When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wracked with grief after a personal tragedy, Missing Persons Detective, Anna Hart, flees from her regular life in San Francisco, in order to give herself time to heal.
She heads back to the town she grew up in with her loving foster parents, Mendocino, in Northern California.
Once there, she rents a modest cabin in the woods and actually ends up taking in a new canine companion, who she names, Cricket.
Obviously. this enhanced my enjoyment of the story.
((Just kidding. Kind of, not really.))
Anna also reunites with her childhood friend, Will, who happens to now be the local Sheriff.
Knowing how successful Anna has been in her career, Will enlists her help with assisting him finding a teenage girl, Cameron, who has recently gone missing.
This new investigation is a good distraction from Anna’s own tragedy, but her involvement means more to her than that. She quickly becomes engrossed in the case.
Having survived very significant childhood trauma herself, Anna has dedicated her life to helping other children and survivors. As stressful as it can often be, it’s her calling.
We watch the investigation unfold, as Will and Anna work together to try to find out what happened to Cameron. Maybe they can get to her before it’s too late.
They end up tying her case to that of other missing girls in the area and the intensity definitely begins to build from there.
This is a great story. It’s subtle, dark and heart-wrenching.
It really reminded me a lot of Rene Denfeld’s, The Child Finder and I mean that as a heavy compliment.
It’s quite nuanced, more than your average book in this genre, which I appreciated so much. McLain packed a lot in.
I loved the investigatory elements and learning more about Anna’s background as a character; how her early life lead her to the point where she is at.
Overall, this story has good action, a compelling mystery, layered, well-established characters and a satisfying conclusion.
There were some areas that felt a little slow for me, but that didn’t overshadow any of the other fantastically done elements.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.
I appreciate the opportunity and hope this author writes more in this genre!
