BOOK 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?
Gina Harte and her loyal team find themselves encountering numerous dead ends and red herrings in this intense and gripping eleventh instalment in the outstanding DI Gina Harte series. What started as a fun girl's night out for best friend's Annabel and Jennifer has a shocking and tragic conclusion when a hit and run incident leaves Jennifer seriously injured and Annabel mysteriously disappears. The ensuing investigation is made more personal by the fact that Jennifer is the fiance of a member of Gina's team. After it becomes apparent that Annabel isn't lying somewhere nearby,badly injured or wandered off in shock and confusion but has actually been abducted, the team start digging into her life. Their enquiries uncover a number of viable suspects including Annabel's unpredictable husband and his young mistress, a overly helpful neighbour and a fellow teacher at the school where Annabel worked and with whom her husband suspected she was having an affair. The team find themselves in a desperate race against time to uncover who is behind Annabel's abduction and the reason behind her disappearance. Where was she being held and was she actually still alive? Would they be able to uncover the truth before time ran out for another innocent victim?
Because unbeknownst to Gina and the team, a clever, twisted and manipulative individual had been hiding in plain sight, patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to enact the next part of their plan and had their sights set on Annabel's innocent five year old daughter Cally
This fast paced thriller is voiced from the perspectives of Gina, Annabel and a fourteen year old schoolboy called Omar. In Gina's chapters we follow the team as they investigate Annabel's disappearance, question the various suspects and uncover hidden secrets and deception whilst struggling with their own individual feelings of anger and grief. Gina was also dealing with her conflicting emotions over something that she had witnessed in the previous book Her Dying Wish. I must admit that considering she is supposed to be a highly intelligent woman, I didn't think that she handled that situation very maturely. Gina and her team are a really likeable group of individuals, each with their own unique personalities and character traits. I love how well they work together as a team and how each character is given his or her opportunity to contribute their own input into whichever case they are working on at that specific time. The author adds dimension to her characters by giving the reader some insight into their personal lives outside of work but not so much information that it feels like padding and bogs down the flow of the story. I also love how the scenes that are set in the police station concentrate on the actual investigation and don't include scenes where Gina is constantly having to justify her decisions and being undermined by her superior officers.
Annabel's chapters were nerve wracking and packed full of tension and atmosphere as we witnessed her desperate battle stay alert and figure out where she was and who was holding her captive. Her overwhelming feelings of fear for the safety and wellbeing of her beloved daughter were all to realistic and relatable to anyone who has ever been a parent. Annabel's marriage hadn't exactly been a happy one and she had recently been hurt and betrayed by someone she had trusted but surely someone she knew couldn't be behind her currently situation....could they?
Interspersed throughout the book was chapters that were written from the perspective of fourteen year old Omar who was one of Annabel's students and had a bit of a overpowering crush on her. Little did he realise that his feelings would result in him endangering his own life. I really really liked Omar, his background story was authentic and realistic as was the way that he was treated both at school and at home. Like everyone,he had made mistakes but then who hasn't, nobody is perfect especially when you are at a age where your hormones are starting to play havoc with your emotions. Like everyone,he just wanted to feel accepted by his peers and not feel like everything he did was wrong which would have been a refreshing change especially when it came down to his mother. Would Omar finally get his wish? If you want to find out the answer to that question then you will just have to get hold of a copy of this emotionally charged thriller and find out for yourself.
Omg, wow....just wow, this is a absolutely brilliant,addictive series and this latest instalment is no exception. It's a intelligently written, fast paced, intense and gripping,gritty read that is packed full of twists and turns, kept me guessing and glued to my kindle. This latest instalment subjects the reader to a rollercoaster ride of emotions and even had me close to tears at one point of the story. Although this is the eleventh book in the series,it can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone. Once I had started reading One Girl Missing,I was completely hooked in and would have read the whole book in one sitting but unfortunately my old eyes refused to cooperate. This is definitely one of my favourite reads of the year so far, worth far more than five stars and very very highly recommended.
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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Detective Gina Harte Series
1: The Next Girl
2: Her Final Hour
3: Her Pretty Bones
4: The Liar’s House
5: Her Dark Heart
6: Her Last Mistake
7: Their Silent Graves
8: The Broken Ones
9: One Left Behind
10: Her Dying Wish
11: One Girl Missing
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