The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

A new true-crime fueled mystery thriller about a girl determined to uncover the shocking truth about her missing mother while filming a documentary on the unsolved case.

Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.

I love Holly Jackson's debut series, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, and a lot from that trilogy tracks into her latest release—for better or worse. I absolutely will be camped out in front of my projector screen on August 1 watching the pilot of the accompanying BBC show premiere on Netflix. It's one of my favorite series, on both print and audio, but I hadn't yet picked up another Holly Jackson book. So it's always interesting to see what's part of a writer's pattern versus specific to an individual story.

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This standalone release is basically Gone Girl in setup, told from a daughter's point of view. Fantastic, yeah? I was flipping pages all afternoon as the plot narrowed and darkened, appreciating its tunnel vision even when I didn't agree with various creative choices.

Annabel "Bel" Price was abandoned in her mom's backseat at age two in a car on the side of the road. Her mother disappeared without a trace for sixteen years, becoming the subject of every true crime aficionado.

Bel is abrasive, cruel, and logical. She reminds me of Pip in many ways—that same cold, calculating distance—but Pip is much softer around the edges; her focus is tunnel vision, whereas Bel is consciously pushing people away. Still, as in her first series, I loved how Jackson explored trauma and heavily implied the causes of her various reactions in certain spots. I don't usually love third person, but the choice makes sense here.

She heavily telegraphed it though, whereas Pip's commentary was more subtle. Bel must have said "I can't get close to [character] because they'll eventually leave, like everyone always does" at least forty times. Not to sound heartless, but I didn't fully understand where this was coming from either. Her mom's disappearance is chalked up to a potential abduction, etc,. and obviously that's devastating, but it would almost have made more sense if her family had more personal fallout in which people abandoned her or decided the conflict was "too much." I'm not entirely sure what the solution was, but Bel's abandonment issues almost felt too heavy-handed for the situation when she mentioned them in every other paragraph. Other reviews might note that Jackson says "the knot in her stomach tightened" far too frequently. Some imagery was repetitive.

Bev's chilliness (I hesitate to say unlikability, although she is undoubtedly rude) is disconcerting at times, but the dizzy, unsettled narration fits the premise. I do miss the elements of warmth and connection that Jackson brought to Pip's story in A Good Girl's Guide to Murder but all books are different books anyway.

Obviously, Holly Jackson has a pattern. And she is extraordinarily good at it. I will pick up her books and praise her mysteries and tension and all that jazz. But it almost felt like she leaned too much into it here, whereas I would have loved her to diverge from her formula for a story that felt slightly more fresh.

So much of reading is expectation, and here's where I set myself up to fail—or at least, not to entirely love it. I think Holly Jackson, as always, is phenomenal. But I still was expecting more from this one and found myself disappointed with its ending. That's very subjective, so I see many enjoying it for its twisted choices; still, my personal opinion is that sometimes taking the dark road is a lot easier than grappling with a lighter solution that might have been more satisfying. Because of how As Good As Dead unfolded, Jackson taking the darkest option was almost expected, reducing the tension or surprise of any possible twist. I'm not sure what would have been a good ending, but didn't think this was it.

I was really engrossed throughout the rest of the book, expecting it all to tie together brilliantly. It tied together neatly, but in a way I thought was largely a cop-out. The ending was predictable, but I hadn't predicted it because I'd been expecting Jackson to take it a step further honestly and to make the story feel bigger. The fact that she didn't disappointed me, but the reading experience was great, so sort of evens out. I didn't realize when reading, but upon reflection a few hours later, I did realize some of my questions weren't fully answered.

I loved the complexity of the documentary, and its associated red herrings. I liked Bel and Ash's weird, strange banter and dynamic. The family vibe very much reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House TV show, if you removed the entire supernatural element; the tensions, confusions, and mounting paranoia felt similar.

I was almost expecting a Black Mirror-like commentary on the true crime documentary, exploring how our desire to know the truth bulldozes basic decency and respect to those affected. I saw so much potential here, but found the plot itself to be almost straightforward enough in the end to be a tad disappointing due to its lack of nuance. Which is my own fault, but perhaps a signifier that A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is stronger and worth reading (or rereading) ahead of this one instead, as it folds some needed levity and slice-of-life groundedness into the plot. Holly Jackson may just be leaning into the shadows nowadays.

Still, it kept me hooked and was a fun way to spend the afternoon. I love that Jackson goes full-steam into a mystery without getting bogged down by subplots or distractions. The "tunnel vision" nature of her books is so refreshing and distinctive.

I would warn readers away who didn't love As Good As Dead, as they feel similar tonally, but it's of course a strong showing, even if it's not one entirely in line with my personal tastes.

Best for readers who love:

Gone Girl, The Haunting of Hill House, true crime, Criminal Minds, suspense, "unlikable" narrators.