The Vanishing Girls
SPOILER ALERT!
If you’ve read ‘The Girl with the Hazel eyes’, then I expect that you’ve also read ‘The Vanishing Girls’ by Callie Browning...Right?
Set in Barbados in the late 1980’’s, the main protagonist Eileen - No surname, seems to be running away from a past life(Which we only got a hint of in the final chapter). The young woman is desperate for a job and seeks out employment at a Funeral Home, where she meets Holden Davis Jr, the owner of the Funeral Home and her love interest.
The story gives an eerie feel at first, as it explores a phenomenon we’re all a bit too familiar with as Caribbean Women. Anxieties flare in Bridgetown as there is a suspected serial woman killer on the loose.What truly cemented this for me as a reader was Eileen’s internal Monologue. Browning’s language successfully describes the fear and paranoia we women tend to experience when a young woman goes missing.
“Lydia was my age”.
“When I took this job I only thought about old & sick people; not healthy young women with so much potential”.
“There wasn’t much that separated her from Lydia… She could see herself in the woman’s smooth face” Eileen thought.
Throughout the book the murdered women’s names were always mentioned by Eileen as though Anna and Lydia were her close friends or sister. The familiarity she felt stemmed simply from the reality that she understood her vulnerability, and in that saw herself in those women’s positions.
We know this feeling all too well here in Trinidad and Tobago, names we will never forget; Andrea, Ashanti, Shannon…as we too felt as though we lost a sister.
I must admit, while the storyline felt a bit sinister at first, the romantic plot line that Browning included provided the perfect balance to make The Vanishing Girls a feel good novel. Holden Davis Jr was the perfect Prince Charming; gentlemanly, and charismatic with the cutest soft spot for Eileen. The romance was subtle, and childlike but very enticing if you’re a hopeless romantic like myself. Not to mention; he jumped off a cliff into the ocean to save Eileen from drowning! I honestly expect nothing short of theatrical performances where romance is involved.
Just when you thought the romance was the cherry on top, here comes an insanely unpredictable plot twist of an ending! Throughout the book Eileen was committed to unmasking this serial killer especially as the first victim lived in her current apartment leaving behind a trail that Eileen was compelled to follow. The suspense starts to get thick as Eileen and Holden get closer and closer to discovering the killer’s identity. Unknowingly Eileen falls prey to the killer’s schemes when she left Holden’s Parlour to go work for the Greaves’ funeral home, run by Dorothy and her late brother Lloyd whose death is the key to the story.
At Dorothy’s Parlour
“Eileen caught a glimpse waxen scars on her arm…Identical to the ones seen on Lloyd’s arm in the photos in the waiting room”
“Dorothy-Lloyd stood up slowly”
What is more anticipated than the unveiling of the killer in a Murder Mystery? This revelation was skillfully and unpredictably illustrated by Browning through Eileen’s keen intuition.It was definitely a mouth gaping read, the suspense was captivating as Lloyd was revealed to be the serial killer.
I would definitely recommend ‘The Vanishing Girls’ If you’re looking for a light read, this feel-good-murder-mystery is definelty worth the read!
