Item: Local Gone Missing
Rating: 3.50
Author: quirkycat

by Fiona Barton

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Detective Elise King investigates a man’s disappearance in a seaside town where the locals and weekenders are at odds with each other in this suspenseful new novel from the #1 bestselling author of The Widow.

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.

Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.

The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a giant music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise is drawn back into her detective work and starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it's full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.

I enjoyed Fiona Barton's The Child, so I knew I had to grab Local Gone Missing when I saw it available. You guys know I can't pass up a good thriller!

Elise has always been an ambitious person. She had high hopes for her career as a detective, but her medical leave is forcing her to take a step back from that life. Now she's not sure if she'll ever return. Funny how that happens.

Thankfully, the drama of her small town is enough to keep her mind away from the work she may have left behind forever. The small town is being transformed as those with the money grab up land and build luxury houses – much to the chagrin of the locals.

Right away, I found myself hook on Elise's story. I think we've all been there – having something we care about so much, only to think that it may be lost forever. This very human concern made for a solid foundation in Local Gone Missing.

Which is exactly what this mystery needed. It took a little longer to get into the intrigue of what was happening in town and even longer for me to put all the puzzle pieces together. Neither fact is a bad thing, merely a statement. However, I think the story's core could have used some more fine-tuning before things were said and done.

The thing I enjoyed the most about Local Gone Missing had to be the characters. There are several characters, all of whom are very different from one another. They nearly make up for any other complaints I have about this book and kept me invested until the end.

Thanks to Berkley Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Local Gone Missing

by Fiona Barton

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on Jul 1, 2022

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