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Performance
Overall
Excellent, Unforgettable, Best of the nest
Very good, thoroughly enjoyed,
Good, Solid, Enjoyed many aspects
STAR RATINGS GUIDE
I “Dug It”…
THE BIRDICT
❤️️ It’s taken me just a day to devour this gem of a mystery thriller. It’s a straightforward premise and the book title does a lot of the exposition heavy lifting. The “She” is Tallulah, who “Disappeared” with her boyfriend Zack after a “Night” out. The couple left behind their baby boy to be cared for by her mum. And… action.
💜 Jewell pieces together that fateful night over the course of the novel, switching back and forth in time between 2017 (when it happened) and 2019, when strange occurrences heat up this cold case.
💚 There is so much to love about this latest offering from Lisa Jewell: The way she sprinkles clues across two timelines, her inclusion of a cosy mystery author as a character, the expert pacing which balances suspense and revelations. I especially liked the “Dig Here” element of the story.
SQUAWKING THE TALK
🎧 I do a little happy dance every time I see Joanne Froggatt listed as narrator and not just because I’m a die-hard Downton fan. When it comes to performing psychological thrillers, Froggatt is top of the crop for her natural, likeable performance. Crucially, she does not narrate wistfully or ominously as so many do in this genre, which can make it seem as though the character is expecting bad things to happen. Instead, she comes across as a normal human who falls victim to unusual events.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER: SIMILAR AUDIOBOOKS
💛 My one gripe is that I wonder if all of this could have been avoided had Tallulah confided in her mum. But Jewell does at least address this and all other motivations and actions are believable.
Click For Spoilers
The Night She Disappeared
THE BLURB
2017: 19-year-old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.
Kim watches her daughter leave, and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.
The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah's friends, who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.
She never returns.
2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.
'DIG HERE'
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