Missing, Presumed (Manon Bradshaw, Book 1) by Susie Steiner #20booksofsummer22 @BoroughPress

A RICHARD & JUDY BESTSELLER

Book blurb

72 HOURS TO FIND HER…

A MISSING GIRL
Edith Hind is gone, leaving just her coat, a smear of blood and a half-open door.

A DESPERATE FAMILY
Each of her friends and relatives has a version of the truth. But none quite adds up.

A DETECTIVE AT BREAKING POINT
The press grows hungrier by the day. Can DS Manon Bradshaw fend them off, before a missing persons case becomes a murder investigation?

‘Hits the sweet spot between literary and crime fiction – Gripping’ ERIN KELLY

The Borough Press

Mid-December, and Cambridgeshire is blanketed with snow. Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw tries to sleep after yet another soul-destroying Internet date – the low murmuring of her police radio her only solace.

Over the airwaves come reports of a missing woman – door ajar, keys and phone left behind, a spatter of blood on the kitchen floor. Manon knows the first 72 hours are critical: you find her, or you look for a body. And as soon as she sees a picture of Edith Hind, a Cambridge post-graduate from a well-connected family, she knows this case will be big.

Is Edith alive or dead? Was her ‘complex love life’ at the heart of her disappearance, as a senior officer tells the increasingly hungry press? And when a body is found, is it the end or only the beginning?

‘Missing, Presumed is the best [crime novel] I’ve read in a very long time’ SARAH PARRY, Guardian

The Borough Press

My thoughts

I was delighted when Rebecca Bradley announced we would be reading this book as it had been on my TBR pile for a considerable time and for no reason I can recall had not been read. Very sadly the reason Missing, Presumed was named for August was because we wanted to pay tribute to the author who had so recently and far too soon, died.

What better way for readers to pay a tribute to an author than to read one of their books? And so her first crime novel became our book club read for August 2022.

You will find a link to Rebecca’s blog a little further down which includes the recording of ‘A Virtual Crime Book Club’ – which is hosted by Rebecca Bradley, author of the D I Hannah Robbins series. Do be aware of spoilers if you watch it!

I’m not going into a long conversation about this book suffice to say I really enjoyed Missing, Presumed it is beautifully written, held my attention throughout. I thought the characters well drawn and had no problem with the multiple voices used to tell the story. Indeed it was an interesting way to order the storyline and bring in thoughts from these individuals that might otherwise have become cumbersome to include if, indeed, they would have been told at all.

In fact, I enjoyed this book so much that I bought the following two books in the series which, hopefully, won’t take me so long to pick up and read!

I hope you too will read this book and enjoy it as much as I did.

Book: purchased

You can check out my updated list here. Cathy from 746Books is the mastermind and host behind this annual event do take a look at her excellent blog.

Just click on the link to see the YouTube recording of our most recent book club meeting in which we discuss Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner.

Information

Published: The Borough Press part of HarperCollinsPublishing (25 Feb. 2016) | Pages: 384 | ISBN: 978-0-00-812337-6

Buy: Hive | AmazonSmileUK |Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Your local bookshop |FaberandFaber | TheBoroughPress

Author: Susie Steiner began her writing career as a news reporter first on local papers, then on the Evening Standard, the Daily Telegraph and The Times. In 2001 she joined the Guardian, where she worked as a commissioning editor for 11 years. Her first novel, Homecoming – described as ‘truly exceptional’ by the Observer – was published by Faber & Faber in 2013. She lived in London with her husband and two children.

Full bio can be found on Susie Steiner’s website | Follow on Twitter

Books

Homecoming – A hugely enjoyable novel about family, marriage and growing up, set in a Yorkshire farming community.