What Was Lost

Junior detective Kate Meaney, who solves "crimes" at her local mall along with her stuffed monkey, goes missing. Her one true friend-- 22-year-old Adrian--is blamed. Catherine Skinner shines as Kate. Skinner imbues her with all the wonder, curiosity, and busyness of a child who is keeping her mind active to avoid the emotional pain of having lost her parents. Skinner stumbles, however, after Kate is kidnapped and the book's focus shifts from Kate's perspective to an examination of the crime scene--the local mall. Skinner's sharp accent and high-pitched voice don't help a mystery derailed by tedious details about a shopping mall. J.T. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 17, 2008
Stirring and beautifully crafted, this debut novel recounts how the repercussions of a girl’s disappearance can last for decades. In 1984, Kate Meaney is a 10-year-old loner who solves imaginary mysteries and guesses the dark secrets of the shoppers she observes at the Green Oaks mall. Kate’s unlikely circle includes her always-present stuffed monkey; 22-year-old Adrian, who works at the candy shop next door; and Kate’s classmate, Teresa Stanton, who hides her intelligence behind disruptive behavior. Kate’s grandmother has plans for Kate: send her to boarding school. But Kate doesn’t want to go. Fast forward to 2003, where it’s revealed through Lisa, Adrian’s sister, that Kate disappeared nearly 20 years ago, and Adrian, blamed in her disappearance, also vanished. Lisa works at a record store in Green Oaks and is drawn to Kurt, a security guard whose surveillance-camera sightings of a little girl clutching a stuffed monkey hint that he might have ties to Kate’s disappearance. Teresa, meanwhile, now a detective, has her own reasons for being haunted by Kate’s disappearance. Gripping to the end, the book is both a chilling mystery and a poignant examination of the effects of loss and loneliness.

Starred review from September 15, 2008
O'Flynn's debut novel begins with deceptive lightness as a junior detective operates within her own preadolescent world of intrigue, but the author smoothly reconfigures numerous old disappearances into a solid mystery. The story uses place as effectively as character, with a megamall serving as the backdrop for searches past and present. Narrator Catherine Skinner (Beginner's Greek) moves easily through time and between genders, making this short mystery both haunting and realistic. Highly recommended for mystery audiences. [Discs indexed inaudibly at the start of each chapter and at regular intervals throughout; audio clip available through www.bbcaudiobooksamerica.comJoyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo

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