What Happens Next by Christina Suzann Nelson

What Happens Next
by Christina Suzann Nelson

ISBN-13: 9780764240409
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Released: January 17th 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Popular podcaster and ex-reporter Faith Byrne made a name for herself telling stories of greatness after tragedy--but her real life does not mirror the stories she tells. While her daughters spend the summer in Hawaii with her ex-husband and his new wife, she must manage life on her own. All of that changes when she's asked to spotlight her childhood best friend's missing person case on her podcast.

Dora Crane has never accepted that her younger daughter could be dead, keeping her home looking the same as when her daughter disappeared. But when her husband leaves her and her older daughter intervenes, she agrees to counseling and to pack up her missing daughter's belongings under one condition: Faith Byrne comes to Deep Valley and sheds light on the cold case.

As the long-abandoned investigation moves forward, old wounds and long-buried secrets are exposed. Will these two women, whose lives have never been the same, finally get the answers they need to reconcile the past and the future?


My Review:
What Happens Next is a Christian general fiction with a mystery set in two times. There were several point-of-view characters: The missing girl's viewpoint set in 1987 mostly showed how life was changing for a ten-year-old and the people around her. It's not until the end that the reader can pick up clues about what happened to her and then learn exactly what happened. In the present day, Faith dealt with her life changing in painful and unexpected ways while looking into a summer that ended so badly for her family. In helping to find answers to what happened to her friend, she also found answers to things that were going on with her family at the time. We also got Dora's viewpoint, the grieving mother who can't move on from the pain. She finally moved toward healing as Faith searched for answers.

It's not until the second half of the story that the general fiction feel turned a bit more into a mystery as clues were found and the truth finally unearthed. Despite the hard topic, the story didn't have a depressing feel. Even Dora still had hope, and the others had found some healing. The main characters were well-developed, complex people that acted in realistic ways. There was a Christian element woven into the story, like the 10-year-old girls being surprised that the boy didn't know how to pray before eating and one of the girls repeating a dinnertime prayer said at her home. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this meaningful story about healing from the many types of grief encountered throughout life.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.