Missing, Presumed

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kate Atkinson meets Tana French. The lyrical descriptions and the deep probing of emotion of Atkinson, the multiple perspective joining to tell a story of Tana French. But Steiner isn’t derivitive. She crafts a world in its entirety. A world where lonliness and disappointment vie with hope and love. Fractured families and unexpected connections.

The story delves deep into the inner world of the characters, police, criminals and citizens alike. None are spared tragedy, all painted with a brush of humanity.

Although the mystery is a “why” more than a “who” did-it, we remain baffled until the twist ending. And unlike most mysteries, the why and the who aren’t the end…we are given a window into the world of our main characters as life resumes and goes on. The suspense never builds, yet we are led along the procedural, wanting to know…needing to know…what happened. And we bear witness to the shattered lives along the way.

Recommended for strong female characters with depth and complexity, male characters fleshed out and not stereotypical. More of a character study than murder mystery, with a missing persons investigation as its jumping off point. If you’re looking for a suspense filled, classic procedural this isn’t for you. If you want to explore human interactions, with all the fragility and complexity, you’ll read to the end.



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