Zoë Rankin
Zoë Rankin grew up in a rural Scottish village, and she now lives in New Zealand with her husband and two young daughters. After leaving school, Zoë spent ten years travelling back and forth between Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. During this time, she studied International Relations with Arabic at the University of St Andrews and completed a postgraduate diploma in education, which led to her becoming a teacher. Zoë’s stories about her travels have appeared in blogs and online magazines, and more recently, she started writing short stories. A selection of her stories have been commended and published, and she won the writing award at New Zealand’s international crime-writing festival.
Zoë’s debut novel, The Vanishing Place, was published by Moa Press (Hachette NZ) in September 2025, Berkley (US) in September 2025 and Viper Books (UK) on 3rd October 2025. Zoë is currently working on her second novel.
On publication in New Zealand, The Vanishing Place went straight to number one in the charts and was there for six consecutive weeks.
Zoë is currently writing her second novel.
Reviews:
Irish Examiner (Chloe Barrett): ‘The Vanishing Place is an addictive, atmospheric read that refuses to play it safe. Zoë Rankin delivers a gripping and unflinching exploration of faith, isolation, and the slow crumbling of the human psyche when trapped in darkness.
Nothing is off limits for Rankin, and it likely won’t be long before she’s climbing the bestseller charts and sitting amongst the literary greats in a well-earned space.’
New York Times: “Sizzling…a reminder that memory is slippery, that people are capable of both unspeakable cruelty and unbelievable heroism and that the reader shouldn’t jump to conclusions about the characters too soon.”
Washington Post: Included in ‘Six noteworthy books for September’. “Rankin’s knockout debut unfurls at a brisk clip.”
Kirkus Reviews – “You’ll get lost in the wilds with this gripping debut.”
Publishers Weekly – STARRED REVIEW “Triumphant…a must-read for fans of Jane Harper.”
The Vanishing Place was selected in the ‘The 10 best thrillers of 2025’ by The Washington Post (18.11.2025)
