Missing - by E a Jackson (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Utterly gripping, intelligent, and haunting....A TRIUMPH." --Will Dean, award-winning author of Adrift

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?

Review Quotes

"The mystery is tightly plotted, peopled with intelligent and determined protagonists and features one of the twistier twists in recent memory." -- "Bookpage"

"Jackson's book is utterly un-putdownable... A bracing mystery for those who want the perfect whodunit, with Martha Allen, Missing introduces a new sleuth with whom we can't wait to go on more adventures."-- "The Pitch (Kansas City)"

"A brilliant, pacy, gut-punch of a novel - DI Martha Allen should be your new crime-reading obsession!"--Matthew Blake, author of ANNA O

"Perceptive...Jackson gets the pace and details of a high-pressure investigation just right ... Fans of moody British mysteries will cheer Jackson's auspicious entry into the field."-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

"MISSING by E. A. Jackson is utterly gripping, intelligent, and haunting. Martha Allen is a superb (and very human) police protagonist, and 1990s London is rendered beautifully. For fans of Tana French and Emma Flint. A TRIUMPH."--Will Dean, award-winning author of ADRIFT

"E. A. Jackson's MISSING is as driven and intriguing as the story's determined protagonist, D.I Martha Allen. A police procedural thriller that does not ease on the brakes until the final page. I thoroughly enjoyed it."--MARIE TIERNEY, author of DEADLY ANIMALS

"MISSING is a quietly gripping, deeply human procedural that lingers long after the last page. E.A. Jackson turns the steady, deliberate rhythm of real police work--the plod, as the veterans say--into something utterly compelling. What begins as the high-stakes urgency of a missing infant unfolds over decades into a haunting meditation on loss, love, and the weight of unanswered questions. A slow-burn, character-driven gem--perfect for fans of atmospheric British crime fiction."--Amy Pease, critically acclaimed author of NORTHWOODS

"A missing baby, a humid, sweaty London, and a 1990s setting had me hooked immediately. But this becomes so much more than a lost child story as Jackson cleverly weaves in a present day suspicious death. DI Martha Allen is a sympathetic protagonist, drawing the threads together and discovering deceptions among the broken lives."--Georgina Clarke, author of THE LIZZIE HARDWICKE series and THE DAZZLE OF THE LIGHT

"A striking long-game detection narrative, MISSING grips from start to finish, with a shocking finale you'll never see coming. E. A. Jackson is a sharp storyteller with epic scope and stunning immersion, pulling us into DI Martha Allen's twisty investigation into a missing baby in the '90s, a haunting case that spans thirty years. MISSING is an emotionally textured yet tight novel about hard choices, illusive fixes, and the live-wire of a lie." --Margot Douaihy, bestselling author of SCORCHED GRACE, BLESSED WATER, and DIVINE RUIN

"E. A. Jackson writes with sharp, assured prose and with an impressive eye for police procedural detail. MISSING is steeped in authenticity."--Sean Watkin, McDermid Award-shortlisted author of BLACK WATER RISING

About the Author

E.A. Jackson is an American transplanted to England. She was born in Philadelphia and lived in Iowa, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Cambridge, and Bristol before ending up in Exeter, where she now works as a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.