All the Missing Girls

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Age: Adult
Category: Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: My library app recommended All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda. Miranda isn’t an author I had heard of but I thought I’ll give it a shot and I am so glad that I did! It was a captivating read that I couldn’t put down and I text my best friend while I was only halfway through to add it to her to be read pile!

Ten years ago, Nicolette Farrell left her hometown of Cooley Ridge after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared without a trace. Now that her father has been diagnosed with Dementia and they need to sell the house to pay for his carer fees, Nicolette is back in Cooley Ridge to help her brother, Daniel. However, it’s not long before another woman is missing and it re-opens Corinne’s case as well as brings back old memories for all those involved. The investigation into Corinne’s disappearance focused on Nicolette, her brother Daniel, her then boyfriend Tyler and Corinne’s boyfriend, Jackson. Annaleise Carter, Nicolette’s neighbour, was the alibi for the group on the night of Corinne’s disappearance. Nicolette was the only one that left Cooley Ridge behind her while the rest of them made lives for themselves in their home town. Now Annaleise is missing...

Do you want to know what makes All the Missing Girls stand out? It’s told backwards.

It starts with Nicolette traveling back to Cooley Ridge and seeing her brother again as well as finding out Tyler goes out with Annaleise but then it goes to part two which starts at Day 15 after Annaleise has gone missing. I’m going to be honest, this concept did take a little bit of getting used to because we’re straight away thrown into the action of what’s going off because it’s Nicolette trying to get her lawyer fiance to help her stop the police talking to her Father with Dementia about Corinne’s disappearance again. As the days count back to the day when Annaleise disappears, Nicolette learns more and more about what happened when Corinne disappeared as well as truths about her family and friends. As much as I think the writing it backwards was an amazing touch by Miranda, I am genuinely tempted to read it backwards so that the events run chronologically as well to see how much of a difference that makes to the plot (and I will of course update you in the cbox if this ever happens!).

My only critique is that I didn’t quite bond with the characters. I don’t know if this is because of how it was written or because they were missing something and needed a little fleshing out but it didn’t take away from the read at all.

As I previously mentioned this was my first novel by Megan Miranda but I am definitely adding the rest of her novels to my ever growing list of books to read and I definitely think you should too!