Kelly Simmons

I have always wanted a sister. Now I’m not so certain. Haha. I listened to this book on Audible. I thought the narrators, Morgan Hallett and Suzanne Toren, were really good. I loved how the grandmother’s voice matched how I felt about her.
The story unfolds with Hannah, and her son, moving across from her sister. They moved for a fresh start after something happened with Miles. The grandmother also lives nearby. Not long after they move in a little girl goes missing. When suspicion falls on Miles, Hannah steps in to shield her son, and suspicion also falls on her sister’s husband.
The grandma in this story sounded like she was more jealous of her daughters rather than being a loving, supportive mom. I kind of liked Hannah. Hilary, in my eyes, took a page from her mom. Over all, I probably wouldn’t trust any of them to be friends with. The story was good though. I was kept guessing, (if you choose to read this you will see how that plays out), up until the final part of the book. I felt like it was more mystery than thriller but both genres could fit the story. As Hannah and Hilary are doing the job of the police, I would have to say don’t start reading this with the idea it is realistic. It’s fiction and you will need to let the author take you on a mystery her way. If you do, I think you will enjoy this book.
… (mehr)

Where She Went: A Novel by Kelly Simmons

October 1, 2019
Fiction,
Sourcebooks Landmark
Rating: 4/5
8/2/19-8/8/19
Rec’d 5/18/19

I received this digital arc from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

Maggie O’Farrell owns a hair salon called Bubbles and Blowouts which helps pay the bills after her husband Frank died. He was a police lieutenant who was gunned down on the job. It never seemed clear what happened that day. Maggie’s main concern is her empty nest after her daughter, Emma leaves to attend Semper University. Although she tries to trust her daughter’s new found independence, she can’t help but worry about her. The daily calls begin to annoy and embarrass Emma whose roommates find ridiculous. The one comforting factor about Emma going to college was that her best friend Sarah would be there.

Just when Maggie starts to relax and focus on herself, there’s an increased in college campus crimes. Then, Maggie gets the call no mother wants to get...that her daughter is missing. Maggie will not let anyone stop her from finding her daughter including the police. She uses her intuition of years living with a police detective to track down the missing pieces of the story.

Unfortunately, Emma’s roommates are not very cooperative with their own secrets to hide. This is a page turner as the story flows back and forth between mother’s search for her daughter and her daughter’s search for justice. Amazing story which keeps your interest to the last page.
… (mehr)

This was a very interesting book about a missing girl in a very upscale neighborhood and how the neighbors reacted, especially two sisters with family members who were being heavily investigated by the police.
Hannah and her son Miles, moved next door to her sister, Hillary, after Hannah's divorce. The sisters have been very close and supportive of each other all their lives - their father was an alcoholic and their mother was pretty uninvolved in their lives. Right after Hannah moves into the neighborhood, a young girl goes missing and is later found dead. Due to past problems in his old neighborhood, Miles is one of the main suspects along with Hillary's husband. Instead of supporting each other, the sisters are really nasty to each other, both trying to protect their family member at any cost. When the sisters, with the help of their mother Eva, start to work together, they begin to find clues to solve the murder.

I enjoy books about families with problems and especially if there are sisters as part of the story. This book had families in crisis, sister, kids and mystery. It should have been a fantastic book but it was a little less than -
-The ending was not believable - there hadn't been any clues pointing in this direction until near the end.
-Parts of it were pretty unbelievable. Example when the sisters started working together and went to a men's poker game to find out more.
-There were lots of secrets between the sisters who were supposed to be very close.
That said, this is a still a really good mystery with some interesting though flawed characters.… (mehr)