Completely surprised! I started this book yesterday and stayed up until I finished it - I had to know what happened. Looking forward to more books in this series and watching how the main characters grow.

Yes, I place the book as my new favorite and tend to re-read it again. Let me say this first, -it's well written crime fiction, thankfully, there wasn't anything too explicit/ nothing gross - detailed explained - none of that style of writing, but I LOVED the book! Why? Because it was smooth, interesting, intriguing, I enjoyed both main detectives - Rachel and her co team pair - Brickall. They both made up a good team, each one of them having contrasting personalities, but they both shared similar analytical mind with different approaches to be used in practice. So it wasn't the team who always and always agree with each other - that one point as a start to why I enjoyed The Lying Kind.

So the book is about a detective, Rachel, dealing with a case which is handed to her from another team, the incident, well, the crime occur 5 months ago and she, together with her team pal is having "fresh eye" to what might have happened and continuing the investigation of a little girl being snapped from her bedroom while her mother has been sleeping. All leads to the little girl's dad who's also missing now, but something does not match up, although, it is very likely to be so, but first they must find him to find the girl...

The book's synopsis really tells it all, but it is much more than that, there are layers of interesting leads that is investigated through to get the agents somewhere, and how multiple layered case can be, how many dead ends and how bits by bits it is starting to make sense. Detective Rachel's personality is well build up, she tells a story and she matures through the time within the book, to deal with her own terrible past...Oo, that was completely unexpected and funny to imagine one in real life..

Excellent book. Brilliant story and I loved the main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

The Missing Child will have you guessing until the very end. Good thriller with lots of twists and turns.

This was a brilliant start to a great new series by Alison James (also a new author to me). She’s created a great detective who is leading a case looking into a crime committed a few months previously with no recent progress.
A little girl went missing from her own home whilst the parents were having a party without them realising that she had gone, initially. They look into the parents and what they might be hiding. The characters are really well drawn and interesting. When a murder and another missing child is reported they need to see if there is a connection and you are holding your breath wanting to know. It takes you in different directions and when I thought I might have guessed part of the storyline other threads come into play.
The detective is hiding secrets of her own and we wonder what we will discover about her past. There is definitely more to come in the next books in the series and I can’t wait to read more. I love finding a new thriller writer and look forward to adding her books to my tbr pile!

Well worth the read who has the means and the motive of taking little Lola jade from her home in the middle of the night. There are lots of twists and turns in this book which kept me hooked till the end. Looking forward to the next book

I read The Missing Child by Alison James in a couple of days. It’s one of those books where you just plan on reading a couple of chapters and the next thing you know a few hours have gone by.

I was totally immersed in the story and it was nice change that the main character worked for the National Crime Agency instead of the police as seems to be the norm these days. I though the lead character DI Rachel Prince was strong and had a good relationship with Brickall. The plot was pact evolved well. This is the first book on the DI Rachel Prince series and I’m really looking forward to book two.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

The Missing Child by Alison James Is the first in the Detective Inspector Rachel Prince and what a great first instalment it is.
Six-year-old Lola Jade harper is abducted from her bedroom and her mother Michelle thinks that it’s her estranged soon to be ex-husband Gavin who has taken her. With no apparent leads been found. DI Rachel Prince who is part of the Major Crime Investigation support team of the National Crime Agency is been brought in to lead the investigation with Detective Sargent Mark Brickall to find anything missed from the previous investigation. She is determined to find out the truth. Where is Lola Jane Harper?
With the parents going through a messy divorce and mother Michelle not acting like a grieving mother. It stands to reason why, the investigation ends up with a lot of red herrings and Rachel having to go back on old leads. A new case arrives when a single mother has been found dead one morning by her son, living in the same neighbourhood. Rachel thinks that the two investigations are linked in some way.
I really enjoyed Missing Child and I can’t wait to see what Alison James has instore for the next instalment of this series. I was gripped from the very first page of this story. I thought it was an excellent debut novel. I loved both the characters of Rachel Prince and Mark Brickall and the camaraderie between them. And how the author made the story of police work realistic. Not every case turns in a bed of roses.
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for an honest review.

