Forget Me Not is a moody, atmospheric mystery that pulled me in from the first page and didn’t let go. Stacy Willingham blends slow-burn suspense with rich Southern Gothic vibes in this story of grief, buried secrets, and a sister’s desperate search for the truth.

Claire, an out-of-work NYC journalist, returns home to South Carolina to help her estranged mother—only to find herself working at the same eerie vineyard where her sister Natalie worked before she disappeared 22 years ago. When Claire stumbles across a decades-old diary written by one of the vineyard’s former owners, she uncovers disturbing clues that may tie the past to her sister’s unsolved case.

Told in dual timelines—Claire in the present and diary entries from the 1980s—Willingham masterfully weaves together a chilling story full of cultish undertones, small-town secrets, and emotional depth. The setting was vivid and immersive—I could practically feel the humidity and hear the cicadas. I especially loved the creeping tension and how the clues slowly built into something much darker than I expected.

There are some solid twists, especially toward the end. While some may feel a bit over-the-top or rushed, I found them satisfying and unpredictable. The cult subplot gave me Manson family vibes in the best way.

If you’re into slow-burning psychological thrillers with layered characters, moody Southern settings, and a mystery that keeps you guessing—this one’s for you. Willingham nails it again.

Stacy Willingham’s “Forget Me Not” is an engaging slow burn mystery. Set in the muggy southern summer, Claire is an unemployed NYC journalist home to help her elderly mother. As the story unfolds the reader is taken along as Claire finally grieves the death of her sister two decades later. Beautiful written and with a surprise ending makes for a great read.

Claire is forever haunted by her sister’s death that took place 22 years ago. She tries so move on, but finds herself back in her hometown temporarily after losing her journalism job in the New York City. She ends up working on Galloway Farm where her sister used to work when she was in high school. Claire finds a diary from one of the old vineyard owners, Marcia, and starts seeing correlations between this woman’s life on the farm and with Natalie’s death and disappearance. She is not willing to go back home until she gets some answers.
This story kept me on my toes. It is told from Claire’s point of view and also Marcia’s diary from the 1980s. In the diary/story telling from the past, there were a lot of characters to keep track of—a couple too many in my opinion, but that is one of my only critiques. There was an eerie atmospheric feeling surrounding most of this book that kept me engaged. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle, cult vibes which I love, and the story is full of twists and turns.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Matin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve read all of Stacy Willingham’s books, and this is yet another solid thriller! Set mostly in rural South Carolina, the story follows Claire, an out of work journalist whose sister disappeared 22 years earlier. She returns home to help her mother after an accident but is soon sucked into the vineyard that her sister worked at briefly before her disappearance. Claire begins living and working there and starts to piece together a bigger mystery…

I liked the dual storylines through the diary; honestly, I love the culty stuff (this had Manson family vibes) so I wish we got more of that story. The ending was twisty and while I predicted some of it, I didn’t see it all coming. There is one part of the ending that felt illogical/unresolved for me and that is my main criticism- I don’t like to leave spoilers so I will stop there! But overall, this is a fast-paced novel with a cool setting, perfect for a summer read.


Thanks again to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book!

Stacy Willingham continues her streak of writing solid thrillers with satisfying endings. She does a great job of balancing out her trail of clues for the conclusion to make sense, while maintaining an element of surprise with each plot twist reveal.

The Farm and Mitchell’s character definitely gave off Charles Manson vibes, and I felt like Willingham did a good job with laying the backstories of the rest of the characters in the book so that their actions/motives made sense.

Ever since A Flicker in the Dark, I look forward to every new book of hers, and Stacy Willingham has yet to disappoint!

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for access to an advanced reader’s copy.

I love the setting, vibe, and premise of this book. Mysterious, dark, and emotional. A beautiful but isolated vineyard setting. A cold case. A sister out to find the truth.

It kept my interest throughout, especially with the flashbacks. I also found the cult vibes intriguing and unique. However, once the twists started coming it felt a bit out there and like too many twists and revelations were crammed into the ending.

