Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

1. Of the main narrators – Kate, Meredith and Leo – which spoke most to you? Was there one you connected with more than others?
2. Meredith tries to find that work-life balance while having two young children and a very unpredictable schedule as a doula. How do you feel about Meredith as a mother and how she raises her children?
3. Leo feels a great deal of resentment toward Delilah when she returns home. Is this anger and resentment justified?
4. How do you feel about Josh as a husband and father? Did you ever consider him to be a suspect in the disappearances? Which characters did you consider to be suspects?
5. The suburban Chicago weather is as volatile as the story itself. How does the stormy spring weather add to the atmosphere of Local Woman Missing?
6. Obstetric violence and abuse is discussed in this novel. Did it surprise you to learn of the things that Meredith has witnessed as a doula or to read about Shelby's experience giving birth?
7. Keeping secrets from friends and loved ones is a recurring theme in this book. Have you discovered something surprising or even shocking about a friend, family member or neighbor that made you see them in a different light?
8. Discuss the choices that Bea and Meredith made in the car the night of the hit-and-run. Do you think Bea is a cold blooded killer or a desperate woman with no other way out? Was Meredith as complicit as Bea?
9. At the end of the novel, there are many victims: two women killed, a man sent wrongly to prison, a child kept in captivity, another being raised without her mother and father, and more. Who suffered the most throughout Local Woman Missing and why?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Harlequin Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.