20190420_164538.jpg

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour celebrating the release of The Missing Years by Lexie Elliott! Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the invitation! Stay tuned for information on how to win a copy at the bottom of this post!

About the Book:

An eerie, old Scottish manor in the middle of nowhere that’s now hers.

Ailsa Calder has inherited half of a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace twenty-seven years ago—her father.

Leaving London behind to settle the inheritance from her mother’s estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home, nestled amongst the craggy peaks of the Scottish Highlands, joined by the half-sister who’s almost a stranger to her.

Ailsa can’t escape the claustrophobic feeling that the house itself is watching her—as if her past hungers to consume her. She also can’t ignore how the neighbourhood animals refuse to set one foot within the gates of the garden.

When the first nighttime intruder shows up, Ailsa fears that the manor’s careless rugged beauty could cost her everything. 

My Thoughts:

I LOVED Lexie Elliott’s debut, The French Girl, and could not wait for her latest release, The Missing Years, which is available now! Both books have creepy, atmospheric vibes. 

Ailsa inherits half a house, the Manse, from her mother’s estate in Scotland. The other half belongs to her father who disappeared over twenty-seven years ago. 

Ailsa returns to her childhood home amongst the glorious Scottish Highlands. Her estranged half-sister, Carrie, meets her there. Ailsa cannot sell the home until her father is found, so she decides to move in with Carrie. 

The house feels claustrophobic, eerie, strange, like someone is watching Ailsa. It also frightens her that animals won’t step foot in the garden. 

…And then someone uninvited arrives in the night….

The Missing Years is a haunting slow-burn of a read. It’s about the characters and slowly building up to a big reveal. My favorite aspect of this story was definitely the Manse. It becomes its own character here. It groans and watches its residents, holding many secrets. The story slowly develops in bits and tiny pieces, until you get to the exciting ending I never saw coming. This is a book that’s best read quickly. The momentum and tension keep building, and I personally could not put it down! 

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

About the Author:

Lexie Elliott has been writing for as long as she can remember, but she began to focus on it more seriously after she lost her banking job in 2009 due to the Global Financial Crisis. After some success in short story competitions, she began planning a novel. With two kids and a (new) job, it took some time for that novel to move from her head to the page, but the result was “The French Girl”, which was published by Berkley in February 2018.

When she’s not writing, Lexie can be found running, swimming or cycling whilst thinking about writing. In 2007 she swam the English Channel solo. She won’t be doing that again. In 2015 she ran 100km, raising money for Alzheimer Scotland. She won’t be doing that again either. But the odd triathlon or marathon isn’t out of the question.

***Book Giveaway***

For a chance to win a copy of The Missing Years, please visit my instagram page!  Giveaway generously sponsored by the publisher. 

Have you read The Missing Years, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR