The disappearing act: No payoff for the journey

The disappearing act is the second novel I read by Downton Abbey actor, Catherine Steadman. Read my review of The family game here. You can also read about the other books by Steadman that I have read since making this post.

The disappearing act | Published June 2021 | Read January 2024

I am persevering with Steadman's books, partly because I like discovering new authors, Steadman's a British writer, and I keep expecting the books to get better. Sadly, they are not!

Like Steadman's other novels, The disappearing act makes little sense. Again like the others, the premise is great, it just isn't well executed. There's nothing wrong with Steadman's writing - I can easily devour her books - she just needs to come up with more plausible stories. A good psychological thriller has some suspension of disbelief in the plotting, but the story and the motives for the characters' actions still need to make some sense. Logic is most definitely missing in The disappearing act.

Mia Eliot is the central character. Like Harriet in The family game, she's transplanted from London to the US, this time to Los Angeles to pursue acting opportunities. Mia is a successful actor in Britain, having just secured a BAFTA nomination, and her agent sends her off to La-La Land to build on that success during the pilot season. Mia is set up in a posh apartment and given an Audi to drive during her stay. Her agent organises several auditions for her, including a career-making part in a major film.

At one of the auditions, Mia meets fellow thespian, Emily, and they chat for a few minutes. During the audition process, Mia (somewhat oddly) comes to Emily's aid by filling her parking meter, then Emily promptly disappears. Mia embarks on a quest, again an odd move considering she barely knew the woman, to find Emily. Mia also seems weirdly obsessed with returning Emily's belongings (that she inexplicably ends up with), when no one seems to be looking for Emily nor cares about said belongings.

Later a woman turns up claiming to be Emily. This woman is not the Emily whom Mia remembers. Something is not right here, and Mia is determined to find out what it is.

OK, so all that sounds like a cool premise for a psychological thriller, right? On the surface, yes, but sadly, not in the execution. What I did like about the book is the exploration of the acting profession and the auditioning and screen testing process. I assume it is realistic given the author's pedigree. I actually found that part of the book super interesting.

The writing and pacing kept me engaged and I ploughed through the book, wanting to find out what was going on. I was weighing up different possibilities as I wondered what happened to Emily, why Mia was involved, and what or who might be behind the increasingly weird and disturbing things that were happening to Mia once she embarked on her quest to find Emily. So I liked that the author kept me guessing and sustained my interest.

The trouble is, the payoff at the end is simply not worth the effort. As seems to be Steadman's shtick, The disappearing act is a wild ride but the ending makes ZERO sense. It is strange, far-fetched, and creates huge plot holes. I'd describe the ending as flat, as I was expecting something more complex from the overwrought build up. I was left feeling a bit cheated that I'd invested time in something that has a very soft (and weird) landing. The book starts well but I just became confused by the end of it.

I liked Mia in the beginning, but as the story progresses, she becomes increasingly naïve, gullible and exercises poor judgement. It makes no sense for her to keep looking for Emily instead of leaving the search up to the police. I also think there is too much of a mix of ideas involving the Me too movement and the cut-throat nature of the audition process. It feels like the author can't make up her mind as to which theme to focus on and that contributes to the flat conclusion and illogical plotting.

Rating: ⭐⭐