A well written debut.
An enticing plot, with plenty of secrets, lies and betrayals to get you guessing to the end.
Good characterization of each individual.
Loved the relationship between DI Rachel Prince and D.C. Mark Brickall.
A brilliant start to the series.

Thank you netgalley, Bookouture and Alison James for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is a detective crime thriller that is the first in a series about female investigator Rachel Prince. Prince and her partner are brought into help with the case of a missing child, who vanished from her home in the middle of the night. Prince ends up having to go back to the beginning of the crime to figure out what's really going on and who in the child's family is actually telling the truth.

So to get all the good things out of the way first (because there was more negative points in this story for me than good ones), I really liked the mystery and the police work in this novel. I liked that it wasn't all action, action, action, but demonstrated that sometimes with these investigations what is needed is hours of desk work and research before there's criminal showdowns and car chases. There did seem to be some gaping holes that hadn't been covered by the police before Rachel stepped in but I do think overall, this book seemed to portray a more realistic version of what solving crimes is actually like on a day-to-day basis. Not everything can be figured out in a few weeks - sometimes it takes months!

And now for the bad parts. Which to be honest is literally everything to do with the main character Rachel Prince. She was horrible, really horrible. I didn't like her at all, and she certainly wouldn't have liked me because I'm a woman. genuinely, this character appeared to hate women which really, really annoyed me. She has very few interactions with other female characters that aren't negative in some way.

On a side-note, in the first two pages we get the 'character looking at themselves in the mirror and describing what they see in a self-critical way' so we know what they look like which honestly I think i a lazy way to describe a character. She also 'clumsy' but trips up once.

From the get go, I didn't like how Rachel eyed up Lola Jade's mom. I honestly didn't see how noting what she looked like had anything to do with the crime. Who cares if she had bronzed skin, "collagen-pumped" lips and freshly blow-dried hair. It reminded me of how the mother in Little Deaths by Emma Flint was treated - with a lot of sexism and criticism of her looked-after appearance - but that book was set in the 1960s and all the detectives were misogynistic men, where in this one Prince is female so it's disappointing that she treated the mother in such a way.

Rachel also doesn't have any female friends, and in a conversation with her partner explains this being caused by her not being a "girly girl" growing up. She was bullied by other girls when young but I don't think this counts as an excuse for an almost 40-year-old woman to not have one female friend. You don't need to be a 'girly girl" to have a female friend. She shows disdain for almost every woman she meets in the book, except for those in her own profession. She immediately has a rivalry with her personal trainer's wife (who she lately sleeps with even though she knows he's married), and she doesn't have one good word to say about her sister and vice versa which honestly again is just disappointing for a book written about a female author about a female character in a male-driven workforce. She also shows huge contempt when she goes on a girls night with people she doesn't even like because they talk about their home lives and husbands which isn't something unusual considering they are a group of middle-aged women.

Many of the strapping men in the book all have flirtatious relationships with Rachel, which is such a huge contrast with the majority of female characters. She sleeps with her trainer, has a flirty but not handsy relationship with her partner (and also defends him when he's done for stalking, goes to the woman's work to tell her to pull the complaint and the women does so without one word of defiance, what?), a very flirty thing with the guy in charge of the children's cases in the police, and then obviously sleeps with her married trainer.

One thing as well which made zero sense to me was how fine her ex-husband was with her. She literally ran away from him 17 years previously without one word, never spoke to him again, runs away from him again when he comes to try and divorce her, and he speaks super jovially and happily with her when they actually meet. He doesn't show any frustration with her actions, which was totally unrealistic in my opinion as we never even got a reason to why she acted like that in the first place, and then he also helps her with something in the case AND invites her to his wedding at the end of the book? Seriously, wtf?

