The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer by Joël Dicker

Synopsis
In the summer of 1994, the quiet seaside town of Orphea reels from the discovery of four murders.

Two young police officers, Jesse Rosenberg and Derek Scott crack the case and identify the killer.

Then, twenty years later and just as he is on the point of taking early retirement, Rosenberg is approached by Stephanie Mailer, a journalist who believes he made a mistake back in 1994 and that the real murderer is still out there, perhaps ready to strike again. But before she can give any more details, Stephanie Mailer mysteriously disappears, and Rosenberg and Scott are forced to confront the possibility that her suspicions might have been proved true.

Review
Joël Dicker is most famous for his novel The Harry Quebert Affair, which I reviewed a couple of years ago, and loved. Like the previous book, The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer is a detective novel set over two timelines. In 1994, on the opening night of the Orphea film festival, the Mayor, his wife and son and local resident Meghan Padalin are shot dead on a quiet street. Police oficers Jesse Rosenberg and Derek Scott are sent to investigate what is a high profile case, and their first murder case. Twenty years later, Stephanie Mailer, a journalist, attends Rosenberg’s retirement party to tell him she thinks he made a mistake in his suspect twenty years ago, and then she disappears. In 1994 we follow the origional investigation, the suspects and secrets of a small town. In 2014, in the build up to the twentieth theatre festival, Rosenberg and Scott investigate the disappearance of Stephanie Mailer, and re look at the case twenty years ago.

The book is narrated in the first person by Rosenberg, Scott and Betsy Kanner, deputy police officer in Orphea. We see Rosenberg and Scott as young police officers on their first murder investigation, with a lot of pressure on them to catch the killer. From the start we know that this investigation effected both their professional and personal lives, and in 2014 we see the repercussions of this. Rosenberg and Scott have a close friendship as well as professional partnership, which seems to create a bond that blurs the lines between the two. Betsy is an asset to their team, fascinated by the origional investigation and she gives a fresh pair of eyes to the crime. She also has a lot to prove being the first female police officer in Orphea, and with the chance of promotion on the horizon. She has to put up with discrimination, and with her fellw deputy putting her down at every opportunity. Their voices are all individual, bringing different perspectives to the investigation. The inclusion of their personal lives and back stories makes them more relatable, and personable to the reader so you came to care about them.

A with his previous books, Joël Dicker ramps up the tension as the book progresses. In 2014 it’s all about the run up the film festival, where the killer maybe about to be revealed, and in 1994 the race to catch a killer. In both timelines the list of potentional subjects seems to rise as the plot races along, raising a lot more questions than answers and sending the reader in numerous different directions, many leading to a dead end. The suspense rises as the plot races towards the theatre festival, and the potential culmination of the investigation. I loved the multi layered plot, different perspectives and many threads of the invesigation which had me gripped and needing to read on, at no point did the suspense let up.

If I’m honest, I think I may have enjoyed The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer more than The Harry Quebert Affair. I found the characters interesting, relatable and more personable, and I loved their individual voices bringing different points of view to the investigation. I was totally gripped by ths book, with its twisty plot, red herrings and fast pace that just didn’t let up. Brilliantly plotted, this is an intelligent and compeling read.

I would like to thank Quercus Books for my copy of this book in return for my honest review.