The unfortunate attack on TPL's systems is in recovery mode, but not expected to be completed until at least January. Since no one can order books in their online accounts, the predictable has happened: the TPL "Libby" ebook system is getting overloaded. I'm finding that my "holds" are becoming available for only a seven-day loan instead of the usual twenty-one days. I suppose it's a way to handle the upsurge in demand on that platform.
Gillian McAllister. Just Another Missing Person. Ebook download from TPL. UK: Penguin/ Michael Joseph, 2023.
The missing person of the title is Olivia Johnson, who was in the midst of moving into a shared house. The last anyone heard from her was a late night text to her flatmates. DCI Julia Day is on the case, similar to an unsolved "misper" by the name of Sadie, many months ago. That one was a failure for Julia, who prides in performing her job by the book, but she's far more sensitive than your average cop. She hopes her teenage daughter Genevieve's intense curiosity about mom's detective work is not leading to a career choice. They rarely speak of Genevieve's mugging incident about a year ago, on her way to the car park where mom waited; Genevieve accidentally (and ultimately fatally) injured Zac, a petty crook. They left him for dead but he survived a few days, long enough to threaten Julia for not reporting it. Her conscience troubles her every day since his death.
Now, the search for Olivia, street cameras, interviews with friends and neighbourhood, are yielding nothing—deja vu Sadie. Combing her "socials," where extrovert Olivia loved to broadcast herself, produced no clues. Parents Lewis and Yolanda are distraught. Lewis takes to following Julia to ensure she is working hard on it. To make Julia's plight worse, an unknown person knows about Genevieve's and her secret; to keep her daughter safe she is forced to plant evidence of Olivia's kidnapping against one Matthew James. A stunning revelation follows, likely the best I've come across—and it's not the only twist in Julia's ongoing fear for her daughter. Julia herself is kidnapped twice.
Julia's strong bond with Genevieve is repeated with Matthew and mother Emma, and Lewis's attachment to his daughter. The parent will do anything to protect or find their child; breaking the law is a minor care. Her confidential informant, the criminal Price, becomes Julia's most reliable ally. Gillian McAllister also wrote the inventive Wrong Place Wrong Time (LL309) which I called "fiendishly devious." This is a topnotch, exciting thriller-author to watch for.
Julia
▪ The text to the housemates is what troubles Julia the most. Please come. x (18)
▪ Julia recognizes his voice. She's sure of it. There's something familiar about it. (42)
▪ She can't become corrupt. It goes against everything she stands for. (53)
▪ That's all it takes. Two items. DNA. Planted. Faked. (62)
▪ Price respects the delicate ecosystem of their relationship. (86)
▪ Julia's own child has been saved and Matthew sacrificed. (141-2)
▪ "Come with me for a transfer," she says through the hatch to him. (246)
▪ Everyone knows—even the police, especially the police—that criminals are better at some things than the coppers. (268)
▪ When you work in the police, you are never not at work. (271)
Other parents
▪ "Genevieve is incredibly interested in it," he says now. "Your misper." (122)
▪ I check the toilet cistern, underneath your mattress, down the back of the sofa, like a Mafia wife, like a drug baron, like a gullible fucking mother. (180)
▪ He is on the verge of confessing it to me, and only me. (213)
Jamie Day. The Block Party. Ebook download from TPL. USA: St. Martin's Press, 2023.
Picture the annual Memorial Day picnic in Meadowbrook, the most desirable suburb in town. On the cul-de-sac of Alton Road, where Alex Fox is the traditional block party organizer, a lot of names are thrown at us. In the main households, everyone knows each other and are friends ‒ more or less. Alex is a lawyer in her day job. Her husband Nick is cooking at a BBQ, their daughter is Lettie, seriously into environmental activism, totally bored with the party and her parents; Alex's sister Emily, real estate saleswoman, and short-fused husband Ken, their sons Logan and Dylan; friend Willow, in the midst of an ugly divorce with photographer husband Evan, daughter Riley, once friends with Lettie but now a bully; a fourth homeowner is the dazzling but aloof Brooke Bailey whose wealthy husband Jerry recently vanished from a cruise ship.
As we meet these people, briefly, for the first time, Alex has had enough to drink and passes out at home. Police sirens outside rudely wake her up, and our story cuts to the same party a year earlier. The mix of characters promises grand neighbourhood gossiping. And a death. Alex and Lettie carry the twin narratives. New neighbours are the Kumars—Samir, a psychiatrist, wife Mandy a psychologist, and a twenty-something son Jay at loose ends. Lettie is immediately interested; he might be a good resource for her school psych paper on revenge; she has an idea for payback to Riley's bullying. Teen drama, marriage drama, secrets revealed, suspicions confirmed, all tangle in cross-family interactions. There's even a DNA database search to find a biological match.
Author Davis builds suspense perfectly in several directions at once; the timing in perspective from Alex to Lettie is always perfect. In the end, out of various plausible scenarios and candidates, who died? The stalker? The jealous wife? A suicidal teen or psychotic manipulator? The community chat line, like a Greek chorus, is a great touch. This is a hugely entertaining book with many warm, lively characters who keep your wits working.
Alex
▪ "What the hell, Alex! You are such a disgrace," he said beneath his breath. (14)
▪ However she did it, Brooke Bailey was always effortlessly chic—and to make matters worse, she was incredibly nice and extremely bright as well. (95)
▪ In her work mediating divorces and at home with Nick and Lettie, she thought of herself as the problem solver, a peace keeper, the go-to person for everyone in the neighbourhood. (146)
▪ "Well, how did that picture get on your phone?" asked Alex. (177)
▪ "OMG," Alex breathed, leaping off her stool. "He's here. Outside? Brooke, we need to call the police." (185)
Lettie
▪ If my father won't pay for USC, I'll take out loans. (30)
▪ Grounded or not, I'm sure my mom won't want me making friends with the handsome older vaping college dropout. (71)
▪ As Jay said, revenge isn't a play-it-safe kind of thing. (83)
▪ He lives in his parents' basement. And he's super hot, and I'm totally obsessed with him. Go figure. Hormones suck. (131)
▪ I'm not a good guy. I don't want to hurt you. Don't make me show you I can. (188)
▪ "There's a lot to unpack here, Willow," Mom says sadly. "But I'm most worried about the drug use." (353)
▪ "I'm fine," I assure him. But I don't share my whole truth, which is that I'm feeling all the feels. (384)
Others
▪ "But that's why we're here, right? Find out her secrets ... and exploit them." (86)
▪ "Well, we are quite busy," Samir snapped. (101)
▪ Has he ever checked the recycling bin? Her drinking seems to be getting worse. (107)
▪ "I need a way to force Evan out of the house. It's getting worse." (213)
▪ "You have Narcan? Why would you have that? Jay, are you—" (298)
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