22year old Olivia is reported missing by her new flat mates. She us last spoted on cctv in an alleyway that is a deadend. So begins a police investigation lead by Julia. This story takes a while to hook me in but when it does i was compelled to find out everything. The grifted writing of interwoven stories that are part of characters arc and really narative pov of multiple characters make it a real thrill ride. Just when you think its all over along comes another twist. I enjoyed every page all tge characters were believable and rotted in real ife. Some of the reveals left me gobsmacked. The only character i would have liked to have read more from was Jonathan. However i understand this seemed quite a length read and it gave more dramatic effect to the ending.
Highly recommended. Thanks to net gallery the publissher and the author for my arc. A solid 5 star read for me and i look gorward to your next one.

DCI Julia Day is a 'by the book' detective. She is good at her job & has a strong sense of right & wrong. Eighteen year old Olivia is missing, last seen on CCTV going into an alley. It is a dead end with no exit, but she is never seen coming out. This is a case Julia expects to involve long hours, distressed family and lots of interviews with the girl's friends & relations. She has no idea that this case will make her risk her reputation in order to protect her own daughter.

This book is a slow burn. It is a twisty tale as I have come to expect from Gillian McAllister so I wasn't in the least surprised to find that I had no idea how it would pan out- but then that's half the fun of these sort of books isn't it. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Took me a little while to get to get to get grips with the different characters in this one & work out who was who.
Once I had this very clever twisty story had me hooked.
The suspense & tension increases slowly throughout as the lies start to unfold & all the pieces start to slot into place.
Julia is the lead detective on a missing persons case.
The clock is ticking to find Olivia & the long hours she needs to spend on the case means her family life suffers badly.
As she works the case Julia starts to feel unsettled as someone unknown knows her one big secret & is threatening to use it against her.
She must frame someone else for murder or her family are going to suffer.
The race is on to find out what happened to Olivia & find who is blackmailing her.
Quite a complex plot that will keep you guessing right up to the end.
Thoroughly enjoyed this gripping crime thriller.

A young woman goes into a blocked off alley and is never seen again. So starts a very unusual missing persons case where nothing is straightforward.

A tense, complex and often confusing tale told from three perspectives. One is a police Inspector who investigates this unusual case. The other two both talk to "you" and it takes a while to realise who these people are and who the "you" is. Even once that had been figured out, all the assumptions made are probably wrong.

The book looks at what it means to be a parent and the lengths mothers and fathers will go to for their children. The characters' turmoil is relatable and their moral dilemmas are heart wrenching; and towards the end it seems that there is nothing more than suffering. They all have their own isolation, not sure who to trust despite having strong loyalty. They all want to do the right thing by their children.

Slow start that appears to be leading to another police procedural, this story changes with each new revelation, most of which is totally unexpected. Cleverly knitted, sometimes knotty, but an enthralling thriller.

It's such a brilliant, original, and gripping book that I find difficult to review it as I can only say: excellent storytelling, solid and twisty plot that kept surprising me, great characters
Another winner by this author
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Julia Hay is the detective in charge of a missing persons case. A girl went into a lane and didn’t come back out. It’s like she disappeared into thin air. CTV has all been checked and they can’t figure out where she has gone?!

Gillian’s last book was a huge hit with me and the rest of the bookish human race lol.. it must be hard writing another book, after writing something so successful. But ‘the lady did good’. A few twisty shockers and then ending was very cleverly done !

I think the kids were ready to phone childline ….. “mum I’m hungry!”
“Yeh ok! In a minute, just finish this chapter!!” 🤣🤣

Well done Gillian. You have another best seller on your hands!

Book published - 3rd August 2023

https://www.instagram.com/Bookstagramshaz

DCI Julia Day is investigating the disappearance of Olivia. Olivia was last seen on CTV goin into an alley but she never came out of it.

Lots of twists and turns in this book with. Halters told from different POV. Unfortunately it all got too complicated for me.

I read through to the end because I did was to see what the final resolution was. All in all too complicated for something that, after all, was pretty simple.

Not the book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Gillian McAllister didnt disappoint, another great book. Loved the characters and their stories,.The book kept me reading until the late hours and i wasn't disappointed at the end .

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!

This is my second Gillian McAllister book and I have to say that I actually enjoyed this one more than her last. That being said, it was lacking a bit in terms of suspense and keeping me hooked. I didn't feel a desire to pick it up and keep reading and reading like I usually do with thrillers. I don't know what it was, it just didn't grip me as much as I would have liked.

This book made my mouth go dry. Incredibly well written and pacey great plot. A really good read. Great characters too. Lots of threat which makes you hold your breath.

‘Finding her might be your biggest mistake’, cover tag line.

My thanks to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Just Another Missing Person’ by Gillian McAllister.

DCI Julia Day is leading the team investigating the disappearance of 22-year-old Olivia Johnson. The police have obtained CCTV of her entering a dead-end alley - and not coming back out again… it’s baffling.

Julia is continually juggling her demanding career with her home life. Then she is confronted in her car by a man, his identity concealed by a balaclava. His weapon isn’t gun or knife but a secret that could not only destroy Julia’s life but that of her daughter, Genevieve.

The price of his silence is that Julia must ensure that Olivia is not found and further she’s to frame someone else for her murder by planting DNA evidence. Will Julia cross that line even for Genevieve’s safety?

