How long do you hunt for the missing?

A horrible vanishing act…

When a young Josie Masters sees a boy wearing a red football shirt, Dylan Jones, being taken by a clown at a carnival, she tries to alert the crowds. But it’s too late. Dylan has disappeared…

Thirty years later, Josie is working as a police officer in Bath. The remains of the body of a child have been found – complete with tatters of a torn red football shirt. Is it the boy she saw vanish in the clutches of the clown? Or is it someone else altogether?

And then another child disappears…

This gripping,riveting mystery is voiced entirely by Josie from the third person pov.I really liked Josie,she was a feisty,complex character who had some major personal issues that she was struggling to deal with.She carried around a lot of guilt because she felt she hadn't done enough to help Dylan when he was abducted.She wasn't very close to her mum and brother and she also had the added problem of her ex boyfriend who just happened to be her superior officer at the police station she was based at in Bath.He didn't want to accept that their relationship was over and seemed to do everything in his power to cause problems for her character,can't say I liked him very much.The other officers she worked with throughout the story where a likeable,mixed bag of believable characters.I especially liked retired detective Harry Freeman who had been part of the original investigation into Dylan Jones disappearance.The opening chapter covers the events leading up to Dylan's abduction then the story moves forward thirty years.After a few pages of character building Josie receives a phone call about the discovery of the body of a young boy..She swiftly finds herself caught up in a investigation packed full of false leads,red herrings,life threatening situations that will push her to the limits of her endurance both physically and mentally and culminates with a spine tingling final confrontation and a absolutely shocking OMG twist that I definitely didn't see coming although now I think about it there was a tiny hint that I really should have picked up on.

I absolutely loved this well written,riveting debut mystery and would have happily given it far more than five stars.I really hope this is the first book in a new series and look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.