This was such a good book. I couldnt put it down. Loved the fact that it was set in Australia. I will be looking out for any more books that she writes. Great book.

Lou Alcott is starting her new job as a private investigator. On her first day she is given two cases. Diane Paterson who has left her husband and children without a word and Melinda a woman who left Sydney to move to Melbourne to be away from an abusive ex-boyfriend. The second meet up with Melinda leaves Lou worried for her safety. Melinda has disappeared. Can Lou get to the bottom of both cases?

Woman, Missing was a book I enjoyed reading. It was a great paced read and I found myself turning the Kindle pages quickly. I loved the underdog aspect of the story and the online dating world. I loved Lou as a character and I'm hoping to read more of her in the future.

Thank you Harlequin Australia and Netgalley for a gifted copy of the book for my honest book review.

Woman Missing
Sherryl Clark

‘The burning question: Was Diane alive and hiding, or was she dead?’

This was a quick page turner and I adored how truly Aussie the vernacular was. In true Australian fashion it was also a story of the underdog fighting back. This was a great read; a fast paced and action packed thriller to kick start my July reading.

“You want me to tell him what we’re up to?” I could see that going down like a lump of coal at a Greens rally.

Lou Alcott is gutsy and a super recogniser. She’s formerly Police but now a Private Investigator and wants nothing to do with her grandfather Hamish’s business dealings, being he’s Melbourne’s biggest crime boss who believes in old school retaliation, an eye for a eye.

On Lou’s first day she draws two cases helping at risk women. Firstly Diane Peterson who’s apparently left her husband without a word. And also a house security check for Melinda, an isolated young woman who is convinced her abusive ex is stalking her again. Things turn more worrisome when she fails to show for their meeting.

Lou digs into solving these cases and gets caught herself in a cat and mouse game where this case, her first, could also be her last.

‘This time it was all me. It was my fault. I’d walked right into it. And there was no way out.’

Woman Missing, is out today! Huge thank you to @harlequinaus @harpercollinsaustralia @netgalley and @sherrylwriter.

“But to be honest, in my experience, a man who’s convinced that his girlfriend or wife belongs to him, and he can do whatever he likes to keep her in line… the only thing that stops them is jail.”

Have you ever wanted to be a Private Investigator?

REVIEW POSTED 3rd July 2024.

The introduction of a tough and determined private investigator is always welcome in my book and when they come with the complicated background that Lou Alcott has it’s even more intriguing. Sherryl Clark has not only produced an interesting main character but also has her running a couple of highly topical investigations.

Lou Alcott is a Melbourne-based private investigator who has just taken up her new role with PMI. She previously worked as a police officer but became disillusioned with the job. She also has an interesting family situation, one that could either be very useful or extremely dangerous in her job.

Her grandfather is one of Melbourne’s most notorious figures in organised crime while her father, whom she despises, is a high-ranking cop. Definitely not your run of the mill family unit.

She’s assigned a case where a young woman has disappeared. The husband tells her his wife, Diane, left without a word. Diane’s parents aren’t convinced and have hired the company to look for her, for her to be brought back to the family home.

The second case also revolves around an at-risk woman. In this case, Melinda has requested a security check on her home. She has recently moved to Melbourne from Sydney, fleeing an abusive relationship. She wants to ensure the security measures she’s installed in the home are enough to keep her safe should her ex-husband track her down.

Lou meets with Melinda one time to conduct the check and organises a second meeting as a follow-up but when it comes time to meet Melinda has disappeared.

Her investigation takes her into the murky world of the online dating scene. With the help of the company’s tech expert who has a little experience with the various sites, she sets about tracking down where Melinda might have gone and who she might have met.

Just to give her life a little more edge, Lou’s grandfather’s criminal past is starting to catch up with him. Someone’s trying to kill him and, by association, Lou’s life is in danger too. Just getting out and doing her job means taking her life into her hands which kinda ramps the tension up a tad.

This is a story that is extremely relevant to the mood in Australia today, particularly in the fight against violence on women by men. Lou Alcott’s character personifies the frustration with the police and the laws that hamper meaningful change. She’s a strong and capable character, prepared to put her body on the line if the situation calls for it.

The story moves along at a solid pace and the investigative work is solid and believable. The crimes discussed, domestic violence along with the use (and misuse) of online dating sites, will speak to many people in today’s society who have been touched by these issues. They’re handled with appropriate consideration to the victims while also pointing out the difficulties in policing them.

Woman, Missing is a terrific introduction to a new Australian private investigator with significant points of difference that sets it apart from anything that’s come before. Lou Alcott (plus family) is definitely a protagonist worth following and I’m looking forward to meeting her again in further cases.

My thanks to Harlequin Australia HQ and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC that has allowed me to read, enjoy and review this book.

‘I was alone, just the way I liked it.’

Lou Alcott has left the police force, forced to resign after attacking a domestic violence perpetrator. She’s now working for Paul Marshall Investigations (PMI) as a private investigator. Probably a good move given that her grandfather is a well-known Melbourne crime boss.

‘The whole three years I’d been in the police force, I was nervous that someone I worked with would find out I was related to Hamish Campbell.’

On Lou’s first day with PMI, she is given two cases involving women at risk. The first case is Diane Paterson. According to her husband, she left without a word. Diane’s parents don’t believe this and have engaged PMI to investigate. Lou finds Diane’s husband upset, and he shows here a refrigerator full of food that Diane prepared before she left. The other case involves a security check for Melinda, a young woman who believes that her abusive ex is stalking her. Lou meets with Melinda. The next day, another meeting is arranged but Melinda does not turn up.

And, in the meantime, Lou’s grandfather encounters his own spot of bother which Lou is dragged into. How will Lou juggle all of those issues?

What a terrific novel! Lou is a driven, likeable character and the cases she is involved in have their own twists (and dangers). Lou’s grandfather may be a crime boss, but he’s quite an endearing character. There’s plenty of action but not at the cost of a coherent story.
Highly recommended. Please, Ms Clark, I want more!

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia HQ for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This was such an interesting read and had me hooked.

Being set in Australia it’s following the FMC Lou who is an ex cop gone PI. Lou is set on 2 cases trying to find missing woman can she find them alive?

While investigation the cases something also happens to Lou.

While this was a slower pace book it was enough to keep me hooked. The twists at the end had me speeding through not wanting to put the book down.

Thank you for giving me a chance to read this

Lou Alcott left the police force under less than desirable circumstances. As the granddaughter of an infamous crime lord that was probably for the best.
She’s signed on as a P.I. and is prepared to sit behind a desk and comb through background checks and bank statements for white collar companies, however her first day on the job, a timid woman who escaped a domestic violence relationship requests a female to do a security check on her residence. The next day, she is missing.
Can Lou uncover the trail to find her in time or is her first case on the job doomed to fail?
Oh, and someone’s trying to kill her… all in a days work right?

First of all, thank you to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to access this early.
I LOVED this book. This is an amazing work full of feminine rage that encompasses the themes that women experience every day. It feels incredibly on point for Australia even today.

There is a lot of information and plot lines that are running simultaneously throughout the work however it doesn’t feel convoluted.

The representation of women is phenomenal. It values all personality types and strengths. It doesn’t judge or shame the victims. It is written from a place of understanding that adds depth to the characters.

The attention to detail is next level, I love trying to guess who done to and I was pleasantly surprised with the twist at the end of this.

I highly recommend this to lovers of crime fiction, lovers of Australian dramas and all women everywhere.