Heather Young – The Lost Girls

‘The Lost Girls’ by Heather Young is a crime thriller that, once you start reading, it almost consumes you. I have experienced Heather Young’s previous book and I loved that. I knew I would be in for a great read.

The story centres on two timelines from within the generations of one family at their lakehouse in Minnesota, a remote picturesque place. We are taken back to 1935. The youngest daughter Emily disappears, leaving behind her mother and two sisters, who all stay at the lakehouse waiting for Emily to return, almost like they are frozen in time.

Fast forward to 1999, winter, the middle sister Lucy has just passed away and bequeathed the lakehouse to her Great-Niece Justine. Upon learning of her inheritance she packs hers and her two daughters things up and travels to the house, leaving her rather controlling partner behind…this is Justine’s fresh start until she arrives and realises just how remote and rundown it is and the weather well, cold is not the word! Her only neighbours are Matthew and Abe two brothers of Native American heritage and for that have never been quite accepted. When Emily vanished Abe was the first suspect.

The story carries on through Lucy’s journal and we learn of the events leading up to Emily’s disappearance. We see her relationship with her parents and her sisters too. As the truth of what happened in 1935 slowly unravels it makes for an emotional read. The author has skillfully written it so you can focus on each character and how they felt at the time. As the present-day events with Justine concludes the tension is kept to the maximum. Heather Young has woven the two timelines together so well that neither timeline is any less than the other.

A haunting story with a lakehouse in the centre that is almost a character in itself. There is a mysterious and haunting air to the house that holds many secrets and it adds to the intrigue of this sinister and very unsettling read. Not a fast-paced read but a slower pace did create a simmering pot of tension and mystery that had me eager to know it all.

Thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours and Verve Books for my copy of the book.