Susie Steiner (1971–2022)

It took me a while to get into this book, but I’m glad I persevered. It started off a lot slower than I expected, and I didn’t warm up to the characters for quite a while. In the end, though, I quite liked Davy and I came around to Manon’s quirks and eccentricities too.

As I got into the book, I compared it quite a bit to watching one of my favourite police procedural TV shows. It was like getting into Bones or Rizzoli & Isles (the show, not the books), and I found myself eager to get back to the lives of these interesting law enforcement officers. I cared about them way more than I cared about Edith, Miriam, Ian and the rest of their lot.

I was disappointed in the last 30 pages or so, though. Once the “big reveal” occurred, the rest was just much too pat, including the explanation of what happened to Edith. It all felt like puzzle pieces falling into place, but there was no suspense or harrowing revelation here. After investing so much energy into these people, the ending was a disappointment. Still, I really enjoyed this novel overall and I’m glad I stuck with it.… (more)

Susie Steiner has written a wholly fascinating novel which captures your interest from the first page and grips it tightly until the last. Cambridgeshire Police are investigating the sudden, unexplained disappearance on university student, Edith, but as no trace of her is found and no ransom demand received, the frustration grows. But the story is so much more than an investigation into her disappearance, as it opens out to highlight the pressures this causes for family and friends and also on the police leading it, both in their professional and private lives, as progress appears to be painfully slow. Taken together, this makes for an absorbing read with a surprising resolution.… (more)

Thanks to Random House via NetGalley for the free ARC copy of [b: Missing Presumed: DS Manon #1|26141649|Missing, Presumed (DS Manon, #1)|Susie Steiner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1448761125s/26141649.jpg|46094369] by [a: Susie Steiner|5412415|Susie Steiner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442615125p2/5412415.jpg].

This is a well-written novel and the character development is excellent. I do not know why this book did not wow me, it had many perfect ingredients.

I did enjoy the truth of the single-angst-nearing-the-end-of-childbearing-years subplot regarding DS Manon. It brought to mind the desperation felt by the single women in "Sex and the City."

I like crime novels and expected something different than what the story is. I gave this a five-star rating because it is only my own expectations of a strong female protagonist that left me disappointed.

I have recommended this to other readers.… (more)

After the tightly woven Lie Tree, I found this book even more painful than I would have otherwise -- Missing, Presumed is basically the opposite: loose ends are left everywhere, including subplots, dropped characters and thematic references.

Look, Missing, Presumed is a perfectly workable beach mystery (although honestly, I think there are better pulp mysteries; I found every twist pretty telegraphed.) But it's clear Steiner's aiming to be the next Tana French with thematic elements woven into the mystery and the life of the investigators paralleling the investigation. However, I found the thematic elements lacked a coherent arc; it's clear that Steiner wants to explore the idea of families of choice (one detective "adopts" an elderly woman with Parkinson's, while another adopts a tween) and independence versus loneliness, but I just didn't find that there were much said other than the repetition of these elements.

But where things really fell flat for me was the lack of coherent narrative. The two major suspects are basically completely coincidentally connected to the case. Tony Wright? Investigated because they are investigating "all criminals in the area with similar MOs" (even though he's the only one ever mentioned) and he has an alibi that feels very pat. I was so confused by the detective's insistence that he was involved that I searched the ebook for his name not once, but twice to try to figure out what he was missing. Similarly, the person who got connected with the case because he was a dead body who turned up in a different area of town at a different time? Meanwhile, an extremely suspicious character that had a physical fling with Edith the night she disappeared is never mentioned or interviewed again. It was clear Steiner started with an ending and worked backwards to introduce her key characters without the theory of mind of how readers would perceive this.

So, ultimately, two stars mean it was readable without being actively painful, but I basically only finished it because I happened to be on vacation and it was on my computer from the library.… (more)