One Night Gone
It was the perfect place to disappear...
One sultry summer, Maureen Haddaway arrives in the wealthy town of Opal Beach to start her life anew—to achieve her destiny. There, she finds herself lured by the promise of friendship, love, starry skies, and wild parties. But Maureen’s new life just might be too good to be true, and before the summer is up, she vanishes. It was the perfect place to disappear...
One sultry summer, Maureen Haddaway arrives in the wealthy town of Opal Beach to start her life anew—to achieve her destiny. There, she finds herself lured by the promise of friendship, love, starry skies, and wild parties. But Maureen’s new life just might be too good to be true, and before the summer is up, she vanishes.
Decades later, when Allison Simpson is offered the opportunity to house-sit in Opal Beach during the off-season, it seems like the perfect chance to begin fresh after a messy divorce. But when she becomes drawn into the mysterious disappearance of a girl thirty years before, Allison realizes the gorgeous homes of Opal Beach hide dark secrets. And the truth of that long-ago summer is not even the most shocking part of all...
Title: One Night Gone
Author: Tara Laskowski
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Paperback, 352 pages
Publishing Date: October 1st, 2019
Publishing House: Graydon House
ISBN-10: 1525832190 (ISBN13: 9781525832192)
Edition Language: English
My Review
Know those little towns where everyone knows everyone? Opal Beach in this novel reminded me of just that. Constricting, in your business and harboring secrets! It is not the place you want to get on with the wrong, influential crowd, because you will never see the end of it.
I had my eye on this book since I saw it on Netgalley, but it wasn't in my cards to receive a copy of it back then. None the less, I was drawn to the beach town setting as I'm a sucker for anything beach: love at the beach, murder at the beach, mystery at the beach, getting away at the beach, reading at the beach (best one!) etc, so I patiently waited for availability on Overdrive. Worth it!
This story about a 'weather girl' coming to Opal Beach to house-sit over the summer is told in three dimensions. Allison Simpson needs some reprieve after a messy divorce. Here at the beach, she can focus on some self-care and healing and gather the strength to move on somewhere new. It doesn't take Allison long to make some friends with the locals but all of it is a facade! As a cold case of the disappearance of a young girl catches her attention, she has to figure out who she can take at face value and who is trying to distract her from the case.
Maureen Haddaway is a young girl with hopes and dreams, visiting the beach for the summer, 30 years ago. Having a great time partying and enjoying life, there's still a definite vibe of animosity towards the summer tourists like her, and one day she disappears! Her friends don't know what happened and some are holding on till today to figure it out. Did she meet a man? Did she have an accident?
The story of these women is told from their POV's but also in flashbacks of the past, lending the reader to puzzle together all the clues.
I love a little mystery like this every now and then. It was so messy with dead-end trails, manipulation, and backstabbing, even the conclusion lead to an edgy surprise twist. I picked the audio version for this book and it was perfectly narrated giving voices to the different characters fast-paced and the flashbacks added more questions about the cold trail. Coming together like loose strands, this novel stands twisted by murder and atmosphere, the perfect trifecta of evil, conniving manipulation, and events.
Recommend!
Cheers :)
