The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "And Then She Vanished" by Nick Jones, Served with 3 Favorite Curry Recipes

I am excited to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for And Then She Vanished by Nick Jones, a new novel and the start of a new series. Accompanying my review are links to a trio of some favorite curry recipes, inspired by the book.

Publisher's Blurb:

He only looked away for a second.

Still haunted by the disappearance of his little sister Amy over twenty years ago, Joseph Bridgeman’s life has fallen apart. When a friend talks him into seeing hypnotherapist Alexia Finch to help with his insomnia, Joseph accidentally discovers he can time travel. His first trip only takes him back a few minutes, but his new-found ability gives him something he hasn’t felt for the longest time: hope.

Joseph sets out to travel back to the night Amy went missing and save her. But after several failed attempts, he discovers the farther back he travels, the less time he gets to stay there. And the clock is ticking.

With the help of Alexia, Joseph embarks on a desperate race against the past to save his sister. Can he master his new skill and solve the mystery of Amy’s disappearance before it’s too late?

Hardcover: 350 Pages 

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (February 2, 2021)

My Review:

I wasn't sure what to expect from And Then She Vanished as I like time-travel stories but they need to feel "real" to me. I found myself immediately caught up in Joe's situation, he's just going through the motions, barely, of life. His mother has dementia, his father is gone, his business is failing and they are about to repossess his house, and all of it seemed to spiral downward when his younger sister disappeared two decades ago, never to be found. Since teenage Joe had taken Amy to a local fair and took his eyes off her for a few minutes while trying to win her a prize at a shooting booth, he blames himself for losing her and it has negatively impacted his entire family. Joe's friend gives him the name of a hypnotherapist who he goes to see to help with his insomnia and after a visit, he discovers that he can time travel and immediately decides to try to save Amy from whatever happened to her. 

 

I don't want to share too much detail as the book has some good twists that the reader should just let play out. The time travel aspects are done well, there are lots of details about the process and how it feels, and Joe confides in an old friend, a mathematician who helps him discover some of the "rules" of time travel (there are always rules you know). I felt for Joe, his guilt and pain and liked the supporting cast of characters that surrounded him--especially Vinny, his friend and vinyl dealer (Joe is big a music and Beatles fan). The book sped by and I hated to put it down because I wanted to find out what happened to Amy. I also liked that the book had an ending that mostly wrapped the story but left us with a teaser to future time travel adventures for Joe. I will definitely sign up for the next book.

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Author Notes: Nick Jones was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and now lives in the Cotswolds, England. In a previous life, he ran his own media company and was a 2nd Dan black belt in Karate. These days he can be found in his writing room, working on his latest mind-bending ideas, surrounded by notes and scribbling on a large white board. He loves movies, kindness, gin, and vinyl.

You can connect with Nick on his website. 

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Food Inspiration:

There's a fair amount of food and drink mentioned in the book, some more inspiring than others, including chestnuts and sweet candy, a juicer and smoothies and juices made from apples, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, and raspberries, red wine, bacon sandwich, vanilla and warm bread, chamomile tea, popcorn, brandy, ice cream, marmalade on toast, a full English breakfast on a baguette, steak, coffee, chocolate cookies, whiskey, spaghetti carbonara, meat and gravy, peanuts and other nibbles, mince pies, prosecco, hot dogs, grapes, Kit Kats, jelly beans, marshmallows, beer, turkey, G&T, a pot of soup, and peppermint tea. 

I took my inspiration from the "Curry Club" that Joseph has with his friend Vinny, where they cook a different curry each month. Actually Vinny cooks and Joseph buys the ingredients which seems a good deal to me. They get pretty imaginative from vegan chocolate curry to fermented fish phall (phall is a spicy British curry). The curry they eat in the book is Madagascan Chicken and Vanilla Curry and they both like the sweet and spicy combo. 

I love curries and make a lot of curry soups as well as regular curries. I would have liked to have made a special one for the book but work has been crazy this past month and I ran out of time. Instead, I picked three past recipes for you to try--you can see the links below. Although not as creative as Vinny's curries, they are all delicious.

Creamy Hard-Boiled Eggs Masala: Eggs in curry is my favorite! I have this one and another version on the site.

Bengali Fish Curry: A mustard-y curry with lightly fried fish.

Mushroom and Spinach Korma: Creamy, mild, satisfying and full of mushrooms.

Note: A review copy of "And Then She Vanished" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for my review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 
 
You can see the other stops for this TLC Book Tour and what other bloggers thought of the book here.