“Crime Junkie” podcast cohost Ashley Flowers is back with her second novel — and it’ll definitely keep readers on their toes.
“The book is completely different than All Good People Here,” Flowers, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her second book The Missing Half, released on Tuesday, May 6.
Published nearly three years after her debut, Flowers’ sophomore novel focused on a totally different thriller trope: sisters. And yes, it still takes place in a small Indiana town.
“There are very few people in your life where you’re like, I want to poke you in the eye and at the same time, I would do anything to defend you,” Flowers explained of the unique sibling dynamic. “It’s just such a strange relationship because some sisters are uber tight [and] some maybe wouldn’t be friends in the world if not for their genetic bond. I’ve always found it super interesting.”
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Flowers explores this “unexplainable” bond in The Missing Half through two women who connect through the unsolved disappearance of their respective sisters — and the secrets that are uncovered along the way.
Keep scrolling for more from Flowers:
Us Weekly: How did writing The Missing Half differ from All Good People Here?
Ashley Flowers: Both of them were just these stories I had living in my head. To me, the process felt very similar. And mine is a little backward from other people in that, usually the first thing that will come to me is either some middle-of-the-book plot twist for characters I don’t even know yet, or an ending. The process felt similar. It felt a lot easier. I was doing the first one during Covid, so me and my cowriter [Alex Kiester] were all over Zoom. This one we got to do in person, which was so much better.”
Us Weekly: Can you talk about landing on the title The Missing Half?
Ashley Flowers: We were going through a lot of different options. We were looking early on at titles that had to do with blood ties — a lot of titles are taken. It was actually my coauthor who put this one forward and we really felt like it encompassed the whole idea we’re talking about. This person, they’re not just your family, they’re not just your friend —they are a part of you in a way. Maybe that’s part of the reason you’ll go to the ends of the Earth to defend them. You are in that too and you’re, a little bit, defending yourself. With these sisters being missing, they’re missing a piece of themselves.
Us Weekly: Tell Us about choosing the cover art, which really ties back to the book’s ending.
Ashley Flowers: I’ve had this vision for the book cover since before I started plotting it out, when I knew the ending. I just think it’s eerie and I think that people, when they’re done with it, they go back and see it for what it is. It’s a fun little Easter egg at the end.
Us Weekly: Why did you make The Missing Half ending so different from All Good People Here?
Ashley Flowers: It was less about having an end or being ambiguous. I knew what the end was, and I think it’ll be more satisfying. A lot of people want that. What I loved about the first novel’s ending is it just felt real. Not everything in real life, in true crime, gets tied up in a neat bow. I think the end of this book gives that same thing, but with a little more finality. It’s not neat, it’s not what everyone’s version of justice feels like or what everyone feels justice should be. It’s a messy version of conclusion and that feels very real to me, too.
Us Weekly: Do you intentionally omit romance story lines from your novels?
Ashley Flowers: Everyone in the first book wanted Pete and Margot to get together, and she’s just here for five minutes to take care of her uncle. She just needs to solve the mystery. It always drives me nuts. Can’t a woman just show up and the boss without having to fall in love and get f***ed? We talked about it this time. We were watching these other books just take off with these steamy sex scenes so [Kiester]and I were like, ‘I don’t know, man. Maybe we’re going to have to throw in a hot sex scene in the third one.’ We can’t lose the romance people. I’ve got a lot of twists. I got a lot of story I’m trying to pack into these 300 pages. I don’t have time for the romance. I’d rather throw in an extra twist.
Us Weekly: Speaking of Margot, what really happened at the end of All Good People Here?
Ashley Flowers: I always tell [fans], you’re never going to catch me on a major platform talking about it. But I was like, if you hunt me down in person, I will tell you what I thought happened to Margot.
Us Weekly: Will there be an All Good People Here sequel?
Ashley Flowers: Everyone was like, ‘Oh, are we gonna get the sequel? Are we gonna find out what happened to Margot?’ I didn’t want to. I had this story I wanted to tell and I don’t wanna just squeeze these characters into that. I don’t know where else I can go with the majority of the characters in that story. However, what I will say is that we did an exclusive chapter with Target — which we haven’t been talking about a lot. The [Missing Half] Target books have an extra chapter. If you read the extra chapter, find out what happened to Margot. It’s all happening in the same universe, so we do a little nod to the first book.
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