother's backpack had been found and the cold case would be reopened. So Lily and Jake headed to Australia, wondering if now was the chance to find out more - and to discover the secrets Iris had continued to keep close to her chest, having refused to tell Lily anything back in 1998...

Birds in Flight is an exceptional psychological thriller from the pen of Aussie author Anni Taylor which I devoured! I've always loved Ms Taylor's work, and this one is definitely one of her best. With great characters, plus the vivid word-pictures of Australia's east coast, right down to the penguins on Phillip Island, I felt I was with them on the road trip, completely involved in the plot. Birds of Flight is one I highly recommend.

With thanks to Anni Taylor and NetGalley for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I was late to start reading this book due to illness but I absolutely loved this book ! It had such a great storyline that just kept your turning the pages until you realised it was done. Estranged sisters, missing mother and years later all the turmoil starts again with new clues coming to light. All I can say is just read it and you won’t be disappointed.
My thanks as always to NetGalley and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for the early read for an honest review.

Birds In Flight is the story of two estranged sisters, reuniting after twenty four years in an effort to solve the mystery of what happened to their mother and a young child accompanying her one dark, stormy night a lifetime ago. Their mother had fled their father and America for a life road tripping around Australia in an old camper van for reasons unknown to her two unhappy daughters. They traveled from place to place, sometimes pausing long enough to get to know a few of the locals before being abruptly jerked up and forced to move on again by their skittish mother. While dutiful Lily quickly adjusted to her mother's flighty ways, rebellious daughter Iris resented the life she'd been forced to leave behind in America and took every opportunity to make her resentment and displeasure known. And then came the fateful night they drove through the Australian everglades on the way to the next small town - her mother stopping on the side of the dark road, picking up the small child traveling with them and disappearing into the black, rainy night never to be seen again. Later, Lily will recall being alone in the van, petrified and jumping at shadows when police abruptly stormed the van shouting questions. A man had reported seeing a woman in the area running down the road chasing a little girl and called it in to authorities. What Lily can't forget or justify is the sight of her older sister Iris running back to the van, soaked to the core with her yellow rain jacket held over her head. Iris refusing to answer questions about where she'd been or what she'd done, warning Lily to keep her mouth shut. Iris creating a rift between siblings that grew wider day by day until their relationship is hopelessly fractured by lies, secrets and innuendos. A fracture that will keep them apart, living on two different continents for twenty four years.

Now, a lifetime later, Lily receives a phone call from police in Australia - during a big flood of the Everglades, something of her mother's surfaces. Could this be the piece of evidence they've been waiting for? Lily returns to Australia to meet the detective and hopefully, finally, shake the truth about what happened that fateful night from her sister Iris. The two sisters form a tentative, fragile truce and, with their own children in tow, decide to reenact their mother's road trip from twenty four years ago - hoping to uncover clues, to find answers and maybe, just maybe, find their way back to each other. But is either woman ready to accept the truths that emerge when skeletons are rattled? Will it bring them back together . . . or finish ripping them apart?

Birds In Flight is the second book I've read by the multi-talented author Anni Taylor. Her descriptive narrative brings Australia, with its ever changing landscape and environment, to life in living, breathing color - the vivid sights and smells, the unrelenting heat and cold, the merciless dry and wet. I felt like I was on the road trip with Lily and Iris, both as young girls with their mother and later as adults with children of their own. Through past and present chapters, the author renders a mesmerizing tale of two doomed road trips twenty four years apart. The tempo of each road trip sets a steadily increasing, ominous pace, building tension as they move from place to place, person to person, asking questions, seeking answers even as the strain and half-truths between siblings fester. As they travel, they begin learning more about their mother's life and motivation before them, and it shocks and saddens them, driving their desire to find either her . . . or justice for her. Characters are well-fleshed out and believable with a few red herrings woven in throughout. Taylor does an excellent job of manipulating both characters and readers through an emotional, twisted plot line to an ending I didn't see coming.

Anni Taylor is an author that's earned a spot on my short list of favorite authors. Her books are highly readable and entertaining while also managing to draw attention to social issues such as misogyny, estranged siblings/families, abuse and social class. Birds In Flight is a dark, highly atmospheric story about love, loss, forgiveness and second chances. It's about the true meaning of home and embracing our past in order to live our future to the fullest. It's about learning to forgive even if you never forget. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, suspense and thrillers with a lot of depth and heart.

A beautifully written story about sisters and mothers and daughters. With a many layered mystery at it's core. Clear your calendar. This book will keep you up all night. Thank you to victory editing and NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this ARC .

Birds in Flight is one of the most satisfying reads I’ve had in a while and at I no point did I feel that I knew which direction the novel would take me.
Mainly set in the present Lily living with her father and son in America, is estranged from her sister in Australia. Twenty four years ago the sisters were on a road trip with their mother in Australia, along with Grace and Ellie, another two young girls in their mothers care. But then their Mother disappeared with young Ellie. Lily has always suspected that Iris knew more about that night and has resented Iris for holding something back. But then their mother’s backpack is found after all those years and Lily returns to Australia with her son Jake to try and find answers…mainly from Iris.
There are flashback chapters of the road trip all that time ago and slowly layers are revealed. I just felt it was very clever, so many threads.
Totally loved it, so many emotions for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

This was so wonderfully written. I had no idea what I was in for as I had honestly never heard of this author before. But I will be reading all of her books now. I could never have predicted the ending of this book. An absolute masterpiece.