One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend, but when he doesn’t show up, she leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand, but following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life.

The reason it turns out to be the worst mistake of her life is that Colin has been paid to kidnap Mia.  He has a rather unusual way of doing it though.  He charms her, gets her drunk and then keeps her in his flat for a couple of hours before bundling her in his car to hand her over.

Fortunately for Mia (to a degree), those few hours give Colin time to think and he starts to worry just what his bosses will do to Mia when they get her – other than use her as ransom because her father is a very powerful and very wealthy judge.  So, on the way to the rendezvous point, he decides to disappear – taking Mia with him.

The first her family hears, Mia hasn’t turned up for work.  Her friends and colleagues are worried, it isn’t like her at all.  Not that her family would know because they rarely hear from their daughter; their relationship is fractious at best.  Her father is convinced it’s typical Mia.  Her mother not so sure.  They decide to call the police anyway, and are assigned Gabe, an experienced, dogged and slightly grumpy detective.

The Good Girl is told through the eyes of Gabe, Mia’s mom Eve, and Colin.  Their stories alternate and include before and after the kidnapping.  Slowly, what happened to Mia unfolds with the then and now format giving glimpses into what might have taken place but not laying everything out until the very end.

I liked this approach and found it drew me in and kept me interested.  It also helped me get to know and understand the characters.  Surprisingly, I came to like Colin and almost feel sorry for him.  Mia, I must admit, I didn’t care for as much, especially following a twist at the end.

The twist was actually the one thing about the book I didn’t care for.  I didn’t think it was necessary, though I can see why it was there.  It did give me a different take on what I’d read but I had been quite happy up until that point anyway – I didn’t think I was missing out on anything – the pace was good, the characters well written, the story interesting.  The book felt complete without the final chapter.  This wouldn’t stop me recommending it though.  Definitely worth a read.

Emma