Review ~ Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

HQ
January 2017

What's the book about..

Everyone has secrets

Sarah Quinlan's husband, Jack, has been haunted for decades by the untimely death of his mother when he was just a teenager, her body found in the cellar of their family farm, the circumstances a mystery. The case rocked the town where Jack was raised, and for years Jack avoided returning home. But when his beloved aunt Julia is in an accident, hospitalised in a coma, Jack and Sarah are forced to confront the past that they have long evaded.

Sarah and Jack are welcomed by the family Jack left behind all those years agobarely a trace of the wounds that had once devastated them all. But as facts about Julia’s accident begin to surface, Sarah realises that nothing about the Quinlans is what it seems. Caught in a flurry of unanswered questions, Sarah dives deep into the rabbit hole of Jack’s past, but the farther she climbs, the harder it is for her to get out. And soon she is faced with a hard reality she may not be prepared for.

My thoughts about the book..

Sarah Tierney returns with her husband Jack to his childhood home at Penny Gate in rural Chicago. The visit is filled with trauma not just because Jack's beloved Aunt Julia has suffered a devastating accident but also because returning to his family home after an absence of twenty years means that Jack must confront some distressing facts about  what happened to his family when he was just a teenager. For Sarah, returning with Jack, means that she too has to accept that there are huge chunks of her husband's life that are a complete mystery to her.

What then follows is a tight and well plotted psychological suspense thriller which looks at the burden of carrying family secrets, and of the danger of concealment when confronted with the stark reality of truth. The Tierney family are facing a time of loss and grief and there is no doubt that Jack and his immediate family would rather their secrets stay buried but Sarah, once an investigative journalist,  is determined to get to the heart of the mystery and in doing so puts her own life at risk..

I really enjoyed reading Missing Pieces and found the many twists and turns in the story intriguing and rather liked trying to fit together all the missing pieces of the puzzle. The author has done a good job of maintaining the momentum of the story and there are enough clues sprinkled within the story to allow the reader the opportunity to link all the clues together. The author, as always, writes a really good character driven story and I am sure that fans of her previous work will find much to enjoy in this latest offering,

I've read quite a lot of British psychological suspense recently so it was refreshing change to nip across the Atlantic and view things from an entirely different perspective,

Best read with ..One of Margaret's lemon squares and a glass of iced tea..

About the Author

Heather Gudenkauf is an Edgar Award nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Heather lives in Iowa with her husband and children. In her free time Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and running.

Twitter @hgudenkauf

My thanks to Alice at Midas pr  and to the publishers, HQ for sending me a copy of his book to review 



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