I usually love Willinghams books. However I felt this one was a tad bit too slow for my liking and the twist was predictable a mile away.

A fast-paced and gripping small town Southern thriller, this novel delivers a blend suspense, mystery, and true crime vibes.
A slow burn for sure buy definitely BINGE WORTHY. Stacy does it again!
Thank you NetGalley |St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for an eARC.

Pub Date Aug 26 2025

Forget Me Not follows Claire as she returns home to help take care of her mother, but quickly finds herself becoming obsessed with her sister’s disappearance twenty-two years ago. So obsessed that she takes a job on the farm her sister worked at before she disappeared.

My biggest criticism of Forget Me Not is that it took Willingham 37% to finally get the plot going. Once past the 37% mark, Forget Me Not was fast paced and read like a race to the end. It was exciting and full of twists and turns.

Willingham’s writing is atmospheric with a sense of impending dread as Claire digs deeper into the past.

While the majority of the novel is written from Claire’s perspective, there were some chapters told from the 3rd person. This switch in POV was an interesting narrative choice. It was jarring at first, but I came to appreciate the switch.

Claire made a couple questionable decisions that were on par with FMC from horror movies. There was a moment I rolled my eyes to hard they almost fell out of the socket.

Overall, Forget Me Not was an exciting mystery full of twists and turns, but only after getting through the first 37% of the novel.

Stacy Willingham has done it again!!! Forget Me Not is her latest haunting, atmospheric thriller that draws you in with its slow-burn mystery and will stick with you long after you’ve finished. While it doesn’t quite top A Flicker in the Dark (my top thriller of 2022), it comes incredibly close & I absolutely loved it.

Willingham has such a gift for writing about trauma in a way that feels raw and authentic. Claire is a compelling narrator (damaged, determined, and so realistic you feel like you personally know her) and following her back into the world she tried so hard to leave behind was both gripping. The hazy, hot South Carolina vineyard setting? perfection and so realistic you can basically feel the humidity.

The mystery itself is layered and so smart. I had inklings about where it was going, but the way it unfolded was not how i thought it would happen. The twisty tension builds until the final reveal, making it impossible to put down (especially in the final 25%).

If you’re into thrillers with loads of atmosphere, messy characters, and secrets that refuse to stay buried, Forget Me Not is a must-read, and Willingham will continue to be an autobuy author for me!

Forget Me Not follows Claire Campbell, a southern girl who moved to the big city to escape the ghosts of her past. 2 decades ago, her sister Natalie disappeared shortly after her 18th birthday and was presumed dead though no body was ever found. An accident brings Claire back to her hometown and eventually, to the farm where Natalie spent so much of her last months working. As with any good mystery/thriller, all is not as it seems with this seemingly sweet but private family.

I really enjoy Willingham’s writing style, this book in particular dives into the mind of a traumatized but determined person who is starting to piece together the events of the past because something in the narrative just doesn’t fit. This story was a pretty slow burn and I like a bit more of a hook earlier on so it took me a bit to get through it. That said, it did eventually suck me in. All the twists and turns really took place in the last 25% of the story. That said, once I was in I was all in. I could not put it down until I had all the pieces.

3.5 stars rounded up (rounding up never hurt anyone). It’s not my first of Willingham’s books and it will not be my last. She is a great story teller.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Stacy Willingham for access to this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

⭐⭐⭐.5

I've read all of Stacy Willingham's novels, and A Flicker in the Dark remains my favorite. I think Forget Me Not is probably second on my list! Going into this book, don't be like me and half-heartedly read the description. Claire is an out-of-work journalist who returns home to her small town in South Carolina to care for her mother after an accident, but Claire can't take the reminders of her sister, Natalie, who disappeared 22 years ago. Claire decides to visit her sister's last place of work, Galloway Farm, before heading back to NYC and stumbles upon an opportunity to be a farmhand over the summer. As the summer unravels, Claire comes across alarming information that she thinks is connected to her sister's disappearance.

