Review: Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker

Title: Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary, Domestic Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Length: 345 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

In Wendy Walker’s thrilling novel Don’t Look for Me, the greatest risk isn’t running away. It’s running out of time.

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life.

She doesn’t want to be found.

Or at least, that’s the story.

The car abandoned miles from home.

The note found at a nearby hotel.

The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together.

They called it a “walk away.”

It happens all the time.

Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over.

But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?

Review:

Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker  is an absolutely riveting domestic mystery.

When Molly Clarke runs out of gas in the middle of a storm, she is ready to give up. Five years after a tragedy, her family is farther apart than ever. The gulf between her and her husband John seems insurmountable. Their  twenty-one year old daughter Nicole (Nic) spends her nights in bars and makes choices she regrets in the morning. Their sixteen year old son Evan is away at school and he wants nothing to do with her when she goes to his football games twice a month. As Molly walks along the road in Hastings, CT, she vanishes without a trace.  John and Nic join the police in their search for her, but after a note from Molly is found in a local casino, the local police and her family believe her disappearance is voluntary. But two weeks later, Nic is contacted by a woman with information about her mom. She returns to Hastings with hopes this new lead with help solve the case once and for all.

Nic is disappointed Police Chief Charles Watkins is not more enthusiastic that a new witness has come forward. Despite his caution that this woman might just be after the reward money, he does assign Officer Jared Reyes to go with her to the meeting the next day. Molly checks into the deserted inn owned by Roger Booth who is bit of eccentric. She also faces the mistakes she made on her last visit when she forces herself to talk to bartender Kurt Kent.  Nic is determined to concentrate on keeping a clear head, but her demons sometime get the best of her.

Although her father wants her to return home, Nic cannot leave without searching for her mother. She feels terribly guilty over their last encounter on the morning her mother went missing. She is growing certain her mom did not just walk away from their family.  And when she discovers another woman disappeared without trace ten years earlier, Nic begins to believe there might be a connection to her mom’s case. With assistance from both Kent and Officer Reyes, will Nic learn the truth about what happened to Molly?

Don’t Look for Me is an edge of the seat thriller that is full of suspense. The characters are vibrantly developed with relatable flaws and strengths. The storyline is engrossing and the tension ratchets up with each chapter. With stunning twists and diabolical turns, Wendy Walker  brings this chilling mystery to a  dramatic conclusion.  HIGHLY recommend to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers.