The Missing Hours

Selena Cole disappears, leaving her seven and three year old children alone in a park. She is found the next day, but claims to have no memory of what happened to her. The police are too busy to pursue this any further as a local solicitor is found dead beside a remote road. Gradually it becomes clear that the two cases are linked.

Selena and her deceased husband set up a company dealing with kidnap and rescue demands, operating in countries like Columbia, and the narrative is interspersed with (very interesting) case studies describing their work and rescue negotiations. The other narrative strands are told mostly from the viewpoints of Finn (the DS) and his sister Leah (a DC) and their voices are confusingly indistinguishable from one show more another, unless Leah is taking a moment to muse on her twin daughters or agonize about her marriage.

Generally, this was an enjoyable read, although it could perhaps have been a little pacier. I found Finn and Leah's diffidence about their competence wearing; I do prefer to read about people who are confident/good at their job. The idea that the police would let Selena's reappearance bring an end to that investigation, in a sort of "all's well that ends well" way, struck me as extremely unlikely; two small children were left/abandoned in a park - at the very least surely social services would have been involved. What is to say it wouldn't happen again?

The "big reveal" was something I had worked out for myself - I'm not sure how, maybe the author planted well-placed clues.

SPOILER I wondered why it did not occur to Leah to find out who collected the remaining 40,000 GBP from the bank. show less

4.5 stars.

The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh is a clever police procedural about two perplexing mysteries that occur simultaneously yet appear unconnected.

Detective Constable Leah Mackay is assigned to the missing persons case involving Dr. Selena Cole who disappeared without a trace from the playground where her two daughters are playing. Serena's sister-in-law Orla Britten has no idea where she could be but she is quite concerned since Selena has been grief-stricken since the tragic death of her husband Cole. With scant clues to follow, Leah is concerned about the future of the case when local defense solicitor Dominic Newell's murder investigation takes precedence.

Leah's brother, newly promoted Detective Sergeant Finn Hale is leading show more the Dominic's murder enquiry. Newell has been stabbed to death and all personnel are needed for the investigation. Finn heads to the victim's law practice where he is surprised to learn Dominic and his law partner, Bronwyn Hartley, were once romantically involved although they are now just friends. Finn then questions Dominic's boyfriend, Isaac Fletcher, but the grieving man does not set off any alarms. The next line of inquiry leads to one of the victim's clients, Beck Chambers, who quickly becomes their chief suspect once Finn learns more of Beck's run-ins with the law.

Just as Leah turns her attention to Dominic's case, Selena is found unharmed, yet, inexplicably, she has no memory of what happened during her disappearance. Despite Selena's safe return, Leah's curiosity about what happened to her nags at her. After she and Finn discover that a suspect has ties to both Selena and Dominic, Leah can no longer ignore her conviction that the two cases somehow linked. Leah is also certain that Selena is not being completely honest with her but trying to figure out the reason for her deception is virtually impossible.

Finn is putting in long hours as he investigates Dominic's murder but he is frustrated by his dearth of viable leads or suspects. He is skeptical of Leah's assertion that Selena's disappearance and Dominic's murder are somehow linked, but he nonetheless joins her as she follows each piece of evidence she unearths. Certain they are on the right path, Leah and Finn painstakingly put together their disparate pieces of evidence but will they figure out the truth before it is too late?

With the chapters alternating between Leah and Finns perspectives and interspersed with case studies of Selena and her husband's kidnap and rescue cases, The Missing Hours is an incredibly intriguing mystery that is multi-layered and complex. Both Leah and Finn have excellent instincts yet they each find they let their own personal situations cloud their judgment at different times during the investigation. The plot is quite unique with the shadowy world of kidnap and rescue figuring prominently throughout the unfolding story. With unexpected twists and exciting turns, Emma Kavanagh brings the novel to a shocking and somewhat dramatic conclusion that completely wraps up both of these baffling mysteries. show less

