Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? by Nicci French - Review

On the last day of my holiday we couldn't do a lot except sit around, and then we had a long transfer via coach back to the airport, so I had a lot of time to read. I picked this up and probably wouldn't have if I'd known it was over 500 pages long. But then I had so much time to read that I ended up getting really into it and I read it in just a couple of days. So thank you to the long book for keeping me company while I travelled! 

I had this book recommended by my friend Janet, who often posts recommendations of books that are just a pound or two on Kindle. I often end up buying a couple! I read something by Nicci French absolutely forever ago, and didn't really like it, but that was honestly like about twenty years ago so I was probably overdue to give them a try again (Nicci French is the pen name of a husband and wife team, if you didn't know). I have seen that this is the first book in a series about the detective who appears at the end, Maud, and I would definitely read another book with her in because I really liked her. 

The first part of the book is set in the early 90s, I think. Alec Salter is turning fifty and is throwing a party. The family lives in Suffolk. His wife is Charlotte. Everyone loves her. They have four children - Niall, Paul, Ollie, and Etty. She is only fifteen when the party happens. Charlotte never turns up, though. Alec isn't concerned but Etty is. The party happens. Etty and Ollie (it might be spelt Olly, sorry) walk around looking for Charlotte, but don't find her. 

In the coming days the family does take it more seriously. The police come and suspicion falls on Alec. It's true that he and Charlotte didn't always have the greatest relationship. Her coat is found in the river which makes Etty realise she must be dead. 

The family is friends with another family in the village - dad Duncan, agoraphobic and chronically depressed wife Francesca, and sons Greg and Morgan. Greg and Etty go out on Christmas Day, a couple of weeks after Charlotte's disappearance, and discover Duncan's body. There were rumours that he and Charlotte were having an affair and the police quickly agree. They think Duncan killed her and then himself, and they declare the case closed.

Etty, though, never accepts this version of events. As soon as she can she leaves the family and is rarely back. But then it's twenty five years later and Alec is suffering from dementia and the Salter children have gathered at his house ready to sell it and all of his stuff and move him into a home. He often thinks that Etty is Charlotte and Etty thinks he will confess to her murder. Morgan, meanwhile, is a film maker now and he starts a podcast about the events that happened with his dad and Charlotte. Lots of things come to light and it is obvious that the police in the original investigation basically bumbled the whole thing. 

Hence why Maud is invited down! She lives and works in London but she comes to Suffolk to work on the case. I really liked her. I liked the setting, too. I could imagine it really well. The one thing I didn't quite get fully was Charlotte herself - but it's easy to see why because Etty kind of idolises her and obviously because she's young she doesn't know her mother as an adult. 

I felt for so many of the people in this book. I found it really intriguing and just really wanted to know what happened. I'm giving it five out of five because it kept me so engrossed!