What Happens Next

Title: What Happens Next

Author: Christina Suzann Nelson

Genre: Christian Fiction, Mystery,

Publisher: Bethany House

Source: Bethany House

My review:

Despite having several of Christina Suzann Nelson's books on my TBR, What Happens Next is the first book I have read by her. I wish I had started reading her books when I first heard about her. 

I have started and deleted lines multiple times, trying to find the right words for this review. What Happens Next is a book that brings out all the emotions! 

The story is told from multiple points of view. Dora is the mom of Heather, the girl who went missing 36 years ago. Faith was Heather's best friend when they were ten. She had no idea that Heather went missing after she left her grandmother's house that summer. Heather's point of view is given in flashbacks to that summer. 

The characters are multi-faceted, and I appreciated the way the author slowly introduced us to each one, and how she doled out information. Typically, when there are multiple POVs I get lost or feel like I am being jolted out of the story, but that was not the case with What Happens Next. I devoured this book, it was so hard to put down and get anything done. 

Even the mystery of what happened to Heather was well written. I kept guessing who could have been involved and was totally thinking someone was involved that wasn't. I was guessing almost until the end. 

If you like complex characters, a story line that will gut you (the grief is strong in this one), and a book that is hard to describe, I highly recommend this one!

Thank you to Bethany House for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

★★★★★/5

Synopsis (Goodreads): 

Popular podcaster and ex-reporter Faith Byrne made a name for herself telling stories of greatness after tragedy--but her real life does not mirror the stories she tells. While her daughters spend the summer in Hawaii with her ex-husband and his new wife, she must manage life on her own. All of that changes when she's asked to spotlight her childhood best friend's missing person case on her podcast.

Dora Crane has never accepted that her younger daughter could be dead, keeping her home looking the same as when her daughter disappeared. But when her husband leaves her and her older daughter intervenes, she agrees to counseling and to pack up her missing daughter's belongings under one condition: Faith Byrne comes to Deep Valley and sheds light on the cold case.

As the long-abandoned investigation moves forward, old wounds and long-buried secrets are exposed. Will these two women, whose lives have never been the same, finally get the answers they need to reconcile the past and the future?