My mistake was assuming that most of the story would be centered around Claire's sister, Natalie, but it was more centered on the cases that could have possibly been connected to hers. I think I was expecting more of a crime thriller, and I really wasn't expecting the sort-of dual POV we ended up getting. Regardless of my expectations, I still really enjoyed this story. I read it in a day and a half, staying up way past my bedtime after a 6-day workweek. Stacy Willingham's writing continues to be beautiful and engrossing, and I think that is what truly drew me into the story and kept me going. I really appreciated Claire's character development, even though it felt a little rushed towards the end.

Overall, this was an atmospheric, suspenseful read. If you're a fan of Stacy Willingham, I would definitely recommend you check this one out!

Forget Me Not had me from the setting alone. A hazy, hot South Carolina vineyard? A sister who disappeared 22 years? A decades old mystery that needs to be unraveled? Cult vibes? Say less.
Claire returns to her hometown and is determined to learn the truth about her sister’s disappearance. Soon she starts working at the vineyard and digs through old secrets and discovers an old diary that might help crack the case.
This one was hard to put down. A tense and haunting southern thriller that you need to add to your TBR!

What a heart pounding read! 4/5⭐️

Claire, a journalist, is still grieving her sisters disappearance 22 years ago. When she has to return home for the first time in years, and is pulled into Galloway farm. She has a feeling something is off about the place, but she doesn’t realize how deep everything actually goes.

This book has two point of views, while mainly it’s the main character, it does switch off to a lady living in at the farm and how she got there.
I couldn’t read this fast enough, sitting on the edge of my seat dying to know what’s going to happen!!

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the arc!

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham.
Forget Me Not is a suspenseful mystery with a cultish feel. The book was a little slow at the beginning, but picked up pace as the story progressed. Some parts were a bit predictable, but the twists kept me guessing. This book will be a hit for mystery readers, and easy to recommend!

This one was a little bit slower than what we typically see from Willingham, but I really loved the story. I thought it was atmospheric, and attention was paid to details.

Claire's sister went missing when they were teenagers, and she is determined to solve the mystery. I am a sucker for any books with cult vibes, and this one fit the bill.

It had a lot of dark family drama and secrets that went a lot deeper than anticipated.

Overall, it was a solid read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Stacy Willingham, for this ARC. Once again, another suspenful read that I could not put down. I like the investigative reporter aspect of this story. At times, I found myself getting teary eyed for what happened to some of the characters and the reading of the diary our main female character finds. I did not expect the twist on who one of the characters ended up being. I would recommend this book for mystery book groups for sure!

Once again, Stacy Willingham kept me up past my bedtime . In this fast paced thriller the main character Claire returns to her hometown to help her mother out and quickly discovers family secrets refuse to stay buried. 22 years ago, Claire’s sister Natalie went missing and her killer has been behind bars all these years, but did they really capture the right killer? This thriller was chocked full of plot twists and turns till the very end.

Thank you @netgalley and @stacyvwillingham for the ARC and opportunity to read and review this book

A Twisty Ride That Stuck the Landing

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. The atmosphere was tense, the characters were layered with just enough ambiguity to keep me guessing, and every time I thought I had things figured out—bam, another twist. The pacing was solid, with just the right balance of slow-burn suspense and jaw-dropping reveals.

So many mysteries fizzle out or over-explain, but this one pulled everything together in a way that made sense and packed an emotional punch. The final reveal didn’t feel forced or out of left field—it felt earned.

The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is that a few middle chapters dragged slightly. But overall, this is a must-read for any Stacy Willingham fan or anyone who loves a smart mystery that keeps you on your toes and actually delivers on its promise. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a suspenseful read that won’t leave you disappointed.

Forget Me Not is Southern suspense at its finest. Stacy Willingham delivers a taut, emotionally charged thriller that blends family trauma, long-buried secrets, and the eerie charm of a coastal vineyard into a story that grips from the very first page.

Claire is a compelling narrator—gritty, guarded, and quietly unraveling as she returns to the scene of her greatest heartbreak. What begins as a reluctant homecoming quickly spirals into an obsessive search for answers, fueled by a mysterious diary and chilling echoes of her sister’s unsolved disappearance.

