The Snow Girl by Javier Castillo

The Snow Girl is the name given to a little three-year-old girl who goes missing during a public festival. There are hundreds of people there and her parents take their eyes off her for a minute and then she is gone. A common theme because it is an horrific idea for any parent, but this story is a little different.

The fallout of the missing child is, as expected, traumatic for both parents with the father spiralling into a deep depression particularly. They live in hope of finding her and continue to search for many years. After a while the police do not have her case as a priority. So it is really only down to the press and one investigative journalist to continue the search for the truth about what happened to the little girl.

The book follows the perspectives of several people, sometimes in the first person but mainly in the third person, and covers many time periods. This is often confusing and repetitive but we read on in the belief that the events will all make sense at the end and the timeline falls into place. It does to a certain extent and the climax is much easier to read and follow than the earlier parts of the book, where the 'thriller' aspect does not apply. The ending is a little far-fetched but it does make an exciting conclusion following a rather slow and plodding build up.

Mainly an interesting read about loss, hope, revenge and atonement. Plus it looks as if this may well be the beginning of a series featuring missing children and the journalist who has her own trauma and demons to deal with. Something that is bound to send chills running through all of us.

Published by Penguin on 23 November 2023.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.