Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

Synopsis

From the author of the New York Times bestseller and 2014 Edgar and Anthony nominee Reconstructing Amelia comes another harrowing, gripping novel that marries psychological suspense with an emotionally powerful story about a community struggling with the consequences of a devastating discovery.

At the end of a long winter, in bucolic Ridgedale, New Jersey, the body of an infant is discovered in the woods near the town’s prestigious university campus. No one knows who the baby is, or how her body ended up out there. But there is no shortage of opinions.

When freelance journalist, and recent Ridgedale transplant, Molly Anderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the story for the Ridegdale Reader, it’s a risk, given the severe depression that followed the loss of her own baby. But the bigger threat comes when Molly unearths some of Ridgedale’s darkest secrets, including a string of unreported sexual assaults that goes back twenty years.

Meanwhile, Sandy, a high school dropout, searches for her volatile and now missing mother, and PTA president Barbara struggles to help her young son, who’s suddenly having disturbing outbursts.

Told from the perspectives of Molly, Barbara, and Sandy, Kimberly McCreight’s taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth about the baby’s death revealing that these three women have far more in common than they realized. And that their lives are more intertwined with what happened to the baby than they ever could have imagined.

Audiobook Review

Bite size review: five stars

This is my second book by Kimberly Mc Craight and by now, I should know that when someone is too good to be true he IS too good to be true.

The plot in a nutshell:

Molly has recently arrived at Ridgedale and wants a fresh start after having lost her baby and plunging into severe depression. From lawyer she goes to journalist for the Ridgedale Reader.

She will have to cover the mystery surrounding the body of a baby discovered in the woods. Of course, deciding to cover that story is perilous for her mental health.

Sandy is another character that we follow. She is a high school dropout who is trying to get her life in order. Yet everything is derailed when her mother Jenna disappears. Sandy will set all her focus on finding her mom.

And the last character we follow is Barbara. She is a stay at home mom, wife of the police’s chief and struggling to understand the sudden outbursts of her young son. I swear his outbursts had me feel like reading an horror story!

Ridgedale looks like an idyllic community on the outside but there is not such perfect town. That place is riddled with secret spanning over decades and Molly is dead set on uncovering them. She needs to find who that baby was, what happened to her even if it comes at a personal price and takes a toll on her relationships in the process.

I loved seeing how these women were linked and wondering where the author was taking me. The narrators also did an excellent job bringing that story to life and shedding doubt on nearly everything!

Even if all the main characters are not likeable (I am thinking of Barbara) that story gripped me from the beginning and did not release me before the great finale.

Thanks for reading.

Sophie