Local Girl Missing: A Novel

My first book by Claire Douglas, but won't be my last. This was an excellent book although too long for me. I get bored pretty easy so had to skip read through some of it. It kept my attention throughout , however and I was totally surprised by the ending!. I had a feeling, the closer I got to the end as to who did what, but I was blown away and happy to say I wasn't as smart as I thought I was!! I would most definitely recommend this book.

So many thrillers say that they will "keep you guessing" until the very end but rarely live up to that promise. This book did that and more! I'm absolutely stunned. I did not see any of plot twists coming and had no idea it would end the way it did. I LOVE when a book shocks and surprises me! So often you can see what's coming very early on in a book but you keep reading hoping the author wouldn't make it that obvious. Well Claire Douglas pulled the rug out from under me with this book and I loved every minute of it! "The Sisters" was one of the best books I read last year so I was excited to read another book of hers. "Local Girl Missing" did NOT disappoint! I can't wait to read another book by Claire Douglas! She now has a new lifelong fan!

Good bone structure, but this suspense novel lacked muscle and a few tendons. A desire to solve the cold case of a missing person was a believable premise for the story. The dual narrative worked well, as did the eerie off-season seaside setting. Unfortunately, most of the characters lacked depth and dimension, and a few were completely unnecessary as they did not move the plot forward at all. Several chapters dragged, accomplishing very little, and too many scenarios seemed implausible, including the ending. What could have been great wound up only average instead. But average serves a purpose, too. While this book isn’t likely to present much of a challenge or provoke long lasting thought, it might be just perfect as light reading on a lazy seaside holiday.

I really liked the beginning. I enjoyed the novelty of the 2nd person POV, and that never wore off. The writing was engaging, the plot was just lacking. After a fairly brisk beginning, it began to meander. I got pretty bored by about 35% of the way in. The plot was so-so, the action repetitive, and the plot twists ranged from uninteresting to predictable. Local Girl Missing was clearly modeled after some recent popular literature, but the momentum of the story wasn't crisp enough to sustain the absurd. The copious overexplaining at the end didn't help.All in all, I blame the editor. The writing is good, but the plot needed a strong guiding hand.

The book has an unorthodox method of telling the story but grabs your attention quickly and keeps you reading.I got bogged down in the middle and skipped a few sections, then realized I had missed important parts of the story. However, the only ending was something I didn’t see coming, but that might have been due to skipping sections. I really enjoyed it !

The "unreliable narrator" is possibly my favorite form of mystery. Here there are two, and whom to trust is not immediately evident even when one figures out the motive. The book ended a little abruptly but overall a great read.

Wow what a twisted story. A real page turner. The characters were very well written and totally interesting. I love how the two main characters, each told the story.

An enjoyable read but it became clear pretty early on who the real villain was. Not sure why reviews are saying the end came out of nowhere. The main character is unlikeabke, but the secondary character makes up for it. One star off for the ‘f’ word use.

This is the 4th book of Claire's that I've read and although I've enjoyed all of them, I thought this one was the best. Gripped me to end. She's the Queen of twists & turns. I love Claire's style of writing, with each chapter written from a different person's perspective or in a different time.

If you can get past the first 200 pages, then it very quickly gathers pace and ends in a most unexpected way. This was probably my least favourite of her books so far but follows Claires formula of a slow start filled with detail about people, which then accelerates into something unexpected - with an added twist. As a bloke I love observing through female eyes – it’s a whole new world and I love that her stories all take place in familiar English towns.

This is more of a psychological thriller about best friends Sophie and Francesca Aka Frankie. They grow up in a seaside town all seems well until one day Sophie goes missing. The story rotates between Frankie and Sophie. Frankie is mostly in the present whilst most of Sophie’s story is told in the past.Twenty years now in the present a body has been found, Frankie who has moved away and carved out a new life for herself feels she has no choice but to return and get answers to the questions that only she knows.Frankie does not have much of a welcome back she is faced with hostility and strange things start to happen, by what is happening it is obvious to her that someone has discovered secrets that she wants buried, Frankie starts to feel afraid for her life, what is the motive? There are twists coming….

Gripping books which are well written. The plot twists are pretty obvious early on but still very good ‘chewing gum for the brain’ reading. Have bought one every few daysFrom this author for the last few weeks and would certainly recommend.

Description of a decrepit pier in haze in the cold dragged me into a covert friendship between women, one was a beloved daughter of rich man seemingly tender to everyone, another was lackluster in her classroom though capable to make mutually reliable friendship. The former was in higher positions than the latter until when they both graduated from secondary school. After graduation, what the plastered woman had been secretly feeling for the ore causes her a dire dismissal from her past glorying. This story is worthy to rethink who is better as friend or not, also to enjoy reading.