Hey, it’s Diego.

I just finished reading When She Returned by Lucinda Berry.

And it's about a woman who went missing and what her disappearance did to the people she left behind.

It got me thinking about other thrillers I've read where someone goes missing.

Here are my favorites.

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Gone Missing Thrillers

Eight Years of Lies by Lisa Hall

Claire's husband Tom, fails to pick up their daughter from school one day, and when Claire starts digging, she discovers the man she has loved for eight years is not who she thought he was.

In Eight Years of Lies by Lisa Hall, we follow Claire as she tries to piece together the truth about Tom and their life together.

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

When two women from the same community disappear in quick succession, the neighbourhood is thrown into fear and suspicion.

In Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica, we follow a cast of characters whose stories slowly converge on what really happened to the women who vanished.

Unmissing by Minka Kent

Lydia was abducted and held for nine years. When she escapes, she goes straight to her husband Liam, only to find he has remarried and built a new family without her.

Unmissing by Minka Kent has a similar premise to When She Returned: a woman gone for years comes back to find her husband has moved on.

And the newest addition to the list:

When She Returned by Lucinda Berry

Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband Scott and their young daughter Abbi. When she turns up at a Montana gas station clutching a baby and screaming for help, the same FBI investigators who tried to find her then come back for answers. But Kate is reluctant to talk. Scott brings her home to the house he now shares with his wife, Meredith, and what follows is an uncomfortable reckoning for everyone.

When She Returned by Lucinda Berry is a domestic thriller set mostly in a family home.

Berry's writing is natural and functional. The dialogue flows well and feels real. There is some slow exposition at the start, but we're plunged into the reappearance of Kate from the get-go, which is a great hook.

We follow three women across two timelines: Kate, Meredith, and Abbi. The past timeline follows Kate before and after disappearing. The present timeline follows the aftermath of her return through the eyes of her teenage daughter, Abbi and Scott's new wife, Meredith. It sags a little in the middle when the plot loses direction, then picks up again towards the end when things really pick up in tension between the family members.

Kate is a proactive character in the past scenes, driving the story forward as we piece together what led to her disappearance. In the present, all the characters are mostly reactive; Scott, Abbi and Meredith want answers from Kate. It's more of a story about a situation being forced on a family and how each of them tries to handle it. I found that dynamic interesting, even if it meant the story felt more like a drama than a thriller at times.

The theme of faith runs through the whole story, both faith in a higher power and faith in the people we love.

There is no romance, no swearing and no spice. The book does, however, contain some deeply uncomfortable scenes of psychological torture and violence that result in death, even though they are not graphic nor described in detail.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers, obviously)

I enjoyed the ending. We did not get a denouement, though. Although there is a short scene at the very end where we get a general idea of what happened to the characters in the aftermath.

When She Returned by Lucinda Berry is a dark-ish, character-driven domestic thriller. If you are interested in the human aftermath of the reappearance of a woman when everyone has moved on with her disappearance being a mystery to boot, this one is right up your alley.

Latest Updates

• I finally finished watching Run Away on Netflix, Harlan Coben's latest adaptation. Pretty good, had me guessing until the very last moment.

That’s all for this week. See you next time.

— Diego Dunne

P.S. Let me know how I did today by replying to this email.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations for thrillers you loved. Reply to this email, and I’ll add them to my TBR list. Thanks!