Olivia is missing. Julia needs to find her because she still feels badly that she didn't solve the missing persons case of Sadie from about a year ago. And then because someone blackmails her to plant DNA at Olivia's crime scene to frame someone for her murder that wasn't even there.

With alternating perspectives from Julia, Lewis and Emma, the story is told. However, there are a lot of characters and a lot of storylines that you have to kind of piece together that makes this hard to get through. A few times, I had to stop and say how does this relate? What is the connection here? Why didn't they have this information before? It was just a lot of missing pieces that didn't fit well together (or I missed them because of all of the characters and twists and turns and red flags).

By the time it ended, I still wasn't sure how some of the things happened. I will say that I was a bit distracted at times reading it, but I was still confused by some things and I wasn't about to go back and try to figure it out.

Gillian is such a unique writer and it shows in her books. I loved Wrong Place Wrong Time, but this one fell a little flat for me in the end.

This is the second book from this author for me. I find her plots to be unique to most thrillers I've read. However, the plot moves a bit slow and the ending felt a tad lack luster. Overall, I would recommend it.

“Twenty-two-year-old Olivia Johnson was last seen on CCTV entering a dead-end alley and never exiting. Detective Chief Inspector Julia Day takes charge of the case, expecting long hours away from home and watch over a worried family while the clock ticks down. What she didn’t expect was getting personally involved. The perpetrator wants her to walk away from Olivia’s trail and find someone to pin her murder on. If Julia doesn’t comply, her biggest secret will get out, a secret that threatens the safety of her husband and daughter. Now a decision has to be made: her job with the Portishead Police or her family?”

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, through NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

This was my first experience with author Gillian McAllister, and I’m happy to report it was mostly a success. Some of the chapters are too long for my taste, especially DCI Julia Day’s POV, but once you get into the swing of things, the pages fly by. The story is engaging and packed with twists while remaining logical. Unfortunately the epilogue chapters don’t flow as well; they read like “this person ended up here, and this person ended up there,” very stilted which took away from the high I was on. Still, this ends up a solid Four Stars and a recommendation to readers who love a twisty good time.

•

Content Breakdown: Alcohol, Blood, Hostage situations & Kidnapping, Language (cursing & taking God’s name in vain), Manslaughter/Murder, Marital issues & Separation, Missing persons, Robbery, Sexual language, & Smoking

What is the last book you read that you couldn’t put down? I started Just Another Missing Person last Saturday and had it finished up by Sunday. It was the type of book that I stayed up too late to read as I really wanted to see what happened.

A case of a missing woman from the previous year has haunted Detective Julia Day as she was not able to solve the case. Her marriage and home life deteriorated during this time. When a twenty-two-year-old woman, Olivia goes missing, Julia is on the case immediately. Her disappearance does not make sense, but Julia also realizes that there are many similarities to the disappearance a year ago. She soon finds that her own family secret is wrapped into Olivia’s disappearance, and she must NOT solve the case to keep her family safe. Can she go against her own ethics? What about Olivia’s family? Where is Olivia?

My thoughts:
• This story was told through three points of view: Julia, the kidnapped woman’s father Lewis, and Emma, a mother who worries that her son may be involved in the disappearances.

• The characters were very well developed and real. I could understand their motivations and felt like I was in their minds.

• I liked the focus on motherhood / fatherhood. How far would you go to protect your children? If your child does something terrible, do you protect them or protect others from them? Julia, Lewis, and Emma are all motivated by their children in their actions.

• This book had a moment in the middle where I was like, what the heck just happened? I had to reread what I had just read. I love a book that can throw me off like that. I couldn’t put the book down from that point until the end.

• I enjoyed the mystery and how all the strands come together for a great ending.

• Just Another Missing Person was well written and intriguing.

Overall, Just Another Missing Person is a great thriller and my favorite read from July. I could not put this book down!

