Missing Presumed

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • A page-turning mystery that brings to life a complex and strong-willed detective assigned to a high-risk missing persons case NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • NAMED ONE OF THE 10 BEST MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL “An extraordinarily assured police procedural in the tradition of Ruth Rendell and Elizabeth George.”—Joseph Finder, author of The Fixer “Surprise-filled . . . one of the most ambitious police procedurals of the year. Detective Bradshaw’s biting wit is a bonus.”—The Wall Street Journal “Missing, Presumed has future BBC miniseries written all over it.”—Redbook “A highly charismatic and engaging story.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “This combination of police procedural and an unfolding family drama that continuously twists and turns will work well for fans of Kate Atkinson and Tana French.”—Booklist At thirty-nine, Manon Bradshaw is a devoted and respected member of the Cambridgeshire police force, and though she loves her job, what she longs for is a personal life. Single and distant from her family, she wants a husband and children of her own. One night, after yet another disastrous Internet date, she turns on her police radio to help herself fall asleep—and receives an alert that sends her to a puzzling crime scene. Edith Hind—a beautiful graduate student at Cambridge University and daughter of the surgeon to the Royal Family—has been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Her home offers few clues: a smattering of blood in the kitchen, her keys and phone left behind, the front door ajar but showing no signs of forced entry. Manon instantly knows that this case will be big—and that every second is crucial to finding Edith alive. The investigation starts with Edith’s loved ones: her attentive boyfriend, her reserved best friend, her patrician parents. As the search widens and press coverage reaches a frenzied pitch, secrets begin to emerge about Edith’s tangled love life and her erratic behavior leading up to her disappearance. With no clear leads, Manon summons every last bit of her skill and intuition to close the case, and what she discovers will have shocking consequences not just for Edith’s family but for Manon herself. Suspenseful and keenly observed, Missing, Presumed is a brilliantly twisting novel of how we seek connection, grant forgiveness, and reveal the truth about who we are. Praise for Missing, Presumed “Smart, stylish . . . Manon is portrayed with an irresistible blend of sympathy and snark. By the time she hits bottom, professionally and privately, we’re entirely caught up in her story.”—The New York Times Book Review “Nuanced suspense that’s perfect for Kate Atkinson fans.”—People “Drenched in character and setting, with pinpoint detail that breathes life and color into every sentence.”—The News & Observer “You might come to Missing, Presumed for the police procedural; you’ll stay for the layered, authentic characters that Steiner brings to life.”—Bethanne Patrick, NPR “Where [Susie] Steiner excels is in the depth and clarity with which she depicts her characters. . . . It all adds up to a world that feels much bigger than the novel in which it is contained.”—The Guardian

A RICHARD & JUDY BESTSELLER 72 HOURS TO FIND HER... ‘Hits the sweet spot between literary and crime fiction – Gripping’ ERIN KELLY ‘For those who love their crime fiction rich in psychology, beautifully written and laced with dark humour. Dive in’ LUCIE WHITEHOUSE

When eighteen-year-old Lexi foresees the brutal murder of a young woman outside a club in downtown L.A., she is powerless to stop it. But then the girl’s ghost appears, seeking vengeance, and Lexi is swept into a dangerous search that could put her directly in the path of a serial killer. From the author of Devils Unto Dust, this fast-paced and literary thriller will haunt fans of Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious and Karen M. McManus’s One of Us Is Lying. With a touch, Lexi can sense how and when someone will die. Some say it’s a gift. But to Lexi it’s a curse—one that keeps her friendless and alone. All that changes when Lexi foresees the violent death of a young woman, Jane, outside a club. Jane doesn’t go to the afterlife quietly. Her ghost remains behind, determined to hunt down her murderer, and she needs Lexi’s help. In life, Jane was everything Lexi is not—outgoing, happy, popular. But in death, all Jane wants is revenge. Lexi will do anything to help Jane, to make up for the fact that she didn’t—couldn’t—save Jane’s life, and to keep this beautiful ghost of a girl by her side for as long as possible. Emma Berquist’s second novel is a haunting and atmospheric murder mystery that tackles themes of depression, loneliness, love, and identity. This high-concept novel is for fans of Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series.

