My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
This is the second book in this excellent series, but could easily be read as a standalone story. Like the first this beautifully written with superb characterisation throughout, a clever intelligent missing person mystery with plenty of surprises and twists until it's conclusion.
A real page turner totally engaging from first to last page.
Completely recommended.

In 2008 a man disappeared. his clothes found by the sea and he was presumed to have committed suicide. Don was a quiet, introverted accountant and the case was quickly closed. Now his wife has discovered a business card in his belongings and the case is reopened. The police employ Talib, a 'finder', and he follows the clues to find the answers
Having enjoyed Mason's previous books I picked up this novella but accidently read this one before the first in the series. It made no difference to my delight in this complicated story with an intellectual edge. There is a gentle weaving of literature, societal stereotypes and detective work which works so well.

Having discovered Simon Mason via a book recommendation in the Guardian by Mick Heron, I was looking forward to reading this new series. The Ryan Watkins series was the most enjoyable set of crime novels I'd read in a long while, so my expectations were high.

Don Baylis, a seemingly unassuming accountant, leaves a meeting one afternoon and simply disappears. Years later, his wife finds a business card amongst his belongings which prompts her to reopen the missing persons case. The police contact the Finder, who begins to investigate the reasons why Don may have gone missing.
Not only does the fiinder unearth small, innocuous, previously overlooked clues in the previous investigation, he is somewhat of a mystery himself. He has a back story, which is gradually revealed as the narrative develops. Small snippets of information about his previous life are dropped into the story, but only so much, which kept me interested.
Simon Mason's characterisations are so very good. The plot reveals itself gently, as does the character of Talib. Whilst investigating, he is also reading a book that seems relevant to the case and which he refers to often, which is another detail that I enjoyed very much.

I would recommend all of his books, and am eagerly awaiting the new Ryan Watkins due out in January of next year.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for allowing me to read the proof prior to publication.

This is the second novel I read in this series and it's another intriguing and solid story. I love how these stories starts as a missing person cold case and becomes a puzzle formed by different aspects of a person who wasn't known to those who lived next to him.
There's a lot of unhappiness, there's the facade, and there a final twists which was unexpected and surprising.
There's the parallel story of the Finder reading Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and meeting another reader, sharing some more about his life.
I read it in one sitting as I wanted to know what was going to happen.
It's slow burning but never let my attention wander. Can't wait to read another story
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A second installment in the Finder series which is being published at the same time as the first part. Written in the same style as the previous book, factual, almost like a report, the reader is treated to another interesting search for a missing person when Talib is tasked with finding Don, an accountant who has disappeared in the same way as “Reginald Perrin”! A pile of clothes near a beach and a complete lack of clues!
Talib is reading “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde” as he investigates and the plot of the fictional story ties in with what he is finding out about Don- the same literary device as used in book 1.
In this novel we learn more about the Finder’s own background and the losses he has suffered which have prompted him to make a career of finding missing people.
The case becomes very mysterious when the business card of a gangster is found in Don’s discarded wallet and Talib reinvigorates his search hoping to work out what has happened to the meek and supposedly law abiding accountant. As more things come to light, the Finder realises that the disappearance is rather complicated.
I enjoyed the slow and methodical way that facts about Don were revealed and how Talib pieced together the clues.
This is definitely a series I will look forward to reading and I will keep my eyes open for the next Finder mystery.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

With a delightful brevity of language, and an intriguing mystery at its centre this another cracking instalment of the Finder series. I enjoy the way that the book The Finder is currently reading is intertwined and often reflects on the story unfolding before you.

The second in the series, I personally found this book more slow going than the first. Talib is now in Bournmouth and although there is description of the town , the buildings and the site Robert Louis Stevenson's house, it felt diminished due to repetition. Likewise the character of Don, who although liked by almost everyone he came into contact with, seemed fairly colourless with an overbearing wife. I did enjoy the gradual and gentle piecing together of the mystery based on the small clues and reading about the details of his stay in Bournmouth. The finder's own history is also added to here. I will definately read more of this series in the future, I like the unusal take on missing people and hop to find out more about Talib in the future.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

The Case Of The Lonely Accountant is the first book in the Finder Mysteries series by British author, Simon Mason. When, in October 2008, Don Bayliss, Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President for Asset Management with the Marshall Worth bank, excuses himself from a meeting, then inexplicably fails to return, his colleagues are mystified. Even moreso when he, after a few sightings, is never seen again. Only a bag with his clothing, phone and wallet on a Bournemouth beachside ledge are left behind. Did he suicide in the ocean?

