Local Girl Missing – Book Review

Quick Review:- This wasn’t her best in my opinion, the ending was really horrible in my opinion and the whole story was messy and absurd in my opinion.

Rating:- 3.5/5

The old Victorian pier was once a thing of beauty. It’s also where twenty-one-year-old Sophie Collier vanished eighteen years ago.

Francesca has spent the last twenty years haunted by the disappearance of her best friend. But when she receives a phone call from Sophie’s brother saying that a body has been found, she knows she can’t keep hiding from what happened. With her own secrets to keep, Francesca doesn’t relish the idea of digging up the past or returning to Oldcliffe. But it is time to go back to where she grew up, and it looks like she isn’t the only one there hiding truths.

Claire Douglas is my go- to thriller authors that I buy, having enjoyed Couple at No. 9 and the Wrong Sister. But unfortunately, Local Girl Missing wasn’t something I expected from this author. It was just plain and not really a good thriller.

Francesca known as Frankie back in her small town suddenly receives a call from Daniel, her best friend, Sophie’s brother. Sophie disappeared nearly twenty years ago and Daniel calls Frankie to return back to the town as Sophie’s shoe/foot was discovered. Frankie reluctantly returns back to the town, even if she didn’t really want. But it seems as if past is back haunting her and Frankie couldn’t help wondering that someone in the town wasn’t really thrilled that she was back.

The story started out great at first. A missing girl more than a decade, discovery of her footwear and of course, I like the setting as well. The story is told in the POVs of Frankie and Sophie mostly so we get to know their thoughts and emotions.

But overall, the story to me was absurd and unrealistic, not the type of thriller that Claire Douglas usually writes. The ending was absurd and messy. There was poor character development that you don’t feel connected to any of the characters. Though the book was easy to read and a page turner, overall, this wasn’t that of a great thriller.

Overall, this is a 3.5 star rated book.