Crime• Thriller

Review: Missing Molly by Natalie Barelli

October 20, 2026

Synopsis:

Everyone has secrets, and Rachel Holloway is no exception. She’s worked hard to keep the past where it belongs: dead and buried. And so far, she’s been very successful.

But now the small newspaper where she works wants to produce a podcast on a cold case: the disappearance twelve years ago of little Molly Forster.

Some secrets should never see the light of day, and as far as Rachel is concerned, whatever happened to little Molly is one of them. Rachel has a life now, a boyfriend she loves and a three-year-old daughter she adores, and she will do anything to protect them.

But to do that, no one can ever know that she is Molly Forster.

Review:

Rachel works at a newspaper. As with a lot of traditional media, her employer is struggling financially and, in an effort to increase revenue and save everyone’s jobs, they want to produce a podcast about a person who went missing 12 years ago. There is one big problem with that: Rachel is the person they are looking for, and her life suddenly becoming the centre of attention again is putting her new life and that of her family in danger.

That was a pleasant surprise, and I did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. I felt for Rachel/Molly immediately when the truth sank in and she couldn’t reveal who she really was or why this was such a bad idea. Her attempt to get as close as possible to the podcast without revealing too much of the truth was risky, and it made for a very engaging story. I was constantly wondering when the other shoe would drop.

Did I get some of the usual plot elements with this book? Yes. It’s a crime story, so obviously there were secrets to uncover, and bringing the truth to the surface inevitably put innocent people at risk. Molly being confronted with her past and having to relive certain situations, while trying not to be too obvious about it, was done very well. The trauma affected her to the point where her sanity was questioned by others, and she herself started to feel lost. That came across convincingly and made me feel for her.
Overall, this was a very fast-paced (I finished it very quickly) and engaging story that could have benefited from a few more pages at the end, which is not something I say very often. That part felt a bit too rushed for my liking. Otherwise, go pick this one up.

🌙 Recension: Missing Molly by Natalie Barelli
📚 Genre: Mystery Thriller
📅 Release Date: October 20, 2026 (Originally released 2018)
📖 Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
📗 available in various formats – included in Kindle Unlimited
📱 Read as: Kindle
💸 I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 338
⭐️ 4/5