Heather by Caitlin Mullen
Heather
by Caitlin Mullen
Mystery | Thriller
352 Pages
Released June 2026
Rating: ★★★★ 1/2
Goodreads
Content Warnings
I don’t always have luck when it comes to cover-buys (by that I mean: books I bought purely because I loved the cover), but this book was a slam dunk for me. I’ve been searching for another good mystery since reading The God of the Woodsand this book really scratched that itch!
In 1994, sister’s Annabelle and Sabrina Riley disappear seemingly into thin air. Years later, Callie Hauser becomes the newly instated Chief of Police in her small home town of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. When a decades-old cold case involving her mother is brought to her attention, Callie is determined to reopen it. Over the course of the book, Callie and the sister’s worlds collide in a story of heartbreak and redemption.
I don’t know what exactly it was about Caitlin Mullen’s writing but this book had me in a chokehold from page one. There’s something really satisfying about a well-written mystery, and while it did have some drawbacks, I was fully immersed in the story from start to finish. I also found Mullen’s writing to be quite beautiful despite the dark nature of the story. This story definitely has a dark atmosphere and the topics discussed are heartbreaking but sadly not unrealistic.
This book makes fantastic use of multiple perspectives written in multiple points of view - by that I mean Callie’s chapters are written in first person and another character is written partially in second-person. The transitions between past and present also felt very smooth and it kept the plot moving at quite a fast pace.
Another thing that I enjoyed was that there was a good blend of predictability and twists. I feel like this is something that is not talked about enough when it comes to mysteries! A book can become frustrating when the twists are too outlandish or impossible for the reader to figure out. And a book that is too predictable is boring. This book struck a perfect balance for me - I was able to solve some of the mystery on my own (huzzah!) but there were still parts that surprised me.
There were some smaller aspects that I didn’t enjoy as much - for example there is a small side-plot romance that didn’t really do anything for me, but other than that it was a fantastic read with great atmosphere and interesting characters.
If you love mysteries, I highly recommend picking this one up. I definitely plan to read more from Caitlin Mullen in the future!