Book Source: Giveaway copy from William Morrow Books. Thank-you! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The story revolves around a detective named Julia who is investigating the disappearance of a young woman named Olivia. As Julia delves deeper into the case, she discovers shocking secrets that intertwine her life with Olivia's in unexpected ways. The narrative is rich with twists and turns, keeping readers on the edge of their seats.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! I apologize for my late review.
This book was a bit slow for me for close to half the book. It did finally pick up and then I couldn’t put this book down so stick with it. There are twists and turns you won’t see coming!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just Another Missing Person
By: Gillian McAllister
Publisher: William Marrow
Pub Date: 8/1/23

The need as a parent to protect your child no matter the situation is definitely strong but would you cover up a crime?
Julia is a well respected, workaholic police officer. She is being blackmailed.
Lewis is a distraught father, whose daughter Olivia has been missing for a year.
Emma is a single mom who would do anything to protect her only son, but is starting to question his behavior.
During the course of Julia’s investigation, she comes in contact with a man hiding in the backseat of her car who seems familiar but not really known to her. And everything begins to unravel. She’s asked to corrupt evidence to prove that Emma‘s son is behind Olivia‘s kidnapping. Somehow, this man knows what happened with Julia's daughter the year before. Either she corrupts the evidence or loses her daughter forever.
This was truly stunning! As you work through the plot of the story, you find so many secrets that each character has that adds to the suspense of the story. This one definitely keeps you guessing till the end.
Thanks to William Marrow, Gillian McAllister and NetGalley for the ARC.

I found this book super hard to get into. Truly disappointed as I do enjoy a good mystery / thriller and have loved the author’s previous work.

Gillian McAllister is teling stories in a way that I don't see anyone else doing at the moment. She has a unique authorial voice and her books always feel propulsive. I especially love the focus and exploration of motherhood. Just Another Missing Person was intricately plotted, with complex, rounded characters that felt so real. I enjoyed it even more than Wrong Place Wrong Time and can't wait to see what else we get from her.

This is the first book by Gillian McAllister that I have read, but it won’t be the last. I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this novel. I did not guess the twists, which was fun. I like when I am surprised while reading a thriller or mystery.

This novel was well written and fun. It takes place in England, which makes it even more fun for me, as I am in the United States. I love novels that take place in different parts of the world. I need to add more variety in my reading choices!

This novel details the search for Olivia – a young woman who has gone missing, and Julia, the head detective who is trying to locate her. We read chapters from different character’s perspectives, which is nice. I like knowing people’s motivations and fears as we proceed with the story. I liked Julia, which helped my enjoyment of the book. She is a smart detective who loves her family, but is definitely a workaholic. This has hurt her relationships with her family, and we see how that impacts her actions and behaviors as she tries to do her job.

I liked all of the leadup to the end, but the end was a little rushed to me. I had to re-read the end to make sure I understood what had happened. I wish we could have seen more – gotten into a certain character’s motives more. However, it was a good book, and I will read more by this author.

3.5 stars rounded to 4

Thank you Netgalley, Gillian McAllister, and William Morrow Publishing for an #ARC.

Books like these remind me of detailed, police tv shows that suck you in and have you building the puzzle alongside the main character. Was this fast paced? Not in anyway. It does take a while to build up and follow the characters thoughts and plots. But I think if you stick it out, its worth it for the most part. If you do not like police procedure then skip this as that is a large aspect of this book! The plot was interesting: twisty, built up, with character development. I think that is one of the things I enjoy most about this authors writing, is that the characters had developed alongside the plots. Quite dramatic as well. But it is quite hard to follow. The twists had me rereading and thinking "wait... what the heck!"

Any icks? I did not like the narration to be honest. I listen to things quite fast and it just sounded mumbled and confusing. I did read it on my kindle as well and that helped clarify things for me a bit more. Even though I enjoyed the development of the characters, I did think there were too many at times which made the first 50% of the book confusing.

I think I enjoyed Wrong Place Wrong Time much more but they were both fun in a way. I did not love this or hate. I think it was good for what it was.

Read if you like:
- crime fiction
- multiple POV's
- slow burn build up
- multi layered stories
-police procedural

Amazing!!! I could not stop listening. I love it when a book is that good. I was working while listening and my kindle battery almost died ( audible for kindle ) I couldn’t believe it! I had been listening for 5 hours straight!!

