I think I was expecting a bit more punch for this than it delivered, hence why I didn't rate it higher. That said, that has a lot to do with my expectations and another reader may feel this more intently than I did.

The premise that one day in the 1970s, Jane Larkin disappears. She is married with three children, late teens Alex, early teens Jeff, and middle-schooler Miranda. But the first point of view character is that of a writer about to publish a novel based on the disappearance of his childhood friends' mother decades later. Because it's so long after the disappearance, this section can reveal a bit of how each of the members of the family handles, and has handled, the disappearance over the years.

Jeff & Miranda come to think that their father murdered their mother, but the police never find anything to connect him to the disappearance. Alex believes his father is innocent. The family can't be tight-knit with such disparate views. Much of the story focuses on Miranda & Jeff, but I think one of the things that Landay really did well is introduce the idea that Alex would stick with his father even if he were to be proven guilty. After all, what's done is done and it's not like their father is going to murder someone else. I kinda wish Alex's attitude was explored a bit more than it was.

A solid book.