Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2016
368 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
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 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 that 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, 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.
"Starred Review. A highly charismatic and engaging story ... This novel stands out from the pack." - Kirkus
"A vein of dark humor pulses beneath this compelling whodunit with an appealing, complicated heroine at its center." - Publishers Weekly
"This combination of police procedural and an unfolding family drama that continuously twists and turns will work well for fans of Kate Atkinson and Tana French." - Booklist
"Where Steiner excels is in the depth and clarity with which she depicts her characters. ... It all adds up to a world that feels much bigger than the novel in which it is contained." - The Guardian (UK)
"Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw is appealing, multifaceted, and unforgettable. She charges through Missing, Presumed with twin goals - to find the body, and to find durable love. The resolution of this gripping novel astonishes, and leaves a long afterglow." - Amity Gaige, author of Schroder
"Manon Bradshaw is a messed-up, big-hearted detective in the best tradition."- Harriet Lane, author of Her
"Gripping, authentic, funny, and moving, Missing, Presumed hits the sweet spot between literary and crime fiction." - Erin Kelly, author of Broadchurch
"Missing, Presumed is a gripping, suspenseful, gratifyingly unpredictable detective novel, with enough plot twists to satisfy fans of the genre." - Maggie Mitchell, author of Pretty Is
"Within a chapter, DS Manon Bradshaw announces herself as a detective to follow through books and books to come." - Lucie Whitehouse, author of Before We Met
"Complex, gripping ... a page-turning literary crime novel." - Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist
This information about Missing, Presumed was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Susie Steiner is a former Guardian journalist. She was a commissioning editor for that paper for eleven years and prior to that worked for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and the Evening Standard. She lives in London with her husband and two children.
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