The Return of Ellie Black: A Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Chelsey Calhoun is a police detective in Coldwell Beach, Washington. She is Japanese, adopted by a white family, and her sister, Lydia, vanished 20 years before and was never found. Chelsey's new case involves Elizabeth (Ellie) Black, who reappears after going missing two years earlier. Hikers find her in a wilderness area. But Ellie isn't making things easy--she refuses to cooperate and offer information on where she's been and with whom. Chelsey must deal with domineering men at work and a husband who would like her to put her marriage above her career, all while searching for clues. The complex plot and well-drawn characters will keep readers engaged until they arrive at the surprising conclusion. Jean successfully pivots from romantic-relationship fiction (Mika in Real Life, 2022) to crime thriller here. She paints a bleak but not entirely depressing picture of abused and underestimated women who manage to survive.

YA bestseller Jean (Tokyo Ever After) makes a smooth transition to adult fiction with this atmospheric and surprise-packed thriller. Missing and presumed dead for two years, Washington State teenager Ellie Black is discovered alive one night, wandering out of the forest near the small town of Coldwell Beach. Det. Chelsey Calhoun is assigned to the case, and has the dazed, underweight Ellie admitted to the hospital while she convenes with the traumatized girl's family. At first, the news thrills Ellie's parents. Soon, however, Ellie starts behaving strangely; without warning, she stops cooperating with the investigation, refusing to answer Chelsey's questions about where she's been. When Chelsey has the bloody sweatshirt Ellie was wearing when was found analyzed, the DNA turns out to match a different missing person. All the while, Chelsey muses on how Ellie's case might be linked to her own sister's decades-old disappearance. Is there something sinister lurking in the woods outside of Coldwell Beach? Jean deftly alternates Chelsey and Ellie's perspectives from one cliffhanger to the next, keeping the pages flying. With shocking twists and style to spare, this confirms Jean as a writer worth seeking out. (May)

A detective suspects subterfuge when a kidnapped teen returns home after two years and refuses to talk about her abductor. Missing girls are a common trope in crime fiction, but Jean freshens the genre with an intriguing story about secrets and dysfunctional families. Ellie Black, emaciated and traumatized, is found in a Washington state forest two years after she was taken from a parking lot near her hometown. Who took her and how she escaped confound police detective Chelsey Calhoun because Ellie is evading her questions. The case is an emotional investment for the haunted Chelsey, whose teenage sister Lydia went missing 15 years before. Jean's novel is told from multiple perspectives, which gives her story emotional heft. The time readers spend with Ellie during her captivity is told with such devastating detail that it borders on a horror story. The toll her disappearance takes on her parents and high school boyfriend is acutely painted with heartbreak and the anguish that comes with not knowing whether Ellie is alive. Chelsey, who is of Japanese heritage, carries a double load of challenges as she fends off sexism and racism on the job and in her community. She's an intriguing character; more details about her early life and adoption into a white family would have enriched her backstory. Like Jessica Knoll, whose crime novels also revolve around missing girls, Jean focuses less on sensationalizing predators and more on the tragedy of a "frenzy of missing girls. They do not give answers. They do not speak of what has come to pass. They whisper: Find us. Please." Jean, who has written young adult fiction and the novel Mika in Real Life (2022), has written an impressive crime novel here. An unexpected ending and a cadre of heroic female characters make Jean a crime writer to watch. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Chelsey Calhoun is a police detective in Coldwell Beach, Washington. She is Japanese, adopted by a white family, and her sister, Lydia, vanished 20 years before and was never found. Chelsey's new case involves Elizabeth (Ellie) Black, who reappears after going missing two years earlier. Hikers find her in a wilderness area. But Ellie isn't making things easy—she refuses to cooperate and offer information on where she's been and with whom. Chelsey must deal with domineering men at work and a husband who would like her to put her marriage above her career, all while searching for clues. The complex plot and well-drawn characters will keep readers engaged until they arrive at the surprising conclusion. Jean successfully pivots from romantic-relationship fiction (Mika in Real Life, 2022) to crime thriller here. She paints a bleak but not entirely depressing picture of abused and underestimated women who manage to survive. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

YA bestseller Jean (Tokyo Ever After) makes a smooth transition to adult fiction with this atmospheric and surprise-packed thriller. Missing and presumed dead for two years, Washington State teenager Ellie Black is discovered alive one night, wandering out of the forest near the small town of Coldwell Beach. Det. Chelsey Calhoun is assigned to the case, and has the dazed, underweight Ellie admitted to the hospital while she convenes with the traumatized girl's family. At first, the news thrills Ellie's parents. Soon, however, Ellie starts behaving strangely; without warning, she stops cooperating with the investigation, refusing to answer Chelsey's questions about where she's been. When Chelsey has the bloody sweatshirt Ellie was wearing when was found analyzed, the DNA turns out to match a different missing person. All the while, Chelsey muses on how Ellie's case might be linked to her own sister's decades-old disappearance. Is there something sinister lurking in the woods outside of Coldwell Beach? Jean deftly alternates Chelsey and Ellie's perspectives from one cliffhanger to the next, keeping the pages flying. With shocking twists and style to spare, this confirms Jean as a writer worth seeking out. (May)