Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf – Audio

Book Blurb:

Sarah Quinlan’s husband, Jack, has been haunted for decades by the untimely death of his mother when he was just a teenager, her body found in the cellar of their family farm, the circumstances a mystery. The case rocked the small farm town of Penny Gate, Iowa, where Jack was raised, and for years Jack avoided returning home. But when his beloved aunt Julia is in an accident, hospitalized in a coma, Jack and Sarah are forced to confront the past that they have long evaded.
Upon arriving in Penny Gate, Sarah and Jack are welcomed by the family Jack left behind all those years ago—barely a trace of the wounds that had once devastated them all. But as facts about Julia’s accident begin to surface, Sarah realizes that nothing about the Quinlans is what it seems. Caught in a flurry of unanswered questions, Sarah dives deep into the puzzling rabbit hole of Jack’s past. But the farther in she climbs, the harder it is for her to get out. And soon she is faced with a deadly truth she may not be prepared for.

My Review: 2.5 stars

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Missing Pieces easily falls in to the mystery and suspense genre. I was thrilled to see the audio CD at my local library as the novel had been in my TBR pile for some time.

The narration for this was good for the female characters and some of the men, but was awful for the husband. Weird, because he was a main character. Honestly, at the very beginning I was hooked into the story. After I’d read the first several chapters though, I pretty much knew which person the killer was. I questioned many things like who is happily married for 20 years and knows so little about their spouse? That part was unbelievable! It’s the age of the Internet – so how is this wife, an investigative reporter, no less, know nothing about her husband? It just didn’t work.

There were some moments of true suspense, unusual clues that mixed thing up and well done pacing, yet with the plethora of mystery books filling the shelves right now, I’m certain there are more compelling stories out there to read.