Gillian McAllister is my new favorite thriller author and should be yours too. Wrong Place Wrong Time was a five star read for me and I was so excited to read her new release Just Another Missing Person. I had high expectations and WOW were they met. The twistiest detective story following Julia who is investigating missing women while covering up a crime her own daughter committed in the past year. This book makes you think about how far you would go for your child.

I received an ARC of this book from William Morrow via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. In one word, WOW. I loved this book and Gillian McAllister has just been added to my "always read" list.

As a voracious reader of thrillers, any time there is a new concept, any time I am surprised, any time the twists are genuinely twisty, I am impressed. This book met all 3 criteria, in addition to having well-developed characters and intelligent writing. The first twist truly makes you sit up and pay attention (and want to start the book again to look for clues).

I also think Ms. McAllister very skillfully handled concepts including of motherhood, corruption, social media, and the court of public opinion.

Here's to hoping Julia Day becomes a repeat character!

WOWZA! I would give anything to see the planning process that went into this. There were several different narratives with overlapping timelines and SO much going on. BUT, don't let that scare you away. While it was slightly confusing in the beginning and maybe a tad intimidating, it was TOTALLY worth it!
The build-up was slow-going at first but once one shoe dropped it didn't stop till the very end. The twists and jaw-dropping shockers kept me reading well past my bedtime.
Julia's struggle to balance home and work identities is oh so relatable. It was easy to connect with her right away. Along with the other characters, parents and kids alike. It's easy to judge from the outside, but once you step into their shoes your whole perspective changes. And your morals become compromised.
McAllister did a fantastic job building and presenting this story. There are plots within plots, within plots.
Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Just Another Missing Person, is a great thriller novel that will leave you guessing until the last page.

Olivia has been missing for one day, she was last seen on CCTV footage entering an alley, and never coming out.

Julia, is the lead detective on her case. She has been a cop for several years and know what will happen next. She will interview suspects, deal with a desperate family, and is working under a ticking clock. But this case is different. One night while leaving work, she gets in her car and finds she is not alone. There is a man, a man who knows her dark secret. In order to keep it, Julia must not find out what happened to Olivia - she must frame someone else instead. Julia is torn, does she let her secret come to life and risk losing her family or does she frame someone else and go against everything she believes in.

This thriller while it has great twists and turns, was hard for me to follow. Each chapter was told by one of the 4 main characters. With the narrator of the chapter changing so frequently, I sometimes forgot whose storyline I was reading. Even though things got a little confusing for me, I did enjoy the end and thought it all came together, Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC!

This was a slowwwww start for me and took a while for me to get into. The whole novel I just wanted to shake the main character and ask WHAT ARE YOU DOING. I definitely preferred Wong Place, Wrong Time more than this one, but this was a great follow up.

I really enjoyed this one. As is common in this genre, there was a twist — but it came early, about halfway through. It felt like it slid everything into place, and yet still, I kept wanting to read, because the story was so engaging; and of course, there was still more to be revealed.

How have I not read anything by the author before this? And how was I lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book prior to publication? These two questions kept pinging through my mind as I raced through this fast-paced, wild book (in the BEST way).

DCI Julia leads a head-scratching investigation trying to determine where 22-year-old missing person, Olivia, has disappeared to. She seemingly disappeared into thin air, never emerging from a dead-end alley and is reported missing by her new roommates. As the investigation unfolds, Julia is asked to make an impossible decision...either watch as one of her loved ones is irreparably harmed or become involved in a deception that will compromise her ethics and her stellar police record. While making this tough, life-altering decision, Julia also struggles with a floundering marriage and a teenage daughter dealing with her own demons. Stressed out and confused, Julia must find a way to not only locate Olivia, but to save her career and family as well.

Wowzah...this was good! Just when I thought I knew where it was headed, it veered off another path and had me gasping once again. I highly recommend picking this one up, and make sure to give yourself plenty of time to read it. You won't want to pause in reading it, sleep can wait! I will now be frantically adding this author's backlist to my TBR. Highly recommend!!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for a fair and honest review!

What would you do to protect the ones you love?
DCI Julia Day finds out just that when she discovers her recent missing persons case isn’t all it appears to be. Someone is blackmailing her to plant evidence and convict a man of murder or her secret will be revealed. She needs to solve this case or risk her family’s lives being ruined.

This one was a little confusing at first with the perspectives but once I got that figured out it really took off and had me on edge the whole time.

