Novels No. 98

 

Megan Lally. That’s Not My Name. USA: Sourcebooks, 2024.

An in-house grab, and an author new to me. Quite the plot: Teenage girl suffers unknown bad experience, awakes in a ditch with total amnesia. Found by an unusually caring policeman, she’s bruised and bloody, traumatized by her loss of memory. Wayne Boone arrives later that night at the rural police station in a panic, reporting his missing daughter Mary. During home renovations the two have been living in a comfortable woodsy cabin. After Wayne produces appropriate proof and they leave, “Mary” finds him genuinely devoted to her, gently coaching her in all things forgotten. It’s a whole new learning experience, but Wayne still seems a stranger somehow. Occasionally she has a memory flash that makes no sense to her, or an uneasy feeling about something she’s told of her past life.

In another part of Oregon, young Drew is heartbroken over the inexplicable disappearance of his girlfriend Lola; police chief Roane and most of the town believe Drew harmed her, with no evidence. Guilt is an overriding factor for Drew. After several weeks of no contact, the general feeling is that she’s dead. Until Drew learns that Lola was spotted in a town a few hours away. He’s off with two friends to investigate, to assuage his guilt about arguing with Lola, and to prove his faith that she’s alive. We know these two threads will somehow mesh, right? But it’s trickier than that.

Lally has concocted a great plot with perfect pacing but I have to say a few things didn’t sit well with me. Better editing would have eliminated misplaced punctuation marks and clarified a few chronological details. Some intriguing or inconsistent points are never addressed—how did Mary end up in a ditch; where was/is her car; what was the kidnap plan; how did Roane make himself a hero? And if the author thinks that Benadryl relieves anaphylaxis, she may help someone die instead of rescuing them.

Mary’s orbit

▪ “Oh my god. I’ve been looking for you for hours. Are you okay? What happened to your face?” He says all this in one breath. (14)

▪ I wonder what that’ll be like though, rummaging through boxes of my things. Will they feel like mine? Or will everything be like that floral jacket, and throw me off even more? (64)

▪ “I’ll pay more attention the next time we pick out clothes. You can’t remember. You don’t know the rules.” (97)

▪ I look up at Wayne and claw at my itching throat. A wordless plea for help. (99)

▪ He has a picture of her? Of the mom I can’t remember? And he waited until now to show it to me? (144)

Drew’s orbit

▪ “We need closure, especially her parents, and you’d be doing the whole town a kindness by telling the truth about what happened.” (68)

▪ “Why’d she walk home, Drew? What made her get out of your car?” (80)

▪ I’ll never give up on Lola, but how am I supposed to fight for her and for myself at the same time? Roane said I was their last suspect. (103)

▪ If they knew what I did, they’d never forgive me. (107)

▪ Nothing is worse than losing Lola and having to wake up every morning not knowing if she’s dead or alive. (224)

Ashley Flowers. The Missing Half. Large print. USA: Random House, 2025.

Another popular trope for crime writers: the missing sister. Narrator Nicole (“Nic”) Monroe has been a walking disaster since her sister Kasey vanished seven years ago; the two had been closer than twins. Now Nic is pulling her life together when Jenna Connor wants to team up for answers—her sister Jules vanished the same way, a few weeks earlier than Kasey, car and personal belongings abandoned on a country road. Both young women were from the same Indiana town but the police found no connection between them and no clues. Nic reluctantly joins the super-organized Jenna, and they do find a slight connection that leads to former friends or co-workers of the missing sisters. Whereas Nic tends to let her emotions rule when interviewing people, Jenna employs tact.

As close as Kasey and Nic had been, Nic is sadly learning that Kasey hadn’t shared everything going on in her life. Old friend Lauren inadvertently opens the door to new and scary territory. Bar manager Steve McLean comes under their suspicion, but threats against the investigating pair seem to originate nearer to home. They become certain that the missing women were involved in some mysterious activity. When Jenna retreats from what has become a good working partnership, something is not adding up, as Nic likes to say. Faced with the mission alone, Nic reverts to her former self-destructive behaviour, overcome with confusion and anger.

The author deftly reveals each clue as it comes and its consequences; she also gives a visceral portrayal of grief and self-loathing. However, what I felt was akin to disappointment with how the ultimate mystery works out. Maybe it was too much detail as a sort of justification at the end, or the lack of a traditional villain.

Feels

▪ Over time, my grief has morphed to anger. Now it lives just beneath my skin. Prick it and I bleed. (10)

▪ She has spent almost her entire adult life looking for her sister, while all I’ve done is numb myself. (42)

▪ Steve McLean is all over the internet. Lauren only knew the tip of the iceberg. (104)

▪ “What did you do to her?” I say, my voice trembling with rage. “What did you do to my sister?” (140)

▪ All of Kasey’s lies are spinning into one enormous tornado in my head. (166)

▪ “Will you be honest? Did something else happen this week? Did someone try to scare you?” (226)

▪ “If she ended things with him, what was she doing here the night she went missing?” (242)

▪ “Please step out of your vehicle. You’re under arrest.” (257)