The Return of Ellie Black

Content Warning: This source material contains depictions of abuse, neglect, suicide, sexual violence, substance use disorders, and murder. Additionally, this source material discusses racism and sexism.

Chelsey Calhoun is the main protagonist. Chelsey is a detective at the Coldwell Beach police department who specializes in investigating cases of missing girls and women. Chelsey is married to Noah, who wants her to focus on their life together rather than obsessing over work. However, Chelsey uses the cases she works on to cope with her frustration and guilt over her sister, Lydia’s, disappearance and alleged murder, hoping that saving other missing girls will give her relief. Chelsey’s sense that she was responsible for what happened to her sister drives her internal conflict, though the discrimination Chelsey faces from the predominantly white town and police department—Chelsey is Japanese American, the Calhouns having adopted her when she was a little girl—exacerbates The Psychological Impact of Trauma.

Chelsey likewise clings to her idea of who her father was to avoid facing her trauma; she even decided to become a police officer after her parents’ divorce as a way of seeking her father’s approval. Rather than recognize her father’s manipulative and selfish nature, Chelsey idolizes her father as a way of making sense of the uncertainty in her life.