How far would you go to hold on to the people you love?

Olivia Brookes has a relationship with the police. Nine years prior to this story's beginning, her boyfriend Dan went missing and she never saw him again. Then a few days after that, both of her parents died. Then, seven years later, she's married with three children, and she calls the police again because her husband and three children are missing. How much tragedy can one woman face?

Two years later, DCI Thomas is called to Olivia Brookes house once again, this time because Olivia is missing. Everything says that she was there that day, but now she's gone, along with all photos of her in existence. Where is Olivia Brookes?

I read this book as part of my #yearofindiewomen wherein I read nothing but independent women authors.

It seems this book has a mixed reception on Goodreads, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's the first work I've read by Abbott, and apparently it's the third in a series (oops), so I'm looking forward to reading more. I feel like this had most everything one wants in a thriller. I can't write too much in this review without giving the entire plot away, but suffice it to say that it's a gripping and engrossing read.

I picked up on who the "villain" was pretty much right away, but I doubt that wasn't intentional, but Abbott kept me on my toes with how things would resolve themselves. (Ugh, it's hard to write a review for this without spoilers! Haha!)

The only real criticisms I have for this would be that I was a bit confused about the blood stuff (can you tell I'm still a bit confused?), but perhaps that's just because I'm not very scientific-minded in the first place. The scene on the cliffs felt like it wrapped up a little bit too quickly for me. And I didn't feel 100% fulfilled with DCI Thomas' plot line, but I realize now that's because I picked up a book in the middle of a series! D'oh!

Other than that, I really liked this, and I am definitely going to read the other three books in this series.