Finally, the much lauded “What Was Lost” is available in the United States, having won the prestigious Costa First Novel and garnered several other nominations. It doesn’t disappoint. Equal parts “Harriet the Spy,” “Clerks” and “The Lovely Bones,” Catherine O’Flynn’s debut novel is quirky and funny, while at the same time breathtaking and sad.

It’s 1984. Kate Meaney is a quiet, intelligent 12-year-old who wants nothing more than to be a detective. (Her partner is a stuffed monkey named Mickey.) When not at school, she spends her days sneaking around, secretly observing the actions of people at the Green Oaks mall, taking notes in her notepad in the event that an actual crime is committed. She also hangs around the candy shop next door to her home, talking to Adrian, who hires her for her first assignment. Kate is a sweet, harmless girl, and it’s heartbreaking to know, from reading the book’s cover, that very soon, she’s going to go missing.
 

Fast forward to 2003. Adrian’s sister Lisa is the assistant manager of a record store at Green Oaks, where she hates everything about her job. (Much of the book’s comic relief comes from the several “Clerks”-like incidents that happen in the store.)

Lisa hasn’t spoken to her brother in 20 years, since he was accused of causing the disappearance of little Kate Meaney. There wasn’t enough evidence to charge him, but Adrian left town and the accusing eyes of his neighbors.

The other main character is Kurt, a security guard at the mall, who walks his shifts in a daze, still coping with the death of his wife four years earlier. Like Lisa, he doesn’t care for his job or life, but doesn’t see his situation changing in the near future.

Soon, the memory of Kate will bring them together.

O’Flynn has the ability to inject humor in all the right places, making sure the laughs don’t seem inappropriate or out of place in a book about a missing child.

“Lisa had known many alarm clocks, and she knew that they were not in this world to be liked. Alarm clocks knew the deal: a good day started with being told to fuck off, a bad day started with being hurled across the room and having your guts spilled on the floor. She was amused by the futile attempts at self-preservation made by many alarm clocks—adopting the guise of beloved cartoon characters or a favorite football team—futile because even a sweet child would rather crush Snoopy’s head to a wiry pulp than endure the awful noise,” O’Flynn writes.

Coupled with O’Flynn’s knack for making extraordinary observations about ordinary, everyday things is the beautiful voice she gives her novel. The third-person narration flows soft and hushed, like reading the book through gauze. “What Was Lost” is a sweet, sorrowful, wonderful read. Thank goodness it finally arrived.