By: Susie Steiner
ISBN: 9780812998320
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 6/28/2016
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars For readers of Kate Atkinson and Tana French comes a page-turning literary mystery that brings to life the complex and wholly relatable Manon Bradshaw, a strong-willed detective assigned to a high-risk missing persons case. At thirty-nine, Manon Bradshaw is a devoted and respected member of the Cambridgeshire police force, and though she loves her job, what she longs for is a personal life. Single and distant from her family, she wants a husband and children of her own. One night, after yet another disastrous Internet date, she turns on her police radio to help herself fall asleep—and receives an alert that sends her to a puzzling crime scene.
Edith Hind—a beautiful graduate student at Cambridge University and daughter of the surgeon to the Royal Family—has been reported missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Her home offers few clues: a smattering of blood in the kitchen, her keys and phone left behind, the front door ajar but showing no signs of forced entry. Manon instantly knows this case will be big—and that every second is crucial to finding Edith alive.
The investigation starts with Edith's loved ones: her attentive boyfriend, her reserved best friend, and her patrician parents. As the search widens and press coverage reaches a frenzied pitch, secrets begin to emerge about Edith's tangled love life and her erratic behavior leading up to her disappearance. With no clear leads, Manon summons every last bit of her skill and intuition to close the case, and what she discovers will have shocking consequences not just for Edith's family, but for Manon herself.
Suspenseful and keenly observed, Missing, Presumed is a brilliantly twisting novel of how we seek connection, grant forgiveness, and reveal the truth about who we are.
Praise for Missing, Presumed
This novel stands out from the pack in two significant ways: first of all, in the solution, which reflects a sophisticated commentary on today’s news stories about how prejudices about race and privilege play out in our justice system; and second, in the wounded, compassionate, human character of Manon. Her struggles to define love and family at a time when both are open to interpretation make for a highly charismatic and engaging story.' – Kirkus starred review
Missing, Presumed is an extraordinarily assured police procedural in the tradition of Ruth Rendell and Elizabeth George — the surprises continue to the last page as Steiner blasts expectations and assumptions to dig deep into questions of trust, betrayal, class and family bonds. Dazzling.' - JOSEPH FINDER, New York Times bestseller
'A vein of dark humor pulses beneath this compelling whodunit with an appealing, complicated heroine at its center.' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The author gets inside the minds and lives of her book’s socially disparate personalities with the grace of a novelist of manners, even as she pulls tight the strands of one of the most ambitious police procedurals of the year. – Wall Street Journal
About the Author
Photo Credit Jonathan Ring
I grew up in north London and studied English at York University, which is when I first fell in love with north Yorkshire, in particular the north York Moors national park, which was to be the setting for my first novel, Homecoming. Homecoming was published by Faber & Faber to critical acclaim in 2013.
Following university, I returned to London and worked as researcher to the Labour chief whip in the House of Commons, before joining an in-house journalism training scheme on a local London paper.
I moved on to national papers as a news reporter - first the Evening Standard, then the Daily Telegraph, then The Times, where I moved from news to features. In 2001 I joined The Guardian as a commissioning editor on Weekend magazine. I stayed at the paper for 11 years, writing and editing across print and web. I left the paper in 2012, when my novel sold to Faber.
My second novel, Missing, Presumed, is a bestselling thriller with Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw at its heart. Missing, Presumed is based in Cambridgeshire. I worked closely with Cambridgeshire police during the writing of this and the next Manon book.
I live with my husband and two sons in north London. Read More
