Title: The Missing Sister
Author: Elle Marr
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: April 1st 2020
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Finished reading: March 15th 2020
Pages: 300
“Grief is a bizarre beast that can make us see and do things that don’t make sense. Memory adjusts and omits with the slightest nudge, let alone under circumstances like mine.”
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
There was just something about the blurb of The Missing Sister that intrigued me back when I first saw it on Netgalley last year, and I couldn’t resist getting a copy… I mean, a foreign setting, a possible serial killer AND a missing twin sister? How could I possibly say no to that?! I have been looking forward to read this story and while it failed to blow me away personally, it is by no means a bad read and without doubt still a solid debut. I’ll try to explain below why certain aspects of The Missing Sister failed to hit the mark for me…
Before I start, I have to repeat first that this debut is by no means a bad read and the 3 star rating reflects my personal experience with this story rather than the quality on its own. There were things I loved about The Missing Sister, but I couldn’t ignore the things that didn’t work for me either as these rambles wouldn’t be an honest reflection of my thoughts otherwise. With that out of the way, let’s discuss The Missing Sister: I’m going to start with the things that did work for me. I personally loved the foreign setting in Paris, and especially how big of a role the capital city of France plays in the story itself. Oh no, Paris isn’t just a random setting chosen as a background for another typical thriller read; the city and especially the Catacombs play a crucial and all important role in the plot as a whole and the story wouldn’t be the same without its history. I loved learning a bit more about the Catacombs along the way as well, and it definitely shows that the author knows the city intimately.
Another thing that stood out for me was the premise of this debut, which can’t exactly be put into just one genre and has that unique touch that makes it stand out from the rest. We have the twins and the contemporary angle, especially with the flashbacks back in San Diego… We have the mystery around Angela’s death or disappearance in Paris… We have the hint at a possible serial killer on the loose… And we have Paris, its Catacombs and its history. All of this is combined using a mix of Angela’s twin sister Shayna’s POV and a series of email exchanges between the twins… Slowly learning more about their past as well as the present.
We now arrive at what ended up not working for me personally in The Missing Sister… My main issue was probably the fact that I was unable to fully connect to the story or the characters, making it harder to stay focused and get fully absorbed in the story. Especially the parts about the connection and past between the twins slowed down the story considerably for me, even though it was one of the things that spoke to me when I first read the blurb. Likewise, I wasn’t a fan of the characters nor of the way how they behaved at all, making it hard to connect to them or care about what happened to them… And talking about the plot, I also found that certain aspects and plot twists were just a bit too farfetched to my liking, while other twists (including the big one involving who was behind it all) were just too easy to guess. I wasn’t too sure what to make of the ending either… Overall it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea as I struggled to connect to the story and found certain parts too farfetched, but I did love the foreign setting and premise and I’m sure the right person will love this debut.
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