Everyone loves a beautiful missing girl… Lilling might seem like an idyllic English village, but it’s home to a dark history. In 1976, a teenage girl named Annalise Wood disappeared, and though her body was later discovered, the culprit was never found. Decades later, Annalise maintains a perverse kind of celebrity, and is still the focus of grief, speculation, and for one young woman, a … woman, a disturbing, escalating jealousy.
When DNA linked to the Annalise murder unexpectedly surfaces, cold case detective Morris Keene and his former partner, Chloe Frohmann, hope to finally bring closure to this traumatized community. But the new evidence instead undoes the case’s only certainty: the buried body that had long ago been confidently identified as Annalise may be someone else entirely, and instead of answers, the investigators face only new puzzles.
Whose body was unearthed all those years ago, and what happened to the real Annalise? Is someone interfering with the investigation? And is there a link to a present-day drowning with eerie connections? With piercing insight and shocking twists, Emily Winslow explores the dark side of sensationalized crime in this haunting psychological thriller.
“Look For Her ratchets up the tension while also offering moments of sheer grace.”-Riley Sager, bestselling author of Final Girls
“Beautifully written with an expertly twisty, surprising story, this is a must-read!”
— Chevy Stevens, New York Times bestselling author of Never Let You Go
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For so long now the English village of Lilling has been mesmerized with the disappearance of one of their own; each of them constantly speculating about what happened to the young girl named Annalise Wood. There have been lots of stories through the years, leads that didn’t pan out, and lots theories passed down for generations… but still no concrete evidence. A body was discovered years ago, but the person who took her life is still a big mystery, one that may just be coming to light now that new DNA evidence has surfaced. But of course the case isn’t that cut and dry, there are two detectives, with lots of history, with two different cases that seem to be connected, and a young woman with a disturbing obsession that finds it’s way into the mix too. Buckle up and hold on tight because this one is sure to take you on literary journey you won’t forget, it’s riddled with twists and turns, you will never see coming!
As soon as I cracked the cover on Look For Her I was hooked, it started off with a bang, and just continued to get better with each page that followed, just when I thought I knew where things were headed, I’d get hit with another unexpected surprise. This was a first time read for me, and I have to say I was quite impressed with what I found, the story line was enthralling, slightly twisted, and had just enough intensity to keep me hanging on by a thread! The characters were downright amazing, each one multilayered, crafted with a realistic feel to them, and complemented each other nicely. Highly recommend you get your hands on this one, it will shock you, toy with your thoughts and emotions, and hold you captive from start to finish!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and voluntarily read and reviewed
Favorite Quotes:
I divorced Charlie seventeen years ago. No, wait, eighteen years now. Eighteen years! Our divorce is now old enough to vote, or buy a drink at the pub.
How is it that some crimes capture so much public imagination that people – strangers, even – still grieve them decades later? It’s like historic ghost stories. Most deaths, even terrible ones, get let go of, but occasional ones, for being particularly surprising, ironic, iconic, or grisly, get remembered as spooky tales.
My Review:
The book started with a decades-old cold case murder mystery, which was being pursued again. The case had gripped the area and nation for a brief time in the 70’s after the event and again sixteen years later when a badly decomposed body was found and assumed to be the same missing teenager, although efforts from both previous investigations had been fruitless. There were several overlapping threads in addition to the police case that added to the mystery with intrigue, dead ends, misdirection, secrets, lies; flawed, broken, and vile yet compelling characters; and the ongoing family dramas of the various households of the characters contacted and involved in the case.
This was a slowly developing story and I enjoyed Ms. Winslow’s unpredictable and densely packed storylines as much as I did the compellingly crafted and flawed characters. The premise was clever, relevant, and believable while the storylines were complex and multi-leveled, yet well-paced, engaging, and unpredictable. I had devised and cast aside several theories as I read, all incorrect, every single one of them. The multifaceted tale was written from multiple POVs, yet I didn’t have a problem keeping track as each of the multitudes of characters were distinctly drawn and plucked at my curiosity with a desire to know more. I would enjoy going backward and reading the previous books in the series although that wasn’t necessary to follow this story.