Published: March 9th 2022
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Noir Fiction, Crime Series
Format: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook
Today is my stop on the blog tour for this gripping thriller. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
Five-year-old Cally waits in her pretty pink bedroom for the sound of the front door opening and her mother’s sweet voice in the hall. But when the doorbell finally rings, and Cally creeps out of bed to peer through the banister, a large man in uniform is all she sees. Her mother is missing…
Teacher Annabel Braddock was last seen drinking at the local pub with her best friend, Jennifer. Witnesses saw tears running down her cheeks, and friends say she was having problems with a colleague at work, and that her marriage had broken down.
But as the two women hugged goodbye, neither noticed the car speeding towards them. As the dust settled, Jennifer lay unconscious on the ground and Annabel was nowhere to be seen. She’d never abandon her little girl, so did someone snatch her?
As family crowd around Jennifer’s hospital bed, hoping she’ll wake up, police visit Annabel’s home and her inconsolable daughter, Cally, tells them she had seen a man outside staring into her room as she climbed into bed that evening. Was it her childish imagination, or had someone been watching Annabel’s home?
When Jennifer finally opens her eyes and tells the police what happened that night, it’s clear there are plenty of people with a reason to harm Annabel. With an unpredictable husband, a colleague who denies harassing her and a neighbour who seems to know her every move, could she be in imminent danger? As the hours turn to days, will little Cally ever see her precious mother again? Or will she be next?
If you love fast-paced, gripping crime thrillers that keep you up all night, you’ll be completely addicted to One Girl Missing. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh.
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MY REVIEW:
Best friends Annabel and Jennifer are hugging each other goodbye at the end of a girls night out when a car speeds towards them. Jennifer is left unconscious on the ground and Annabel is nowhere to be seen, only her bag and spots of her blood left behind. Detective Gina Harte and her team are called in and as they investigate it soon becomes clear that there are multiple people who might want to harm Annabel. But can they figure it out and find Annabel before it’s too late?
The eleventh instalment in Carla Kovach’s Gina Harte series is another compelling thriller. There are numerous suspects in this case, each with a valid motive, and they are all on the run: a cheating husband, his young girlfriend who was also the family childminder, an angry father, a teenage pupil with a crush, a colleague she was rumoured to be seeing and a friendly neighbour. But who took Annabel? I was sure it was each of them at one point or another and even wondered if some of them were working together. It is a tangled web of suspicion that is full of so many twists and turns I thought I’d get book whiplash! But was my final choice the real culprit? Or had Ms. Kovach duped me again with her red herrings?
One of the things I love most about reading a series is coming back to the familiar, much-loved characters and I was glad to be back with Gina and her team. Gina is dealing with emotional turmoil after seeing Briggs out with another woman. Is this the end of her relationship? And the whole team face heartache as they wait to learn if one of their own will survive, Jacob being particularly tortured as he hopes the love of his life pulls through.
The new characters were well written as always. I felt a real bond with Annabel and could feel her terror as she’s held captive and wonders if she will ever see her young daughter, Cally, again. And it was Cally, along with teenage student Omar, who went right to my heart in this book. They were such great characters who it was impossible not to feel for. I was rooting for them, especially as young Omar takes it upon himself to save Annabel himself in order to keep her secrets.
Dark, suspenseful, gripping and action-packed, One Girl Missing is another riveting thriller from Ms. Kovach. Fans of this genre will love not only this book, but the whole series and I recommend them both highly.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Carla started writing more seriously ten years ago after having flirted with musical theatre and occasional writing in her youth.
Since then she has written & produced several stage plays, has four self-published books, has acted in several independent films and is currently in the final stages of production of her feature horror film, Penny for the Guy.
She now writes full time as well as co-owning a film, photography & video production company located in the heart of Redditch town centre.
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BUY THE BOOK:
Waterstones*| Amazon*| Bookshop.org*
*These are affiliate links
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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles 😊 Emma xxx
Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the tour.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 