Just Another Missing Person by Gillan McAllister (Review by Shantell Krystal)

5/5

Gillian McAllister has done it again. I loved her previous novel Wrong Place Wrong Time but this one tops it on my list of favourites.

The story begins with a missing girl by the name of Olivia. The main character Julia is a police officer put in charge of the investigation into the disappearance while also dealing with her own family troubles. This combination just adds more pressure on her.

Years ago, Julia was investigating another missing girl but due to family issues she wasn’t fully involved in the investigation resulting in the girl not being found. Julia had always felt guilty about it, but at the time there was nothing she would have done differently. Julia is approached and blackmailed to frame someone for Olivia’s disappearance. Julia finds herself in a moral dilemma, if she does this it could end her career, if she doesn’t, it could mean disaster for her family.

What will she do and what will she find out along the way?

I found it hard in some ways to have empathy for Julia and her situation. As a mother myself I understand that you would do anything for your family, but would you? There are so many other characters that are tangled up in this web my emotions were going up and down for each of them.

The formation of the story is entwined with the possibility of corruption to falsely accuse someone, the mystery of the missing girls and how family’s lives can be changed by life alternating events.

Gillian tells the story by having certain chapters written from the parent’s perspective of talking to themselves. Asking questions or recalling memories as if the person is there with them. This was a little confusing at first but once I caught on, I was absorbed into the story even more. They were asking questions I wanted to ask, and it gave a great frame of reference on how the characters were feeling.

If you are looking for a mystery of intrigue and suspense then this is the book for you.