So the conclusion is, the crime itself was good, the main character was not and I'll most likely be avoiding the next book in this series.

What makes a winner in my book? One way I can tell is when life intervenes - like fixing dinner or putting laundry in the machine - I'll do whatever it takes to keep on reading, if only for a few more minutes. That certainly happened here. If you don't believe me, just ask my husband, who's rather hungry by now (on second thought, don't; my "Just one more chapter, hon" defense is starting to wear thin).

Not only is the book very well written, but it's reminiscent of another of my favorite series: J.D. Robb's "Death" series that features life-scarred Lt. Eve Dallas and her hunky Irish husband Roarke (the latter near the top of my all-time list of favorite book "heroes," BTW). Here, it's the debut of Detective Rachel Prince, with a hint of romance-to-be from another Irish hunk she works with on occasion from a neighboring law enforcement agency in England.

Rachel may not be as emotionally damaged as Eve, but she's every bit as irascible and dedicated to her job. She bristles when things don't go her way, banters with her partner Mark Brickell and fights on through injuries that would put me in a hospital for months. Here adventure begins with the disappearance of Lola Jade Harper, a 6-year-old whose mother insists was abducted by the girl's father (from whom she's estranged). Although he strongly denies any involvement, the belief that he's the culprit intensifies when he suddenly disappears.

As the investigation continues, though, Rachel's nose keeps twitching; clues just aren't adding up right. Then, a local woman with possible ties to the abduction is murdered - followed by the abduction of another young girl. In between, subplots of a drug ring investigation, career-threatening actions by Rachel's partner and the dogged appearance of a person of interest from Rachel's past are interspersed, adding to the interest.

As a devout champion of women's rights, I admit I was less than happy with Rachel's handling of the issue related to her partner's possible job loss. But that doesn't change my love of the book as a whole - nor my eagerness to read more in this series. Reportedly, next up is "Unlucky Ones" - and I'm hoping to see it soon!

4.5 stars, rounded up
This book proves how important a good beginning is. It quickly drew me in and kept me invested. DI Rachel Prince is part of the Major Crime Investigative Support team of the National Crime Agency. She’s on the far side of her 30s, single, with a bit of a snarky attitude. I loved her immediately. And I loved her DS, Mark Brickall, even more. “She didn’t correct his insubordinate tone; she would never hear the end of it if she did. It would never end. Instead, like the parent of a recalcitrant toddler, she picked her battles and only pulled rank when it was strictly necessary.” James intersperses enough of their personal lives to make the characters seem real.

This isn’t an action packed book. There’s more of the hard everyday police work- interviews over and over again, searches, stakeouts. You reach the 60% point before there’s a second murder. But don’t get me wrong. James keeps up a good level of suspense. Lots of false starts and blind alleys. At one point, Prince aptly compares the case to a maze. You get the feel this is how real police work goes. You have your suspicions, but how will it all come together?

I thoroughly enjoyed this and will definitely be checking out book two in the series.

My thanks to netgalley and bookouture for an advance copy of this book.

It is every parent's nightmare, your child goes missing from the one place they should be safe, home. But is all that it seems in this case and what will happen when The National Crime Agency get involved? The Missing Child is a tense journey into the investigation of missing Lola Jade Harper.

Oh, what a tangled and strange cast of characters, a whole bunch of unreliable narrators all playing with your mind and in the midst of it all a missing child. We have secrets, betrayals and lies in this brilliantly plotted police procedural. It does start off slowly but the pace picks up and the twists and turns left me reeling.

Lola's mother, Michelle Harper, is a strange kettle of fish, something very controlled and disturbing about this woman and she had my nerves set on edge from the outset; her family and friends were not much better and I just did not know who to believe as the story played out before me!



And what secrets is DI Rachel Prince hiding up her sleeve? Mysterious calls and texts seem to set her on edge as she begins her investigation into the missing child. It was kind of hard to warm to her and I could sense the barriers she had built up around herself as I read. I think this is the effect that the author was going for, a character who doesn't reveal all from the outset, one whom we want to invest time in getting to know and I look forward to seeing her layers unpeel as the series develops.

