Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Description: ❝When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It’s a rare kid-free night, and they’re giddy with it.They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal. By Monday morning, one of them is gone. Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. Kristin was a sociable twin mom, college administrator, and doctor’s wife who didn’t seem all that bothered by her impending divorce—and the investigation turns up more questions than answers, with her husband, Paul, at the center.

For her closest neighbor, Clara, the incident triggers memories she thought she’d put behind her—and when she’s unable to extract herself from the widening circle of scrutiny, her own suspicions quickly grow. But the neighborhood’s newest addition, Izzy, is determined not to jump to any conclusions—especially since she’s dealing with a crisis of her own.

As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what’s going on behind their own closed doors—and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else.❞ (end of description)

MY RATING: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)

REVIEW

One Saturday night, a group of women get together on a backyard to have a few drinks and relax. They are neighbors and look forward to taking a break from the routine. However, a couple of days later they are all shocked to learn that Kristin -one of the women that went to the bonfire- is missing.

The novel explores how each of the neighbors deals with Kristin’s disappearance, specially Clara, a wife and mother, and Izzy, the newest person to have moved into the neighborhood.

The novel takes place in Yellow Springs, OH and is narrated from different points of view. I was interested in reading the book because the description sounded like it would be a mystery, but it’s more like women’s fiction. It is slow paced and character driven.

Overall it was ok. I recommend it to readers of contemporary fiction.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley