Local Girl Missing: A Novel - Softcover

Douglas, Claire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 144345303X ISBN 13: 9781443453035

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2017

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Sisters comes this twisty, haunting thriller about two best friends, corrosive jealousy, and dark secrets—perfect for fans of The Widow and Luckiest Girl Alive.

Someone knows where she is...

The old Victorian pier was a thing of beauty until it was allowed to decay. It was where the youth of Oldcliffe-on-Sea would go to hang out. It’s also where twenty-one-year-old Sophie Collier disappeared eighteen years ago.
 
Francesca Howe, known as Frankie, was Sophie’s best friend, and even now she is haunted by the mystery of what happened to her. When Frankie gets a call from Sophie’s brother, Daniel, informing her that human remains have been found washed up nearby, she immediately wonders if it could be Sophie, and returns to her old hometown to try and find closure. Now an editor at a local newspaper, Daniel believes that Sophie was terrified of someone and that her death was the result of foul play rather than “death by misadventure,” as the police claim.

Daniel arranges a holiday rental for Frankie that overlooks the pier where Sophie disappeared. In the middle of winter and out of season, Frankie feels isolated and unnerved, especially when she is out on the pier late one night and catches a glimpse of a woman who looks like Sophie. Is the pier really haunted, as they joked all those years ago? Could she really be seeing her friend’s ghost? And what actually happened to her best friend all those years ago?

Harrowing, electrifying, and thoroughly compelling, Local Girl Missing showcases once again bestselling author Claire Douglas’ extraordinary storytelling talent.

About this title

From the Back Cover

A shocking story of love and violence, and the intoxication of female friendship, Local Girl Missing is a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller about a young woman whose disappearance shakes the foundation of her small seaport hometown.

When Sophie begins to date Leon, Frankie warns her not to be lured in by his sensitivity and startling blue eyes. Frankie sees a dark side to him, but Sophie is smitten. Soon after this romance begins, twenty-one-year-old Sophie vanishes, last seen at the town’s old Victorian pier.

Twenty years later, Frankie receives a call from Sophie’s brother, Daniel, informing her that remains have been found near the old pier. Frankie wonders if it could be Sophie and returns to her hometown to try to finally find closure. Haunted by the familiar faces that filled her youth and threatening notes that allude to past secrets that only Sophie would have known, Frankie begins to think she sees a woman on the pier late at night, a woman who looks just like Sophie. Could she be seeing her friend’s ghost? Does someone else know what happened those many years ago?

Feeling isolated and unnerved, Frankie begins to wish she hadn’t returned. As she looks for emotional support from Daniel, she realises she may have deeper feelings for him and wonders how her life would have been if she chose to love him instead of the man she married. Falling down a spiral of self-doubt and alcohol-fuelled nights, as Frankie gets closer to the truth she becomes aware that her past secrets coming to light might cost her everything—her family, her sanity and even her life.

About the Author

Claire Douglas has worked as a journalist for fifteen years, writing features for women’s magazines and newspapers, but she’s dreamed of being a novelist since the age of seven. She finally got her wish after winning Marie Claire’s Debut Novel Award for her first book, The Sisters, which became a bestseller. She lives in Bath, England, with her husband and two children.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 144345303X
• ISBN 13: 9781443453035
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352