Vanish by Shelley Burr

For those who might not have read Shelley Burr’s earlier novels, the first thing to say is that her detective investigator is in prison. Lane Holland has been convicted for murder and kidnapping. However there is an unsolved crime that the prison governor Patton Carver is keen to enlist Holland’s assistance to solve: the disappearance, twenty years ago, of his daughter Matilda. For that reason he is prepared to show Holland some leniency and allow the detective to follow up leads as a prisoner on a study release program on Karpathy farm.

Karpathy farm is new-age community that attracts anxious young people looking for escape from their troubles. In other words, it operates very much like a cult, and Lane Holland suspects that the community is linked to a number of disappearances in the region. It is up to him to make the connections, and work out what happened to Matilda. But a problem looms early on, when he meets up with someone from his past.

This novel works well as a stand-alone, although there are obvious threads linking to the earlier two books. There is enough back story to fill in the picture. It begins with a prologue describing an unnamed person struggling to gather consciousness, painfully labouring to move. Gradually a little more is added to that excerpt as we read through chapters that follow the present time experience of Holland. The tension increases as we learn more with each discovery Holland makes.

Burr’s character-building is fascinating. How do you draw the line between a detective who is obsessive and manipulative in order to get information, and the tunnel vision and ruthlessness of a so-called cult leader? How is one good and one bad? It’s an intriguing twist which along with the building tension, keeps the reader glued to the book. Added to that, Burr’s knowledge of permaculture and sustainable agriculture provides an authenticity of detail that keeps the story within the realms of believability. There are even suspect mushrooms!

Burr’s earlier novels are reviewed on ReadPlus: Wake (2022) and Ripper (2023).  If you haven’t already read them, I’m sure you will want to seek them out.

Themes: Detective, Mystery, Missing persons, Cult.

Helen Eddy