4.5 stars. This is the first full novel I read by Emma Kavanagh, although I still have a hard copy of Falling for some time now waiting for me to read in my library. I can tell you already that my desire to read it has risen exponentially after reading The Missing Hours. This was a wonderful, tautly plotted novel for which I have a lot of admiration. There was nothing that I did not like about the book. We are plunged into the exiting world of K&R (kidnap & ransom) which is already a fascinating focal point to start out with and which I never gave much thought before reading about it in this novel. This whole unknown reality is completed even more with several ‘case files’ of the Cole Group, shared as memos or reports to us, show more throughout the novel.

Selena Cole works for The Cole Company in her capacity as psychologist, her husband Ed was special forces, and then there is her sister-in-law Orla and her husband Seth who joined this boutique company a few years later. If some employee is taken hostage in some far-flung location, the insurance companies turn to The Cole Group to remedy the situation, negotiating a ransom that is satisfactory to both sides. But since her husband died, Selena has taken a small step back from the day-to-day business and one day Selena is in the park with her two girls when she goes missing. The same day a man is found murdered. Finn and Leah, brother and sister, Detective Sergeant and Detective Constable respectively, have these cases on their hands. Selena reappears hours later with no recollection where she was or what happened, case closed for Leah. But Leah cannot fully concentrate on the other case, and before long she just knows that something must tie her missing persons case to the death of the solicitor. A theory that seemed to be backed up by little clues tying them closer and closer together.

The author did a good job raising suspicion about several people throughout this novel, each with some sort of credible motive for the murder, but not so much so for the kidnapping. The two cases are cleverly entwined and kept me guessing to no end, only to be unravelled in the end by Leah and Finn working together. I loved the brother-sister working together thing and it is really the first time I see an author using this in a novel. A quite clever literary advantage because these main characters really know each other through and through and their spiel of understanding each other is quite enjoyable. It’s only in the end that we really get the picture how all of this fits together but this did not frustrate me at all because there is enough happening and to be discovered before it all comes together. I did have my suspicions about some of it although I did not know how or why exactly and I hit the right spot with only my gut feeling to lead me. This was an excellent police procedure with a very clever plotline which kept me engaged from start to finish.

*I was provided with a copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher, Random House, Cornerstone in exchange for my honest opinion* show less

I expected a tense, suspenseful story, but what I got instead was more of a drama-filled police procedural. It all had a bit of a soap opera feel, actually.

The opening scene is written from seven-year-old Heather's perspective, as she realizes her mother is missing. This short scene sets up what feels like a powerful story to come.

Heather doesn't have another narrating part in the story, at least not that I remember. Most of the narration alternates between the brother and sister cops, both written in first person. I didn't much like either character. Leah is wrapped up in personal drama. She may or may not still love her husband, and she feels inadequate as a mother. We spend a lot of time in her head as she wallows in these issues, show more but we don't see much interaction with her husband and I don't think there were any scenes with her children. Finn, Leah's brother, is newly promoted. He also feels inadequate, though his worries are with his job performance. He pretends to have it all together but constantly worries that he can't take the pressure. Honestly, these two characters were largely interchangeable.

Toward the end of the book, a few other characters are given short narrating parts, all in third person. Interspersed through the entire book we also have short pieces that are either excerpts from published articles or documents from Selena's business files. Eventually we find that most of these pertain in some way to the outcome of the story. All of this, for me, gave the story a jumbled feel. I thought the shared documents slowed the pace and felt impersonal.

The plot begins with two cases that initially seem unrelated, though Leah's intuition tells her otherwise. I found Selena's situation intriguing, and I was mostly invested in learning more about that case. Her character was the only thing that kept me reading. I could easily have done without all the pity party nonsense from the two cops.

In the end, the twists didn't surprise me, perhaps because everything unfolded so slowly, with many hints along the way. For me, the story would have been far more compelling had Selena's narration been more of a focus, with less wallowing in adequacy from the cops.

