The Day She Disappeared

Set in an unnamed English village, this sluggish psychological thriller from Kent (The Loving Husband) focuses on the disappearance of barmaid Beth Maxwell. Beth supposedly texted her boss to say that she was running away with a man she met up north, but that story doesn’t sit right with Beth’s best friend and coworker, Natalie Cooper. Texts and calls to Beth go unanswered, and when Nat discovers that Beth’s belongings are still in her apartment, she begs the police to investigate. They dismiss her concerns, instead choosing to focus on the murder of a local boy whose corpse was dumped in the weir. Meanwhile, Nat’s favorite customer, 92-year-old Victor Powell, knows that he witnessed something that the authorities should know about, but, thanks to his recent stroke, he can’t remember what. An early lack of action or tension and a clichéd, cartoonish killer allow the central mystery to be upstaged by a subplot involving Victor: the hospitalized nonagenarian’s desperate quest to save his daughter and grandson from his abusive son-in-law redeems Kent’s otherwise lackluster tale. Agent: Victoria Hobbs, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (Mar.)