Where They Found Her – Kimberly McCreight

Psychological Thriller
4*s

I was very tempted by this author’s previous novel Reconstructing Amelia but sadly didn’t get around to reading it, so when I saw this one on NetGalley I was keen to give it a try.

And boy does this book start with a bang! Molly Anderson has joined the local paper in Ridgedale, a big step since she had suffered a stillbirth eighteen months earlier and had suffered with severe depression as a result. With the help of her husband Justin and a move to a new area Molly is slowly becoming more confident in parenting her daughter Ella and hoping to make new friends in the area when she is asked to stand in for the chief reporter as he is in hospital. Molly makes her way to the edge of Ridgedale University campus where a body has been found – to her horror the body is that of a very small infant. The question is whose baby is it? Will Molly be able to put her grief to one side and report on the issue without it compromising her recovery?

This book uses one of my favourite devices, the links of various characters to tell a story and in this book, all the key characters we meet are connected in some way and the way their stories are intertwine as the plot unfolds. Although much of this tale is revealed through Molly’s eyes we are also treated to transcripts from her psychiatrist, a mother of a classmate of Ella’s and a teenage girl as well as a diary dating back nearly twenty years. I am a real fan of multiple viewpoints in books, but only when it is well executed, and this one is done superbly. Every switch was easy to follow and each piece had something to add to the overall story with the pieces of the past colliding with the present until all the information comes together and the truth is revealed. As well as the multiple viewpoints we also have different ways of reporting the story including some of Molly’s reports for the paper complete with comments which I have to admit felt a little bit forced in this instance, although I am an avid reader of these in ‘real life.’

With the truth being revealed in pieces the author cleverly maintains the tension and this story had me gripped as I wanted to know the secrets that were hiding in the various strands because this book isn’t just about the baby’s body, this small community where crime is rarely committed is hiding a lot more. I enjoy it when books have a decent range of characters both in terms of age and situation, and the Rigedale community is well represented in this tale. Kimberley McCreight presents us with a wide range of characters including some that first appeared to be real horrors, although through the excellent writing I later grew to understand some of them, if not like them.

A very satisfying and intricate novel which I really enjoyed, this is very much a character driven novel and although the police are involved to be honest it is lucky for them that they have someone who is as keen to get answers as Molly because they don’t seem to have much of a sense of urgency, or even the most basic detection skills.
I’d like to thank the publishers Simon & Schuster for my copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Where They Found Her was published yesterday 24 September 2015 here in the UK.