Overall I enjoyed this but it wasn’t my favorite from the author!

"Forget Me Not"? I couldn't if I tried. With an isolated, atmospheric setting, unresolved disappearances, diary entries sharing an additional perspective and timeline, culty vibes, and an investigative journalist using an escape from her estranged mother as a way to get closer to the details around her own sister's final known summer, Stacy Willingham may as well handed this book to me giftwrapped. ((So, thanks!!))

I loved the pacing in this book due to the slightly slower build, so consider this a heads up if you're a reader who only loves fast-paced writing. The story itself is so damn good, though, so I genuinely hope you won't let that deter you. This may have claimed the throne as my favorite of Willingham's books so far, and it's definitely in the running for one of my favorite thrillers of 2025.

The list of what didn't work for me ended up being a short one: honestly, there's one character I could have done without altogether and one character I'd have liked to hear from closer to the end of the book. That's literally it.

Overall, I recommend this one for fans of suspenseful thrillers. This isn't the book for people who like aggressive twists, though. The writing here is more about sitting back and settling into the storytelling... it is the South, after all.

((While the viewpoints shared are my own, I want to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Stacy Willingham for this complimentary copy.))

Claire is an out of work journalist haunted by the disappearance of her older sister. Recently unemployed and down on her luck she returns to her hometown to help her injured mother and stumbles onto The Galloway, where decades old secrets begin to reveal themselves. An eerie and realistic setting, fun but sometimes predictable, always entertaining. I enjoyed this read. A southern thriller. Mystery. Crime. Found family. Deciet. Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely LOVED Willingham’s first 2 novels- couldn’t get enough and devoured them both. Her 3rd novel, while I still enjoyed, wasn’t quite as exciting for me. So I went into this one hoping for another unputdownable thriller, but was unfortunately left feeling similarly to Only If You’re Lucky- it was good, but wasn’t anything special.


Instead of an edge of my seat thriller, this was another slow burn that really was just more of a mystery. There were some fun twists that I didn’t see coming, (and some I did) but they just weren’t exciting enough to make up for the lull I felt during the first 2/3rds of the book.

I couldn’t connect at all with Claire- she was very drab and unfinished. I didn’t feel any of the emotions I should’ve with her family and coworker/“friend?”/“boyfriend?.” I didn’t feel the loss of her sister even though she’s supposed to still be so fraught over her so many years later. She spends the book uncovering all these secrets and is just so chill about them. There’s no excitement, no energy, no terror, nothing… Shouldn’t you feel at least a little creeped out? In the middle of nowhere during a storm with no way to communicate with the outside world? No, you just wanna sit and read a journal? Okay. And I can’t help but feel like she didn’t really do anything during this entire novel except read a diary and snoop. There was zero action.

And now for the good because I swear I’m not just a negative Nancy!- I do always love a cult vibe. I wish we had gotten more information about them, honestly, because the diary entries were definitely my favorite parts. And as a Southerner, the setting was spot on- I felt the mosquitoes and humidity and smelled the marshy waters. Willingham can certainly paint a picture and makes me feel like I’m right there in the vineyard, too.

I think this will be well loved by many! I just had high hopes for another “A Flicker in the Dark” and this just wasn’t that for me.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This was probably one of the most twitsy books I've ever read. It took me a while to get into the book, it started picking up around 40 percent, but when it did I couldn't put it down. I ended up loving this so much. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the ARC. This releases August 25th 2025.

Another home run for Stacy Willingham! This is an excellent thriller full of twists and turns that I never saw coming. The plot and characters were well developed making it a very enjoyable read!

Stacy Willingham has a knack for crafting books that are both engaging and unpredictable, keeping readers engrossed from beginning to end. Her ability to weave intricate plots with unexpected twists ensures that each page turn is filled with suspense and excitement. A huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5 star
Forget Me Not, another well-written, suspenseful, psychological thriller by Stacy Willingham. Publishing in August, 2025.

The plot flows seamlessly throughout the book intertwining characters from the past and present by diary entries from the past.

