A year or so ago, I was flipping through my options on Netflix, looking for a new show to binge-watch. Being the true crime addict that I am, a trending documentary about the mysterious disappearance of a young woman from a hotel in Los Angeles caught my eye. The documentary was called, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, and by the end of the first episode, I was completely hooked.

The documentary detailed the tragic story of a young Canadian tourist, Elisa Lam, who ventured out on her own for the first time in 2013 to travel to California. While in Los Angeles, she lodged at a trendy youth hostel called Stay on Main, which occupied several floors of another hotel, The Cecil Hotel. The two entities were in the same building and shared a common elevator. The Cecil, originally constructed in 1924, was an old building with a sordid past. Due to its proximity to skid row, the hotel often attracted a less-than-stellar clientele. During the 1980s, in particular, drug use by occupants of the Cecil ran rampant. Previous guests had been threatened, beaten, raped, and murdered behind its walls. Several suicides at the Cecil had also been documented.

Elisa Lam disappeared from the hotel without a trace, while her personal belongings remained in her hotel room. The only clue to her disappearance was several seconds of creepy footage from a camera mounted inside the elevator, which showed Elisa acting erratically. While glued to my screen, I had so many theories about what had happened to the young woman, and it turned out that all of them were wrong. The hotel’s sordid history was intriguing and I wondered if the building was somehow cursed. I was shocked that a woman could disappear from a busy hotel in the middle of a major city without anyone seeing something suspicious. The premise got me thinking…

Mostly because I could not get the story of Elisa Lam and the Cecil Hotel out of my head, the documentary inspired me to write my own tale about a missing woman, this time an Australian woman who was temporarily living in the U.S. Because I prefer to write what I know, I set my story in a ten-story 1920s building in Chicago, a city where I lived for nearly ten years of my life. I remembered what it felt like being a young woman and moving to a big city for the first time. It had been my first time living alone, without roommates, and I’d initially enjoyed the freedom of having my own space. But I also recalled how difficult it was to fall asleep those first few nights in the old apartment building. My ears weren’t used to the creaky floors and hissing pipes. It had been impossible to ignore the sirens frequently blaring somewhere in the distance and boisterous late-night conversations from people outside. Even then, the constant noises made me think that it would be difficult to know if someone else was inside my apartment.

Much like the story of the Cecil Hotel, my novel had to be set in a building with a sense of history and a feeling of “if only these walls could talk.” I created the fictional building in my story to further the unease surrounding the missing woman. The creaky elevator, thin walls, and shadowy storage cages in the basement all contribute to the unsettling atmosphere.

With these ideas and memories swirling through my head, I sat down to write a harrowing tale of Rachel, a woman who realizes the woman who lived in the apartment before her, has gone missing… or worse. Now Rachel senses she may be the next victim. It’s important to note that the circumstances and ending of my story are much different than the tragic fate that met Elisa Lam. My intent was not to copy the documentary but to write my own version of it, featuring fictional characters, facts, and plot twists. The manuscript ended up as my psychological thriller, The Girl Before Me, which will be published by Bookouture on April 29th, 2022 (But is available for Pre-Order now!)

Back cover blurb:

I’m so worried. You aren’t safe in that apartment! You have to get out. Before it’s too late…

When Rachel moves into a new apartment with her young daughter, Lily, it’s with a huge sense of relief. After escaping an abusive marriage, this perfect downtown fourth-floor rental, within minutes from the lake, feels like the new beginning the two of them deserve.

It’s a place to call home. A place for them to grow together. A place for them to heal. And, as Lily starts at a nearby elementary school, and Rachel begins to develop feelings for her neighbor, Alex, who lives just down the hall, she dares to hope that their life is looking up.

But soon handwritten letters begin to arrive for someone called Annie. Alex says she was just the tenant who lived there before, who moved out one day without a word. Tentatively Rachel opens the first letter, intending to return it to the sender.

But the note says ‘Annie. I’m so worried. You aren’t safe in that apartment! You have to get out. Before it’s too late.’

Something happened to Annie. And Rachel is not nearly as safe as she thinks she is…

A totally unputdownable gripping thriller, perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena and Gillian Flynn.

Has a real-life crime documentary inspired you to write a story? I’d love to hear about it!