Author: Rachel Howzell Hall
Publisher: Forge Books
Released: September 22^nd, 2020
Received: NetGalley
Warnings: Abuse, stalking, animal death

I received a copy of And Now She’s Gone in exchange for a fair and honest review.

And Now She’s Gone is the latest thriller to hit the shelves, one that’s willing to delve into lives full of secrets, fears, and the determination to keep on going.

Grayson Sykes just got her first solo case as a private investigator, and it’s to find a woman who has gone missing. A woman, who by all appearances doesn’t want to be found. Yet there’s more to this story, and this case, than meets the eye.

Isabel Lincoln has been missing for months, with and yet it’s only now that her boyfriend has reached out for professional help finding her. Her disappearance is full of twists and turns, which Gray will have to dig through in order to find the truth of what actually happened – as opposed to the story that those involves would rather it become.

“Everyone lies. Everyone leaves something out of the narrative…There were big secrets everywhere.”

Warnings: And Now She’s Gone covers some heavy subjects, mainly those of abuse and stalking. There is also mention of an animal dying, but it is in the past (though it does come up a couple of times).

And Now She’s Gone is arguably the most intriguing and unique mystery/thriller I’ve read in quite some time. I honestly had no idea which way the story was going to twist at any given point, as there were just so many threads up in the air.

That being said, I did have a little bit of trouble getting into this story, despite being truly excited for it. I think the biggest problem is that we essentially started in the middle of a story. Gray has a huge history to contend with (which is slowly revealed over the course of the novel), and now she’s dealing with her first case – and it’s a big one.

That’s a lot to take in, right from the start. Throw in all of the hints and allusions to something even bigger going on, and it can get kind of intimidating. Gray’s massive personality did help to bring the whole thing home though, so there is that.

I was well and truly hooked by the end though, I just had to see how this missing person’s case actually unfolded. Everything about Isabel was so complex and shrouded in mystery, so naturally the solution was going to be anything but easy.

I do love that Isabel’s story had some interesting mirroring elements going on, bringing parts of Gray’s story to life. Which admittedly probably didn’t need much help, since her past was clearly not content to stay where it belonged.

All things considered, I enjoyed And Now She’s Gone. I almost wish that it was part of a series, because I really would love to see how this character progressed with even more time available to her. Either way, I love how human this story ended up feeling.