Willingham builds tension throughout, wrapping every chapter in creeping dread and a sense that something just beneath the surface is about to crack. With vivid prose, a setting that hums with heat and hidden danger, and a plot that twists until the final page, Forget Me Not is both a riveting mystery and an aching exploration of memory, guilt, and grief.

A perfect pick for fans of slow-burn suspense with emotional depth and razor-sharp twists.

As someone typically pretty critical of thriller novels, I was pleasantly surprised by this read!

Such an intriguing and entertaining story down to the very end. Somehow, it felt nostalgic and similar to other Southern crime stories, yet fresh and interesting.

Avoided being corny and predictable.

The writing truly reminded me of the sights, sounds, and feels of being in the south in the summer and really lent to the deep discomfort the fmc was suffering through both mentally and physically.

It definitely felt reminiscent of season 1 of True Detective with that deep southern “we don’t share our family secrets” energy.

Overall, it is an easily digestible, juicy story super accessible to those like myself who don’t always aim for the mystery read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

For me, this was just an average thriller. But I did enjoy the vineyard setting. I just wish there was more suspense.

4.5/5 ⭐️

This is the third book I’ve read from this author and this one did not disappoint!
Claire Campbell is unexpectedly called home to deal with a family issue and is immediately drawn back into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of her sister, Natalie, that happened decades before. While in her hometown, she can’t help but revisit the farm where her family spent one last happy day before their lives were shattered. She takes a job at the farm on a whim and ends up finding a diary, which shows the farm and its characters in a sinister light. Claire becomes obsessed with finding the truth about the farm and what really happened to her sister all those years before.
Almost immediately this book puts you on the edge of your seat and keeps you there for the entire duration. I reached the climax of this story while I was getting a pedicure and literally sat in my car to finish the last 50 pages before I drove home because I couldn’t stand to wait to find out how it ended. I am usually someone who guesses the plot twists and endings before they happen and I failed with this one over and over again.
I highly recommend checking this one out when it’s published on 8/26/2025!
Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Claire is dealing with a missed promotion and hasn’t properly grieved the disappearance of her sister for over a decade. She’s drawn home to care for her mother after an accident, but is soon pushed out of her mother’s home and she begins to spend time at a farm where her sister spent a lot time before she disappeared. Claire starts to become suspicious when she finds clues there of what might have <i>really</i> happened to her sister.

Stacy Willingham has become an auto read author for me. Her thrillers are gripping from page 1 to the end and this one also fit the bill! Usually I can’t predict what’s going to happen, but this one I was able to more or less predict the major twists. That being said, it did not detract from the overall enjoyment, and this was an engaging page turner. If you have enjoyed her other books or domestic thrillers, then I think you’ll enjoy this too!!

I only wish the diary that Claire finds and reads throughout the book was written in diary format rather than a 3rd person retelling of the events in the diary. I think this would have provided a bit more of Marcia’s voice to those sections.

An eerie psychological suspense! Kept me guessing!

Natalie disappeared 22 years ago. She was never found. Claire, her younger sister, became estranged from her imploded family. Now, she returns to her hometown to see her mom. She is soon working at secluded farm where her sister once worked years ago. It’s eerie, the people are odd and she finds a diary.
Who are these people and did they have something to do with Natalie’s disappearance ? What about the other missing girls?


Thank you to Netgalley for the advance ebook!

Wow! This is the second book I've read by this author, and once again, they did not disappoint. I absolutely love their writing style—it's captivating and full of surprises. Just when I think I know where the story is heading, it takes a completely unexpected turn, which keeps me hooked from start to finish.

If you're a fan of a good mystery, this one is a must-read. It’s haunting, suspenseful, and lingers in your mind long after you've turned the last page. Some parts are genuinely chilling, and I found myself thinking about the story long after I finished it.

I’ll definitely be picking up more books by this author—they’ve quickly become a favorite!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this ARC.