I knew nothing of these cases before I read the book. I have always been interested in true crime and like to find cases that are not as well known as others. This is the first book I have read by Dick Kirby and I really enjoyed his writing style as he talked about the cases. I will look for more of his books in future.

Oh my goodness, this book was fabulous!!

Dive into some of the cases, those that were solved without a body. While much of the evidence could be circumstantial, there was enough to build some compelling cases.

If you enjoy true crime, then you need to read this book! I could not put it down once I started, and it was one of those "turn the page faster, I need more" reads.

I am a true crime fan but just couldn't get into this and unfortunately it wasn't for me. I did try 3 times but sorry I gave up.

Some perpetrators have mistakenly believed that if the body of the victim(s) was never found, then they couldn't be tried & found guilty of murder - fortunately this is untrue. A small collection of historic cases are examined here, including the infamous Acid Bath Murderer, John George Haigh, who dissolved the bodies of his victims in acid, & James Camb, a cabin steward who was convicted of murdering Gay Gibson, a glamorous actress, onboard ship & disposing of her body out of the cabin porthole. These cases were actually much more interesting than the one which took up the majority of the book, the kidnapping & murder of Muriel McKay, in what seems to have been a tragic case of mistaken identity.

The author is a former Scotland Yard detective who casts his eye over the cases & what went awry in some of the investigations. The tone of the writing is quite forthright with an occasional burst of colourful language, & the author is definitely a man of his time in some aspects. Reading this has definitely prompted me to look up some of the cases mentioned.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Pen & Sword, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a true-crime writer myself, so I was anxious to read this one. Well researched, and well presented, although I personally thought the narrative could flow better. Still, a recommended read for lovers of true crime.

Missing Presumed Murdered is a collection of gruesome murder cases. We read about the case of Muriel McKay who was kidnapped in 1969, and was believed to have been fed to pigs. We document the case of a business partner of a Polish immigrant. We read about the case of Jame Camb who murdered an actress and fed her to sharks. We also read about a gay man's wife who was murdered and dismembered when she threatened to expose him. This book sheds a light to the darkness that can be found in this world, and sheds a light on the monsters that commit these horrendous crimes.

Firstly, thank you to Pen and Sword for granting my wish and letting me access this book past its archive date on Netgalley. I was very excited to read a novel about UK crime history. Missing, Presumed Murdered is about historical police investigations into missing person cases that resulted in murder convictions, despite never discovering a body.

Initially I was put off by the writing style of the author but soon realised it was quite similar to listening to a podcast rather than reading a book and so continued. I'm aware from other reviews that not many managed to continue because of the conversational nature of the text. Dick Kirby makes his personal opinions well known throughout the book and this may put off many readers, there homophobic references for example, with no self-awareness from the author that this may not be acceptable in today's society.

The cases themselves, I initially enjoyed learning about them because they were interesting and varied. Following the police in finding evidence to make a case of murder without a corpse was something I'd not personally read about before. However the second half of the book was dedicated to one case and one I quickly lost interest in. This last case was mostly dedicated to talking about the policemen themselves and how they had got involved. I would have personally preferred less focus on the single case and instead inclusion of more modern cases as I know there have been plenty of interesting ones since.

Anyone who knows me will know I am a huge true crime fan, so this book was right up my street!

Unfortunately, I didn't love it. I found the first few cases interesting, although many happened a very long time ago, but I lost my way with it a bit when we came to the last case which was covered extensively over a number of chapters. I don't feel that it read well, seeming more like a step by step account in a report, rather than written for the readers of this type of book.

While I still read to the end, it was merely to find out the outcome of the case, rather than because I was enjoying the read.

I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While this book contains many interesting true crime cases, while Kirby gives great detail of these cases, his writing is dry, unengaging and doesn't flow well, it reads like a crime report, not a true crime book. A large portion of this book is focused on the case of the murder of Muriel McKay.

I found this book quite an interesting read. The McKay case took place right around the time I was born, and since I started reading True Crime, I really haven't found anything on this particular case so I was really happy to read this book.

I received an ARC, of Missing Presumed Murdered, by Dick Kirby. This is a well written book about a morose subject. People who have gone missing and are presumed to be murdered, and who murdered them. The depravity of some individuals. People really are crazy, and will kill for good reason.

This was such an interesting read, I have a morbid fascination with true crime and so forth and this included a lot of cases that I hadnt read or heard of before. I really enjoyed it.

I just didn’t love this one.

Dick Kirby was once a detective at Scotland Yard, and he brings stories from his days (and other people’s) to tell about murder cases when there is literally no body for evidence.

The cases are very interesting, and Kirby’s writing decent. I think my turn-off towards the book was his rant in the beginning against CPS- which he calls “Couldn’t Prosecute Satan”- and Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 without explaining his extreme distaste for either. He even complains that detectives do not detect. Kirby knows quite a lot more than I on this subject, but I felt a bit wary of the rest of his book.

There are lots of interesting true murder stories here, revolving around there being no body. Some I had read about in Kirby’s other books, but there were also those that were new to me. Some are from centuries ago in the UK, while others are more contemporary, yet all are creepy for the most part. Good compilation by Dick Kirby. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Missing Presumed Murdered by Dick Kirby, is a compilation of true crime cases reported throughout history in which the common denominator (obviously by book's title), is a case in which case a murder has happened, or presumably happened, though there has been no body found. (None of the cases involve a false presumption in which a person was later to be found alive.)

The book has an interesting and eye-catching cover. (It was one reason I really wanted to read it!) Great cover.

Unfortunately, I found it extremely hard to keep interest in the book contents. The cases presented were not extremely intriguing. The author wasn't telling informational stories that would inspire emotion(s) from the reader. The writing was one-note, in that it was very dull prose, a recounting of notes, or facts. Frankly the book read like a newspaper or a court report.

2 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was hoping to read interesting and exciting true crime stories. Instead, I got dry case reports that were completely uninteresting to me. The crimes themselves could probably be interesting, but not in this form. I even gave up the book at 20%, I didn’t want to torment myself with further reading. In my opinion, it would have been better if the writer had processed fewer cases and had the help of a professional editor.

I loved reading this if a little gruesome at times. Anything true crime, who done it, missing person documentary etc I find fascinating so I was so pleased to get my hands on this fabulous book! Top marks from me. Dick Kirby, former Scotland Yard detective turned best-selling crime writer has ‘unearthed’ a fascinating collection of disappearances such as the dismemberment of a gay man’s wife who had threatened to expose him in the 1950s. Later, when a woman’s head was discovered near his home, he confessed only to find that it dated from Roman times. These and numerous other cases make Missing, Presumed Murdered a riveting, if grisly, read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me.
I tried really hard to get the feel of this but It just couldn't grab me.

It reads like a police report.
To me it didn't flow very well, that the author gets a little side tracked with information not relevant to the case.

It was a dnf for me, so I'm unsure if the cases become more current and well known.

I am truly sorry, I was looking forward to this book.

I really wanted to like this book, I enjoy the genre and I could see there were some new cases in this that I was not aware of. I didn't really like the way that the author wrote and his constant personal opinion. I also felt that some of the cases where rushed over and others were painfully detailed. I think that this would be a good book but needs some editing. It is worth a read, but do not have too many expectations.

An interesting true crime read. The stories will hold your interest and keep your attention.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.