Affiliate links can be found within this post. If you need additional information, please see the disclaimer.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
MY REVIEW:
Genre | Tropes: Psychological Thriller, Crime Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐
This was a gritty psychological thriller filled with characters that all had personal issues that crossed with the main investigation of a missing young woman and the two young children she nannied for.
We meet Rose, the estranged mother of the missing young woman who has a background in hostage negotiation and is contacted by her ex-husband to immediately fly from Britain to Australia to assist in their missing daughter’s investigation. Then we have the lead detective, Blackwood, who’s marriage is on the rocks as he’s nearing retirement and this final investigation involves a coterie of failed marriage examples that trample his self esteem in his personal capacity.
Louisa is a wonderful nanny and cares deeply for the children she’s responsible for. We don’t get too much from her in the beginning but we do get a sense that she does not feel comfortable with the level of tension in the home with the children’s parents. Soon after, her and the two young ones disappear off of the family’s private beach and the team is called in to investigate.
I enjoyed the dynamic between Louisa and her estranged mother. Her mother, Rose, was in the Met as an officer helping with domestic abuse situations when a bad call got even worse and Rose lost her partner. Ultimately leading Rose into a therapy riddled existence where she struggled to care for Louisa as a child. Her husband left her and took her daughter, for the most part keeping them separated long into Louisa’s adulthood. This is the foundation that Rose is working from when she’s called in to help find her daughter. Not knowing anything about her really, but determined to help find her safe and have a chance at a relationship with her.
The other half of the story is from Blackwood’s perspective as he looking at evidence and trying to figure out exactly how the young woman and two kids so mysteriously disappear off of a private beath. Did Louisa kidnap the kids and try to take them away from their tumultuous home or is something more sinister at work. He’s a great detective throughout the entire novel and brings with him a classic investigator feel. Tough, gritty and a no BS kind of guy that wants to figure out the evidence and get everyone home safely.
I really enjoyed this one, but it did have some slow areas to it that felt a little too long. Some of the scenes just get carried out with a lot on introspection that would then lead me to feel estranged from the plot line at times. Overall though, well done and highly enjoyable!
GET IT HERE:
Was she taken … or did she run?
The pulse-pounding new psychological thriller from the bestselling author of You Don’t Know Me
Rose once walked away from her daughter. Now she may be the only one who can save her.
Former London police officer Rose Campbell has been estranged from her daughter, Lou, for almost a decade. But when Lou disappears from a remote beach in Western Australian–and the police suspect her of kidnapping the two young children in her care–Rose is asked to help bring Lou home.
This is the final case in DSS Mal Blackwood’s illustrious career–and there’s a lot riding on it. The missing children are heirs to the Fisher property empire, and while their multimillionaire grandfather is breathing down Blackwood’s neck, the media storm is intensifying. Faced with a deluge of evidence and accusations, Blackwood doesn’t know who he can trust.
Rose arrives in Australia intent on proving her daughter’s innocence, but how can she be sure of that when she’s no longer part of Lou’s life? Meanwhile, as Blackwood begins to expose the Fishers’ secrets, the investigation takes a dark turn. Shadows of the past gather around the Fishers, and Rose, and soon it’s clear that every hour is critical. What has happened to Lou and the children? And can Rose and Blackwood find them in time?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sara Foster
Sara Foster is a critically acclaimed, bestselling fiction author with a passion for psychological suspense and a keen interest in exploring zeitgeist issues and strong female characters in her nail-biting novels. Her latest, When She Was Gone (2025), begins when an au pair and two small children vanish from a remote Australian beach, and is a race-against-time thriller, exploring themes around misogyny, wealth, power and control.
Sara is also the author of dystopian thriller The Hush and seven more bestselling novels. Two of her books have been optioned for television, and You Don’t Know Me was adapted into a chart-topping podcast series by Listnr. Sara has a PhD in creative writing (studying maternal representations in fiction) and lives in Perth, WA, with her husband, two daughters, three cats, Luna the cavoodle and Sunny the bearded dragon.
Follow Sara on Substack at Story Matters (for readers) and The Resilient Author (for writers). Or visit her website: www.sarafoster.com.au
Looking for book recs…
Adventures in Literature 
Leave a comment