Missing, Presumed
Susie Steiner
*This review is based on an advanced reading copy. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read the book in exchange for an honest review*
I've been on a kind of murder mystery/missing persons kick when it comes to books, and a lot have also been coming out recently so I figured this book would just be another version of something I've read before. I was wrong. This book is by no means a murder mystery or any type of 'thriller', it's much more character development and a story to tell about family values more than anything. I think the fact that I was going into this book thinking it was something it was not was the reason that I really didn't care for it, but if I hadn't known we were trying to find someone without that being the focus of the book, I may have enjoyed it a lot more. Don't let this discourage you from something you may enjoy reading, it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be and that kinda killed my expectations and thought process throughout the book.
I've been on a kind of murder mystery/missing persons kick when it comes to books, and a lot have also been coming out recently so I figured this book would just be another version of something I've read before. I was wrong. This book is by no means a murder mystery or any type of 'thriller', it's much more character development and a story to tell about family values more than anything. I think the fact that I was going into this book thinking it was something it was not was the reason that I really didn't care for it, but if I hadn't known we were trying to find someone without that being the focus of the book, I may have enjoyed it a lot more. Don't let this discourage you from something you may enjoy reading, it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be and that kinda killed my expectations and thought process throughout the book.
This was yet another multi-perspective book with mostly 3 main narrators although there are more than that. A Cambridge graduate student, Edith Hind has gone missing according to her super hot boyfriend. Miriam, her mother, is one of the narrators and is worried sick about where her daughter is and what might have happened to her. Their family is very wealthy which intimidates the police squad assigned to the case, including DS Manon Bradshaw (another main narrator) and her partner Davy (yet another main narrator)j. I don't know what it is about the whole 'let's include everyone in the book's perspective' lately, but I'm not really liking it. Certain books can get away with it, but this just wasn't one of them. The story could have been told by any one of them and been exceptional, but jumping back and forth just wasn't needed.
Manon is pretty cool, I guess. I think that she was the most developed character and we got to see the case from a cop's perspective while also learning about her private life aside from the job. She's not supposed to be perfect at all, and I like that. However, as this book was supposed to be mainly about a missing person case, I felt that her depressing love life didn't really add much to the plot.
I felt the same way about Davy's chapters, they just weren't needed. We could have heard the same things in a different way from Manon.
Miriam, on the other hand, I felt wasn't really developed at all. I couldn't understand the motives behind some of her actions or predict what she was thinking or feeling by her voice. Also, the way she reacted to something at the end of the book I thought wasn't realistic at all for a mother when presented with her position.
Honestly, the person I really connected with the most was Edith's best friend, Helena. She had a few chapters, but didn't play a huge role she felt like kind of an afterthought. Not to mention, she wasn't healthy mentally.
"She's always rehearsing, having imaginary conversations in her head that preempt real encounters"
I just felt like this is something I could relate to, and I liked this character more than the others because she had depth. Everyone else seemed one dimensional.
If you don't go into this book thinking it's about a missing person, but more about family and relationships as a lesson through a police investigation, it could be okay. I just wasn't into it.
I felt the same way about Davy's chapters, they just weren't needed. We could have heard the same things in a different way from Manon.
Miriam, on the other hand, I felt wasn't really developed at all. I couldn't understand the motives behind some of her actions or predict what she was thinking or feeling by her voice. Also, the way she reacted to something at the end of the book I thought wasn't realistic at all for a mother when presented with her position.
Honestly, the person I really connected with the most was Edith's best friend, Helena. She had a few chapters, but didn't play a huge role she felt like kind of an afterthought. Not to mention, she wasn't healthy mentally.
"She's always rehearsing, having imaginary conversations in her head that preempt real encounters"
I just felt like this is something I could relate to, and I liked this character more than the others because she had depth. Everyone else seemed one dimensional.
If you don't go into this book thinking it's about a missing person, but more about family and relationships as a lesson through a police investigation, it could be okay. I just wasn't into it.
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