This was a book that didn’t read as advertised. I’d been expecting something similar to Naomi Alderman’s The Power (2016, UK), which I hadn’t much liked (although I did like the TV adaptation). Instead, The Change (2022, USA) proved to be a murder-mystery with a somewhat offbeat team of protagonists, and a serious, if not entirely original, point to make. More urban fantasy vs Epstein than the feminist empowerment fantasy the marketing had suggested.

To be fair, its three protagonists are all in their forties and post-menopausal, and the menopause has, if not gifted them their abilities, at least given them the freedom to use them. Harriet is an ex-ad executive who was shafted by the boys club once too often and develops an affinity for flora. Jo was the manager of a prestigious hotel but was fired after attacking a VIP guest who attempted to rape a member of her staff. She is extremely strong, can generate heat, and is an excellent fighter. Nessa was a nurse, and since her teens has been able to see ghosts.

When the three of them stumble across the body of a murdered young woman, they soon discover she is only one of many disappeared young women with links to a close-by millionaires’ gated community. Using their powers and their contacts – the local police are not interested – they identify the killer, but he dies in a helicopter crash. The disappearances, however, do not stop…

The truth behind the gated community, and the identity of the actual villain, were not hard to figure out, but I did like the central trio. A fun and very feminist urban fantasy/mystery.