I have enjoyed a few of Gillian McAllister’s previous novels. Here she explores Julia’s ethical dilemma as she is torn between her integrity as a police officer and her need to protect her family.

It’s certainly an intriguing premise given that in police procedurals, the main detective is pretty straight-laced and would never knowingly seek to convict an innocent person. There’s also the important question of ‘why’?

Most of the narrative follows Julia, though there are occasional chapters from different perspectives that expand the story.

Overall, ‘Just Another Missing Person’ proved an engaging and twisty crime thriller.

After the mind blower that was wrong place wrong time I wasn’t sure that Gillian Mcallister was going to be able to do it again - but she did!

This wasn’t just a book about another missing person - it was much more clever than that.

I found it a little slow as first with all the different perspectives coming from an array of characters that I couldn’t see slotting together.

Then with any great thriller the author hits you with an almighty smack in the face and all hell breaks loose!

There were certain aspects that I can’t share without spoiling the whole thing - but I’d suggest keeping an eye on Lewis and Yolanda’s narrative whilst the police are searching for Olivia. This was genius!

Most of the action takes place in the final third where it all falls into place and the dots are connected.

I really enjoyed this one and struggled to put it down towards the end.

Another cracker from this author! Gillian McAllister is the queen of the domestic thriller, and what a twist this one had. However, I struggled slightly with the timelines as they weren't properly explained - this could be because I was reading an ARC - hopefully in the finished book it will be clearer.
This story is all about family loyalties and in that respect it really captured what it is to be a parent.

Just Another Missing Person by @gillianmauthor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Olivia is 22 years old and last seen on CCTV entering a dead end alleyway.
She's been missing for one day....

This is where Julia Day comes in, the DCI heading up the case, but things aren't going to be as simple as just solving the case as someone out there knows she has a big secret and her family are in danger if she doesn't frame someone for the murder of Olivia, no matter what happened to her.

This isn't my favourite book by this Author but its still very good with a complex storyline so it still gets 4 stars.

If I'm honest i found it quite confusing switching between the different characters in the first part of the story which put me off a little bit and was at times a struggle to keep track, however this all changes at the much anticipated twist which is expected when reading on of her books, however the twist as usual was completely unexpected but keeps you hooked right till the end.

I would like to thank @netgalley @michaeljbooks @penguinrandomhouse for allowing me to get the chance to read this ahead of publication.

Another gripping police procedure thriller written by Gillian McAllister with descriptive characters.
I found to start there was a lot of characters to get to grips with, which meant I kept flicking back to check where their story started. A little bit of a negative point for me.
But the quality of writing and the plot were strong enough to keep me interested.
The plot twists and turns and for me, the ending was not expected.
4 stars

This was my first Gillian McAllister, but it won’t be my last. McAllister writes a very smart and thrilling crime novel (though a bit of a slow start maybe), with well developed characters that you come to care about. Great twists in the plot as well. A real brain teaser 😊
Thank you Penguin and Netgalley for the ARC.

Olivia
22 years old
Last seen on CCTV entering dead end alley and not coming back out again. Missing for one day and counting...

OMG!! I'm calling it I have found my thriller of the year!!! Just another Missing Person is not just another run of the mill read it is an elaborately ingenious complex masterpiece!! I read one chapter one night before bed and the next day I picked it up and didn't put it down til I was finished. I was compelled to find out what had happened, what else was going to happen as a result and how on earth it could be resolved, if at all! I worked out one tiny miniscule part of the story and even with that I wasn't as clever as I thought because McAllister hoodwinked me again. As well as the intricately plotted mystery at this book's core is tentativeness of parenthood and how parents can lose sight of the big picture when trying to do what is right for their children. Obviously the actions in the book are way beyond what someone would do in real life (or I hope so) but then a downward spiral from bad to worse does make such compulsive reading! Honestly this book deserves all the superlatives, all the stars, all the praise and all of you need to read it! It completely blew me away with its sheer jaw dropping brilliance!

Oh wow the twists!! There are so many and they’re so good!!! A brilliant story, like a really, truly brilliant story, all the way throughout too! I had no idea how it was all going to pan out but I was enjoying the experience throughout. The policing side of it was great, I felt like I learnt a lot, the whole moral compass side of the story was brilliant. There was a lot of characters involved and each chapter was a different pov of the characters but it never became confusing at all and there wasn’t a single character that I disliked! I absolutely saw everything they were going through from their own point of view and it worked so well in understanding their actions and questioning their innocence in their actions. The whole thing was just brilliantly written and I really enjoyed every aspect of it!

A very cleverly written book which is what I expect from this author but not my favourite. Mainly because of how complicated the whole plot was. I was always intrigued and wanted to get to the resolution but a little less going on would have improved the book for me.

Julia is the lead detective in a bizarre disappearance case in which a young woman was seen to enter a dead end alley and not come out again. With very little clues, Julia and her team have an almost impossible task ahead that is until Julia is given an ultimatum that she has to agree to or else there will be dire consequences for her and her family.

The story is dark and complex and there was more than a hint of suspense to keep me turning the pages. I found the characters to be an interesting bunch and I enjoyed watching how the story unfolded particularly in light of Julia’s moral dilemma, which is done well. The author writes with great enthusiasm and certainly keeps a complicated plot ticking along without too many twists and turns which can sometimes muddy the waters too much.

Just Another Missing Person is a complex police procedural about the danger of hidden secrets and of the lengths that people will go to protect those they love. I look forward to reading more from this author.