The mystery and suspense during this novel were slowly built on continuously as the story moved forward. Nearing the end, a whole whack of secrets and confessions were revealed which closed the novel out really well, providing the answers to any questions the reader may have.

This is not a scary style thriller, it is more of a mind twist psychologically, which is creepy on its own.

This book is filled with many twists, so many secrets, mysteries to unravel and solve, and some tense moments.

I believe I have read everything by this author and cannot wait to continue following her as her career continues. Well done. Great book.

5 ⭐️ ARC! Thank you NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Stacy Willingham for this early read!

A gripping story of a girl desperate to learn the fate of her sister who mysteriously disappeared as a teenager under strange circumstances. The author masterfully tells the story through the eyes of the main character, Claire, as well as through a journal belonging to the owner of the farm Claire goes to work at, Marcia.
The twists and turns are crazy, and kept me reading through hours of the night. Incredible read, can’t wait for more from this author!

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

A BIG thank you to #NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.

About the book: Over 20 years ago Claire Campbell’s older sister went missing when she was 18 years old. A few days later her blood was found in a mans car that was believed to be who she had been sneaking around seeing. The man was quickly arrested and the case was closed.
Claire was very traumatized by the event and in an attempt to escape her past she flees to the city. There she becomes an investigative reporter, until one day she received a call from her father letting her know that her mom had an accident and could use some help at home.
When Claire arrives at her moms, she quickly feels very unwelcomed and it’s clear that her mom doesn’t want her help. She can’t return to her apartment because she is subletting it for the summer. So rather than leave town, she takes a seasonal job at Galloway Farms working at the vineyard. This also happens to be the same place her sister worked before she went missing. It feels like the perfect place for Claire to pass the time and make extra money along the way.
While getting settled into her guest house, Claire discovers a hidden diary written by one of the vineyard owners. At first it seems harmless, about teenage rebellion and love, but it quickly turns into something more troubling. It gives details of various unsolved crimes. Claire finds herself more and more engrossed in the diary.
Claire feels like her sister’s own disappearance may somehow be tied to it. Will she discover the truth before it’s too late?

What I thought? This one was slow burn for me. It honestly took me a bit to get into it. It does pick up more towards about the middle, but nothing truly exciting/suspenseful ever really happens. There are a couple twists in there that did get me. All in all I’d give this book 3.5 stars.

This kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! I’ve really enjoyed all of Stacy Willingham’s books, but this one might be my favorite. It was absolutely riveting with so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming!

Another amazing book by Stacy Willingham, this is why she is on my list of author's whose books I will automatically read without even looking at the description. Forget Me Not was filled with suspense and tension, the ending had some great plot twists. I'm not surprised I read it in two days, I could not put it down. I loved that it had the diary entries that flashed us back in time, and gave us glimpses of what happened before. Cannot recommend this book enough.

I devoured all of Stacy Willingham’s book last summer so I knew I had to read this new one! It was amazing from the start. It starts out with a younger sister returning home to an ailed mother that she hasn’t seen in years. Her parents divorce and her sister’s disappearance as the main reason for the distance. But as Claire returns home, she is haunted by the memories of her sister and her disappearance. Staying a town over working on a vineyard and vegetable farm, Claire began discovering secrets about her sister’s disappearance as well as many other cold case disappearances. As a struggling journalist who recently quit her job, Claire found a mysterious diary while working at the farm which lead her to the most incredible story of her career. Told from Claire’s perspective as well as the perspective of the journal’s author, Claire pieces together a story that changed her life. Must read if you are a fan of mysteries and thrillers!!

Stacy Willingham is an instant read for me. I have loved her last books and this is no exception, It wasn't as much of a thriller as it was a mystery. There are multiple timelines but it was done really well. Read IT!

I was given an ARC for an honest review of Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham.

This one is great from the first page. It was a very well written twisty book with a little bit of a mystery and a tad bit of a thriller (not too much) all wrapped into the pages. Sometimes I struggle with multiple timelines but this one was not confusing when dealing with that. About halfway through was when I got to the can't put it down point and had to finish. Very well written, great story, great character!