I really enjoy the true crime podcast Crime Junkie, so when the host Ashley Flowers wrote a book I obviously wanted to read it. Her first book was All Good People Here, an enjoyable read with an ending I didn’t love. Recently her second novel was released and I used my Audible credit on the audiobook. Today I wanted to share my thoughts, so let’s get in!
Two women haunted by their sisters’ unsolved disappearances band together in this captivating mystery from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All Good People Here and host of the #1 true crime podcast Crime Junkie.
Nicole “Nic” Monroe is in a rut. At twenty-four, she lives alone in a dinky apartment in her hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana, she’s just gotten a DWI, and she works the same dead-end job she’s been working since high school, a job she only has because her boss is a family friend and feels sorry for her. Everyone has felt sorry for her for the last seven years—since the day her older sister, Kasey, vanished without a trace.
On the night Kasey went missing, her car was found over a hundred miles from home. The driver’s door was open and her purse was untouched in the seat next to it. The only real clue in her disappearance was Jules Connor, another young woman from the same area who disappeared in the same way, two weeks earlier. But with so little for the police to go on, both their cases eventually went cold.
Nic wants nothing more than to move on—from her sister’s disappearance and the state it’s left her in. But then one day, Jules’s sister, Jenna Connor, walks into her life and offers Nic something she hasn’t felt in a long hope. What follows is a gripping tale of two sisters who will do anything to find their missing halves, even if it means destroying everything they’ve ever known…
I love a good mystery novel and I really liked that the relationship between sisters was at the heart of this story. Part of what makes a good story is the plot, but for me the characters are really important as well. Nic isn’t necessarily a likeable character and definitely has her flaws. It made her a well-rounded character and I thought she was really interesting to read about.
We don’t get to know Jenna as well as we do Nic in my opinion. And I would also say she was a bit more forgettable. I finished the book almost 3 weeks ago and I don’t remember much more about her than the fact that she was a nurse and that her sister went missing. Overall I think the plot was more important in this book, as well as the bond between sisters.
“sisterhood is knowing someone fully and loving them anyway.”
There were some interesting family dynamics in this story and I really felt for most of the characters. They make questionable choices, but that also made them human. Those choices are also what leads us to the conclusion of the story. And I have to say it’s an ending I really enjoy. I definitely enjoy it more than the ending of All Good People Here. It was a surprising ending to me, but also one that makes sense given the rest of the story.
Overall this was an enjoyable read I would definitely recommend. It’s not the best mystery ever, but for sure one that entertained me for a couple of hours and I thought about afterwards.
