Title: Before She Disappeared
Author: Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Cornerstone
Synopsis:
Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will–searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.
A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim’s wary family tells Frankie she’s on her own–and she soon learns she’s asking questions someone doesn’t want answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her.
My review:
Before She Disappeared focuses on an investigator, Frankie, who focuses on missing person cases, trying to track down people who have gone missing free of charge. Frankie arrives in Mattapan, Boston, where teenager Angelique lived with her aunt and brother, before she went missing 11 months ago.
Author Lisa Gardner has written an atmospheric story which kept me wanting to read on. The characters are interesting, although I struggled to really connect with Frankie until quite far into the novel. She is, overall, a likable character though and she is really trying to atone for her past. She feels well developed as a character as the novel continues.
I didn’t find myself hugely addicted to the plot but I did find it intriguing and enjoyable.
The plot is complex enough without being too complicated, and the story builds up the tension nicely. I enjoyed this atmospheric read and, although it seems Lisa Gardner hasn’t released a standalone novel for a long time before this one, I really enjoyed this book – it makes me want to read more by her, and try some of her other, very well known, series.
Rating: 3.5/5
Many thanks to Cornerstone for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.