Forget Me Not: A Novel by Stacy WillinghamPublication Date: August 26, 2025
Pages: 336
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★½
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Crime
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan
A pulse-pounding new Southern thriller from the author of the runaway bestseller A Flicker in the Dark.
Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist...until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.With the entire summer now looming ahead—a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother—Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.
Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.
REVIEW
Stacy Willingham’s Forget Me Not wraps you up in the sultry heat of South Carolina, where secrets stick like humidity and the past is never really buried. At its heart is Claire Campbell, an investigative journalist haunted by her sister Natalie’s disappearance two decades ago, a case everyone thought was closed, but that never left Claire’s mind. When another young woman vanishes in eerily similar circumstances, Claire is pulled back to her hometown, forced to peel away layers of small-town silence and family pain.
Willingham’s writing is razor-sharp and atmospheric, capturing both the charm and menace of the South. The diary at the center of the novel turns every page into a confession, making you wonder what’s real and what’s just memory playing tricks. Claire’s determination, her complicated grief, and the knotty bond with her missing sister ground the story in real emotion. The community’s secrets and the slow, almost suffocating build of suspense keep you glued to the page, even as the tension creeps in like summer heat.
The story moves at its own pace, rewarding patience with expertly placed twists and mounting dread. If you crave quick thrills, this might feel like a slow burn—but that’s exactly where Willingham’s strength lies. Every revelation feels earned, and by the end, you’re left questioning not just what happened, but why people choose to forget.
Forget Me Not is a standout in psychological suspense, moody, immersive, and deeply human. It’s the kind of thriller that lingers long after you close the book.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
