Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A husband, horrified at his beloved wife's disappearance, begins to question their entire marriage, and his very reality, in Bell's assured debut.Alexandra and Marc Southwood have a wonderful marriage of 13 years and two beautiful little girls, Charlotte and Lizzie. When Alex doesn't come home one night, Marc is flummoxed. The North Yorkshire Police aren't immediately concerned, but when she hasn't returned a day later and they uncover her bloody clothing, Marc fears the worst. As the police investigate, they turn up shocking things that Marc never knew about Alex, leading him to do some investigating of his own. The book is narrated entirely by Alex: she makes it clear that what she's writing, presumably while in captivity, are guesses about Marc's actions based on how well she knows him as well as her access to things like a recording of Marc's phone call to the police and his credit card statement; she also gives us glimpses into the early days of their marriage. Interspersed with Alex's narration are letters from Amelia Heldt, an old friend and performance artist in New York who expresses an undeniable yearning for Alex. Bell paints a convincing portrait of a woman struggling with society's tendency to put a man's needs and desires over those of women and the guilt that accompanies a mother's longing for fulfillment outside of marriage and children. Alex is passionate and complex, and her almost aggressive idealism can grow tiresome, but her yearning to be something "more" is palpable, leading her to blur the lines between life and art. For readers into controversial performance art, which Alex especially admires, and art in general, there's a lot to chew on, but even if not, the truth behind Alex's disappearance is a doozy, and the finale is satisfying while offering plenty of food for thought. Is Alex an unreliable narrator? Of course she is, but this is no bait and switch. Bell gives us all the clues and dares us to follow them to the shocking end.This smart, mirror maze of a thriller bristles with sharp edges, twisting familiar Gone Girl themes into Bell's own intense creation. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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"A lot of what I'm writing almost definitely never happened. I wasn't there, obviously. I was missing." So says Alexandra Southwood, a University of York art history lecturer who has vanished. Early on, British author Bell signals that her provocative debut thriller-centering on Alexandra and Marc, her husband, who refuses to stop searching for her-isn't going to be just another missing person mystery. But the full extent of her audacity only becomes evident toward the end of this ingenious optical illusion, which may leave some readers gasping in admiration and others angry at being played. The more the devastated Marc learns about the woman to whom he's been married for years, all the while struggling to comfort and maintain some semblance of normalcy for the couple's two young daughters, the more he's forced to face the stomach-churning prospect that he may never really have known her at all. On one level a gripping page-turner and on another a disturbing exploration of identity, art, and decency, Bell's daring performance can't be ignored. Agent: Marilia Savvides, Peters Fraser & Dunlop (U.K.). (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal
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Marc and Alexandra Southwood had been married for 13 years and had two daughters when Alexandra vanished on her way to work. Police find her bicycle and lots of blood on the river path but no trace of Alexandra. Absent a body, Marc believes that she is alive, rejects police evidence to the contrary, and begins a compulsive, hopeless search for his wife. Meanwhile, from a captive location, Alexandra has nothing to do but think and worry as she is regularly fed and shown footage of Marc on the news. The flashbacks on marriage and discovered correspondence from Alexandra's fellow art student Amelia allow the narrator to provoke fascinating discussions on the meaning of life and loss, of aesthetic concerns and real issues, and on the value of art and the meaning of perception. Katherine -McEwan's reading, with British and American accents as appropriate, brings the characters to life. VERDICT A solid psychological novel; highly recommended for adult fiction/mystery collections.-Cliff Glaviano, formerly with Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

[DEBUT] From the opening page of this debut thriller, Bell grabs readers' attention. Marc's wife Alexandra hasn't returned from work, and he's called the police because this is so out of character for her. But Alexandra is narrating the story-how does she know? Is she dead? Back home with her family? In the clutches of a kidnapper? As the story of their marriage and Alexandra's disappearance is revealed, the reader is drawn deeper into the mystery that is Alexandra until the final plot twist reveals all. Verdict Bell's psychological thriller explores some big questions about relationships and art while being absolutely impossible to put down. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 9/27/17.]-Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Marc Southwood, along with his two young daughters, is devastated when his wife, Alexandra, vanishes during her evening commute. Marc's insistence that Alexandra is in danger is confirmed when police find her blood-soaked belongings abandoned on a riverbank. Responding to rumors of Alexandra's marital discontent, and questioning the absence of her passport, detectives focus suspicion on Marc. In contrast, Alexandra's interspersed accounts of what happened support Marc's claims that the Southwoods remain deeply in love. But their story begins to prickle with hints of resentment as Bell gradually chronicles the couple's life together, from Alexandra's impulsive abandonment of her spot in an elite Chicago art program to remain with Marc in York, England, to the dramas of their growing family. Furthering the growing sense of unease, letters from Alexandra's friend Amelia, a famous performance artist, reveal Marc's desperation for Alexandra's attention and her unsettling pathological determination to cross any lines to further her art. A moody, gut-wrenching tale of domestic ennui, feminism, and identity, recommended for literary-thriller devotees and book groups.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2018 Booklist