Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham
on August 26, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Southern, Fiction / Thrillers / Crime, Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
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Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist… until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew. With the entire summer now looming ahead, a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother, Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard’s owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary’s contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister’s disappearance may be somehow tied to it all. Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.
Another winner for Willingham! She is so great at the slow burn mysteries. What a haunting, evocative, and atmospheric slow-burning mystery with a constant sense of unease simmering just beneath the surface!! That eerie feeling of the Farm and its occupants, always following you, made this much more thrilling. I loved the present and the past timelines. While I did see the outcome of the story coming, which is why I took away a half star, the writing was compelling enough to make me enjoy this story very much.
4.5 stars for this novel. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves stories steeped in atmosphere, emotion, and slow-burning suspense. While it’s not an edge of your seat thriller, it’s a deeply immersive mystery that quietly builds tension on every page.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for granting me access to the book in exchange for an honest review.
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