Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis

 Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis

• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (January 20, 2015)
• Sold by: Random House LLC

What They Say....Detective Sergeant Andrea Lawrence is reluctant to take this emotionally charged

case, but she can’t help herself. In a small British seaside community, a fourteen-year-old girl has vanished. Sophie Monroe hasn’t been seen since she fought—loudly, miserably—with her stepmother and father more than a week before. But her frantic parents seem to be the only people concerned about Sophie’s disappearance. Everyone else just assumes that an angry teenager is acting out by hiding for a while.

Did someone help Sophie run away, or abduct her? Either way, Detective Andee is certain something bad has happened. As Andee investigates, two men jump to the top of the list of suspects—but neither of them can be located. And the deeper Andee delves into Sophie’s life, the more she struggles to keep her own darkest fears at bay—because Andee knows all too well what happens when young girls are lost and never found.

What I Say....Sophie was a wild teen.  Her hair is dyed purple, she is fighting with her family and partying way too much.  But when she runs away, taking her phone, clothes and computer, her father and stepmother are beside themselves with worry.  Their minds aren't eased when she texts them to tell them to stop looking for her.

Andee is a second generation detective with teenagers of her own.  She has a sister who ran away when she was young, never to return home.  Her disappearance has haunted Andee all of these years, and taking on a missing persons case stirs up a lot of old feelings.

As her investigation continues, lot of secrets come tumbling out.  Sophie has been partying with local boys (and men), her parents have a new baby with an undiagnosed medical condition, the tanning spa manager has her pedophile brother living with her, lounge singer Tomasz leaves for Poland to see his sick mother (only she's not sick), which becomes suspect after Sophie's journal reveals her crush on him, that doesn't appear to be completely unrequited.  Add this onto the fact that two other young girls have disappeared from the area, without ever being reported as missing.

One thing that I really liked was that the author didn't make Sophie some poor angel, misunderstood and with a heart of gold.  Sophie was a terribly mixed up little girl whose mother died, but that wasn't presented as get out of jail free card for the drugging, drinking, and partying she was doing.  Anyone who has ever had a teenaged daughter knows that even when they are basically good kids, they can still be perfect asshole that make you dream of the empty nest.
 
This was a book that kept you hooked, thinking you knew where it was going, but by the end, you realized you really didn't know anything.  You really don't know what goes on behind other people's closed doors.


Current Goodreads rating 3.95