The Buried Girl by Richard Montanari, Book Review

‘Terrifying and lyrical, a killer combination’ Tess Gerritsen

Death is the meeting place of the past and the present in this richly layered suspenseful mystery. From 1819 Amsterdam to the present day Ohio, destinies are interwoven to create a well-told eerie story of missing teenage girls. 

Detta and her psychologist father, Will Hardy, move to Abbeville Ohio not long after his wife is murdered. A fresh start is what they both hope for and for Will perhaps an opportunity to rebuild his troubled relationship with his daughter who blames him for the death of her mother.  

In Abbeville they meet Ivy Holgrave, the Abbeville chief of police, whose life too has been blighted by murder, the disappearance, years ago, of her sister. When she has to investigate the death of a local girl, she uncovers a decade’s old pattern of missing teenage girls. 

I was enchanted by the brief diary entries of Eva Claire Larssen starting in 1868, a teenage girl who was to gain domestic employment at Godwin Hall, the same mansion Will Hardy was to inherit all those years later. When you watch a scary movie, the ominous music prepares you for the bad thing that is about to happen, in The Buried Girl, Richard Montanari uses language effectively to build tension. An almost gothic feel surrounds the Hall and its inhabitants, then and now. 

It’s not the kind of thriller you rush through, but the type you read slowly and savour. Allow the tension to build and see how the many strands come together until ultimately the terrifying secret of Godwin Hall is exposed. 

The American Richard Montanari is well known for his popular crime novel series featuring Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne, which has been translated into 25 languages. However, The Buried Girl is a standalone departure from his usual style. I gather the audio version narrated by Scott Brick is very popular. It was published in September 2019 by Sphere in paperback (£7.99), also available in Ebook. 

(Toria Forsyth-Moser)