Missing Molly
Rachel Holloway has spent years making sure her past stays dead and buried. So far, she's pulled it off. But when her small-town newspaper decides to launch a podcast investigating the twelve-year-old cold case of missing Molly Forster, Rachel's carefully constructed world threatens to unravel. With a loving boyfriend and an adored three-year-old daughter to protect, Rachel knows some truths are better left in the dark—and she'll do absolutely whatever it takes to keep them there.
- Rachel (Molly) - Bookkeeper at South Hackney Herald
- Matt - Rachel’s boyfriend
- Barbara - Rachel’s psychiatrist
- Gracie - Rachel and Matt’s daughter
- Vivian - Rachel’s best friend, works at South Hackney Herald
- Chris - Rachel’s boss at South Hackney Herald
- Jacob - Works at South Hackney Herald
- Zoya - Jacob’s wife
- Jack and Mary - Molly’s parents
- Grace - Mary’s sister
- Dennis - Forster gardener, arrested for the murders
- Emily - Dennis’s mother
- Edward Hennessy - Chief constable during the murders, now the mayor
- Hugo Hennessy - Edward’s son, Grace’s ex-boyfriend
- Tom - Private detective
- Jacob came up with the idea for a podcast; they are going to try and find the missing Molly Forster.
- Molly disappeared after her parents and sister were killed, and Dennis was arrested for their murders.
- Dennis allegedly killed himself the day after he was arrested, and the case was closed.
- Rachel is Molly Forster: she ran away from Whitbrook and assumed a new identity to avoid the real murderer, Hugo.
- Rachel knows that Hugo killed her family and that he had been abusing Grace.
- She also knows Edward used his position as Chief to make sure all the evidence pointed to Dennis and away from Hugo.
- Tom posts on Reddit that he tracked Molly to Spain in 2012, where she was using the name Susan Bishop.
- After she ran away, Molly met a man named Gabriel who helped her become Susan Bishop, but when he died in Spain, she fled. After meeting the real Rachel, she stole her ID and later saw in the paper that Rachel had died of a drug overdose a few days later.
- Jacob and Rachel interview Emily: she claims Dennis went to the house after caring for her that night because a friend of Grace’s called and told him to come to the party. She also has a receipt showing he was picking up a prescription for her at the time of the murders.
- After the episode with Emily airs, she is found hanged in her house with a suicide note saying she made up Dennis’s alibi.
- Vivian has a new boyfriend, Peter, but Rachel suspects he is Hugo.
- Rachel tells Matt she is really Molly and that they need to take Grace and run because Hugo is going to kill them.
- Matt gets Molly admitted into a psychiatric hospital because he thinks she’s having a psychotic episode.
- The police reopen the case against Dennis because the chemist comes forward and says she remembers Dennis being at the pharmacy during the murders.
- Peter is Hugo, and he visits Rachel in the hospital and tries to force-feed her pills but is interrupted.
- Rachel gets Jacob to help her escape the psychiatric hospital and drive her to Whitlock, where she retrieves Grace’s scrapbook. In the last entry, Grace writes that she told Edward that Hugo was abusive and had said he would kill her if she dumped him.
- Rachel gets Edward to confess that he knows Hugo killed everyone and covered it up, and Jacob helps her secretly record it.
- Hugo and Edward get arrested.
- Rachel becomes Molly again and plans to marry Matt.
Overall, Missing Molly is a really good book and a quick, easy read. Barelli balances a solid cast of characters with good character development, making it easy to stay invested in the story. The pacing is fantastic, moving briskly thanks to the short chapters that keep the pages turning.
That being said, I wouldn’t really call it a thriller. The plot is engaging, and there are moments of tension but there are no massive, earth-shattering twists that you won't see coming from a mile away. The ending wraps things up nicely but it does feel abrupt.
If you are strictly hunting for a shocking thriller packed with mind-bending twists, this book is probably not for you. But, if you just want to sit back, relax, and be thoroughly entertained by a great storyteller, you should definitely pick this one up.
- Jack - Dead - Beaten to death with a cricket bat by Hugo
- Mary - Dead - Beaten to death with a cricket bat by Hugo
- Grace - Dead - Beaten to death with a cricket bat by Hugo
- Dennis - Dead - Allegedly died by suicide
- Emily - Dead - Allegedly died by suicide
- Molly/Rachel - Alive - Living as Molly again and planning to marry Matt
- Hugo - Alive - Arrested for the murders of Jack, Mary and Grace
- Edward - Alive - Arrested for covering up Hugo’s crimes
- Alcoholism
- Suicide
- Domestic abuse
- Murder
- Death of a parent
Publisher: The Last Word
ASIN: B078B7PTTS
Publication Date: January 5, 2018
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
