Missing by E.A. Jackson (pub date 03/17/26)

 

In August 1990, London is suffering through an unprecedented heatwave when baby Bella Carpenter is snatched through the open window of her hotel room. Detective Inspector Martha Allen is assigned the high-profile case and, knowing that it could make or break her career, is determined to find Bella.

When a young woman named Nell Beatty walks into the police station with a baby who appears to be Bella, and whom Nell claims she found on a bench, it seems that the mystery is solved. Her family, the police, and the press are overjoyed at her return. But DI Allen isn’t convinced, something about Nell’s story doesn’t ring true. As much as she wants to continue, however, now that the baby is safe, she’s ordered to close the investigation.

Thirty years later, Nell Beatty is found dead. Now a superintendent, Allen has never really gotten over her doubts about the Carpenter case and can’t resist doing a little digging on her own time, eager to find out what happened to Nell, and her involvement in the baby’s disappearance all those years ago. But will her efforts uncover something darker than she could have ever imagined? And what is she risking as she tries once and for all to reveal the truth? - Simon & Schuster

This was an engrossing and layered crime thriller.  I normally breeze through books in just a few days but this one took me over a week to finish and that’s not a complaint, there was just so much detail.  We meet Detective Inspector Martha Allen in the first half of the novel in the summer of 1990 as she is called to investigate the sudden disappearance of baby Bella from her parent’s hotel room.  As one of the few women rising the ranks in policing at the time, she faces pressure from all sides and is struggling to balance her family life with her career aspirations.   When a woman named Nell Beatty returns baby Bella to the police station after finding her in a local park, it seems like this case has come to a happy conclusion.  Only DI Allen has her doubts that something just isn’t right.  Flash forward 30 years to 2020, Nell is found dead and DI (now Superintendent) Allen finally gets the chance to pursue those loose ends. 

What I loved about this book is just how deep and developed the characters were.  Despite the flash forward of 30 years, the reader really gets to know DI Allen as a person and how her work has impacted her whole life.  The settings were richly described.  I could feel the oppressiveness of the 90’s summer heatwave through the pages.  This novel is also set in London so it was interesting to see how police work is done in the UK vs the US as well as how crime solving technology has advanced over the past 30 years in both positive and negative ways.  This book also kept me guessing which I always love.  I don’t appreciate it when it’s too easy to solve the caper. 

I highly recommend Missing by E.A. Jackson to anyone who loves Crime Thrillers and strong female leads. 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster/Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.  

Missing releases 03/17/26 but you can pre-order now at your local book store or click the publisher's link above. 

 

 

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter - Release Date 08/12/25

 

Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.

Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.

For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.

But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.

Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding? HarperCollins.com

This is the first installment in Karin Slaughter’s new North Falls series and she quickly draws you into Officer Emmy Clifton’s world in this rural small-town in Atlanta.  I am a huge fan of her Will Trent series and wasn’t sure I was ready for a new protagonist, but I was instantly taken with Officer Emmy Clifton and can’t wait for the next installment.  Slaughter is a master at creating well-developed characters who are both loveable and flawed as well as her world building but her books aren’t for the faint of heart as she doesn’t hold back in the descriptions of the brutalities of crime.  We Are All Guilty Here is a shining example of Slaughter’s talents sure to please her many fans and new readers alike.

We Are All Guilty Here will be released on Tuesday 08/12/2025 but you can pre-order now at your local book store.  I was fortunate enough to win my Advanced Reader Copy through Booktrovert by Netgalley.  Visit their site for more information on how you too can win early releases of new books.  For more information on Karin Slaughter and her book tour, visit her website.   

 

HarperCollins.comHarperCollins.com

Nightshade by Michael Connelly

 

 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled” to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found wrapped in plastic and weighed down at the bottom of the harbor. Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, he starts doggedly working the case. Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city. -michaelconnelly.com

 

Nightshade is the first in what promises to be a new series of novels starring Detective Stilwell on Catalina Island.  This isn’t Connelly’s first novel to feature a Catalina resident, it was also home to Terry McCaleb (Bloodwork, A Darkness More Than Night, The Narrows) from the Bosch universe.  While this was a great mystery and cop story, it felt like it was missing something that is present in Connelly’s other series: Bosch, Ballard and The Lincoln Lawyer. I just can’t put my finger on the missing element.  Perhaps it is the fact that all his other characters are known to be in the same universe and those main characters have all worked together, are family or are personally known to each other like the aforementioned Terry McCaleb.  But here with Stilwell on Catalina, we’re introduced to a whole new cast of characters so everyone is a stranger instead of characters we’ve come to know and love.  I did love the Catalina setting and this book definitely inspired me to take a trip out there some day.  The mystery itself was also strong and layered and I appreciated the small resort town misdemeanors referenced as well.  I look forward to the next Stilwell novel in the hopes that it will flesh out the characters a bit more and give us a new hero to root for.

I got my copy of Nightshade from Barnes & Noble where I caught one heck of a deal thanks to my bestie Melanie for racking up member rewards for me! At the time of this writing, Nightshade is currently 30% at Barnes & Noble so might want to pick yours up there or visit your favorite local bookstore or online shop.