I feel like there are so many sneaky plot twists that I can’t say too much without revealing spoilers. This is an amazing thriller. Gillian McAllister is a brilliant writer!

This was just another book and I wasn’t a fan. I found myself confused by the multiple points of views and timelines. However, the ending was great and filled with twists.

Just Another Missing Person is an incredibly strong follow up to Wrong Place Wrong Time. It’s filled with twisty goodness that only a McAllister novel can bring, a plot to completely lose yourself in as well as a handful of characters to obsess over. I completely fell in love with Julia; a mother, a hard-working detective who will do anything to protect those she cares about. The story had me constantly guessing, questioning everything and leaving me unsure of who I could trust. I couldn’t get enough! This author truly gets better and better with each book. Intense, unnerving and perfectly paced. I loved it – please pick it up!

Nothing makes me happier than a unique twist on a tired trope. In that sense, Just Another Missing Person is not just another police procedural. And I’m so grateful for that!

I enjoyed the moral dilemmas faced by different characters throughout the book. Not everyone makes the ‘right’ decisions, there’s many flawed people, but that made it all feel more real. The only character I truly despised was Julia’s husband. I really hated how much of an issue he had with Julia’s job as a police woman. They’ve been married for around two decades and this is still a major source of strife in their marriage?! Dude get over yourself.

I felt the beginning was a bit slow and muddled and I had some difficulty keeping everything together, but the second half of the book tightened up and went much faster. Therefore I feel like this was a pretty solid 3.5 star read. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author!

3.5 stars

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister focuses on police detective Julia Day and her search to find a missing girl called Olivia. The case reminds her of another recent missing girl that she was unable to find and Julia is determined to solve this case. When a masked stranger wants her to plant evidence at Olivia's apartment in order to frame someone for her disappearance and possible murder (because this stranger knows a secret of Julia's), she is forced to decide if she is going to follow through or let all her secrets come to light. This really was an internal struggle of bad cop/good cop.

This book was a little confusing with so many different POVs - some of which were not even real - and I thought it went on a little too long.
I don't love the idea of dirty cops, and this one didn't shy away from that topic. Things were tidied up neatly at the end and I appreciated how Julia's friend stuck with her through everything.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you so much NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for my copy of Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister. This book had such a good way of making you think you must have missed some important detail at the beginning, only to have it been done intentionally to fool you. Once again I did not see this twisted ending coming! 4/5 stars from me! Keep them coming Gillian McAllister!

[2.5]

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of Just Another Missing Person! I truly appreciate the opportunity to read and review this title.

I completely wish I could provide a clear and concise synopsis for this book, but there are simply too any layers. In this multi-POV story following one main missing persons case with other crimes and missing persons cases lingering in the back (hence the title), we watch DCI Julia Day pushed to her limits.

I will say that this story feels uniquely British which I always thoroughly enjoyed, and felt like watching a crime show. I think this would be great for someone who enjoys lighter crime/true crime fiction with a modern focus (social media, etc.). I felt that while the different POVs were very distinct, I struggled to be engaged with each one and found it easy to get confused. It took me almost 200 pages to get everything that was happening completely straight, which is definitely a mixture of a me issue and the writing. Some of the POVs are written in a second-person of sorts and others in first, which gets to be a big jump when you are constantly switching perspectives.

At the end of the day, I think I just was not very invested in the characters which left me having very little care/stake in what ended up happening, even when the twists were interesting.

Thank you again for this eARC!

McAllister is so good at twisty mysteries and this is another hard-to-predict one. The book starts with a crime committed by Julia's daughter and switches immediately to a missing person case for Julia revolving around a blonde 20-something named Olivia that instantly throws Julia into a small tail-spin as she equates Olivia's disappearance to a cold-case she's been obsessed with involving another blond 20-something named Sadie who went missing while she was distracted by her own daughter's peril. While several major twists leave you guessing at what's going on, I found the story to be a little too twisty and Julia's family dynamic to be a bit distracting and unrealistic. I will still recommend this title to mystery-lovers, especially for the coming beach-read season. Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the early read in exchange for my honest opinion. 3.5 stars