“For Julia.”

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in return for my review.

I loved Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place, Wrong Time last year. This one wasn’t quite the hit that her last release was for me, but it was still a solid mystery and I would recommend it. The main character is DCI Day, a detective investigating the case of a missing woman. She is then blackmailed and forced to incriminate an innocent man in order to keep a secret from her past safe.

The twists were unexpected and satisfying and I really enjoyed the characters. I particularly like the way she writes familial relationships. I was surprised to find she just became a mother within the past year given how well she writes mothers. This one solidified the author’s status as an autobuy author for me.

3.5 stars ……..Just Another Missing Person is the second book I read by Gillian McAllister, the first being wrong Place Wrong Time. Both books started off confusing. I had a very difficult time getting into the flow of the writing style for both books, but by the end I really enjoyed Wrong Place Wrong Time giving it a solid 4 star rating. The fact that I ended up really enjoying it made me continue on with McAllister’s new book. Like I said the first half of the book was rough for me to get through but after that I finally became engaged and couldn’t put Just Another Missing Person Down. Fast forward to the end and the who done it part and I found myself not really caring. It felt like two different authors wrote this book. The first half and the end being one author and the middle being another.

I found some of the twists in the book to be very unique. As far as the characters go they were just ok. I could not understand why Lewis never referred to Yolanda as Sadie’s mom . I would have felt so different for her parents if that little change was made.

All in all an entertaining read with some interesting twists and turns, Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow wow wow. This was amazing and SO COMPLEX!! How does the author accomplish all the twists and turns yet keep everything accurate. I honestly kept trying to catch her with inaccurate information, but my mind is blown. I highly recommend this read, you may need to take notes to keep up.

The first Gillian McAllister book I read was “Wrong Place Wrong Time” and it was one of my favorite reads from last year. I loved the creative way of time traveling/time loops used in this book and looked forward to reading another book from this author. Reading the synopsis for “Just another missing person”, I was wondering if this was going to be as interesting as the other book was. It felt more like other thrillers I had read, but oh was I wrong.
You are following the detective Julia in her search for Olivia, a woman last seen on CCTV footage going into an alley and not coming back out again. The story is told from multiple POVs and you find out slowly how these characters are connected to the story. Halfway through the book there was a plot twist that I did not see coming and turned this book into a page turner for me. I could not put it down until I finished it.

This book not only was a great mystery but also explored how much we are willing to do for loved ones!

Again a great book from Gillian McAllister! I’m looking forward to reading more of her books!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the Advanced Reader Copy!

“Family: people will do anything for it.”

Gillian McAllister’s eighth novel, Just Another Missing Person, is not just another missing person plot. While it includes a typical police procedural plot focused on solving multiple missing person cases, it stands out from all the rest through the incredible humanization of her flawed characters.

DCI Julia Day was unable to solve last year’s missing person’s case when Sadie disappeared. She blames herself for being distracted when her daughter accidentally wounded a mugger, leading to his consequential death. She may have missed key evidence because she needed to protect her own daughter from going to jail. When another woman is reported missing, Julia is tasked to find her. However, someone knows what her daughter did and blackmails her into planting evidence at the crime scene.

To what lengths will Julia go in order to protect her daughter? What happened to the missing women?

Each character in this thriller must grapple with the decision to “do the right thing.” They are fully developed and flawed in unique ways. However, they are all intriguing and I was invested in their individual quests to find out the truth. There are two major twists in this plot, one at around 50%, and the other near the end. Both are satisfying, but not over the top. I was very surprised to learn that McAllister is about to become a mother for the first time, because the plots in her books always involve protective mother characters, who will do anything for their children.

While I enjoyed Just Another Missing Person, it is not quite as spectacular as last year’s Wrong Place, Wrong Time. However, this being the third McAllister thriller I have read, I am convinced she is an extremely talented writer, and am looking forward to reading more from her!

4/5 stars

Expected publication date: 8/1/23

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow publishing for the ARC of Just Another Missing Person in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. I stayed up late to finish it, because I couldn’t put it down, and then couldn’t sleep because I was thinking of all the twists and turns this book took!

Julia Day is a detective on a missing persons case of a girl, Olivia. I absolutely could not put this book down, and highly recommend for all of the whodunnit/mystery/thriller lovers out there.

Thank you Net Galley for my advanced copy!

Julia is a lead detective on a case involving a missing woman. This case and her personal life start to cross over and she finds herself having to make decisions. How much will she do to protect her family?

