The Night Hunter by Caro Ramsay

Elvie's sister has disappeared.  Other young women have disappeared, too, and they haven't been found.  Elvie is not going to wait until someone else finds something; she starts her own investigation.

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 1st, so grab a copy then.

This is not just a mystery.  This is also a horror story.  There is a monster in town who preys on young women.  He captures them and keeps them for himself.  He tortures them.  The reason no one can find them is that he has them well hidden.  It isn't until one gets away and runs like there is no tomorrow trying to escape the madman and his dogs that they realize they might still be alive.  She's not because she flew off the top of a ridge down on a car and killed herself.  Elvie was behind the lead car and saw it happen.  She held the girl as she breathed her last.  And she's made it her mission to find the killer and perhaps her sister.

This is a tense story with lots of ugliness.  Elvie works for a man as a nanny and she knows he hits his wife.  Her own family is all messed up.  Her brother has mental problems; her mother has a drinking problem.  She meets a private eye who is a retired cop.  He's willing to work with her because one of the missing girls was his last case and the only one he never solved.  All these people are involved with what's going on.

Elvie almost dies twice making her case.  When she finds out the truth, I'm sure she wishes she didn't know.  This is not a cozy mystery.  This is hard reality with dysfunctional people and dark desires.  It won't make you sleep well.