A Matter of Chance: A Novel
by Julie Maloney
She Writes Press

"This is my life. Finding Vinni is my life."

A costly mistake when helping a couple on the beach of Spring Haven alters Maddy’s life. Her eight-year-old daughter Lavinia (Vinni) goes missing with a woman named Hilda whose husband, Rudy, dies there on the beach. Maddy’s world from that moment forward is measured by slow increments of time—time lost each minute Vinni remains missing, a clock ticking as a terrible reminder of that irreversible moment. With fierce motherly devotion, Maddy searches for her daughter in tandem with ex-husband Steve and the cautious Detective John D’Orfini. Without answers, Maddy seeks solace at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, her fractured world shifting between memories of her inquisitive child, the pain of her toxic marriage, and the broken, complicated relationship with her mother. The secrets and mystery deepen surrounding the German couple. Meanwhile, hope slips away from everyone, but Maddy holds steadfast to her belief in finding Vinni.

Bound in a gorgeous paperback cover, this winner of the Eric Hoffer Award highlights an exceptional debut writer with a stunning thriller. Maloney breaks the novel into a period of five years, exploring with devastating acuity, detail, and remarkable narrative power the heartache of a mother chasing the ghostly shadow of her missing child. She handles themes of love, loss, grief, and guilt in this harrowing story with grace and beauty, painting Maddy’s reality in strips of light, silent walls, and glass shards to reflect a woman torn. In the spirit of Gone Girl and Without A Trace, this is a novel that’s hard to put down, and which keeps you up late at night, your heart aflutter as you read to its haunting end.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

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