The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen

Synopsis:

Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived.

When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday—the day she was kidnapped so long ago—Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer’s closet all those years ago.

Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he's washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them...with a killer who can't let go.

My thoughts:
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for making this book available on NetGalley, so that the readers could catch up on books 1 and 2 of Joanna Schaffhausen's excellent series of police procedurals featuring Ellery Hathaway.
Although all novels in this series can be read as standalones, if you want to truly understand the development Ellery Hathaway and Agent Reed Markham go through, it is better to read the novels in order.
Ellery Hathaway comes from a disadvantaged and broken family. She is also a survivor of a horrifying childhood trauma. At the age of 14, she was abducted and victimised by the notorious serial killer Francis Coben. There will always be a special link between Ellery and Agent Markham as he was the person who rescued her, although he will always wonder if it migh have already been too late for the girl to ever truly recover.
The characterisation in this novel is excellent. We see how the protagonists' past made them into the people they are now. Can they turn the tide and learn to live their life differently?
The Vanishing Season is an excellent police procedural with a tight plot and interesting twists. I did guess a few things in advance, but this is actually due to the inner story logic and consistency of the characters, which are things I am always looking for in this genre.
 A well-written beginning of an engaging series with strong characters, The Vanishing Season is highly recommended for all lovers of mysteries and thrillers.