The Missing Years by Lexie Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars**
A delightful tale of suspense with surprising twists!
After Ailsa Calder’s mother dies, she inherits the Manse in the Scottish Highlands in which she grew up. Well, half of it anyway.
Upon going to settle the estate, she is told that the other half is owned by her father, a man missing for the last 27-years.
The real kicker, although Ailsa wants nothing more than to sell the property, having no desire to leave her posh London-life behind, she can’t.
In order to do so, she will have to have him legally declared dead. A bureaucratic nightmare perfect for the bereaved.
While she handles that whole mess, she relocates to the Manse, along with her half-sister, Carrie, who she really has no relationship with.
It doesn’t take long after arriving at the remote location before it becomes clear to Ailsa that someone doesn’t want her there.
When intruders show up in the night and the house begins to rebel against her, Ailsa feels like she is coming unhinged. She tries to keep it together and bond with her sister but so much is going wrong, she is literally at wits end.
Tie in an interesting group of side characters and a looming sense of dread and you have yourself a taut little suspense novel!
There is a constant back and forth of, is it supernatural, is it not, that I absolutely loved. I went into this without the highest of expectations and I have to say, I was most pleasantly surprised.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a wonderful job making me feel like I was included in the action.
The pacing was fantastic and it kept me wanting more the entire way through.
This was my first Lexie Elliott but definitely will not be my last!