book cover of Vanishing Falls
Added by 6 members
 

Vanishing Falls

(2020)
A novel by

 
 
One of CrimeReads Most Anticipated Books of the Year!

"This literary thriller paints as vivid a landscape as any book coming out this summer...Gee creates a lush, tantalizing world that readers will want to travel into deeper and deeper."—CrimeReads

Celia Lily is rich, beautiful, and admired. She’s also missing. And the search for the glamorous socialite is about to expose all the dark, dirty secrets of Vanishing Falls…

Deep within the lush Tasmanian rainforest is the remote town of Vanishing Falls, a place with a storied past. The town’s showpiece, built in the 1800s, is its Calendar House—currently occupied by Jack Lily, a prominent art collector and landowner; his wife, Celia; and their four daughters. The elaborate, eccentrically designed mansion houses one masterpiece and 52 rooms—and Celia Lily isn’t in any of them. She has vanished without a trace.…

Joelle Smithton knows that a few folks in Vanishing Falls believe that she’s simple-minded. It’s true that Joelle’s brain works a little differently—a legacy of shocking childhood trauma. But Joelle sees far more than most people realize, and remembers details that others cast away. For instance, she knows that Celia’s husband, Jack, has connections to unsavory local characters whom he’s desperate to keep hidden. He’s not the only one in town with something to conceal. Even Joelle’s own husband, Brian, a butcher, is acting suspiciously. While the police flounder, unable to find Celia, Joelle is gradually parsing the truth from the gossip she hears and from the simple gestures and statements that can unwittingly reveal so much.  

Just as the water from the falls disappears into the ground, gushing away through subterranean creeks, the secrets in Vanishing Falls are pulsing through the town, about to converge. And when they do, Joelle must summon the courage to reveal what really happened to Celia, even if it means exposing her own past…


Genre: Mystery

Praise for this book

"I loved it! I had no idea 'Outback noir' was a thing—now I want to read more." - Meg Cabot

"Vanishing Falls is a game of Clue in the Tasmanian rainforest with a rich cast of characters and a flawlessly sketched locale. Poppy Gee has written the perfect kind of mystery: a world that feels at once fresh and familiar with a story that drives at a frenzied clip." - David Joy

"...a novel that blends crime and women's fiction with a mystery at its heart. Best of all, this novel introduces us to an unforgettable heroine, Jo-Jo, who will tug at your heartstrings even as you cheer for her to solve the crime." - Jenny Milchman

"Vanishing Falls is an addictive, cleverly plotted mystery-within-a-mystery set in a vividly painted Tasmania. The cast of complex, secret-laden characters will draw you in and keep you riveted until the final page. Twisty and darkly atmospheric, Poppy Gee has created a chilling gem of a novel..." - Kali White


Visitors also looked at these books


Used availability for Poppy Gee's Vanishing Falls


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors