#ATBR2022 – Woman Last Seen by Adele Parks

Thanks to MIRA Books for the free early copies in exchange for our honest reviews

WOMAN LAST SEEN – Adele Parks (Released February 1st, 2022)

Book Description:

HAPPY. MARRIED. MISSING.

Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmum to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband Mark says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She simply went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.

Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman, Daan, vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamourous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.

DC Clements knows that people disappear all the time – far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run towards, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds, their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the DC believes they might be.

How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.

Chandra’s Thoughts: 3/5 stars

Sloooooooooow predictable burn.  Did I like this? Yes!!  Did I love it? No.  I do love missing persons stories and the captor gives the captee notes from a typewriter slid under the door to her holding “cell”.  Ok – I’m intrigued – let’s get THRILLERY.

Unlikeable characters, I love to hate them.  But there was so much internal dialogue and going back to the past that it made the story run a bit slow for me.  This is also very light on the thriller.  I did see one twisty twist coming from a mile away but another one snuck up on me and pinched me on the ass.  

Detective Clements is determined to figure out what happened and if these disappearances are related in any manner… and we all know they are because we’re reading about it. *wink*  But really, I feel like if this part had been left out, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference in the story itself.  So this is definitely less “procedural” than you may think at first.

I don’t know, y’all.  I do love this author and will absolutely continue to read her.  The ass pinch I mentioned earlier is at the end of the book and I’m just not sure I bought it all.  I absolutely have no issue suspending belief but sometimes I just have to head tilt and brow furrow at some things.  I need answers.

My Thoughts: 3/5 stars

I’ll keep this short and sweet! Seems the shorter reviews have been working a lot better for me lately. I love some of Adele Parks’s books and I know I can expect a compulsive read from start to finish. While that is true with her newest, WOMAN LAST SEEN, the pacing in the beginning was a little on the slower side for my liking. BUT it was still one I couldn’t stop reading. It’s always weird when that happens, like it’s slow moving but I need to know what’s going to happen so I keep going. If you don’t like ambiguous endings then this one might not be your favorite and you might need to suspend reality. Was it my favorite by Parks? No. Was it bad? Also no. I enjoyed it but wasn’t wowed but I’ll continue to pick up whatever I can find from Parks!