I had a hard time getting into this book at the beginning, but once I did, I needed to finish it and know what happened. It was a roller coaster with all the twists and turns.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced readers copy of this fabulous book!

My book club read Wrong Place, Wrong Time last year, and I was enthralled. Then I read The Good Sister, and I knew I was going to read everything Gillian McAllister writes. Just Another Missing Person has all the hallmarks of a McAllister thriller: concerned parents, morally gray decisions, and emotional intensity. The three narrators are parents, each with a kid in their late teens/early twenties. Julia is a detective with a high-school aged daughter, Lewis is the father of a missing girl, and Emma’s son was a person of interest when his girlfriend went missing a year ago. The three parents all orbit around each other, occasionally connecting, as a new girl has gone missing. Each parent has made questionable decisions for their child and are now facing the consequences.
The parents are written as real people. They’re flawed, desperate, and with time, willing to do almost anything for their child. And yet, I was drawn to each of them because of their loyalty and desperation. And as each parent seems to reach a safety point, a hidden plot twist brings them back to rock bottom. The story bounces between two timelines: the current year where Julia is investigating the disappearance of a girl named Olivia, and a year prior, where Julia was investigating the disappearance of Lewis’s daughter, Sadie. Each timeline has a perfect blend of mystery and procedural drama, with Julia’s investigative work the center of each.
This book is a thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, trippy timeline thriller, in line with McAllister’s other titles. If you enjoy her thrillers, or have ever had one recommended to you, READ THIS when it comes out. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just Another Missing Person ARC Review! 🕵️‍♀️
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️’s

Olivia, a 22 year old girl was last seen on cctv going somewhere and was never seen again after that. Julia, a detective, mother, and is leading the investigation. This mystery thriller was brilliant, as all of Gillian’s stories are. One of my auto buy authors. I could not put this down, I finished it in one single sitting. Almost every single chapter left me on the edge of my seat. The characters are flawed, not perfect, have their own baggage, but that’s what I love so much about Gillian’s characters. They’re real, they’re raw. Highly recommend! I can’t wait for it to come out so I can have a physical copy for spooky season!

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of Just Another Missing Person. One of my all time favorite authors. Such a privilege and exciting moment to be able to read the arc and write this review. 📖

This is my second Gillian McAllister book and I'm so thrilled to have found her! Just Another Missing Person is a twisty tale of police woman Julia and her search for a missing girl. The story is told from multiple points of view.
It took me a little while to really get into the story but it was worth the time and effort! I highly recommend Just Another Missing Person!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

A young woman, Olivia, goes missing one night in a dead-end alley. Julia is the detective on the case and in charge of the operation to find her. Julia doesn’t really how close to home this case will get, as the person behind it seems to know Julia’s deepest darkest secret. Julia must choose between finding Olivia and solving the case or keeping her secrets- and her family- safe.

This story is told from several perspectives, however, primarily Julia’s perspective. She is caught in a tricky situation, and I loved reading her thoughts as she goes back and forth in her decision-making throughout the book. She is a complex character who struggles with her dedication to her career and her family equally. The book starts fairly slow, but it picks up around the halfway point, as the twists start to be revealed. This is a book where you truly don’t know who is who, who is good, and who is bad. Everyone’s motives are questionable throughout the book, until the end, at which point the seemingly unrelated pieces come together for the reveal. My rating of 3-stars was due to the pacing of the book- I felt it was slow in parts and then rushed through other parts. Also, I picked up on the ending, therefore, there wasn’t a huge shock factor for me.

Read if you enjoy:
👮🏼 police detective suspense
🔍 missing person crimes
👩‍👧 mother-daughter bonds
👀 plots with blackmail and corruption
🤫 people pretending to be other people
🔀 multiple POVs

I read this book courtesy of @NetGalley!

I did not simply READ this book; I DEVOURED it. Page after page, twist after twist, revelation after revelation.

Olivia. 22. Last seen on CCTV entering a dead-end alley. She never comes back out.

Julia. Mother. Wife. DCI heading the investigation.


The request is simple: frame someone for the murder of the missing girl. When asked to do the unthinkable, DCI Julia Day must choose between her career and her daughter, an easy choice for the dedicated detective. But in the aftermath, a clock begins to tick. She must find out what happened to Olivia before the ripple of her choices are felt; and before it’s too late for her daughter.