I am obsessed with Anita's writing. This book had me hooked as have all her other ones and I flew through this one.

I had guessed so many characters to be the killer and I was very wrong. The twist at the end still has me reeling.
An easy 5⭐️ read.

Anita Waller's best book to date. It has all the ingredients for a rip roaringly good crime thriller: believable police officers racing against time, a gruesome MO, and some amazing twists in the plot. Loved it.

Ray Eke had his own accountancy business. The numbers drove him to the brink of madness and he had a break down. He now has a new 'career' as a litter collector for the council. One day he comes across a brutally mutilated body, almost across the road from the police station. He is well known in the police circles, as he is a friendly and gentle soul.

Loved this book. Ugh, horrible murders though.
I liked the team that investigated as well, although, in the end, gut feelings aren't that accurate!

I raced through the book, and finally went to sleep around 2am.... I just HAD to read ONE more chapter!

I had my suspect, and was totally wrong. The reveal kind of shocked me at the end, but it made sense.

Totally recommend 5/5 stars from me.

✨3 stars✨

I really enjoyed the fact that this was set not only in England, but also the north of England as most books are just set in London. Therefore, I really enjoyed this aspect.

However, I just didn’t gel with this author’s writing and the twist just felt a bit lacklustre. Yet I can see why a lot of people would enjoy this.

I received an ARC from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

3* Refreshing that it's set in good old UK, and not London at that, but there's lots of bad policing and an overemphasis on a certain character that gives the book away.

I liked that this tale was set in the north of England and that characters seemed on the whole, real. I didn't like the mantalk at times from the DCI, who it didn't sound like had had any DEI training, which isn't believable in 2025. Getting to know your team members' names is paramount, not associating females with their hair colour to remember them, or at least if that's your M.O., you don't say it out loud.

It felt like the person doing the real detecting was Maria, a bit of a side character. The others participated in briefings but didn't seem particularly effective. No door-to-door when another female is taken, immediately after a missing female is discovered, doesn't ring true. Realising there's a common theme and not going there 'cos you like a certain character and can't imagine them being a baddie, is a mix of wearing blinkers, making assumptions and just plain poor policing. Sheesh.

The ending wasn't at all believable because motives weren't explained for the actual killer, though it was for the accomplice, sort of. But the mates thing and partnership thing right at the very end? Where on earth did that come from??

Readable but it could've done with stronger input from an experienced editor in the murder-mystery genre.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Boldwood books for my reading pleasure.

I was going to give this book 3 stars because I saw the twist coming about who was the murderer when I had read only half of it, but at the end, thanks to the twist that I did not see coming, it gets 4 stars.
Sometimes the investigation got boring, but it was realistic, so kudos to that, and I really liked the detective on the case and his relationtship whith his team.

This is the first time I have read a book by this author, and I definitely want to read more of her work. From the very beginning, you are grabbed by the scruff of the neck and pulled into the story.

We are introduced to Ray, who makes a very unpleasant discovery while performing his job. The entire police team sees him as a friendly and helpful man, but I didn’t share that opinion. To be honest, I found him a bit creepy. Did the long arm of the law get it right, or was my female intuition more accurate?

The book has a perfect pace, and the author keeps you captivated by gradually unveiling the mystery and intensifying the suspense.

The writing style is immersive, and the atmosphere is eerie, partly due to the chilling descriptions of horror. Some things I figured out, while others completely surprised me.

For readers who enjoy dark, gripping stories, this is an absolute must-read. 5 stars

Thank you

Read this rather to quickly, i was sucked in straight away.
A little gory and hard to read in places.
I really thought i had it all worked out, how wrong was i.
Love this author she never lets me down.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This was a really enjoyable novel. Just when you think you have it worked out, boom, you are blown away. Loved it

4 stars
Expected publication date- May 16, 2025

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

Ray Eke works as an accountant and has a mental breakdown. He goes away for 3 months to deal with his mental issues, then decides to quit his job, sell off his firm to his partner, work outdoors picking up litter, all with the help of his mother who has come to live with him. He discovers the body of a woman who has been missing for 3 years, and things begin to escalate. At least he has the help of his mother.....

I actually really enjoyed this story. It kind of read like a cozy mystery, but it was anything but cozy.

Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this eARC.

The Missing Ones by Anita Waller was a mixed bag for me. This story got off to a quick start, and the writing was solid, however I found that when the detectives started down an unbelievable path while searching for the killer, it became a lesson in plausibility. There are certain crimes that are 99.99 percent exclusively gender specific. For those of us with a Criminology background (or even just a history of following crimes) if you color outside established borders in novels, you need to create an unbelievably strong reason for doing so. On this book, motivation and character development is lacking.

Only 3 stars from me for this one.

Another really excellent book from this very talented author. An easy 5-stars for me. I’m very happy to recommend.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. It was twisty and unpredictable that I just didn't even know who I was anymore. I loved it!

My eyes were on stalks reading the last couple of pages. Wow!

A massive 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars!