One Girl Missing

One Girl Missing is the 11th Detective Gina Harte crime thriller from Carla Kovach but the first that I have read. I must say that I have been missing out on alot of good reading. One Girl Missing was a fantastic read. The series takes place in Britain during the present era and this installment of the series was published on March 4, 2022.

The publisher's summary:  

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?

This book is unputdownable. I read it in one sitting and it seemed that it took no time to read it, thanks to the super fast pace. The investigation into the hit and run had many layers. While there was alot happening in the story, it was not difficult to follow. There were numerous twists, turns, and red herrings that kept me wanting to keep reading.

The setting was not stated but with all of the British slang words and the division of job titles in the police department, I knew that it had to be in Britain. Some of the slang I couldn't figure out but the meanings were somewhat obvious from the context. The main character is, of course, Gina Harte, and her co-workers are the secondary characters. It's odd, but the two female victims were not discussed much as characters. They figured in the investigation but that is about all we read about them. 

If you like crime thrillers or police procedurals, you will want to read this novel.  5 out of 5 stars.