It’s a pleasure to be sharing my review for The Missing Years by Lexie Elliot as part of the blog tour today. Many thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invite and the publishers for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About the book
She thought she would never go back…
Ailsa Calder has inherited half of a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace twenty-seven years ago. Her father.
Leaving London behind to settle her mother’s estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home nestled amongst the craggy peaks of the Scottish Highlands, accompanied by the half-sister she’s never taken the time to get to know.
With the past threatening to swallow her whole, she can’t escape the claustrophobic feeling that the house itself is watching her. And when Ailsa confronts the first nighttime intruder, she sees that the manor’s careless rugged beauty could cost her everything…
The Missing Years is available to purchase now from – Amazon
My thoughts
I’m a sucker for anything set in Scotland, it’s my home country and one of the most beautiful parts of the world so when I read the description for The Missing Years I was intrigued. Set in the Scottish Highlands with a beautiful but maybe a little creepy Manor, this sounded like my cup of tea.
Now lately I’ve been reading books that start with a bang, fast paced from the start so it was a different experience reading The Missing Years. It’s quite a slow burner, it really sets the scene though and builds up the tension beautifully, almost pulling you into the story.
Ailsa has inherited half a house, a house she hasn’t stepped foot in for many years. The other half of the house has gone to her father who disappeared without a trace twenty seven years ago. Unable to sell due to her fathers disappearance Ailsa returns and is met by her half sister, a half sister she hasn’t taken the time to get to know and as memories from her past start to return and strange things start occurring in the house the tension creeps up. Why won’t the animals enter the garden, is the house watching her and why are these strange things happening.
Between each chapter we get an idea of where Ailsa’s father may be, different scenarios are played out and as the book progresses these become darker and more intriguing. What did happen to him and is he still alive?
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it was haunting, enthralling and a real mystery. The author takes you on a journey with Ailsa, although you may think you know where that journey is heading there’s a few red herrings to knock you off track. It has a gothic feel to it too which I really liked as well.
So I’ll definitely be recommending The Missing Years, it’s a story that really got under my skin, one that I thought about when I wasn’t reading and one that gives you a lot to think about.
Follow the tour
About the author
Lexie Elliott has been writing for as long as she can remember, but she began to focus on it more seriously after she lost her banking job in 2009 due to the Global Financial Crisis. After some success in short story competitions, she began planning a novel. With two kids and a (new) job, it took some time for that novel to move from her head to the page, but the result was The French Girl, which will be published by Berkley in February 2018 – available to pre-order on Amazon now!
When she’s not writing, Lexie can be found running, swimming or cycling whilst thinking about writing. In 2007 she swam the English Channel solo. She won’t be doing that again. In 2015 she ran 100km, raising money for Alzheimer Scotland. She won’t be doing that again either. But the odd triathlon or marathon isn’t out of the question.
It's all about the books 