Two Girls Down

So, I read this book last week, pretty quickly, mostly while traveling. It was interesting and compelling enough that I didn't want to stop reading. Now, 8 days after finishing it, I don't remember many specifics.

I don't fault the book entirely. Between an engrossing conference last week and the insanity of the coronavirus this week, my brain is pretty much shot! But, looking back, this book felt pretty predictable and didn't have much to set it apart.

Two Girls Down starts with the disappearance of two young girls. They're sisters with a less-than-perfect mom who disappear from a parking lot while their mom is shopping inside. While police begin their search, the family hires a bulldog of a private investigator who flies across the country and dives headlong into the case. She pairs up with a local PI who used to be a cop and relies on a hacker to provide her with the kind of information even the police could never find on their own.

It's twisty and turny as she peels back the layers of this crime and this town. Just as it starts to really pick up, it somehow starts to drag, as if the author really wanted to extend what she thought was a riveting climax. By the time you get to the last page, you realize the book could have ended multiple times in the 40 or so pages before.

This book is fine. It's entertaining. But, there are too many obvious plot twists and not quite enough character developments to make it special.