As a side note, I received an advance copy from the publisher via Amazon Vine. I didn't realize that this is a re-release with a different publisher. That made no difference in my review. I'm just pointing it out for readers who might notice reviews for this book from a couple of years ago. I don't know if there are any changes, significant or otherwise, in this second release. show less

I think the book started off really good with the older daughter Heather discovering her little sister Tara all alone and their mom has vanished. It was a thrilling and brilliant way to capture the reader's attention. What happened to Selena, did she just leave the children or was she taken? DC Leah Mackay is assigned the case and she has to deal with the little girl and Selena's sisters-in-law. Meanwhile, her brother DS Finn Hale is investigating the murder of a lawyer and it turns out that it's a very small world since the man killed had connections to Selena Cole and her family.

I was a bit confused in the beginning. Had a hard time figure out if the police was a woman or man, but then I realized that I had glanced over the name that show more stood after the chapter title and that actually something I had a tendency all through the book to do and since this book has a first-person perspective was that a bit of a problem now and then. But, since it mostly shifted between Leah and Finn wasn't it so hard to figure out who was in charge. However, I must admit that I was not that fond of the first person perspective, it just didn't work well for me while I read the book. It disturbed my reading and I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed it better if it had been written without the first person perspective.

The story I think was the best in the beginning when everything was a big mystery. When Selena was missing and the period when she was found and Leah had to figure out if she was lying or not. I liked the connections between the cases and the conclusions. But, I was never really engrossed with the story, despite its interesting and unusual story. As I wrote before the first person perspective is probably one of the big reasons for the book failing to grab my interest. Also, I can't say that either Finn or Leah really grabbed my interested either. I was perplexed that two siblings could work on the same police team. But, it's perhaps a married couple that is more a big no-no. Anyway, I just didn't find either of the main characters life that interesting to read about. Or their life, I should say Leah life since it was more about Leah and her troubled married life. In many ways, it felt like Leah was more the main character than Finn. And, neither one of them managed to make an impression on me.

So, it was an OK book, nothing that rocked my little boat, but not necessarily a bad book. It felt a bit different and I liked the interluding chapters with case files from Selena and Ed's "kidnap and ransom" cases. Why anyone wants to travel to South America is beyond me. It's like asking to be kidnapped!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! show less

Although slightly difficult to follow in places this was an intriguing read.
Selena Cole, a partner in a kidnap and ransom negotiation firm, has disappeared leaving her two little girls alone. Has she had a breakdown following the death of her husband ? or did someone take her. Even when she reappears twenty hours later there are no answers to be had as she has no memory of where she has been.
The story is interspersed with the case files of kidnappings that Selena and Ed's firm have been involved with which really bought the book alive for me. My only gripe was the first person narration that switched between brother and sister police officers Leah and Finn. Several times I had to double check who was narrating and I didn't find either show more of them particularly sympathetic characters however it's the plot that keeps this book going and kept me flicking the pages. show less

This is the story of Selena Cole, who goes missing, leaving her two young children in the play park near their home. The book is mainly written in the first person, narrated by a number of characters - the police detectives leading the case, Selena herself, Orla and Seth who work with Selena and even Fae, the solicitor's administrator/secretary. However the story also includes a number of case files from the 'kidnap and ransom' business that Selena used to run with her husband. The mystery of Selena's disappearance and return is gradually unpicked, alongside the seemingly unconnected murder of a local solicitor.

Reading this book is a bit like immersing yourself in a very good 'whodunnit' but I was wrong with every guess. The quote on show more the cover says 'finding her was only the beginning' and that sums up the book exactly! As a reader, you are thrown into the story very quickly. There are twists and turns and lots of characters and details, but it is not difficult to keep up. Even the case files, which seem initially to be only there to give insight to Selena's previous work, turn out to have a much greater relevance in the end. I loved it and will definitely read other books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing the review copy of this novel. show less