The Book:
The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas
Published January 10, 2023 by Harper Paperbacks
Date read: November 3, 2022
The Characters:
Olivia
Jenna
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
Three missing girls. A twenty-year mystery. A woman who may be able to crack this cold case.
In a rural Wilshire town lies The Devil’s Corridor. A road that has witnessed eerie happenings from unexplained deaths to the sounds of a child crying at night.
But nothing more puzzling than the Olivia Rutherford case. Four girls drove home but after their car crashed only Olivia was found.
Twenty years later, journalist Jenna Halliday is covering the case. But the locals aren’t happy with this stranger’s arrival. Least of all Olivia.
Jenna soon starts receiving threatening notes and it is clear someone wants her out of this town before she suffers a dark fate.
The Twist:
Stace and John Paul were Olivia’s parents. The timeline with Stace and John Paul was in the past. Stace hooked up with Derek, but John Paul caught them.
John Paul was also the man with the scar, who had been following Olivia in the days prior to the accident. Jenna found out that he was back in town from his brother, who was staying in the cabin next to her while he looked for John Paul.
Jenna also finds out that the others who were on the Thailand trip with Stace were the parents of the missing girls. When she speaks to Sally’s mom, she makes the connection that Jay is Derek, based on a matching tattoo he got with Stace and confirmed when Dale looked up Jay’s full name.
John Paul had taken the other three girls. He meant to hold them just for a little while to scare Stace, but they died in his possession. He knew someone set him up with the drugs in Thailand, but it was Stace, not any of the other parents.
When Stace told John Paul that it was her (the night of the accident, he had come to her after causing it), he attacked her and Stace killed him. That was why she didn’t go to the police, and Jay helped her hide all the bodies.
Jenna and Olivia confronted Stace and Jay/Derek. Jay didn’t want to let Jenna go because she knew too much. Jenna ran, Jay chased her, and Jay got hit by a car on the same road as Olivia’s accident.
Westley was involved in Jay’s drug trade and was trying to scare Olivia away.
The Ending:
Stace and Westley were arrested. Jay died. Olivia found someone to help with the horses and riding lessons. Jenna and Olivia remained friends. Jenna went through with her divorce and kept in touch with Dale.
Olivia had killed Ralph to protect her mother.
The Review:
Thank you to Harper for this gifted copy.
If you enjoyed Megan Miranda’s The Last To Vanish, you’re going to want to check out The Girls Who Disappeared. A spooky small town with a handful of unexplained disappearances is the perfect atmosphere for a thriller. Add in the creepy cabin in the woods and you’ve got yourself the perfect setting!
The beginning of this book was so engaging: Olivia and her friends were driving home from a night out on the town when Olivia had to swerve to avoid hitting something in the road. The car crashed, and Olivia woke to find her legs trapped and her friends gone. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to her friends!
I really enjoy how Douglas starts off with two seemingly unrelated stories, leaving the reader wondering how the two relate to each other. She used a similar technique in The Couple at No. 9. I love the guessing game of figuring out the connection!
I love the podcast element in books, so I was sad that Jenna’s podcast didn’t play more of a role, other than giving her a reason to be questioning the townspeople. I was hoping for some clips of her podcast, especially in the audiobook. She was still a good character, though, and investigated the case in what seemed like a realistic way.
I’ve become a big fan of Claire Douglas lately, thanks to Harper’s re-publishing of a lot of her books. I’m excited to read more of her backlist!
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