What Happened to Nina?

October 1, 2023

A young couple named Nina and Simon weekend at his family's cabin in Vermont, but only Simon returns, vague about what happened to Nina. His wealthy parents quickly encircle him with high-power lawyers, while her parents finally realize they must break the rules to find out what happened to Nina. McTiernan's The Murder Rule was a New York Times Best Thriller of the Year; with a 100,000-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

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January 15, 2024
The gripping latest from Australian crime writer McTiernan (The Murder Rule) examines a murder, its aftermath, and the impact of social media on the families involved. Twenty-year-old Nina Fraser sets out to go rock climbing with her wealthy boyfriend, Simon Jordan, near their New England homes one morning. That night, Simon returns to his family, but Nina does not. Nina’s parents suspect Simon is involved in her disappearance, but he maintains his innocence, insisting that Nina was alive when he left her behind at his parents’ house after a heated argument. The police find his vague explanation of the events suspicious, and he becomes a person of interest in the case. The Jordans then hire a respected publicity firm, which sets about painting Simon and Nina’s romance as fairy tale perfect while planting spurious information about Nina’s family online. Soon, journalists and true crime obsessives delve into the case, obscuring the truth in favor of sensational conspiracy theories that nearly tear Nina’s family apart and eventually lead to more violence. McTiernan makes the details of Nina’s disappearance clear early on, shifting the focus from whodunit to what happens in the court of public opinion. What emerges is a smart and unpredictable portrait of how the boundaries between tragedy and entertainment get blurred. It’s a disturbing treat for thriller fans. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory.

February 15, 2024
Simon and Nina have known each other since they were kids and have been dating since they were 16. Despite attending different colleges, they have managed to stay together and seem like the perfect couple. When Simon invites Nina to spend the week with him at his family's cabin, she agrees, even though she plans to break up with him. After Simon returns home without Nina, telling everyone they broke up, Nina's family immediately knows something is wrong. What follows is a story about two families at opposite ends of a crime, each doing everything they can for their child. Mysteries based on true stories can be predictable, yet McTiernan has crafted an engrossing and shocking story inspired by tragically familiar events. The power and influence of social media makes for a compelling secondary story here and shows how quickly misinformation can spread. Fans of true crime and stories with multiple narrators will find much to enjoy in this mystery and will have a tough time putting it down.

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Starred review from February 15, 2024
A young Vermont woman goes missing and her boyfriend is the prime suspect. "My name is Nina Fraser. There is a good chance that you know who I am." The novel begins with a prologue in the voice of its 20-year-old title character, who relays the history of her relationship with her boyfriend, Simon Jordan, and a particular weekend they spent hiking and climbing at his parents' new place near Stowe. It ends like this: "I went downstairs to tell Simon that we were over and that I never wanted to see him again." From this point, other voices take over, including those of Nina's parents, Leanne and Andy; Simon's mother, Jamie; and Matthew Wright, the detective who's investigating Nina's disappearance. With the support of a few other characters, they are responsible for piecing together Nina's story and bearing witness to the things they know--and the things they suspect--which will change all their lives. We learn that Nina never came home from that weekend trip with Simon, nor has she been in touch with her family. We learn that Simon, who was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, has a sense of entitlement and a shaky alibi. We learn that each of the parents would do anything to protect their children. And so the stage is set for revelation, revenge, and tragedy. McTiernan turns the traditional thriller on its head by exploring the why and the what over the who. There isn't a lot of mystery here, but there is deep humanity; it's a meditation on grief, and helplessness, and what it means to parent a child who might not live the life you thought they would--or might not be the person you want them to be--and how death removes from each of us the illusion of choice or control over past, present, or future. And that is truly haunting. "The wages of dying is love," Galway Kinnell once wrote. McTiernan asks if that's enough.

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January 16, 2024
Nina and Simon are teenage sweethearts, but cracks are starting to show in their relationship. After a stint of long distance, they decide to get away to Simon's parents’ new holiday home by a lake. When a rock climbing incident goes wrong, Nina’s creeping doubts intensify. Her parents are thrown into a panic when only Simon returns home. Nina’s mother, Leanne, has always been self-sufficient, tough and innovative, but in her desperation to find out what’s happened to Nina, she goes several steps too far, causing even her family to think she might be losing her mind. Meanwhile, Simon’s wealthy father spreads false information online to muddy the waters of public opinion and paint Nina’s parents in an unsavoury light. In What Happened to Nina?, it’s horribly fascinating and scarily believable to watch as public sympathy for Nina’s parents quickly turns to vile comments, suspicion, condemnation and threats. Bestselling and award-winning author Dervla McTiernan cleverly weaves into the story topical themes of fake news, conspiracy theorists and the sinister nature of hidden abuse, as well as raising the question of just how far parents will go to protect their children. Narrated from the perspectives of detective Matthew, the two sets of parents, and Nina’s younger sister, this thriller had me tearing through the pages, even after the ‘who’ of the mystery had been revealed. A great read for fans of Hayley Scrivenor’s Dirt Town and Emily Ruskovich’s Idaho.