New York Times best-selling author Mary Kubica delivers a dark and layered psychological thriller with Local Woman Missing – a story that expertly blends domestic suspense, mistaken identity, and long-buried secrets. With its atmospheric setting and complex cast of characters, it’s no surprise this one has become a BookTok favorite.

Told through a non-linear timeline and multiple narrators, the book weaves past and present into a chilling mystery. Years ago, a woman and her young daughter, Delilah, disappeared without a trace. When the mother’s body is discovered with a note saying Delilah is alive and being kept safe, her husband is left to grapple with grief, confusion, and growing suspicion.

Then, in the present day, Delilah is suddenly found eleven years later. But she remembers almost nothing of her previous life. Most disturbingly, she doesn’t even remember that she has a little brother – the sibling she once adored. What really happened to her? And who kept her hidden for all those years?

The mystery deepens with another case: shortly before Delilah and her mother vanished, a local woman was found murdered after a late-night jog. She was a new mom, and in a bizarre coincidence (or maybe no coincidence at all) Delilah’s mom had been her doula. The woman’s baby suffered brain damage during birth at the hands of a now-disgraced doctor, who holds a grudge. Could these tragedies be connected? Was Delilah’s mother’s death truly a suicide, or was something much darker at play?

As the pieces come together, Kubica keeps you guessing until the final pages. I went into this confident I had the plot figured out early on, but I was completely wrong. The twists are jaw-dropping, and even seasoned thriller readers (like myself) will find themselves stunned by the outcome.

I read this one on my Kindle just as a spring thunderstorm rolled in, and it was the perfect backdrop. The moody, rainy setting mirrors the book’s tone and makes this a perfect read for late spring or early summer. It scratched an itch in my brain in all the right ways.If you’re drawn to stories about abduction and dead moms with dark secrets, Local Woman Missing is an absolute must-read!