I expected another twisty thriller and I wasn't disappointed. A case about a missing woman turns into something much larger and all the threads of each character came together to create an amazing ending; I was hooked!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Another absolutely fabulous book by Gillian McAllister!
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it!

Just another missing person is a novel full of turns and twists
So much is happening and once everything connects, it just stuns you! Highly recommend!

When you know you have work in the morning but your Kindle says only 38 minutes left in book, and you have already decided to read it to the end even though it's midnight, you know that it's a good book! That and when you gasp out loud at a reveal point, which in turn wakes up your sleeping husband....

Fortunately he has forgiven me, and I also feel fortunate to have been given an advance read of Gillian McAllister's latest novel.

The book follows Julia, a DCI with an impeccable track record and who upholds the very best in policing with dignity, honesty and dedication to the job. She is tasked with finding a high profile missing person.

But all is not what it seems in this compelling thriller, and it makes us question just how far we would go to protect the ones we love, and whether anyone is truly uncorruptable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, it gripped me from the start and I would recommend it to anyone, you are in for a treat! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The queen of the plot twist is back and has done it again, but this time the plot twist is a real jaw dropper!
It’s hard to review this book without giving anything away. The book blurb has said said as much as it can really with no spoilers.
What I can say though is how clever and great the entire book honestly is.
Don’t let the title mislead you, yes it is about a missing young woman who suddenly disappears, but it is also so much more than that!
I loved the characters and how they are all so well fleshed out and have their own stories. The lead protagonist, DCI Julia Day, is someone you can’t help but feel fully invested in her story, but for me, my favourite character was Julia’s daughter, Genevieve.
She stole the limelight every time she pops up in the story. Maybe because she reminds me quite a lot of how my daughter was at that age, sharp as a whip at times!
The search for the missing person, Olivia, ramps up the tension as Julia and her favourite detective, Jonathan, head up the case in the Major Crimes Unit. Working around the clock to find her and work out how she just vanished from a dead end alleyway.
Things just keep getting worse for Julia as she gets blackmailed by a stranger, to either plant damming evidence into Olivia’s room or he will go to the police himself and tell everyone the dark secret Julia has been hiding to protect Genevieve, placing her in a moral dilemma. Protect her daughter or becomes something she despises, a corrupt police officer and frame a potentially innocent person.
Brimming with tension, secrets, lies and plot twists this is pretty much going to be a huge bestseller!

Very different from her previous book, but with the same strong, writing and devious plotting. Writing a crime book is difficult. Not only do all of the ends have to be tied off, but there has to be enough of a shock to keep the pace fast so the reader keeps flipping through the pages. This has all of that and more. I particularly liked the relationship between Julia and her teenage daughter, which was uncannily true to life. Overall, I think I preferred it to Wrong Place Wrong Time simply because it didn’t rely on the bells and whistles that come with a highly unusual premise, just expertise.

I love Gillian McAllister's books, and this one was no exception; I couldn't bear to put it down. A satisfyingly twisty story, with well-drawn characters, this is a must-read for her fans, and a great introduction to an excellent author. I will definitely be recommending this book.

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

Wow , love this author and this book has to be up there with the best.
Full of twists and suspense that one minute you think you have it sussed and then you realise you have gone down the wrong path. Gillian is a master storyteller. Loved it.

Gillian McAllister knocks it out of the park once again with this incredible police procedural! The main character is is stuck between a rock and a hard place when she is forced to decide between her professional integrity and the safety of her family. Highly recommend this book!

For some reason it won’t link to my Goodreads account. Another excellent story. Have spent all day binging it!

This is a brilliant and fast-paced read! I was engrossed from the very first page and found all three narrators - Julia, Lewis and Emma - equally compelling. Each of them has a unique voice which added to the novel’s authenticity. The twists are incredibly clever and I couldn’t put this book down. It’s a totally absorbing plot with likeable characters. I was completely drawn into dedicated police officer Julia’s predicament and loved all the subtle clues from the beginning that something bad had happened that had changed her life forever... and someone else knew about it and was going to use it to get what they wanted. I don’t want to give too much away! It’s an excellent thriller. I loved it. Enjoy!

"Lonely, alone, in solitude. Whatever you call it, Julia is an Island. Somebody who has now done unspeakable, awful things that no one knows about. Suddenly, for the first time, she understands the desire some criminals have to confess. To end the uncertainty, and be punished."

This is definitely not just another missing person story — a darkly compelling and twisty story where the most dangerous weapons are secrets and lies.

The first part of the book was a very slow, introducing some dramatic scenes but then working through them one by one quietly, as it pieces together who our characters are, building detailed ideas of who they are and really getting into their heads— but as we turn the page into the second half it’s an electrifying, fast-paced thriller that starts throwing so many twists it feels like running through a maze. Every little story connects in the most unexpected ways to create a convoluted tapestry, layers of lies and betrayals and misdirection.

What’s curious about this story is it feels like we’re almost given all of Julia’s secrets , or at least a big clue about them right at the start — leaving us waiting anxiously to fill in the gaps and wonder how much worse it could possibly be?

Julia was a complex and intriguing narrator — we know something in her past, that she has dark secrets hidden in a forgotten corner, but she’s so sweet and genuine, a kind soul with deep empathy and a strong sense of morals and justice. The kind of detective you’d want in the police force, who isn’t tempted to abuse power or force. And that contradiction of these two sides of her makes it dizzying. She navigates corruption, family, guilt and fear in such an evocative way.

