Where Are the Children?

Wow, this book was a lot better than some of the other books of hers I've read. I'm not a fan of the lighthearted cozy mysteries. This story was intense, a thriller. I thought I might have read this book a long time ago but if I did I didn't remember any of it. I'm glad I finally took the time to read it. I chose it since it was Mary's Debut Suspense novel and we recently passed away at the end of January. It is so sad to lose a great writer.

Nancy is a fragile woman who was charged with murdering her two children 7 years before on her birthday. She was released when a mistrial was declared and then the key witness could not be found. She colored her hair and moved to Cape Cod to try to start over. She rented a house from a realtor and eventually they were married and had 2 children. They were happy but he wanted her to relax and enjoy her birthday which she never wanted to acknowledge. He knew her story but he thought enough time had passed and she could relax. After all, it had been 7 years. Unfortunately, he was wrong. It wasn't over and after he went to work his children disappeared while playing outside. Whatever had happened those years before was happening again.

Well, I wanted something engrossing and readable. Check. Despite the fact that it's grossly dated, it still held my attention. And I have some guilt about that because while it was a fun hammock read in the dog days of summer, Where Are the Children sure doesn't do the womens lib movement any favors. Nancy's sole redeeming factor seems to be that she's a looker. And Dorothy, the only woman in the story who exhibits any independence is “highfalutin”. Yep, how dare her have her own means and be comfortable in her occupation! What a snob! hahahha
As a mystery, it's pretty great. To be fair, there are some bad examples of crappy men too. Mostly it just made me want to live in a seaside town.