What Happened to Nina?
The thrilling new crime novel from the popular bestselling author of THE MURDER RULE and THE RUIN, for fans of Jane Harper, Ann Cleeves and Hayley Scrivenor
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4.0 • 281 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Murder Rule comes an emotional novel of suspense about two families pitted against each other.
'Addictive. Propulsive. Dervla McTiernan is a thriller master.' Trent Dalton
Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family's cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home.
WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA?
Nobody knows. Simon's explanation about what happened in their last hours together doesn't add up. Nina's parents push the police for answers, and Simon's parents rush to protect him. They hire expensive lawyers and a PR firm that quickly ramps up a vicious, nothing-is-off-limits media campaign.
HOW FAR WILL HIS FAMILY GO TO KEEP HIM SAFE?
Soon, facts are lost in a swirl of accusation and counter-accusation. Everyone chooses a side, and the story goes viral, fuelled by armchair investigators and wild conspiracy theories and illustrated with pretty pictures taken from Nina's social media accounts. Journalists descend on their small Vermont town, followed by a few obsessive 'fans.'
HOW FAR WILL HER FAMILY GO TO GET TO THE TRUTH?
Nina's family is under siege, but they never lose sight of the only thing that really matters - finding their daughter. Out-gunned by Simon's wealthy, powerful family, Nina's parents recognize that if playing by the rules won't get them anywhere, it's time to break them.
'Her best yet. Completely riveting ... and everyone's going to be talking about that ending' Sally Hepworth
'Propulsive and satisfying ... This is Dervla McTiernan at her finest.' Tracey Lien, internationally bestselling author of All That's Left Unsaid
'Gripping ... A smart and unpredictable portrait of how the boundaries between tragedy and entertainment get blurred. It's a disturbing treat for thriller fans.' Publishers Weekly
'One of the best thrillers I have read ... unforgettable and deeply moving' Don Winslow
'McTiernan turns the traditional thriller on its head ... [with] deep humanity ... Truly haunting.' Kirkus starred review
'Almost painfully gripping. Disturbing, enthralling ... The last scene will make your blood run cold.' New York Times
Praise for Dervla McTiernan:
'An uncommonly fine mystery writer' New York Times
'McTiernan's in the top rank of crime writers' Chris Hammer
'A born storyteller' Val McDermid
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The gripping latest from Australian crime writer McTiernan (The Murder Rule) examines a murder, its aftermath, and the impact of social media on the families involved. Twenty-year-old Nina Fraser sets out to go rock climbing with her wealthy boyfriend, Simon Jordan, near their New England homes one morning. That night, Simon returns to his family, but Nina does not. Nina's parents suspect Simon is involved in her disappearance, but he maintains his innocence, insisting that Nina was alive when he left her behind at his parents' house after a heated argument. The police find his vague explanation of the events suspicious, and he becomes a person of interest in the case. The Jordans then hire a respected publicity firm, which sets about painting Simon and Nina's romance as fairy tale perfect while planting spurious information about Nina's family online. Soon, journalists and true crime obsessives delve into the case, obscuring the truth in favor of sensational conspiracy theories that nearly tear Nina's family apart and eventually lead to more violence. McTiernan makes the details of Nina's disappearance clear early on, shifting the focus from whodunit to what happens in the court of public opinion. What emerges is a smart and unpredictable portrait of how the boundaries between tragedy and entertainment get blurred. It's a disturbing treat for thriller fans.
Customer Reviews
Walk in the woods
The author is Irish-Australian lawyer who started writing crime fiction after migrating down under, and shot to fame with a police procedural series set in Galway and based around Sgt Cormac Reilly. In 2022, Ms D shifted the action to the US — Virginia, specifically — and changed the protagonist to a young female lawyer for ‘The Murder Rule’.
The setting this time is semi-rural Vermont. The titular character is the 20-year-old daughter of a (somewhat embittered) female B&B proprietor and her long-suffering spouse, who is a landscaper. Nina’s long-term BF is the son of a wealthy local businessman and his trophy wife, who fears she is about to be traded in for a new model. The young folk, whom everyone believes are blissfully in love, spend their mid-semester break from College rock climbing at his parents’ holiday place in the mountains. BF comes home early, claiming that she broke up with him. Nina doesn’t come home at all. No prizes for guessing what happened.
The search for the body plays second fiddle to what’s going on inside the heads of the two sets of parents and the that of the cop investigating. The narrative alternates between those five POV’s, which is more straightforward than it might seem at first blush because things unfold in linear fashion with few flashbacks. The audio version makes it even easier by using different actors for each protagonist.
The plot echoes the Gabby Petito case (Google it if you don’t remember). The characters are all flawed, albeit in predictable, at times even cliched, ways. It liked this better than ‘The Murder Rule’, but couldn’t shake the feeling Ms D was just working her way through a genre trope checklist.
OMG! Just Amazing!
I couldn’t put this book down. It is fresh and original with a wicked plot twist (or several). The characters are expertly crafted and they become people you know intimately. Superb work.
Tick the box writing
I really enjoyed all of McTiernans other books and character development has always been a pretty strong point of hers. This novel is like reading a ‘write by numbers’ book. Spoilers ahead!!!The characters are all dull and one dimensional. There is no real explanation as to why different characters feel how they do about each other and it’s almost like the author is saying that the way the parents dealt with Simons actions was simply ‘a rich people thing’. It’s clear from the very start what happened to Nina, and the reader knows so little about Nina that we don’t really care either. Simon is just an unconvincing ‘frat boy’ with equally little personality throughout, to be honest I’m not sure he had anywhere near enough get up and go to have the energy to kill Nina, let alone bury the body and erase the evidence. The Cop rarely featured in the novel enough for us to know his sleuth qualities and a greater reliance seemed to be placed on his junior officer who apparently rose through the ranks initially due to nepotism, but then she suddenly had a dead brother who wanted to be a cop and it inspired her. The story is dull, the characters boring and nothing is surprising. Skip this one.