This book is set in parts with the chapters that alternate between Jess and Margot in the present day and Heather and Flora in 1994.

1994 – Sisters Heather and Flora, together with best friend Jess decided to visit the Summer fair. Then one night Flora goes missing and she has never been found.

Present Day – Eighteen years later, Jess is a journalist on a local newspaper in Bristol and once again Flora’s family is once again in the headlines. Jess’s childhood best friend Heather is in hospital with a gunshot wound. Heather is also being accused of shooting and killing two people.

Conflicted between doing her job covering the story of the double homicide and protecting her old friend she begins to investigate the case and to find out why her friend would do something as cold as murdering two people in cold blood.

What happened leading up to that, what has been going on in the town they all grew up in and does any of it have anything to do with Flora going missing?

Everyone has something to hide and gradually, as secrets are revealed the past catches up to the present and some awful truths are revealed bring past and present together.

This is a really well paced and well written atmospheric novel that is filled with some great twists, about the bond between sisters, mother and daughter, and childhood friends. The characters are all well fleshed out with their own flaws and you can’t help but become invested in their stories, even if you don’t fully like them!

A very clever psychological suspense novel that will keep you guessing and guessing wrong throughout.

Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas will be published on 27 Jun 2019 on Kindle and 08 Aug 2019 in paperback.

A big thank you to the author Claire Douglas, publishers Penguin UK – Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest and independent review.

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3.5 I enjoyed this, a little lull in the middle but picked up again and ended well ( )

In 1994, a young girl goes missing. Years later, her sister and mother still mourn, wondering what happened the night the fair came to town and a young man Flora is drawn to, may be the culprit.

Well written, leading me to want to read all other books written by this author.

Highly recommended. ( )

Very good, read it straight through! Will definitely get her other 4 books! ( )

I felt rather smug when I was reading Then She Vanishes; I thought I'd worked it all out, you see. The more I read, the more I was convinced that I was right but then Claire Douglas totally pulled the rug from underneath me! Well played, Ms Douglas, very well played indeed.

The story starts with a double murder as an elderly mother and her son are shot in their home. It looks like an open and shut case as the shooter, Heather, is found barely alive after turning the gun on herself. With no apparent links between Heather and her victims, and therefore no motive, nobody can explain why Heather would commit such a crime. Local newspaper reporter, Jess, has an advantage over the national reporters who are hounding Heather's family; Jess was best friends with Heather for a while when they were teenagers but they lost touch when Heather's sister, Flora, went missing. Surely that was a time when Heather needed Jess the most? Aha! There's obviously more to the Flora story than meets the eye and so begins a gripping and compelling dual storyline.

I was totally riveted with this book; I loved 16 year old Flora Powell's story as she was completely captivated by a young man working at the fair. Flora's story is not a teenage romance by any means as it quickly takes on a more sinister edge, which results in her disappearance. The 'now' setting of the story is 2012, 18 years later, and Flora's family still don't know what happened to her back in 1994. I think that's the worst thing for families of missing persons; the not knowing what happened to them and where the finding of a body would actually bring some closure and peace. As we find out, this isn't the only tragedy that has struck the Powell family; they have certainly had more than their fair share of heartache.

The character of Jess is very well written; she's a journalist and we often look at them in an unfavourable light for very good reasons, which Jess learned about first hand. After a murky past, it feels like she is almost trying to reinvent herself and I could really feel the struggle between her personal and professional lives as she investigates her former best friend. It's a really good conflict to consider; which is more important - doing a good job by reporting all of the facts or protecting a fragile renewed friendship? I think it would be really difficult to be objective where a friend or loved one is involved but Jess tries to get the balance right and I really admired her for that.

With chapters based on characters' different points of view, you get to experience the story from every angle. There are a few secrets to uncover and you never know when the next one is going to pop up so this kept me rapidly turning the pages, even though I thought I knew what had happened. I love being wrong; it's definitely an indication of a good book!

With this being her fifth novel, I think Claire Douglas is going from strength to strength and she's proving to be a force to be reckoned with in the thriller chart. Although it's of a slightly slower pace than thrillers I'm used to reading, I really enjoyed Then She Vanishes; it's as mesmerising as the sparkly lights of the fairground and I couldn't put it down. It gives me great pleasure to award the full 5 stars to Then She Vanishes and name it as a Book Magnet recommended read.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )