Village of the Lost Girls

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of Village of the Lost Girls, a stand alone set in the mountain village of Monteperdido in northeastern Spain.

Five years ago two eleven year old girls, Ana Montrell and Lucía Castán disappeared without trace from the village of Monteperdido and despite a massive manhunt they were never found. Now a car accident has killed the driver and injured the passenger, a sixteen year old girl identified as Ana Montrell. Given the failings of the initial investigation Inspector Santiago Baín and Assistant Inspector Sara Campos of the Policía Nacional are drafted in to lead the hunt for Lucía and her kidnapper.

I enjoyed Village of the Lost Girls which has a good mystery and several unexpected twists. It is a multi stranded novel concentrating not only on the hunt for Lucía but the effect Ana’s return has on the two families in particular and the wider village as a whole and, as with all good procedurals, uncovers a slew of unrelated crimes. I found the actual hunt and associated crimes quite gripping but I feel that they sometimes got bogged down in superfluous philosophising which took the edge off the intensity and sense of urgency the author manages well at other times.

The characterisation is in the novel is excellent from the flaky Sara Campos to the extremely driven Joaquim Castán, both of whom are not very likeable in their own ways but are instantly recognisable as real. Joaquim is the parent driven to extremes through the impotence of being unable to protect his daughter. Sara gets too involved in her cases, over empathising to the detriment of her health. The village of Monteperdido is almost a character in its own right. Having recently spent time in a similar village in Italy I felt that I could really picture it and its insular society where it’s a completely different way of living from my urban comfort.

Village of the Lost Girls is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

A great tense read! Full of gripping moments and twists and turns.
The story was exciting to read and the characters were fleshed out well.