Member Reviews
Acting DI Lucas Black and DC Beth Winter are tasked with solving the disappearance on 17 year old Alice Teale.
Alice a popular well-liked teenager walked out of school on one bright spring day and was never seen again.
When the investigations begins its clear to see that not everything is as it seems and everyone has secrets.
I loved the relationships between Black and Winter and the extracts of Alice's diary really added to the story.
An addictive read that I couldn't put down full of suspense, please say there's more on the way!
This is one of the most addictive books that I have read. I just couldn’t put it down.
The characters were engaging. The plot was intriguing and unpredictable.
Hoping for a follow on book
In a word, loved it. We get a real sense of tension creeping in the longer Alice is missing. Has she ran away from someone or something? Interesting dynamic between our two main police officers, with enough intrigue as to what they are or aren't telling us so as to be a mystery within a mystery. Overall a very well crafted thriller that'll keep you turning the pages right till the very end.
I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. Great characters and a great plot line. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
A good read with a well developed plot although in my opinion it wasn't a page turner of an edge of seater!
Not sure I would read more from this author as it did take me a while to get into the story line.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books (Michael Joseph) for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
An entertaining and well-plotted police procedural set in the post-industrial North East, which makes a refreshing change from the current, seemingly endless, trend for domestic noir and psychological thrillers. Hopefully Alice Teale Is Missing will be the first in a series, and will appeal to fans of Stephen Booth and Ann Cleeves.
A well-written and enjoyable detective story although with some aspects of a familiar theme - child abuse. Unpleasant but not too graphic. A teenager goes missing after leaving school late one evening. The two main detectives put on this case - Lucas Black, somewhat ostracised following a previous case which went horribly wrong, and Beth Winter, straight from police college - are characters each with their own traumatic history and find it difficult to work together at first. Of course they gradually come round to acknowledging each other's strengths, he loosens up and she learns, and are starting to form a strong team by the time this story ends. The story involves trying to elicit the truth from teenagers, teachers, parents as to what happened to the missing girl of the title with plenty of twists and turns. Interwoven with the interviews and paper chasing there are pages from Alice's missing diary which keep turning up on Lucas' desk as clues. It is probably blindingly obvious but I'm still not sure who was sending these! Set in a run-down former mining town in the North East of England the descriptions have a strong sense of place and either the author knows the area well or has done some thorough research. The ending: whilst it's clear who the perpetrators were, proof versus a skilled lawyer, and people in high places, don't always play ball as our two protagonists discover but this leaves the way open for more stories. I look forward to these. .Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Damn this was such a good book it was so addictive I just couldn’t put it down and flew through it mainly as I ignored other things I should do and just made time to read !!
I think what made this book stand apart from other police procedurals was the brilliant combination of the two main characters of Beth Winter and Lucas Black and well what can I say we surely need to see more of these two in future books because what a dream team they are, so well written making them both feel very “real.”
So Alice Teale is missing and this begins a story that is full of suspense, twists and wow some strange and secretive people with all of them seeming to have one heck of a lot to hide and I was gripped right from the start. The book progresses at a fair old pace getting more and more interesting and with a very satisfying conclusion making it a very enjoyable read.
So for me this is a definite 5 star novel and I can highly recommend it and let’s keep our fingers crossed to hear more from Black and Winter from the fabulous pen or fingers of Howard Linskey.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK-Michael Joseph for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Alice Teale Is Missing is definitely one of THE most addictive novels I’ve read this year – a read in record time for me I did not want to put it down.
For a start the police team of Black and Winter (who should definitely have their own tv show) were brilliantly engaging- a new relationship for them and for us – then add to that a really intriguing and unpredictable mystery for them to solve and you have a pitch perfect crime read.
The diary entries from the missing girl add a lot of flavour to proceedings as well as throwing up some little twists and turns. The suspect pool is cleverly layered so you really are not sure what’s going on and the ultimate resolution is emotionally charged.
Really thought this was excellent. Great set up for future stories too I will look forward to that with anticipation.
Recommended.
While Linskey writes fluently, the plot and premise of this book is very familiar: a teenager disappears prompting the uncovering of secrets and lies in a small town. With two detectives with their own emotional vulnerabilities forging a new partnership, plus lots of red herrings we don't make much progress for some time - and the on-trend denouement is pretty predictable. The slick writing compensates for the over-familiarity of the story - but if you're looking for originality and read regularly in the genre, this may feel very similar to lots of other books out there.
I read Alice Teale is missing in four hours, I was unable to put it down! I loved the North East setting and the gritty characters. Although it has a dark storyline it’s execution is fantastic and I highly recommend adding this to your reading list!
Penguin books always publishes the best books so really happy I got to read this. Thank you! :)