Thanks Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book.

I knew I wanted to read a mystery-thriller during October – a.k.a. spooky month – and I’ve had this ARC languishing on my Kindle for a while. In 1998 North Carolina, freshman Jessica Fadley suddenly disappears. 24 years later, Jess Fadley is a missing person, and she leaves behind a grieving family including sister Lindsey, plus plenty of fodder for a true crime podcast. Through a dual-timeline narrative, we are invited in as two sisters untangle and weave a complicated web of darkness. Lindsey is unsettled as a 30-year-old living in her missing sister’s shadow, dipping into a new podcast series about said sister when a journalist appears at the hotel she works out, seeking information about the case.

I found this to be incredible readable and propulsive: it was my jetlag companion. There’s a warm humanity to Lindsey’s chapters that opens up a conversation about the culture of true crime. As a true crime fan myself, it definitely left a lurch in my stomach. I appreciated the focus on sisterhood (above family) here for many reasons, and the short commentary into misogynistic approaches to police investigation. Greene reaches deep into human compassion and emotion to propel her story forwards. And, in terms of the ‘whodunnit?’ element, I felt pleasantly surprised that I did go back and forth on who I thought was the culprit. There’s enough suspense to keep you turning the page for more, just a true crime podcast.