THE GIRL SHE WAS

SYNOPSIS

HOPE CAN BE A DANGEROUS THING...

She calls herself Hope Miller, but she has no idea who she really is.

Fourteen years ago, she was found thrown from an overturned vehicle, with no clue to her identity. Hope started a new life, but never recovered her memory.

Now she's missing. With nowhere else to turn, Hope's best friend, Lindsay Kelly, calls NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher.

In pursuit of answers, three women search for the truth beneath long-buried secrets. And when their searches converge, what they find will upend everything they've ever known.

Title: The girl she was

Author: Alafair Burke

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Publication date: January 13, 2022

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Before reading The Girl She was I had only read a couple of Burke’s solo work and the book she wrote with Mary Higgins Clark, so I had no idea this one was part of a series. Despite being book 6 in the Ellie Hatcher series it can be perfectly read (and enjoyed) as a stand alone as the recurring character has a minor role in the plot.

Hope Miller is the name she gave herself fourteen years ago after she suffered a car crashed and had a severe case of amnesia. Fourteen years later she’s gone missing and it will be her best friend Lindsay with the help of Detective Ellie Hatcher the one trying to find her as they try to get some answers about Hope’s past.

This was quite the page turner! I got completely engaged from the get go. I found Hope’s backstory very intriguing. Does she really not remember anything about her past or is she faking it? Granted, the story gets a bit convoluted at times and there’re way too many characters making it hard at times to keep track of all of them, but once you stop a minute to go over every piece of information, it is a really enjoyable story.

Although there were several references to Ellie’s backstory and some of it tied with the current case, it was not a problem not having read the previous books. In fact, my interest got piqued enough to want to read the first five books in the series and learn more about Ellie’s character.

Once the puzzle pieces start falling into place they revealed a tight plot that managed to combine both cases in a very satisfying way.

Super quick and entertaining read, well written and excellently plotted, with the reader following a trail of clues that will lead to a surprising ending. Absolutely recommended if you’re in the mood for a good suspense police procedural.

Thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.