Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner
Frankie Elkin series #1. Mystery thriller.
She’s just an average middle-aged woman who has made her life goal to find the missing people that most everyone else has forgotten. Frankie Elkin moves from town to town, working at a local bar or restaurant, asking questions and following up with friends and witnesses trying to find the missing.
Frankie is in Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school. The more questions Frankie asks around the neighborhood, the more violence is stirred up. There are more questions for every answer she finds. Who knows the teen the best that may have some insight to where she would have gone? Did she leave voluntarily or is there more to the story?

Tense and intriguing as Frankie questions reveal a tiny move forward. Frankie seems to have already accepted that she will one day wind up dead for asking the wrong person a question they don’t want to answer. Yet there is a spark of determination in her that you have to admire. Frankie is a recovering alcoholic which carries its own weight and issues. This seems to be a common theme by this author. For this particular story, it gives Frankie a strength and perseverance that you can’t help but applaud.
I don’t want to spoil the story but will say I also saw and admired the determined strength in the victim. ( )

I almost didn't pick this one up because it's a series, and I don't read series books - or so I thought. Before She Disappeared has converted me. This is a really good book.

Frankie Elkin is a disaster. An alcoholic who works in a bar and lives a nomadic life traveling from place to place as a civilian trying to bring home missing persons, all without pay. In this book, she is working on her fifteenth missing person case.

The character of Frankie is relatable; she's smart, sassy, independent, and savvy. Yet, she is also lonely, confused, haunted by her past, and in love with a man she can never have.

Lisa Gardner spins a fast tale about a missing fifteen-year-old in inner-city Boston who literally, it would appear, vanishes. No CCTV images, pings from her phone, sitings, or communication. Eleven months after she goes missing, she suddenly starts popping up here and there, dropping breadcrumb clues of her whereabouts.

There are good twists and turns, and throughout the book, I had no idea who was the kidnapper. I was pleasantly surprised at this out-of-my-norm-genre-read and am already looking forward to reading the second in the series.

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Thriller

Frankie Elkin, an alcoholic and long-suffering self-hater, spends her days searching for missing people. No, she's not a cop, doesn't carry a gun, or has any special skills. But she does have street smarts and a lot of bravado. Why does she risk her life trying to find people she's never met? That's for the reader to figure out, but I think she's punishing herself for past sins. The story is exciting but repetitive and not wholly believable. If the plots get better, I believe Frankie is a compelling enough character to deserve further interest. ( )

Racist. Classist. Cliche. Queerbaiting. Copaganda. How is this a 2021 bestseller? Are there really that many conservative white women who read books? I stuck with it because I thought the problematic elements would go away eventually, because there is a decent mystery and character underneath, but the problems just get worse. ( )