The story is packed with mystery, more of a slow building tension and alerting of avid crime readers spidey-senses, than an overly obvious attempt to shock readers. Well, that and the strange note that Sophie finds pinned to her back fence and the strange discovery she makes when she follows it’s instructions. So far, so disconnected, other than the school is in the town that Tallulah disappeared from, and the fact that the woods behind Sophie’s new home were once the focus of a mass search for the two missing teenagers.

The story is effectively split between that fateful night and, eventually, the events leading up to it, and the present day, twelve months on from the pair’s disappearance when Sophie Beck moves into a cottage on the grounds of the exclusive school where her partner, Sean, is the new Head Teacher. Now that in itself is bad enough, especially as it is made clear what a devoted mother Tallulah is, but when you add in thr truly ominous prologue … Yep. And happen it does, in the most unassuming and yet life changing way when young parents, Tallulah and Zach, head out for the evening but never come home. From the very beginning you can sense that something bad is about to happen. (Sept.Well this is a story laden with mystery and intrigue. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary. Jewell is in top form in this suspenseful, satisfying story. Not every plot twist is plausible, but the backstory makes readers question everything they think they know as things cleverly unfold.

Together, the two women search for the truth of what happened. While Shaun prepares for the new semester, Sophie discovers a hand-lettered cardboard sign in the garden that reads “Dig Here.” When digging reveals what might be a vital clue to Tallulah and Zach’s disappearance, Sophie joins forces with Kim, who has never given up hope that Tallulah is still alive. A year later, Sophie Beck, a writer of cozy mysteries, moves into a cottage near the estate with her partner, Shaun Gray, who has just accepted a teaching position at a local school. Left behind is their infant son, whose care is assumed by Tallulah’s distraught mother, Kim. In this excellent thriller from bestseller Jewell ( The Family Upstairs), Tallulah and Zach, both 19, disappear after a date night that starts at a pub and takes the unmarried couple to a country estate in Surrey, England.

The night she disappeared book review