I did really like DS Mark Brickall, strangely enough, his down to earth and sometimes very non-pc approach engaged me immediately and he has Rachel's back every step of the way. This is a partnership with a whole lot of mileage in it!

I found a couple of very loose similarities to real-life cases, think Madeleine McCann and Shannon Mathews, and for me, this gave the book that extra little bit of frisson, it was hard not to get caught up in the drama surrounding her disappearance. this combined with highly relevant and topical mention of social media and trolling gave it a realism that I look for in a read.

Slower paced to start with but a with a rising tension #TheMissingChild  was a nail biting and twisted plot that fed little snippets making me think I had guessed it then throwing me back up in the air again, I read the last few chapters so fast as I was dying to see what happened indeed that fast I had to go back and re-read them. I'm looking forward to seeing where Alison James takes us next with this series.
Review will be posted on blog chapterinmylife as part of the blog tour

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the Publisher, Bookouture, for this copy given in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Kim from Bookouture for organising the blog tour!

My first book by this author, and upon checking realised it was the first book written by this author! It is also the first book in the Detective Rachel Prince series. For information, this book is set in the UK, mainly around London and its surrounding areas.

Six year old Lola Jade Harper is taken from her bedroom during the night. Her mother is convinced her estranged husband and Lola’s father, Gavin has taken her. Five months later, and there is still no sign of what happened to the girl. The case is being run by the National Crime Agency with Detective Inspector Rachel Prince in charge. She and her partner, DS Mark Brickall are coming up with no new clues and Rachel is forced to go to Portugal to see if she can find the missing father. As the case goes on, they begin to find that all is not as it seems in the Harper family and begin to uncover more secrets and lies. Can Rachel and her team find Lola Jane and unravel the web of deceit?

I enjoyed this book. I have to admit, it did take me a while to get into the story, but once I did I could not put it down. Rachel’s character is an interesting one! Only relatively young (in her 30’s I’m guessing) she’s obviously risen her way through the ranks well to reach the post of Detective Inspector. Whilst there is no doubting her ability at work, her personal life seems to be a bit of a mess. Separated from her husband for the last 15 years, she’s still single but seems to like playing a dangerous game with a married man. Her relationship with DS Mark Brickall is an interesting one also as it feels like there should be much more going on between them – perhaps in future books there may be!

The story, for me, starts of slowly, but builds pace quickly as the story goes on. It takes you from the UK to Portugal to try and track the missing girl, and this is when the action starts to pick up. There are lots of red herrings throughout the book leading you off on the wrong paths, but you don’t actually get to find out what is going on until near enough the end. The twist at the end wasn’t totally unexpected, but the story to get to it and the ending was great!

DI Prince is professionally smart and concentrated but personally selfish and unguarded. I think you’ve got to either love her or hate her. Thankfully, I loved her and look forward to future books to continue her story. DS Brickall also adds a well-deserved humorous undertone to the story (why can’t I eat junk food and not put on weight!).

For a first novel, a very much enjoyed story, well thought out and with plenty of interest to keep me going to the very last page. Definitely well recommended and can’t wait for the next one!

Oh my goodness I love Detective Rachel Prince.... what a great character! She cares about her cases and the people around her. She has secrets and desires that make her a very believable character.

Rachel and her partner are brought in to help find young Lola Jade Harper who has gone missing. They find that all is necessarily as it seems and despite her running injuries will stop at nothing to find Lola.

I can't wait to see how this series and character develops. I hope book 2 is not too far away!!

Thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for a copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest opinions. I highly recommend this book to fans of police proceduals and great stories with twists that you won't see coming

This was unfortunately one of those novels that despite some pretty interesting twists and turns, just ends up taking too long to get there. I think this author definitely has potential, and there were times when I was thoroughly engrossed in this story, but for the most part I found it entirely too easy to put down and walk away from.

