Review of Before She Disappeared

I’m so excited to be reading thrillers in 2021 – this book was one part amateur detective story and one part police procedural. Check out my review of Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner!

Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner. To be published on January 19, 2021 by Dutton Books.

Synopsis: Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. She spends her life searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. 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. 

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Review of Before She Disappeared

Before She Disappeared was more mystery than thriller but I really enjoyedit. I’m a fan of police procedurals – the methodical following up of leads, the slow build toward a resolution, the red herrings and dead ends.

Frankie isn’t a police officer, but she works the case with the same dogged persistence as a seasoned police detective. Her superpower is her ability to connect with people. A recovering alcoholic, she’s non-judgmental and is great at reading others.

To solve the mystery of missing high school student Angelique, Frankie gets to know the girl’s family and also works hard to gain the trust of the lead detective on the case, who really doesn’t want a random woman meddling in his investigation.

Before She Disappeared reminded me a bit of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. Frankie is a similar character: a loner on a quest for justice, one town and one case at a time. She travels light and when she closes her case, she moves on.

I think that this is a standalone, but I think it has great potential as a series. Check it out and tell me what you think!

If you’ve read the book, come chat with me on my Spoilers Page for Before She Disappeared!

Looking for more great thrillers? Check out my post on 2021 Mysteries and Thrillers I’m Dying to Read!