The Night My Sister Went Missing (edition 2006)

A tiny pistol, passed from friend to friend at a party on an abandoned pier, suddenly fires, and Casey Carmody falls into the water below. Kurt, Casey's older brother, endures a seemingly endless night at the police station while the coast guard searches for his sister and his friends are questioned, one by one. Who was foolish enough to pull the trigger? Was the gunfire accidental or deliberate? Or was the whole drama one of Casey's practical jokes? And where is Casey--or her body--now? Dark secrets are revealed and petty jealousies rear their ugly heads as each eyewitness comes to the questioning room with his or her own version of "the truth." ( )

Reviewed by Mrs. Foley
When his sister goes missing under mysterious circumstances, seventeen-year-old Kurt spends a night at the local police station overhearing statements from a variety of witnesses that reveal the deep prejudices and shocking secrets of his small beach community. - Summary from library catalog

This author always writes interesting stories. This is no exception. The entire book takes place over one night and reveals a lot of secrets about this small community. The insight into teenage friendships (or are they really?) feels accurate.

Review from School Library Journal:
Up-It's the middle of the night in a small New Jersey beach town, and Kurt Carmody, 17, has questions about what happened minutes ago at the pier, when a shot was heard and his 15-year-old sister, Casey, plunged (or dove?) off and disappeared. Why did erratic Stacy Kearney bring a gun to the pier-and why are so many of Kurt's friends eager to point the finger at her? What does any of it have to do with rumors that Stacy is pregnant and that Casey's boyfriend may be the father, or that Stacy's pig of a father is a blight on the town and her rich mother a cheating drug addict? Kurt's hour-by-hour narration takes readers from the town's police station to the pitch-black beach, where choppers search the waters. In classic crime-fiction style, Kurt pieces together the night, eavesdropping on statements, questioning key figures, and trying to make sense of Stacy's increasingly disturbing backstory-all the while questioning human nature, his friendships, and his post-high-school plans. Plum-Ucci struggles with pace early on, and her supporting characters are one-dimensional. While the mystery is engrossing and the dramatic ending satisfying, if overdone, it is Kurt's emotional growth that forms the heart of the story and has the most to offer readers. Fans of the author's novels or crime fiction in general will welcome this addition to the genre. ( )

Reviewed by Mark Frye, author and reviewer for TeensReadToo.com

Carol Plum-Ucci is a phenomenal writer who mixes elements of thrillers, mysteries, and problem novels with great success. In her latest, THE NIGHT MY SISTER WENT MISSING, she covers familiar territory from earlier novels without costing the story a suspenseful edge or satisfying conclusion. With her usual cast of sympathetic characters, readers are drawn into the story and feel as if they have a stake in the outcome.

The narrator, Kurt Carmody, learns the details of his sister's disappearance while eavesdropping on an interrogation room at police headquarters. Although there were many people there when Casey Carmody vanished, including Kurt himself, each witness' testimony is limited by personal bias against the main suspect, Stacy Kearn. Stacy and her father appear to be guilty of several crimes as well as an assortment of inappropriate personality quirks. Yet readers are wise not to rush to judgment in the story. No one and nothing is as it appears, neither those under suspicion for Casey's disappearance nor those who rush to help her and claim innocence. Like her earlier novels, particularly THE BODY OF CHRISTOPHER CREED and WHAT HAPPENED TO LANI GARVER, Plum-Ucci creates a realistic sense of community guilt for the mysterious, tragic events in
the lives of teenagers. Those who are viewed as outsiders and are made to feel unwelcome suffer for the intolerance of others. This message rings through the novels closing chapters without overpowering the reader.

As in previous novels, the author tackles community myths and legends in order to show that there's usually a logical reason behind so-called paranormal events. Although the ghost of a suicide victim is given short-play in this novel, this subplot is engaging enough to leave the reader in doubt about the nature of Casey's disappearance until the novel's conclusion. There may be no better mystery writer in today's market for maintaining tension without sacrificing realistic endings than Ms. Plum-Ucci.

Five stars. Highly recommended. ( )

Quick read, but the middle of the book was a little slow. A lot of time spent in the police station. But the beginning and ending are intriguing enough to read! ( )

When Kurt and Casey Carmody’s parents go Los Angeles, the kids promise that they won’t do anything stupid. And dune parties aren’t stupid… until someone brings a tiny, fake-looking, but very real gun. Everyone passes the gun around, touching it, marveling at how real it looks. And then a shot rings out. Casey falls into the water. No one hears a splash. No one sees who shot the gun. Casey does not surface.

Kurt is able to eavesdrop on police interviews with attendees of the dune party (the benefits of living in a very small town), and learns that the situation is far more complicated than an accidental gunshot and a missing, possibly shot or dead sister.
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