Penguin Michael Joseph| 3 August 2023| 369 pages| Review copy| 5*
OLIVIA.
22 years old.
Last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley.
And not coming back out again.
Missing for one day and counting . . .
Julia is the detective heading up the case. She knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her husband and daughter. But Julia has no idea how close to home it’s going to get. Because there’s a man out there. And his weapon isn’t a gun, or a knife: it’s a secret. Her worst one. He tells her that her family’s safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia – and must frame somebody else for her murder . . .
Just Another Missing Person is the fifth book by Gillian McAllister that I’ve read. They have all been excellent books, tense, tightly plotted and completely compelling reading. But this one surpasses them all.
Needless to say but I was totally gripped and baffled – how could Olivia just disappear from a dead-end alley without being seen coming back out? The investigating police officer is DCI Julia Day, a detective with a passion for solving things, piecing things together and helping people to get to the truth. But she has come up against what seems to be an impossible crime and to make matters worse she has her hands tied because she has a secret. And one person knows what she did and is threatening to reveal it unless she frames someone for Olivia’s disappearance.
It’s very readable and well written, with clearly defined and believable characters, and a complex plot with plenty of twists and turns. There are two major twists – the first one that shocked me and took me completely by surprise, whilst the second one, also surprising, I’d figured out but only just before it happened. The pace is quite slow to start off, but soon ratchets up as the tension rises. It really is a book that keeps you on your toes. You need to concentrate, paying close attention to details. It’s told mainly from Julia’s perspective with further insight from the other characters’ points of view.
Just Another Missing Person is simply excellent, written with assurance and with great insight into human nature. It is without doubt one of the best books I’ve read this year.
Many thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley.
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