Seven years on, he is legally presumed dead, but then, eight years later, his widow, recently remarried, finds amongst his papers a business card belonging to a man convicted of numerous crimes and serving time in Belmarsh Prison.

Talib, aka the finder, is a former policeman now freelance investigator, who is called in to ascertain if there is any connection between the two men that may explain what happened to Bayliss. Before he interviews Dwight Fricker at the prison, he diligently questions all those associated in any way with the case: the widow, colleagues at the bank, and witnesses who saw him in the final hours before he disappeared.

By the time he has spoken to most of them, he is left wondering if Don Bayliss was a hard-working, considerate colleague or a sexual predator; an overworked, stressed employee or an embezzler; a dull but dutiful husband or man who frequented sleazy clubs to get his kicks with younger women. And some of his strange behaviour raises doubts about his fate.

The Dorset detective who called him in, and oversaw the original case, is rather displeased when he starts turning up information of which she was unaware. Don’s widow is equally irritated by what he’s telling her. He lets neither of them deter him, committed to finding answers.

The finder has a history only lightly touched upon, but it’s clear he is intelligent and thorough, compassionate and kind. Is the novel he’s reading in his down time a clue to the truth? The plot takes a few turns and, even though the astute reader may have twigged to what is going on, the reveal is definitely worth persisting for. More of this series will be most welcome.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Quercus Books/riverrun.

The 2nd in these Novellas is similar in pace and tone to the first but has a more pronounced literary feel.

The Finder is again doing what he does and picking up the case of a person missing many years past.

The book follows the same structure as the finder unpicks the old investigation to find threads that were missed.

A book that ebbs and flows, but much more of the former, it’s extremely slowly paced and ponderous and again fixates on a book from the past - Jeckyll and Hyde - which also offers some clues to the story.

The finale is clever. It’s well written but I question why these two novellas are being released at the same time by the publisher.

I’m not sure i would continue with this particular series but Simon Mason Is an author I like.

I read this immediately after the Alice book in this new series and wonder why they are both to be published simultaneously given the similarities between them?

This was another well plotted, gentle and thoughtful book which gradually revealed the contradictions in the life of the businessman who has gone missing.

Again, the denouement is surprising and again, The Finder is reading a book that will have some relevance to his search.

I enjoyed it but perhaps a gap in publication schedules would have been more advisable

Talib, a former policeman, is now a 'Finder', employed by police forces to revisit missing person cases. The book is written from his perspective.
In this case, he is looking for Don Bayliss, an accountant in a commercial bank, who apparently drowned off a beach in Poole, as it has come to light that he may have had connections to a violent gangster.
Talib is originally from Iraq, and his English is formal, and he is very polite. The pacing is gentle, and the conclusion is clever. I read this and the Alice book over two days and really enjoyed them. I look forward to reading more of them.
Recommended.

Three and a half stars.

One day, at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, Don Bayliss walked out of a meeting in the office and was never seen again, a pile of his clothes and possessions was found near Poole Harbour and the assumption was that he had committed suicide. Eight years later his widow, a local councillor and wealthy in her own right, finds Dwight Fricker's business card amongst her husband's things. Mr Fricker is a well-known local businessman with several illegal activities who is currently in solitary confinement in prison after attacking two guards - he is known to be psychotically violent. The local police re-open the missing persons file and call in 'the Finder'.

The Finder discovers Don to be a man of contradictions, a typical boring accountant who also lied to a neighbour unnecessarily. A kind and caring boss who opened doors for women and was generally respectful, but who sexually harassed a young woman in the office. A scrupulously honest employee who embezzled money from the company. Someone who presented as content with his life who was found weeping in quiet desperation by a colleague.

I enjoyed this, but reading it immediately after the first book in the series I felt it was too similar in the premise (not wanting to spoil the ending). Also, as I feared, the Finder's quirk is that he just happens to be reading a novel which sheds some light/has some bearing on the case he is working on.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.