Vanished by James Delargy

Happy Friday! Or a hopefully Happy Friday! I'm set to get my second vaccine dose today :)

I'm also a part of the Random Things Tour for James Delargy's latest, Vanished!

A family has gone missing and the police have a growing suspicion that foul play is involved. 

Lorcan, Naiyana, and their young son, Dylan, have been making a go of living in an abandoned mining town in rural Australia. According to Lorcan's parents, they last heard from the family at Christmas and the lack of contact since is definitely abnormal. 

When the police arrive, they find the family's commandeered house abandoned and no evidence of anyone in sight. Alive that is. They find blood, a vehicle with slashed tires, and a barely charged phone hidden in the dirt. 

It seems apparent that something bad has happened to the family. It also becomes apparent that the family weren't just roughing it for fun—they were hiding from something. 

What a fabulously fun thriller! 

The book alternates between Detective Emmaline Taylor, who's been called in as one of the officers investigating the disappearance, and the family themselves. So the how and why plays out in parallel to the actual missing persons case. 

It's a clever format because it means the reader gets to see what's going on with the family and experience their points of view leading up to the actual disappearance while also following the detectives and discovering clues alongside them. 

The pacing was also pretty brilliant. We meet Lorcan and Emmaline when they arrive in Kallayee and there are only hints of why they're actually there. Much of the earlier chapters are their attempts to fix up the house, find water, and chronicle those efforts for YouTube views and a possible book. But there's a dark cloud that's clearly hanging over everything. 

Meanwhile, Emmaline herself proved to be probably my favorite character in the book! A single woman in her twenties, pressured by her family to settle down, but perfectly happy as an investigator moving up in the police ranks! 

This is a great example, too, where setting becomes a bit of a character itself. An abandoned mining town that was the scene of a collapse that resulted in the deaths of a number of miners. Rickety falling down buildings and dirt and dust as far as the eye can see. The skeleton of a dead kangaroo greets the family and later becomes a landmark for the police as well. Reading this in the midst of a spring snowstorm couldn't prevent me from almost being able to feel the sun and the grit on my own skin!

Vanished is my introduction to Delargy's work and I absolutely cannot wait to read more!