by Fiona Barton
First published 2019
Kate Waters gets the assignment every reporter wants and dreads. Two eighteen-year-old British girls have disappeared in Thailand, and their families are desperate for answers. Kate flies to Bangkok to cover the story, but this case hits differently. She thinks about her own son, who left home two years ago to travel and hasn't contacted her since. As Kate digs into what the missing girls were doing before they vanished, she uncovers secrets that complicate the investigation. The families back home face media scrutiny while clinging to hope. Kate pursues leads through Thailand's backpacker trail, interviewing other travelers and locals who might have seen the girls. But the deeper she investigates, the more she realizes that the danger threatening these young women might not be as foreign as it seems. The case forces Kate to confront her own fears about her missing son and the risks that young people take when they venture into the world alone.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: missing-person, parent-child-relationship
Setting: Bangkok, Thailand
Period: 21st-century
320 pages · Paperback · Penguin Canada
Content warnings: anxiety