1. EachPod

Rebecca McKanna's Don't Forget the Girl: Remembering the Victims, Female Friendship and True Crime Podcasts

Author
Rebecca McKanna, Steph Lauer, Kate Hergott
Published
Tue 26 Aug 2025
Episode Link
https://bookwild.simplecast.com/episodes/rebecca-mckannas-dont-forget-the-girl-remembering-the-victims-female-friendship-and-true-crime-podcasts-R3dTzVsx

This week, I got to talk with Rebecca McKanna with Steph Lauer IN PERSON about Rebecca's book Don't Forget the Girl. We dive into how a short story collection inspired the book, how she got to know her characters, and why she chose the ending she chose.

Don't Forget the Girl Synopsis

We never remember the dead girls. We never forget the killers. 

Twelve years ago, 18-year-old University of Iowa freshman Abby Hartmann disappeared. Now, Jon Allan Blue, the serial killer suspected of her murder, is about to be executed. Abby's best friends, Bree and Chelsea, watch as Abby's memory is unearthed and overshadowed by Blue and his flashier crimes. The friends, estranged in the wake of Abby's disappearance, and suffering from years of unvoiced resentments, must reunite when a high-profile podcast dedicates its next season to Blue's murders.

Tense and introspective, Don't Forget the Girl is an astonishing debut thriller that mines the complexities of friendship and the secrets between us that we may take to the grave. 


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Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

 

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