View source for The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

{{infobox1
|title=The Girls Who Disappeared
|sort=Girls Who Disappeared
|author=Claire Douglas
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crime
|summary=An intricate and well-handled plot which will keep you guessing. A good read.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=400
|publisher=Penguin
|date=September 2022
|isbn=978-1405951180
|website=https://twitter.com/dougieclaire
|cover=1405951184
|aznuk=1405951184
|aznus=1405951184
}}
Back in November 1998, Olivia Rutherford was driving her three friends home after a night out.  As she passed through the darkly-wooded Devil's Corridor, a figure appeared in the road.  Olivia swerved to avoid him and the car smashed into a tree, leaving her trapped.  When she regained consciousness her three friends had disappeared.  Ralph Middleton, who lived in the woods helped her before the police and ambulance arrived.  But what had happened to Sally Thorne, Tamsin Cole and Hetty Riding?  Their disappearance would be yet another mysterious happening in the Stafferbury area of Wiltshire.  It was thought of as Avebury's poor relation.

Twenty years later, Olivia is still living at the stables with her mother.  She's regarded with some suspicion: surely there must be something she's hiding?  Olivia's attempts to develop a friendship with Izzy Thorne, Sally's sister, fizzled out and she's left with Wesley, a new boyfriend at the time of the accident who's stuck with her through the intervening two decades.  Sometimes he stays over at the stables: other times she'll sleep at his flat but she finds it pokey and prefers to avoid it if she can.  Actually, you're left with the suspicion that she'd prefer to avoid Wesley but she feels grateful for his support.

A podcast is being prepared for the twentieth anniversary of the disappearance of the girls and journalist Jenna Halliday is in Stafferbury to gather background.  She's obviously not welcome in the town and Wesley is insistent that Olivia shouldn't speak to her.  Jenna's got her own problems.  Her husband, Gavin, wants to have some space from their marriage which is painful for Jenna and their ten-year-old son, Finn.  Gavin's moved back into the family home to look after Finn whilst Jenna's away.

We're also given the developing story of eight friends who went to Thailand on holiday.  The luxury villa they're staying in is far more luxurious than they expected but it seems that there might be a price to be paid.

This is a cracking story despite the fact that for most of the book you won't be certain how it all fits together.  It does though - you're in safe hands with Claire Douglas.  She has a real talent for building a plot: it kept me guessing right to the end.  She also delivers a real sense of the location: the eeriness left me shivering at times.  Her characterisation of the women in the story is particularly strong: I really felt for Jenna and her marital problems.  There's no doubt about her love for Gavin and devotion to Finn but there's a dawning realisation that she needs to know where the marriage is going.

Olivia comes off the page exceptionally well.  She's a damaged young woman but you can't help but conclude that her mother and Wesley - both ostensibly there the support her - aren't really helping.  Are they just misguided, or is there something more behind the way they're acting?

This is my first Claire Douglas novel but it certainly won't be the last.  I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

Teenagers might enjoy [[How We Were Lost by Megan Taylor]].

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