Alice Teale is Missing – H.A. Linskey

YOU HAD A SECRET. ALICE FOUND OUT.

Alice Teale walked out of school at the end of a bright spring day.

She’s not been seen since.

Alice was popular and well-liked, and her boyfriend, friends and family are desperate to find her.

But soon it’s clear that everyone in her life has something to hide.

Then the police receive a disturbing package.

Pages from Alice’s precious diary.

Who could have sent them? And what have they done with Alice?

 

My thanks to Sriya at Penguin RandomHouse who provided me with a review copy and invited to join the blog tour.

 

Alice Teale is Missing – she left school late one evening after she had completed her after-school clubs.  A teacher saw her leave the school grounds but Alice has not been seen since.

The police are investigating but the officer running the enquiry is offered (and grabbed) early retirement as part of the latest round of cost cutting. He gets out just before a tricky missing person has the opportunity to (maybe) escalate into murder investigation.

We meet DC Beth Winter, sent to join the investigation to assist Lucas Black – the experienced officer to guide Beth through her first major case. However Black has a reputation for being difficult to work with. A loner, bad tempered and with a huge incident in his service career which has caused colleagues to question his ability to continue in his role.  Black and Winter are a brilliant pairing as events are viewed from Winter’s viewpoint so we experience her anxiety and frustration as she tries to show her value to a new colleague. Black makes this harder than she would like.

The missing girl, Alice, is a well known and popular figure in the small town where she lives…or should that be lived?  There are rivals for her attention, best friends who rely upon Alice’s support, teachers who may have been paying her too much attention and the police soon learn of a mystery man who may have been in her home without anyone else knowing. Her family seem overwhelming and Alice’s life looks to be more busy than she could cope with. In short there are many possible suspects who may know about her disappearance and they all have a different opinion of Alice.

Readers know Alice kept a journal as we get to read Alice’s thoughts on many issues and the people in her life. Soon the police know them too as someone is sending pages from Alice’s journal to Black. The burning question is who? Is it Alice herself? Her abductor? Her killer? And why send the journal pages at all?

Alice Teale is Missing is a wonderful piece of storytelling. No gimmicks, no forced and unrealistic cliffhangers, H.A. Lindley can deliver suspense and page turning drama in the best way possible…just telling an engrossing story.

This is easily one of the finest police procedurals I have read for some time. Real world just slipped away as I got back to the pages with Winter and Black. Highly recommended – easy 5 star score.

 

 

Alice Teale is Missing is available in digital, paperback and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alice-Teale-Missing-H-Linskey-ebook/dp/B07PJ48XWG/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1580337703&refinements=p_27%3AH.+A.+Linskey&s=digital-text&sr=1-2&text=H.+A.+Linskey