The Night She Disappeared

By: Lisa Jewell

Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt

Brought to you by Penguin.

"Mum, there's some people here from college, they asked me back to theirs. Just for an hour or so. Is that OK?"

Midsummer 2017: teenage mum Tallulah heads out on a date, leaving her baby son at home with her mother, Kim.

At 11pm she sends her mum a text message. At 4.30am Kim awakens to discover that Tallulah has not come home.

Friends tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a pool party at a house in the woods nearby called Dark Place.

Tallulah never returns.

2018: walking in the woods behind the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started as a head-teacher, Sophie sees a sign nailed to a fence.

A sign that says: DIG HERE . . .

A cold case. An abandoned mansion. A family hiding a terrible secret.
Prepare to be hooked. Lisa Jewell's latest thriller is her best yet.

'I love all Lisa's books, but The Night She Disappeared is by far her best thriller yet.' HARLAN COBEN

'Mother of God, Lisa Jewell's on fire. The Night She Disappeared is UNBELIEVABLY good. I was utterly utterly agog.' MARIAN KEYES

'No-one tells stories like this better than Lisa Jewell ... she gets right into it, doesn't mess about, puts real-seeming characters with rich interior lives through 350 pages of insane suspense - and then hits us with an ending we never saw coming. I love it.' LEE CHILD

'I'm calling it early. This is Lisa's best book yet, and she always sets that bar high! Stayed up so late because I couldn't put it down.' ADELE PARKS, author of Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck

'Oh my God, so good. A head-scratching, heart-racing, page-turning triumph - I think this might be my favourite Lisa Jewell yet.' LOUISE CANDLISH

'No one thickens a plot like Lisa Jewell. I couldn't put this book down. Jewell just keeps getting better. It's SO GOOD!' SHARI LAPENA

'Masterly. Gripping from start to finish.' JOANNE HARRIS

'I swear her books are masterclasses for authors. Every time I read one, I'm in awe. I loved this one so much - clever, slick and so intriguing. Lots of emotion and I love how all the sub-plots come together. #bowdowntoLisa' MEL SHERRATT

'Another first class mystery . . . Totally enthralling.' HARRIET TYCE, author of Blood Orange

'I predict another number one.' ERIN KELLY, author of He Said, She Said

'Once again Lisa Jewell has knocked it out of the park. Another masterclass in thriller writing from one of the world's most consistently brilliant authors. I was superglued to the pages' MARK EDWARDS, author of Here to Stay

'Totally absorbing. I felt as though I'd slipped into the book and lived there for a few days, heart pounding. So so so amazing!' KATHERINE HEINY, author of Early Morning Riser

'Absolutely loved this one by Lisa Jewell - compelling, deep, surprising, tense, modern. Most thrillers are in black and white to me in terms of character and Lisa is blazing saturated technicolour.' GILLIAN MCALLISTER, author of Everything But the Truth

'I'm passionately attached to Lisa Jewell, whose novels somehow manage to be good-natured, creepy and tense all at once.' SARAH PERRY, author of The Essex Serpent

'Nail-biting. Left me reeling' JANE CORRY

© Lisa Jewell 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critic reviews

I love all Lisa's books, but The Night She Disappeared is by far her best thriller yet. (Harlan Coben)

Lisa has certainly done it again with another first class mystery. It's got it all - captivating characters, a mysterious mansion in the woods and a burning question set up from the start to draw the reader in. I just had to know what happened next. Totally enthralling. (Harriet Tyce)

Lisa Jewell has made a thriller out of my favourite literary ingredients. Abandoned mansion [tick]. Sex [tick]. Boarding school [tick]. SECRET TUNNELS [tick]. Kick-ass matriarch [tick]. Clues in paintings [tick]. I predict another number one. (Erin Kelly)

Absolutely loved this one by Lisa Jewell - compelling, deep, surprising, tense, modern. Most thrillers are in black and white to me in terms of character and Lisa is blazing saturated technicolour.

The only thing predictable about this ending is how unpredictable it is.

Wonderful narration & Good story

It starts of a little slow but it gets better and more engaging! This is my 2nd book from Lisa Jewels and I'm not disappointed! Love how she manages to reveal every character bit by bit and we finally see the big picture. Narration was fantastic!

Amazing story and amazing audio performance!

Not so complicated plots, but really amazing as to how the whole story develops. The author absolutely has very good techniques to involve readers in, both emotionally and logically. And also very brilliant writing skills with beautiful words and metaphors. The performance is also significant! I do love this voice that has texture, emotion and richness in it! And the way she performs different characters and makes everyone very distinct from one another! What a book!

Brilliant

Oh my word!!! Couldn’t put this book down. Joanne Froggat narrated this book absolutely perfectly. She created different voices and accents for each character. Lisa Jewell has become my new favourite author.

Shifting perspectives

Loved it. The feeling of dread and anxiety during Tallulahs chapters was like a heavy blanket. It really needed both Kim’s sympathetic pov but especially Sophie that was a little more “distant” and read like a detective. Incredible performance by the narrator, especially Scarlett’s and Zach’s voices were so convincing and overall just a super engaging and competent performance by the narrator.

Great mystery

This was engaging, good pacing, and addicting. Really really enjoyed this book and the narration