What Happens Next by Christina Suzann Nelson: Book Review

 *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

Popular podcaster and ex-reporter Faith Byrne made a name for herself telling stories of greatness after tragedy--but her real life does not mirror the stories she tells. While her daughters spend the summer in Hawaii with her ex-husband and his new wife, she must manage life on her own. All of that changes when she's asked to spotlight her childhood best friend's missing person case on her podcast.

Dora Crane has never accepted that her younger daughter could be dead, keeping her home looking the same as when her daughter disappeared. But when her husband leaves her and her older daughter intervenes, she agrees to counseling and to pack up her missing daughter's belongings under one condition: Faith Byrne comes to Deep Valley and sheds light on the cold case.

As the long-abandoned investigation moves forward, old wounds and long-buried secrets are exposed. Will these two women, whose lives have never been the same, finally get the answers they need to reconcile the past and the future?

Christina Suzann Nelson (www.christinasuzannnelson.com) is an inspirational speaker and Christy award-winning author. Her first novel, If We Make It Home, was honored as one of Library Journal's top five inspirational novels of 2017, and her 2021 novel, The Way It Should Be, won the Christy Award for general fiction.

In 2017, Christina was named the OCW Cascade's Writer of Promise and received a Cascade award for her novel Swimming in the Deep End. Her stories have been published in the Cup of Comfort for a Better World, Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families, as well as other publications.

Christina is over-the-top about her passions, including the stories created somewhere in the twists and turns of her less-than-focused brain. When she's not writing, Christina serves on the board of Every Child Linn-Benton, a nonprofit where she has the opportunity to influence the lives of families and children in the foster care system.

On a typical day, she chases escaped farm animals, reads, hikes with her dog, and enjoys her husband and six kids.

As someone who reads a LOT, I have found that there are many reads that are great while reading-- providing needed entertainment while it lasts. After several weeks and more books, they tend to blend together. Then there are others that you know that as soon as you finish the final page, it is going to be one that sticks with you for a very long time. For me, What Happens Next definitely falls into the latter category. 

This actually started off a little bit slow for me... but once I got into the story, I was absolutely hooked. The mystery of what happened to Heather back in 1989 certainly drew me in, but beyond that it also told a really beautiful story of grief and the many forms it takes. It was told from three different POVs, to include that of 10-year-old Heather and I loved how well these perspectives blended together to really tell a great story. It was beautifully written and had me reaching for my tissues more than once. 

While I am not personally someone who is super into true crime myself, I found myself thinking that this is definitely one that fans of that type of story would enjoy as well. Overall, a great read and one that I would highly recommend.