ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister
Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister will be published by Michael Joseph on 3rd August in hardcover, ebook and audiobook. My thanks to the publishers for the proof copy.
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 . . .
What would you do?
A new Gillian McAllister book is always a cause of excitement and great anticipation for me and Just Another Missing Person was no exception. Right from the beginning I was thrust into the hows, wheres and whys of the story in the way that this author does so brilliantly. This is ostensibly a misper story but turn it on its head, spin it around and give it a shake about and then you might come closer to the kind of story that McAllister has weaved together.
How could a young woman enter a dead-end alley and never come out again? That question falls to DCI Julia Day to answer. Julia is a trustworthy detective, one of the good ones, but it only takes a family secret to change all that. Someone is using the secret to make Julia frame somebody for Olivia’s disappearance. All through the book I desperately wanted Julia to come out of it well and I had no idea if she would, but I knew that if anyone could make it happen it would be Gillian McAllister. Once again there are surprises in this plot that I didn’t see coming. This is an author that I can 100% rely on to deliver a book that is anything but formulaic.
Just Another Missing Person doesn’t just set out to provide that element of thriller surprise though. It’s also a beautifully written story of the bond between a parent and a child and just how far a parent will go to keep their child safe. This familial love is a theme that runs throughout and is ultimately the cause of each moral dilemma that occurs. This is another expertly plotted, twisty and completely compelling book from an author I love and who is at the top of her game.
Gillian McAllister is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of eight stand-alone novels. Her books have been selected for the Radio 2 Book Club, Reese’s Book Club, the Richard & Judy Book Club, and is published in thirty-six languages.
