It Could Have Been Her

 

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
6/23/26; 384 pages
Atria Books 

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell is a very highly recommended investigative domestic thriller which all starts with a lost dog and a missing woman. Jane Trevally from Jewell’s 2025 thriller, Don’t Let Him In, returns to unofficially investigate.

Jane Trevally, twice divorced and 55 years-old, is walking her four dogs on her deteriorating country estate she can't afford to repair when a small white terrier appears, alone and with no sign of an owner. She takes the dog to her vet to read the chip and then offers to return the dog named Hugo to his owners in London. When she arrives at the home in Hampstead, she immediately recognizes it as the home where she had a terrifying encounter twenty-five years earlier that she just managed to escape. Stuart Tucker, the man who answered the door, did seem dubious, however Hugo was happy to see him and he obviously wasn't the man she encountered years ago.

Then she learns that a girl, Rose White, disappeared from an Airbnb near her home, leaving everything behind, and she had Hugo with her there. Returning to talk to Stuart about this, he claims to not know Rose. Along with the help of her stepson, Dexter Lombardi, Jane decides to do some amateur sleuthing into the missing girl and the family living at the house called Thornwood in the Vale of Health, Hampstead, as she is positive something is wrong there. 

With excellent writing, an interesting plot, top-notch pacing, and plenty of suspense, It Could Have Been Her represents another excellent, twisty thriller from Jewell which held my complete attention throughout. The narrative is mainly told through Jane's current day point-of view, along with chapters from Stuart nine years ago, and some from a young Jessamine Black whose family owns the home. The chapters from the past put together tell a dark and dysfunctional story of the residents of the house, their trauma and buried secrets. Clearly something is very wrong at that house.

I loved the character of Jane who decides with great determination to investigate the missing girl and with that, the inhabitants of Thornwood. It combines the best of a cozy mystery with a thriller. I love that she is thinking about becoming a private investigator because she enjoys looking into mysteries and uncovering clues. She also has plenty of connections to help her in her inquiry. Jane also has plenty of buried trauma in her own life and the case brings some of her past up. I also like her stepson Dexter who is all in on joining her in being a PI. Hopefully we'll see this duo on another case. 

The character of Stuart also evolves during the novel. He starts out feeling a little creepy, but soon it becomes clear that he is at heart a good man in his own way. When he first moves in with Jessamine Black, her mother Annie, and her daughter Daisy, he doesn't realize what he's getting in to and quickly becomes manipulated by them and a servant to them. Daisy is a likable character who readers will mainly know as a teen in the novel. There is also a mainly missing brother who left home early to become a clown. 

It Could Have Been Her is an excellent selection for everyone who enjoy dark, twisty investigative thrillers. Thanks to Atria Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.