Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica is a dark and heavily mysterious domestic thriller exploring the hidden and often dangerous side that exists within our communities and the people we think we know.
Synopsis
Shelby Tebow is a new mother hiding a jumble of secrets concerning her family and marriage to her husband. One evening as she’s heading out for a run she mysteriously disappears leaving her husband and newborn with tons of questions and not enough answers.
Meredith Dickey is a yoga instructor and doula caring for two small children Delilah and Leo and is married to Josh who’s successful in his finance career. They’re close friends with their neighbors Kate and Bea as they help out when Meredith has to be present for a delivery and needs someone to watch her kids.
One rainy night Josh shows up at their neighbor’s doorstep with son Leo in tow inquiring if they’ve seen Meredith and Delilah as she hasn’t returned home and isn’t answering her phone. So, begins the nightmare of Josh struggling to cope with the disappearance of his wife and young daughter.
After eleven years Delilah escapes captivity and returns home shocked and traumatized from her ordeal. However, there is an abundance of questions regarding her disappearance and who her abductors were and concern over them retaliating and seeking to abduct her again. Yet, things aren’t quite right and Leo begins to notice inconsistencies about Delilah’s reappearance that cause doubts to unravel.
Additionally, Delilah’s reappearance stirs up focus on the original missing person’s case for Shelby Tebow and Meredith leading to long-hidden secrets within this small community to come to light.
Review
Content 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I enjoyed the darker elements of this story and its theme of the duplicitous nature of people within our community. How they can appear and present one way but underneath there’s dangerous behavior and traits that endanger others. And how this impacts a small community.
Writing Style🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Structurally, this story was perfect to create tension and mystery for the reader. We get Meredith’s POV in the past timeline leading up to her disappearance, Kate’s events during the past timeline following Meredith’s disappearance, and Leo’s viewpoint in the present timeline. Between these points of view, we’re giving bits and pieces of information to keep the reader curious but not enough to put the pieces together. This worked at casting suspicion on multiple characters and making the story intriguing and compelling.
Readability🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This story is so propulsive and compelling because it does an excellent job of manipulating the reader’s emotions while simultaneously arousing their suspicions creating suspense and tension. You know that things go awry but the journey to uncovering the why and how is one filled with apprehension.
Also being able to see Meredith as a fully fleshed-out person and understanding her character, dreams, passions, and aspirations raised the emotional stakes making her a likable character that many can easily relate to and connect with. This juxtaposed with the harsh reality of her situation hits differently.
Plot Development🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Kubica tends to favor a slow to medium-paced plot allowing for complex character development with lots of backstory to establish the story completely. She weaves key clues throughout the story that initially don’t make sense but at the conclusion, everything comes together seamlessly.
Characters🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The characters in this story were well-written with everyone hiding a secret. Making everyone a suspect in either Shelby Tebow’s disappearance or Meredith’s. Additionally, they were all intensely flawed characters whose behaviors and actions contributed to many of the negative events that transpired in the story.
I enjoyed how these characters expanded on the theme and we saw how complicity played a role in various conflicts in the plot. When it comes to confronting the darker elements of our humanity the only true way to overcome them is through radical honesty seeking to address these issues head-on instead of relying on secrets and subterfuge. As the truth will always come to light.
Would I Recommend?
As a Mary Kubica stan, I highly recommend this novel for lovers of her work as well as those that enjoy a mystery thriller that explores the darker elements of human nature without being too grisly. I believe readers will find the twist difficult to guess and won’t see it coming making for a pleasant surprise at the end.