Between 1993 and 1998, six Irish women, ranging in age from eighteen to twenty eight, disappeared. The area in which these disappearances occurred became publicly referred to as 'The Vanishing Triangle'. To date, none of the missing females have ever been located. These six unsolved cases resulted in the creation of the specialist Garda task force 'Operation Trace', set up in the hope of finding a connection between the missing women. None was found. The task force investigated dozens of unsolved cases of women gone missing in Ireland. Alan Bailey served as the National Coordinator for the task force for thirteen years, and the revealing stories in Missing, Presumedall come from his personal experiences in this role. Missing, Presumed details, and reports on, the Garda investigations into the case studies of fifteen women who disappeared over a time span of twenty years. In almost half of the cases, the women's badly mutilated bodies were recovered, sometimes months later, buried in shallow graves. Each chapter focuses on one woman's story, and details the timeline of events that led to her disappearance, beginning on the day of her disappearance through to the ensuing investigation, and up to - when lucky - a conviction. These stories are haunting, terrifying, and true. 'It is now sixteen years since Trace was established. The families and friends of both the disappeared and those whose bodies were found still await closure.'

It was the double murder case that gripped Australia, and former Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC is finally able to share all the shocking details. Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan were both happy, healthy, affluent, middle-class women from conservative, loving families. Such women are hardly ever among the ranks of the missing. They were not hitchhikers, or associates of drug dealers, or unhappy with their family relationships, or suffering from mental health issues. Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan came from different parts of Sydney, mixed in quite different circles, and led completely different lives. They had never met each other, and if they had, they would have had little in common. In fact, Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan had one thing in common – they both knew Bruce Allan Burrell. The disappearance without trace of these two women caused massive police investigations and resulted in sensational trials that gripped the nation of Australia. This book explores the intricacies of those investigations and delves into the twisted, tortuous processes of the legal proceedings, while exploring the dark recesses of the mind of Bruce Burrell. 'Gripping writing, from an expert on the inside of some of the state's worst murders and disappearances.' Peter FitzSimons

From the author of Missing, Presumed, a complicated detective investigates her most personal case yet. Detective Manon Bradshaw is five months pregnant and has given up on finding romantic love. Instead, she is in hot pursuit of work-life balance and parked in a cold case corridor—the price she’s had to pay for a transfer back to Cambridgeshire. This is fine, she tells herself. She can devote herself to bringing up her adopted twelve-year-old son, Fly Dent, and the new baby. Fly needed a fresh start anyway—he was always being stopped and searched in London by officers who couldn’t see past the color of his skin. Yet when a wealthy businessman is found stabbed close to police headquarters, Manon can’t help but sidle in on the briefing. She’s horrified to discover that the victim and the prime suspect are more closely linked to her than she could have imagined. And as the Cambridgeshire police force closes ranks against her, Manon is forced to contemplate the unthinkable: How well does she know her loved ones, and are they capable of murder?

Take a rare insider’s look at a mysterious world most people have only seen on television. Join Gale St. John on her amazing journey as a psychic sleuth who has helped find missing persons from Ohio to Kathmandu, with victims ranging from innocent young children to Mafia bosses. Missing and Presumed Dead shows you how Gale is able to tune in to a missing person, describing what she sees, hears, and feels to detect whether the individual is alive or not. Discover her extensive work with specially trained dogs that search for the missing. Experience high profile cases, including the ones where spirits help Gale save lives. Each extraordinary account—from those that made national headlines to those that are still unsolved—sheds light on the dramatic life of a psychic detective. Praise: “The heart-pounding suspense will keep you turning pages thinking you know the answers, while realizing nothing is like it seems.”—Marta Sosa, producer and host of the online radio show “Missing in America”

Short-listed for the 2002 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel Detective Inspector David Bliss has been transferred from London, England, to Hampshire in what appears to his new subordinates and superiors as a move down the career ladder. His first day on the job begins with a murder: Jonathan Dauntsey, son of the Major, willingly confesses to murdering his father. It’s an open-and-shut case, until the investigation stalls when the police can’t find the body. D.I. Bliss follows a trail of clues that lead him back in time to the point where the central presumption of the case - a murdered father - comes into question. Who did Jonathan Dauntsey murder, if anyone at all? As the mystery of the murder begins to resolve itself, so does the mystery of Bliss’s transfer from the big city to a small town.