Local Missing Woman

Author: Mary Kubica

Genre: Physiological Thriller, Suspense

Pages: 353

Other books: The Good Girl, Just the Nicest Couple, The Other Mrs., She's Not Sorry

Star Rating: 4.0 = Very Good

Prologue starts with a woman, Shelby, going for a late night run to get away from her husband and baby. She is actually going to sleep with her mystery man because things have been difficult and she knows her husband is cheating on her. As she ties her shoe, she sees headlights coming her way.

We are then taken in a dark basement where a girl has been trapped for years. She can’t see anything and spends most of her time sleeping and thinking of ways of how she can escape. Two individuals have captured her, one man and one woman. She doesn’t remember exactly how she got there and only lives to try and escape. She is treated poorly with only food and water given to her when her captors allow. She has a friend, Gus, that has also been captured, that keeps her company. They don’t talk much because if they do they will be punished. This girl then escapes form her basement and is finally free! A community has been missing her for a long time, will they remember who she was when she went missing?

Then we are set in a community with friendly neighbors that look out for one another. We meet a family of 4 Meredith, and Josh with their children Delilah and Leo. Meredith is a doula so she works abnormal hours, late and up early mornings. She drops her kids off often at a local babysitter or asks for help from her lovely neighbors Kate and Bea. Her neighbors adore her children and are always willing to help.

Shelby the woman in the Prologue, has been reported missing and Meredith knows her. She was her Doula. Meredith starts receiving threading text messages, she begins to worry about her safety. Are these two events related? These messages are from an anonymous number saying things like “I know what you did” As terrifying as these messages are she keeps them to herself and try's to move on.

Then one evening their neighbors, Kate and Bea get a knock on the door from Josh, Meredith and Delilah are missing! Josh and Leo are frantic trying to understand what could happen to their family. Kate and Bea are devastated and are always by their side helping as much as possible. They do investigation work on their own, seek out neighbor evidence as well as take care of Leo from time to time.

The police conclude that Meredith committed suicide in a motel room from slitting her wrists and puncturing her gut but where is Delilah?

Eleven years later….Delilah comes home! Her dad is overwhelmed with joy that he finally has his daughter back. Leo is not happy though. This tragedy has made his life miserable. From school to friends then his family, everything was turned upside down when his sister and mother went missing and now Delilah is back how can they go back to normal life? Leo knows that Delilah had a troubled past but can’t look past the trama you encountered. Some days go by and Leo still hasn’t warmed up to Delilah. Can this really be his sister that he once knew? Why can’t she remember anything about the past?

As we near the end of the book we read what exactly happened to Shelby, Meredith and Delilah in a twisted outcome. All of them are interconnected, all of these events come from one person. Who is this person?

Crazy fallouts happen in this story. We are given new information every chapter. The author did a famously job keeping the reader entertained through the entire book. I believe the way she does this is by giving enough information to believe one thing but it could also mean something else. Such a creative development in story building and characters. Great read and mystery. The only downside is looking at it in a realistic lens. Some events seem a little far outreached. Keep an open mind don’t read into reality too much because the book is entertaining.