Lisa Gardner

Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will--searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.

BUILDING ON A BESTSELLING TACK:Lisa Gardner's most recent hardcover, When You See Me gebuted at #3 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction list and Combined list and was #5 on the USA Today Bestseller list.OPPORTUNITY IN MASS MARKET: Gardner has created a strong track in the mass market format, and the thrilling suspense at the heart of Before She Disappeared will appeal to the mass reader.STANDALONE WITH AN EXCITING NEW PROTAGONIST: This new novel is Gardner's first standalone in 20 years, and is a great entry point for new readers, as it is a standalone with a bold new heroine, Frankie Elkin. Readers have always loved Gardner's strong female characters, but Frankie is her most accessible to date-she is not a detective or a PI, but a relatable citizen determined to find missing women whose cases have gone cold.TIMELY ISSUES: The plight of missing minority and indigenous women is one that is urgent and important in society today. Recent articles in outlets like the New York Times (nytimes.com/2019/12/25/us/native-women-girls-missing.html), CNN, and Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien have covered the issue, which is at the heart of the novel.PAPERBACK TIE-IN: The mass market of Before She Disappeared will feature a teaser from Gardner's 2022 novel.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a propulsive thriller featuring an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten.Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will-searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim's wary family tells Frankie she's on her own-and she soon learns she's asking questions someone doesn't want answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing will be her.Story Locale: Boston, MA