A woman walks into the sea, then drowns! Why? Was it suicide or not? Her daughters then have to pick up the pieces, This is a sad story, but brilliantly written! It has you trying to guess all the time, as to why? Who? It is a well paced story, it needs to be, but not irritatingly so! Just in parts, It's really heart rending! I feel.if you if you describe this book anymore, it will give the game away! Brilliant book, I highly recommend it!!

I have read Erin Kinsley before and thoroughly enjoyed the read. This was superb. The story begins on a beach where a woman, Alice, walks out to sea with the intention of killing herself. Although there is an attempt at rescuing her it is clear she does not want to live. One of her daughters, Lily, calls the other, Marietta, who is living overseas and asks her to come home as their mother is missing and Lily has been asked to go and identify a body which is believed to be Alice. In the meantime, DI Russ Fox is investigating a cold case of ‘Baby Michael’ who was found dead some twenty-five years ago. The characters are well rounded and I loved Marietta who stays in her home town despite her misgivings as the tale unfolds and the reasons for Alice’s suicide is looked into. Many thanks to NetGalley, Headline and Erin Kinsley for my ARC of Missing in return for my honest review. Excellent read. Highly recommended.

A woman walks into the sea, then drowns! Why? Was it suicide or not? Her daughters then have to pick up the pieces, This is a sad story, but brilliantly written! It has you trying to guess all the time, as to why? Who? It is a well paced story, it needs to be, but not irritatingly so! Just in parts, It's really heart rending! I feel.if you if you describe this book anymore, it will give the game away! Brilliant book, I highly recommend it!!

Missing by Erin Kinsley is a marvellous contemporary crime novel that consumed me from the start. As the book opened I immediately had questions – what had happened to a character to make her arrive at that point? As the story unfolded, I had more questions but they were all answered by the end. A twenty five year old cold case is re-opened as a detective needs to find the answers to a terrible crime. As the action unfolds, the reader becomes more horrified – someone must know the truth of one fateful night. The miracles of modern science provide answers to some of the questions. Family is important. Family are those who love us. Sometimes families hide deep secrets that are too much to face. Houses are important. They become homes and hold memories and ties to those who have gone before. A home is not necessarily bricks and mortar. “Home is the people who love you.” The innocents need to be protected. Characters do what they can in order to protect and ensure safety. Sometimes it is not enough. A family unit drifted apart over the years. Things have gone unsaid. Characters live through regrets and guilt but they need to find a pathway through grief. There are the difficult topics of abuse and miscarriage. Both are sensitively portrayed. The plotline was complex and well thought out. Missing would translate perfectly into a Netflix series – any producers out there please take note. Missing was a fabulous read. I received a free copy from the publishers via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

There is something about Erin Kinsley’s writing that draws you in on the very first page, and gives you that wonderful feeling of being part of a story you won’t want to put down. Missing opens with a woman walking out to sea…It is Alice, the mother of Marietta and Lily. She never returns and her daughters are left unravelling the pieces of her life trying to understand. Lily lives with her boyfriend, Connor; she met him when they were at school, they are settled and have a house but their happiness is blighted by miscarriages. Marietta has not seen her Mother in years, barely talked to her..She rushes back to Devon from Colombia, full of regret, guilt and grief. It is also the story of a cold case being investigated by DI Russell Fox; that of baby Michael whose remains were found in a field. There are so many things I love about this book. The setting felt so real I found myself a part of it, walking along the sea front with Alice’s dog, peeping into the windows of the little shops and cafes, gazing out to sea. The characters - however small their part - are carefully fleshed out. DI Fox isn’t just a policeman, he lives on his own, has a daughter who forgets to call him, eats ready meals, has a brother in Spain who is drinking too much…doesn’t have the full respect of his team when really he deserves it. The book is many things and to call it a thriller might miss those. The relationship between the sisters is at the heart and beautifully observed as they come to terms with their grief, the revelations of Alice’s history and their own personal troubles. There’s such a wonderful day to day domestic touch to the observation - the descriptions of teas prepared, wine imbibed, shopping completed, which adds layers to our understanding of the characters and what they are going through. Kinsley touches on difficult subjects with the utmost sensitivity, deftly plotting to avoid any graphic details, and whilst the book deals with miscarriage, grief, the death of a baby, and suicide this is not a sad book. This is a story full of love, support, compassion, dedication, sunsets and walks with the dogs, and the sea. I cannot wait to read another Kinsley title.