ALL THE MISSING GIRLS by Megan Miranda

Ten years after the disappearance of her best friend Corinne, which drove her to leave her small home town of Cooley Ridge, Nicolette Farrell returns home to care for her father, who she suspects knows something about the disappearance. When her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend Annaleise goes missing, Nic is forced to relive the past, telling the story backwards from day 15 of the investigation to day 1. While it is not particularly dazzling in a market already filled with thrillers featuring unreliable female narrators, All the Missing Girls is an absorbing novel that uses its unusual structure effectively as it unravels two mysteries that are inextricably connected. There are some drawbacks of the backwards narrative – I found the story a little slow at the start, and the reverse chronology takes a few chapters to get used to. However, once the story gets going, it’s hard to put the book down. Miranda has expertly plotted this novel, always revealing just the right amount of information to retain the suspense, and the intrigue only builds as the story starts to come together. The characters, too, improve in the second half. I initially found them a little flat and uninteresting, but as Nic reveals how each is involved in Corinne and Annaleise’s disappearances, it’s easier to become invested in them. I loved Nic’s realization that she missed Cooley Ridge because the bonds she formed with family and friends there were stronger (albeit more complicated) than any she would find elsewhere. I did think that some of the characters’ motivations were a little flimsy and that a few could have been developed better (particularly Nic’s sister-in-law, who turns out to be Annaleise’s killer). However, this didn’t significantly detract from the main strengths of the novel, which are its engrossing plot and compelling relationships. The conclusion is a little dark, but still satisfying.