"MISSING by E. A. Jackson is utterly gripping, intelligent, and haunting. Martha Allen is a superb (and very human) police protagonist, and 1990s London is rendered beautifully. For fans of Tana French and Emma Flint. A TRIUMPH."
Missing
A Novel
Description
“Utterly gripping, intelligent, and haunting....A TRIUMPH.” —Will Dean, award-winning author of Adrift
In this unputdownable crime thriller for fans of Tana French, a detective returns to a thirty-year-old case—an infamous disappearance in London—that has haunted her entire career and now may jeopardize her future.
In August 1990, London is suffering through an unprecedented heatwave when baby Bella Carpenter is snatched through the open window of her hotel room. Detective Inspector Martha Allen is assigned the high-profile case and, knowing that it could make or break her career, is determined to find Bella.
When a young woman named Nell Beatty walks into the police station with a baby who appears to be Bella, and whom Nell claims she found on a bench, it seems that the mystery is solved. Her family, the police, and the press are overjoyed at her return. But DI Allen isn’t convinced, something about Nell’s story doesn’t ring true. As much as she wants to continue, however, now that the baby is safe, she’s ordered to close the investigation.
Thirty years later, Nell Beatty is found dead. Now a superintendent, Allen has never really gotten over her doubts about the Carpenter case and can’t resist doing a little digging on her own time, eager to find out what happened to Nell, and her involvement in the baby’s disappearance all those years ago. But will her efforts uncover something darker than she could have ever imagined? And what is she risking as she tries once and for all to reveal the truth?
Reviews
“MISSING is a quietly gripping, deeply human procedural that lingers long after the last page. E.A. Jackson turns the steady, deliberate rhythm of real police work—the plod, as the veterans say—into something utterly compelling. What begins as the high-stakes urgency of a missing infant unfolds over decades into a haunting meditation on loss, love, and the weight of unanswered questions. A slow-burn, character-driven gem—perfect for fans of atmospheric British crime fiction.”
"A striking long-game detection narrative, MISSING grips from start to finish, with a shocking finale you'll never see coming. E. A. Jackson is a sharp storyteller with epic scope and stunning immersion, pulling us into DI Martha Allen's twisty investigation into a missing baby in the '90s, a haunting case that spans thirty years. MISSING is an emotionally textured yet tight novel about hard choices, illusive fixes, and the live-wire of a lie."
“A brilliant, pacy, gut-punch of a novel - DI Martha Allen should be your new crime-reading obsession!”