We hear from other people — the forgotten faces of missing persons cases like parents and friends , suspects and neighbours, showing us the other side. And then there’s Olivia — who we almost get to know before we even have any idea what happened to her as we explore her digital footprints, messages, tweets, in this modern investigation into her life and disappearance.

A complex police procedural with a cinematic, thrilling edge and the kind of twists that left my head spinning.

Gillian McAllister is one of my go to authors and I've really enjoyed all of her novels. Her previous novel was one of my favourite novels of last year which did mean that Just Another Missing Person had a lot to live up to.
Julia, a police officer is investigating the disappearance of a young woman, Olivia and the case has similarities to the disappearance of another young woman, Sadie. The novel is told from the perspectives of Julia, Lewis, the father of one of the missing women and Emma, the mother of a suspect in the case.
I love the way the author writes and this was another compelling read that really takes the reader inside the heads of the characters. Julia is a complex character and I did change my mind about her throughout the novel.
There is a major twist that I did not see coming and this made me gasp out loud. It's an extremely clever twist but I did feel that some parts of the plot became a little awkward in order to force them into this plot twist. Despite this, it's another excellent thriller from the author that I could not put down. Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

‘Just Another Missing Person’ has to be Gillian McAllister’s most engrossing thriller to date! Not only is she able to give us a wholly credible detective in DCI Julia Day, complete with difficult (to put it mildly!) family situation, but she also plots the narrative so carefully that the central twist is both wholly unexpected and totally plausible.
When Olivia disappears shortly after moving into a shared house in Portishead, DCI Day is assigned the case. She is determined to find her, not least because her team failed to find Sadie, another girl missing in Portishead the previous year. But why have two such similar girls disappeared within such a short space of time? Is their abductor living close by? Whilst one may have to consciously suspend one’s disbelief about some details as the story draws to a close, nevertheless, they do make for a very satisfying conclusion!
Whilst this can certainly be defined as a crime novel, McAllister also poses important moral questions about the parent/child bond. Is it always right to do everything possible to shelter and protect? Just how well do the different generations understand each other? Can one ever recover from the disappearance of a loved one? As the final sentence of the novel suggests, people often end up ‘having done the wrong thing, but the right thing, once again, once more.’ This could well be a very popular book club choice, given the moral debate at the heart of the novel.
My thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This book is written by the author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time...my absolute favourite book of last year...5 stars, all the stars! So I'm going to say, I went into this one expecting all the stars, and perhaps I set myself up for some unrealistic expectations, because this is a totally different premise....different characters.

I enjoyed the premise of this book and like Wrong Place Wrong Time, we deal with the theme of parenthood, and what a parent wouldn't do for their child. Just another missing person has quite a few complex parent/child relationships and I enjoyed exploring those.

I enjoyed the writing, although I did find the pace to be a bit on the slower side...then we finished part 1, at which point I thought I had this book figured out, and I really didn't 😂 Gillian got me there because there were a few surprising moments....she does those surprises soooo well! After part 1, the pace picks up and then 2/3rds in, I felt the pace drop again. Then it picked up. Like a see saw...so I struggled a bit to stay engaged in the slower parts.

The writing was good, some good plot twists....the thing I battled with, and this could totally be on me, because not everything has to be gory and crazy, but I didn't find whatever was supposed to be sinister and thrilling, to be that sinister or thrilling. I didn't care enough about the crime/crimes and the lengths people went to for the crime....if that makes sense? I think that the plot they alluded to would have been more exciting for me.

The big reveal close to the end was actually surprising for me, and I do love that about Gillian's books, and even this one, nothing you guess is right......so this was still a pretty good and interesting read.

Without a doubt one of my favourite authors and this book did not disappoint me in any way. It was tense and fast paced and I loved the story of a missing person. Gillian is so intelligent in her writing and I often wonder if I will be clever enough but she always delivers with the unexpected twists and turns. Told from several different points of view which I loved and it keeps you questioning who is telling the truth.
Well done, another absolute belter!

This was absolutely brilliant. I think it's her best ever. A complex plot but everything worked. Looking forward to her next book.

After reading so many good reviews of Gillian McAllister's previous novels, her books have been on my TBR list for a while so I was super excited when I had the chance to dive in to her new release.

I was hooked on this from the very first page. I love the writing style, I love how fast paced it is and I love the shocking twists. I raced through this book in one sitting.

The characters are written seamlessly and they really jump off the pages. All of my initial thoughts on what happened to Olivia were completely thrown off kilter during the second half which I loved and I really had to think hard to figure out what was going on. The way McAllister writes is extremely clever to keep you guessing and constantly turn your theories upside down.

A must-read for any thriller lover. Absolutely mind-bending.

Blurb —-

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? #mythoughts. This is a solid novel from a queen of crime . I enjoyed the beginning of the novel where the ‘stage’ is set for Julia to hear a team to find Olivia who is missing . There are many interesting characters including the relationship between Julia and her informant Price. The concluding part of the novel was the twists and turns as the mystery begins to unravel . A great read and one which you can all enjoy on the 3 august 2023 pre order you know you want to 👏👏👏

As usual in my reviews, I won't rehash the plot (plenty of other reviews like that out there already!).

Enjoyed reading this. The plot is very well conceived, and has a couple of subplots - plus several twists to throw you off the trail. The characters are well written - as usual with Gillian's characters. I found myself feeling annoyed with the main character (Julia) but at the same time understanding her motivations.

I literally could not put this down - staying up until 4am to finish it (I did not realise the time as I was so engrossed in the book!).

Can't wait to read more by this talented author!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.