Searching for truth and redemption in Nina by Louise Phillips

Louise Phillips’s upcoming novel Nina (releasing November 18, 2025) is an emotional, tightly woven crime story about trauma, motherhood, and the resilience of a woman who refuses to be silenced or dismissed. Elizabeth Harte has already lived through the worst thing a parent can imagine: the disappearance of her daughter Nina twenty-five years ago. On the eve of her sixty-first birthday, she decides she’s done being treated like a fragile relic by her daughter and son-in-law. Haunted by grief and determined to find answers, Elizabeth leaves home and sets out to track down Nina—and, perhaps, reclaim herself in the process.

Her journey intertwines with the story of Nick, a disgraced detective revisiting cold cases once investigated by his father, whose failure to solve Nina’s disappearance drove him to suicide. As new murders surface and old wounds resurface, their paths converge in a way that forces both to confront the past.

This is a beautifully crafted, layered novel that kept me engaged and guessing right to the end. Phillips deftly balances the crime plot with deeply human emotion. I especially loved the tender, unexpected bond between Elizabeth and April, a young autistic girl she meets along the way. That relationship provides a spark of hope and a reminder that even in our darkest chapters, connection can heal.

It’s heartbreaking, though, to see the contrast between Elizabeth’s love for April and her strained relationship with her surviving daughter, Allison. I found myself frustrated with Elizabeth’s choices after Nina’s abduction. While I can’t pretend to understand the devastation of losing a child, I like to think that, in her place, I’d still have found a way to be present for the one who remained. A child’s loss of a sibling is no less real—and it’s a parent’s responsibility to keep being a parent, even in the depths of grief.

Equally infuriating is how Elizabeth’s family infantilizes her, dismissing her trauma as incompetence and expecting her to serve as their live-in babysitter. And when she asserts herself, they call her selfish. It’s maddening—but sadly believable. Phillips captures that all-too-familiar dynamic where older women, especially those with mental health struggles, are gaslighted and controlled “for their own good.”

That theme of gaslighting runs deep in Nina. For years, Elizabeth’s assailant—who fathered her first child—has manipulated her and kept her under surveillance, while everyone around her insists she’s imagining things. She’s labeled paranoid, unstable, hysterical. And yet, she’s right. Reading those scenes made me wonder how many real women are similarly dismissed when they speak their truth. What would happen if we actually listened?

Nina is both a gripping mystery and a powerful feminist reckoning—one that asks hard questions about belief, motherhood, and autonomy. Fans of Charlie Donlea, Laura Lippman, and Ashley Flowers will find plenty to love here.

Have you read any of Louise Phillips’s earlier novels? What’s your take on crime fiction that centers women’s voices and trauma? Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear them.

An advance reader copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Related Content

• Interview with author Louise Phillips (Valerie Sirr)
• The Doll’s House: Louise Phillips (Writing.ie)
• Writer’s Block with Louise Phillips (The Gloss)
• Louise M Phillips & Red Ribbons – A stunning debut! (Laurence O’Bryan)

Now available in print and on Kindle!

Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.