Book ~ "Local Woman Missing" (2021) Mary Kubica

From Goodreads ~ People don’t just disappear without a trace ...

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find ...

Eleven years ago, Shelby was out jogging late at night and disappeared. When Meredith and her young daughter, Delilah, disappear not long after, the community wonders if the disappearances are connected, especially since Meredith had recently been Shelby's doula, and search parties are organized. We eventually find out what happened with Shelby and Meredith but no one knows what happened to Delilah. Josh, her father, and Leo, her younger brother, carry on but their lives are never the same ... Josh is forever hopeful that Delilah will come home some day.

Fast forward to today and Delilah, now a teenager, is found bloody and emaciated. After DNA tests confirm she is in indeed Delilah, she is returned home to live with Josh, and Leo. Needless to say, she has difficulty fitting in with her family and Leo has a hard time accepting her because he doesn't remember her.

I thought this story was okay. It's written in first person perspective in Delilah's, Kate's (Josh and Meredith's neighbour), Meredith's and Leo's voices and it jumps back and forth to 11 years ago to today (the chapters are labeled). There were a few side stories that I could have done without like the visit to the obstetrician (!!) and the dramas with the best friend (that was silly) and the daycare provider but I guess they were there to add tension. I found it amazing that they would return a girl who has been missing for 11 years and has obviously been abused back to her family pretty well on the day after she was found. And I can't believe the police were that dumb. I wasn't buying the ending (the "whodunnit"). As a head's up, there is violence and swearing.

Book ~ "Just the Nicest Couple" (2023) Mary Kubica

From Goodreads ~ Two couples, two close friends, one missing husband ...

Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend’s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found.

Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake’s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband and she won’t stop until the truth is discovered.

Nina and Jake are married ... she's a high school teacher and he's an arrogant rich surgeon. One night they a have a big fight and one of his issues is that he's jealous of the time she is spending so much time with her mother, who isn't well. He leaves for work and doesn't come home again. Nina assumes he's cooling off somewhere but as the days become weeks, she gets concerned that something has happened to him or he has left her for good.

Lily and Christian are a younger married couple who has just discovered they are pregnant, which is a big deal because they have had many miscarriages. Lily is also a teacher at the same high school as Nina and they are friends. Lily is trying to be a good friend to Nina during this time but she may have been the last person to have seen Jake and may be the reason he hasn't returned home. Christian is very protective and supportive of Lily and is willing to do whatever he has to to protect her and their unborn child.

I found this book slow and hard to plod through. I didn't find the characters likeable or interesting so didn't really care about them. I kept reading it because I wanted to know what happened to Jake. It's written in first person perspective in Nina and Christian's voices (the chapters are labeled). I saw the ending coming and found it lame. There was a weird side story with a colleague that wasn't needed. As a head's up, there is violence and swearing.

Book ~ "The Good Girl" (2014) Mary Kubica

From Goodreads ~ One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend but when he doesn't show up, she leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand but following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.

Mia has been dating her boyfriendfor a couple months.  He tends to cancel their dates at the last second, which doesn't make her happy.  When he does it yet again, she is sitting in a bar and allows herself to be picked up by Colin.  When she goes home with him, things don't go as she was expecting.  Rather than wanting to spend the night with her, he is, in fact, kidnapping her.  He has been hired to deliver her to someone in return for $$.  She will then be held for ransom (her father is a wealthy judge).

As Colin is delivering her, he has a change of heart because he knows Mia will be abused and possibly killed after the ransom has been paid.  Instead he keeps going and keeps her hostage until he can figure out what to do with her and himself.  He knows he's a dead man since he didn't deliver her or he's going to prison.  He also knows that she identify him and that can't happen.

This was the debut novel of Mary Kubica.  It was an interesting story and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style.  It was written in first person perspective from three different people ... Mia's mother, Eva;, Gabe, the police officer trying to find Mia; and Colin, Mia's kidnapper.  It's also written before and after Mia's kidnapping.  Though the chapters go back and forth in time, it's obvious whose voice it is and the time frame because they are labelled at the beginning of the chapter.  This style worked for me as it added to the suspense.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

As the book goes on, we get to know the main characters and their backgrounds.  Though Colin is a bad guy, it was hard not to have sympathy for him and why he was doing what he is doing.  Mia rebelled against her parents, moved out when she was 18 and became a teacher.  Eve was swept off her feet and married Mia's father when she was young but has watched her husband become more cold and a jerk as the years go on so they end up with an empty shell of a marriage.  Gabe feels the pressure to find Mia as his job is on the line (they judge is a friend of his boss).

I look forward to reading more by this author.