Publication Date: March 19, 2024
A nerve-tingling and atmospheric thriller from master of suspense Nicci French about two families shattered by tragedy and the secrets that have been waiting decades to be revealed.
On the day of Alec Salter’s fiftieth birthday party, his wife, Charlotte, vanishes. Most of the small English village of Glensted is at the party for hours before anyone realizes she is missing. While Alec brushes off her disappearance, their four children—especially fifteen-year-old Etty—grow increasingly anxious as the cold winter hours become days and she doesn’t return. Then Etty and her friend Morgan find the body of Morgan’s father—and the Salters’ neighbor— Duncan Ackerley, floating in the river. The police conclude that Duncan and Charlotte were having an affair before he killed her and committed suicide.
Thirty years later, Morgan Ackerley returns to Glensted with his older brother to make a podcast based on their shared tragedy with the Salters. Alec, stricken with dementia, is entering an elder care facility while Etty helps put his affairs in order. But when the Ackerleys ask to interview the Salters, the entire town gets caught up in the unresolved cases.
Allegations fly, secrets come to light, and a suspicious fire leads to a murder. With the podcast making national news, London sends Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor to Glensted to take over the investigation. She will stop at nothing to uncover the truth as a new and terrifying picture of what really happened to Charlotte Salter and Duncan Ackerley emerges.
For three decades, the fate of a missing mother and the subsequent death of her neighbor have been fodder for debate in a small English village.
Now, the neighbor’s sons are using a podcast to reflect on the incident. In the process, old wounds are reopened as the family once again relives the night that destroyed their family.
Author Nicci French builds a thrilling story of suspense in Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? The three surviving Salter children have never received closure after their mother failed to show up at a party she had organized.
The story opens with a small snippet from the podcast before going back to 1990. Through the ensuing events at the party and afterward, when Duncan Ackerly’s body is found in the river, the investigators seem to be stuck with no answers.
Fast-forward to 2022, when the Ackerly brothers collaborate on a podcast. When a suspicious fire turns into murder, an investigator from London is assigned to the case. Her relentless efforts lead to a shocking revelation.
Weighing in at over 500 pages, this is a fine example of a classic “whodunit” with multiple characters having plausible motives. However, just like a tricky jigsaw puzzle, it takes all the pieces before the grand reveal.
Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? demonstrates an intense psychological thriller of two families impacted by tragedy and secrets.
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Nicci French is the pseudonym of English wife-and-husband team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Their acclaimed novels of psychological suspense have sold more than 16 million copies around the world.
