Local Woman Missing | Mary Kubica | Book Review | Spoiler Alert

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**WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica has the perfect plot, the perfect side plots, an enthralling suspense which is successfully held throughout the book, but it fails to culminate to the much hoped for resolution. It has a Goodreads rating of 4.11 and is also nominated in the mystery and thriller category in Goodreads Choice Awards 2021. The book has been all over bookstagram and booktube, and I decided to pick it up right away since a lot of people seemed to enjoy the book and the blurb was hella captivating. I enjoyed the book a lot, but there also were points I felt didn’t work out.

Plot - Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith and her daughter Delilah go missing. Fear is now inflicted in the community of a small town. But eleven years later, the daughter returns, leaving people astounded, and opening the once shut hopeless case. But people may not be prepared for the truth that's about to unfold.



The book starts off great, heavy on mystery, slags a little towards the middle but picks up pace towards the climax pretty well. The story is hugely atmospheric, with rains almost flooding the town. A lot of characters are introduced, the plot narrated by three people, so you really expect a lot of drama going on and it does. All the characters are really intriguing. You don’t know whom to trust, everyone has secrets. Events unfold and soon you find yourself guessing what’s gonna happen next, which really was a plus point for me.

The story introduces a lot of side storylines, which finally do not culminate to anything. Example:

1.      The bullying which Leo faced at Charlottee’s. I was hoping that it would lead to      something but it didn’t.

2.      Chapters after chapters were dedicated at Dr. Feingold’s character, and           establishing him as a non-likable, inconsiderate creep, but he literally had          nothing to do with the main plot, regarding Meredith’s disappearance. I feel like   that storyline could have been entirely omitted and the main story would remain   exactly the same.

3.      Ok so Meredith had dated Marty in her college days and when Cassandra found   out about it, she was furious at Meredith. I mean, people date. They breakup.      Everyone has a past. She can hold Meredith accountable for keeping the              information a secret, but definitely cannot shame her for dating. She starts          accusing Meredith of having an affair with her husband and starts sending her      threatening texts. Again, no connection to the main Meredith-Delilah                  disappearance plot.

4.      Here I may be missing something but who were the people whom Cassandra      saw one night at 1 am in front of Meredith’s house? That really was one of the      things I was looking forward to finding out, because it was an interesting twist.

Otherwise, I liked the book. The idea of copycat criminals was unique and fresh, and the little girl was really great. In fact, the whole journey of Leo, who was immensely isolated and deprived of parental care right from Delilah’s disappearance, gradually accepting her as his sister was beautiful (I melted in the scene in which Leo gave her his closest belonging, the blue blanket, that was so sweet!). I loved reading Leo’s POV. The ending was wholesome and warm (though my heart craved for Meredith, her death was heartbreakingly difficult to read).

Local Woman Missing is definitely a lovely thriller if you are in the mood for an atmospheric, small town murder mystery.

My Rating - 3.5/5

Happy Reading!😇


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Location: Kolkata, West Bengal, India

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