Ghosts of the Missing by Kathleen Donohoe

Ghosts of the Missing by Kathleen Donohoe

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Book 1 in The Last Hours Series

Rating:

Synopsis

In the vein of The Lovely Bones and The Little Friend, Ghosts of the Missing follows the mysterious disappearance of a twelve-year-old girl during a town parade and the reverberations of this tragedy throughout the town.

On Saturday, October 28, 1995, a girl vanished. She was not a child particularly prized in town…When questioned by reporters, those who’d known Rowan described her as ‘quiet’ and ‘loner’ and ‘shy’ and even ‘awkward.’ Words for pity.

Culleton, New York has a long history—of writers, of artists, and of unsolved mysteries. It’s where Adair grew up before she moved to Brooklyn to try to make it as an artist. But after years away from her hometown and little to show for it, Adair decides to return. She moves back in to Moye House, the old mansion, and current writer’s retreat, imbued with her family’s legacy.

Ciaran is a writer staying at Moye House in the hopes of finally solving the mystery of what happened to Rowan Kinnane—his sister, and Adair’s childhood best friend. As the two begin investigating, secrets long buried rise to the surface, complicating their sense of themselves and their understanding of what happened on that fateful day.

This post contains affiliate links. You can read more on my disclosures page.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt  and TLC Book Tours for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Review

Ghosts of the Missing is a little bit mystery, a little bit history, and a little bit human interest.  It was a very interesting read, but if you like a linear book this is not for you. It jumps from past to present (though in this book present is 2010).  The mystery doesn’t even really start until about a third of the way through the book. 

There is also a lot of history.  The book moves to the past frequently, some times to give more insight into the mystery and other times to give the backstory of a character.  I have to admit that while I find these historical trips interesting, a lot of them, especially the backstories weren’t necessary to the overall story.    

The characters were all very interesting.  All had their quirks and their issues. But I didn’t really care for any of them.  The mystery is a large part of the story, but it really isn’t the purpose of this book.  This book is more of a character study than anything else.  

If you looking for something a little more intellectual with a bit of a mystery then I recommend this one.