Dark & Twisted: Read Our Review of The Missing Mother by Mali Cornish

In a family built on lies, digging too deep can be deadly.

When Elspeth returns from New York to her hometown of Geelong, it’s not for a holiday – it’s because her mother has vanished.

While her sister, Aoife, and Elspeth wait for news, they circle around their father’s death years earlier, reopening old wounds. But Elspeth’s own behaviour soon unsettles those around her, and the police begin to wonder if she’s hiding something.

Elspeth teams up with a local crime reporter to search for the truth, leading to the discovery of her mother’s unfinished memoir. It includes letters that expose long-buried betrayals and shocking secrets. As the investigation tightens, so does the net around Elspeth. Is she an investigator, a grieving daughter, or someone more dangerous?

The author, Mali Cornish, has a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne. Her debut, Judgement Day, was shortlisted for the Danger Awards Best Debut 2024. Her writing has also been featured in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian.

From start to finish, the tone of The Missing Mother is deliciously dark, keeping me on edge as Elspeth begins searching for her mother. Cornish does a fantastic job of maintaining this intensity, especially as Elspeth uncovers one clue after another. The twists do not disappoint. They had me gripping the pages, almost tearing them in two.

Cornish is a clever writer, with prose that’s easy to read. The pages fly by, and so does the story. The pacing is definitely a highlight. There’s always something happening, a new revelation unearthed, and Elspeth becomes more and more interesting the deeper you go. She’s one of my favourite main characters this year.

A standout element of the book is the setting of Geelong. As Elspeth’s investigation forces her into a range of situations, some far more treacherous than others, you get to know the town, and it begins to feel like a character in its own right. From mind-melting twists to characters that leap off the page, The Missing Mother is a gripping thriller that’ll have your heart racing until the very last page. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and when I finished it, all I could think about was reading it again.

Buy a copy of The Missing Mother here.