"One Girl Missing" by Carla Kovach

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? ~taken from Goodreads

Author Carla Kovach is still going strong! I stumbled across her Gina Harte series back during the start of Covid, and fell in love. If you haven't read any of the series you should, but these books work fine as stand alone reads. In fact I didn't read from the beginning of the series and started with book 7. If you want to read my reviews on the books I have read of Kovach's just click here. 

Like her other books, this one kept me fully engaged from start to finish. Yes, there were times that the story was predicable, but there were so many plot twists I was kept guessing up until the end. 

The characters were diverse and complete. I really felt like I got the full picture of each one of them and felt like they were well grounded and important to the overall story. This book is told from alternating perspectives which helped immerse me into the mystery and see the picture from all sides. 

There is plenty of action in this book and the plot moves along at a steady pace, never fizzing out like other mystery or thrillers do. I never once felt like the story was dragging along. This crime thriller is well thought out and I enjoyed every word. 

This was a solid 4.5 star read for me. I truly enjoy the Gina Harte series and cannot wait for the next to be published. "One Girl Missing" is set to be released here in the U.S. on March 9, 2020 so pre-order now! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me an advanced digital copy to read and give my honest review. 

Happy Reading!