Thank you to critic Oline Cogdill for her review of The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin. You can order copies through The Poisoned Pen’s website. https://bit.ly/3LgXKou
Book review: ‘The Vanishing Place’ uncovers a New Zealand spot so hidden that few can escape from it
‘The Vanishing Place’ by Zoë Rankin; Berkley; 384 pages; $30
Deep in New Zealand’s bush is “The Vanishing Place,” a place so hidden that few people can escape from it and practically no one can find it, as Zoë Rankin so evocatively describes in her fascinating debut.
The rich scenery of New Zealand and Scotland become facets in themselves while informing the gripping plot and shaping the believable characters who inhabit these lands. “The Vanishing Place” works as a story about reinventing oneself and living off the grid, as well as about family bonds and reconciling the past with the present.
Two decades ago, Effie was “a bush girl,” who lived isolated deep in New Zealand’s wilderness with her parents and three siblings — no modern conveniences, no formal education, no medical help when her mother died in childbirth. After a violent incident, Effie escaped and reinvented herself as a police officer in Scotland, but her mind was “never free of the bush.”
Her friends and colleagues know a little about her past, but not everything. Then, Effie is contacted by Lewis, a childhood friend who is one of two people who know her background. Now, a police officer in New Zealand, Lewis needs her help. A girl about 8 years old has stumbled out of the bush, covered in blood, refusing to speak except to say her name is Anya.
Anya looks exactly as Effie did as a child. Lewis suspects Anya also has been raised deep in the wilderness and, judging by the blood, may have witnessed a murder. Reluctantly, Effie returns to New Zealand to help Anya, who may be her niece.
Rankin immerses “The Vanishing Place” in scenery, beginning with a harrowing scene in Scotland as the story moves to New Zealand. Rankin skillfully alternates her story from Effie’s childhood to now, allowing the plot to unravel at the perfect pace.
Behind the plot
Australian-centered mysteries such as those by Jane Harper have become increasingly popular, but so have those based in New Zealand. Interest in New Zealand mysteries dates back to Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh’s classic detective novels during the Golden Age of Mysteries, predominantly in the 1920s and ’30s. The Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel is a prestigious honor for Kiwi writers. More recent New Zealand mystery authors include Jacqueline Bublitz, Paul Cleave, Becky Manawatu, J.P. Pomare, Rose Carlyle, among others. You can also get a glimpse of New Zealand with the 11-season TV series, “The Brokenwood Mysteries.”