When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Not your typical detective fiction and definitely not a police procedural (despite the lead character being a detective), McLain’s most recent novel is her first foray into the world of mystery fiction. Set in Mendocino in 1993, a time when teenage girl abductions were rampant in California, When the Stars Go Dark tells the story of Anna Hart, a seasoned missing persons detective with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. An atmospheric novel of intertwined fate and heart-wrenching suspense, Anna’s first-person narrative takes us deep into the mind of a detective hiding away from the world, while a series of disappearances reach into her past. Not for the faint of heart as the author fearlessly explores motherless daughters, daughterless mothers, and her own personal demons, the obsessions from her past manifested in the present of her protagonist.
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