And while part of that is definitely the fact that is very much is a classic "police" story in that there is very little action per-say, but when things break - all hell breaks loose. There are so many twists and turns that I feel as though it would have been a least a solid four stars if not more if there were just a couple of changes.

Let's start with the two main "police" leads. Rachel makes it very hard to like her. She apparently made a bad choice when she was younger, and instead of dealing with the consequences she continues to avoid them, acting like a spoiled child instead of the woman she supposedly is. She continues to act as though she feels she is "better" than everyone else, whether she is referring to her own family, or simply trying to explain why she doesn't like "girls nights", instead of coming across as complex, she comes across like a snob. And don't even get me started on the fact that she made very inappropriate advances towards a married man.

If we take a step back from Rachel, we are left with her partner Brickhall, and well. It's very hard to like, or even have any sympathy for someone who not only uses a police database to "find" someone's home address so they can casually "run into them", but who also "copies" said person's phone number from court files to contact them in direct violation of their duty. But then to have them be surprised and dare I say angry, when the object of their "affections" gets upset and files a complaint against them? It was a ridiculous story-line that did nothing to endear the reader to the characters, nor did it really do much for the overall main plot.

As to the overall plot. It was interesting if a bit on the unbelievable side. It actually kind of showed police in somewhat of a negative light. It was nearly unfathomable how no one had figured it out before Rachel and company got on the case.

Even considering all of that, I still believe this story may appeal to those who enjoy police procedural/whodunit novels. I would read more from this author to see how she grows from here.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

The case of the abducted six-year-old Lola Jade Harper was some months old when Detective Inspector Rachel Prince and her team were called in to put fresh eyes and an investigative mind onto the case. Re-interviewing the child’s mother, Michelle Harper, and her soon-to-be ex-husband Gavin, Rachel could feel vibes telling her that something was off in the whole case. Then when Gavin Harper disappeared, the immediate thought was that Lola Jade must be with him. But was she?

As Rachel uncovered lies and buried secrets, she could feel herself getting closer to the answers. But then she would hit a brick wall. Frustrated, she didn’t need the extra complication of someone from her long ago past appearing on her doorstep – as well as her partner being in trouble for something he had done which was not quite on the right side of the law.

Another child disappeared – a young woman was murdered – were these all connected? Rachel was desperate to find answers before it was too late.

The Missing Child by Alison James is the first in the Detective Rachel Prince series and what a brilliant start! A tense, gritty and highly suspenseful thriller, I was enthralled from the very first page – and will definitely be looking for #2 when it arrives! The plot twists, the well-formed characters – all makes The Missing Child one I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my digital copy to read and review.

Headstrong, sassy, and determined Rachel Prince is my new favorite detective.

A case of missing six-year-old Lola Jade Harper comes across Rachel's desk. Upon visiting Michelle Harper, child's mother, detective and her sidekick sense something odd about her. Michelle does not sound nor act like a greaving mother, and strangely enough, she does not seem to be eager to help detectives locate her missing child. However, Michelle does not waste any time and blames her soon to be ex-husband Gavin Harper in Lola's abduction.

Rachel starts to work closely with local police office. Every day new details come to detective Prince's attention. For example, Harper family had a boy before Lola's birth. The boy lived only four months and was never mentioned, nor there were any remindings of him at the family home. Harper residence has three bedrooms and not two as was described by Michelle. And other very intriguing detail - why are there three kids at Michelle's sister house, when Lisa has only a boy and a girl?

While Rachel is working her magic on resolving this very deceitful case, the local police department gets a brand new case. A single mother of a boy is smothered inside her home... which locates in the same neighborhood as Lisa's house. Coincidence? Nothing can get away from detective Rachel Prince sharp eye.

A thrilling and fascinating page-turner. I am looking forward to reading more of Detective Prince books.

A spectacular start to a new series, Rachel Prince is a great character. Fantastic storyline with a satisfying conclusion, looking forward to book two.