Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Review - Missing

 
Title:  Missing
Author E A. Jackson
Publisher:  Atria
Series:  DI Martha Allen #1
Genre:   Mystery & Thrillers
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:   304
Date of Publication:   March 17, 2026
My Rating:   4 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

In this unputdownable crime thriller for fans of Tana French, a detective returns to a thirty-year-old case—an infamous disappearance in London—that has haunted her entire career and now may jeopardize her future. 

In August 1990, London is suffering through an unprecedented heatwave when baby Bella Carpenter is snatched through the open window of her hotel room. Detective Inspector Martha Allen is assigned the high-profile case and, knowing that it could make or break her career, is determined to find Bella.

When a young woman named Nell Beatty walks into the police station with a baby who appears to be Bella, and whom Nell claims she found on a bench, it seems that the mystery is solved. Her family, the police, and the press are overjoyed at her return. But DI Allen isn’t convinced, something about Nell’s story doesn’t ring true. As much as she wants to continue, however, now that the baby is safe, she’s ordered to close the investigation.

Thirty years later, Nell Beatty is found dead. Now a superintendent, Allen has never really gotten over her doubts about the Carpenter case and can’t resist doing a little digging on her own time, eager to find out what happened to Nell, and her involvement in the baby’s disappearance all those years ago. But will her efforts uncover something darker than she could have ever imagined? And what is she risking as she tries once and for all to reveal the truth?


MY THOUGHTS:
In this debut novel by E.A. Jackson, readers are introduced to DI Martha Allen. Martha begins digging into the case of a disappearance three damaged ago. When she was new on the job, a baby named Bella Carter was snatched. Assigned to the case, even though the baby had been returned, Martha had her doubts about if things were as neat and tidy as they seemed. 

Now decades have passed and the woman who returned the baby all those years ago, Nell Beatty, has been found murdered. Martha has risen in the ranks of the force, and is now superintendent. Just as she dove into the case of the missing baby previously, Martha dives into the current murder. She is certain the two cases are connected, but just might find herself surprised by what she begins to discover.

Martha is an intriguing character and I look forward to giving this series another shot when the next book comes out.

Many thanks to Atria and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.


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