In a camp in the Adirondacks, a counselor wakes up to find one of her campers missing. The missing child, Barbara Van Larr, is not just any child, but rather the daughter of the wealthy family who owns the camp and employs most of the people in the area. Additionally, fourteen years earlier in 1961, another child had also gone missing-Barbara’s older brother, affectionately known as Bear- and was never found.

Moore employs a multi layered approach in telling this story, first by following the investigators, then switching to the point of view of the mother who has now lost two children, then to the camp director who has been close to both Barbara and Bear, and then the camp counselor whose  responsibility it was to keep Barbara safe. The similarities between what happened to Bear and Barbara cannot be ignored and the investigators realize that they might have to solve the earlier case before they can determine what happened to Barbara. As the plot  twists and turns, revealing the strange and heartbreaking truth about Bear, we begin to see the disappearance of Barbara in a new light.

Moore skillfully draws us in and uses the different perspectives of the various characters to give us glimpses into motivation, and possible suspects. She is particularly adept in making sense of the distinct ways class and wealth play a role in the investigations of both Bear and Barbara , and the inherent pervasive misogyny so prevalent at that time. Although the book starts out a bit slow, by the end you are completely captivated and can’t put the book down until you finish the last sentence. Truly a remarkable bit of pacing and writing!

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian and Keith.

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in e-library format.