This was another great detective thriller from Fiona Barton.

I always enjoy reading Fiona Barton's books and this one was no expection.

Although the plot wasn't anything particularly unique or groundbreaking. I still really enjoyed the dark and atmospheric nature of this book.

This book definitely focuses on the small town thriller trope, which I very much enjoy.

The writing was very engaging and easy to read. The characters were also very interesting too.

Although this probably isn't one of the most memorable thrillers I will ever read, it was a very strong and an enjoyable read nonetheless.

If you enjoy detective thrillers, set in small towns then I think you will really enjoy this book!

Sadly, this book is not for me. I have great difficulty with books which are written in the present tense (as this one is), no matter how good the writer or how excellent the story. As a result, I was unable to get past the first couple of chapters. However, the small part that I read seemed competent. It would be unfair for me to reduce the author's rating for something that is my problem, not theirs, so I have awarded four stars which is the current average.

I was a big fan of a previous book of Fiona Barton's (The Suspect) but this just didn't quite do it for me. The much more domestic setting of this book in an English seaside town was a little unremarkable for me, while I also struggled to invest much emotion in the characters. It's a solid police procedural/thriller type novel if that's your cup of tea, but not quite such a stand-out as her previous work for me.

This was a great read which started slow but the pace built quickly.
Elise King is recuperating, after a battle with breast cancer, in the seaside town of Ebbing. A local man goes missing and Elise can’t help but get involved.
The story is told from multiple POV with a great cast of characters.
Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review #LocalGoneMissing #NetGalley

A brilliant small-town mystery is full of dark secrets, shocks and surprises. Highly recommended. This is my favorite Fion Barton story. Brilliant xx

A complicated, intricate, cleverly plotted, multi-layered mystery, with an ingenious sprinkling of clues throughout.

Charlie Perry – a seventy-three year old local man, has gone missing from the small seaside village of Ebbing.

Last Sighting – the music festival on the grounds of the old vicarage, moments before two teenagers collapsed after taking ecstasy.

Known as a friendly, charming, generous and helpful local, Charlie is well liked by the community of Ebbing. Or, is he?

It may sound like a fairly straightforward plot, however Local Gone Missing was one heck of a puzzle. Good luck solving it all, because I sure couldn’t. Every time I figured out a little bit the author would throw a spanner in the works leaving me even more confused, but I persevered as I’m always keen to play detective. My head was constantly swimming with thoughts. There were numerous subplots, multi-faceted characters (all one hundred of them 😝), dark despicable crimes, elements of cosy and gothic, police investigations and interviews, class struggles in an English village, as well as a unique take on the amateur sleuthing trope. The present storyline started the day after the music festival, with flashbacks dating back to fourteen days before Charlie’s disappearance, working forwards, and both timelines included multiple points of view.

It was by no means a fast-paced read, a lot of time was devoted to setting the scene, atmosphere, and establishing and exploring the characters, their pasts, and existing relationships. My advice would be to read slowly and carefully, otherwise you will likely miss small hints and connections, and believe me, some of the most unlikeliest and mundane details were crucial to this mystery. Not only that, there were character’s coming out of the woodwork, all with backstories, and some weren’t introduced until over 50% of the way through the novel.

FYI, Local Gone Missing was a standalone novel, therefore not part of the Kate Waters trilogy. Although, I would be thriller if this turned out to be the first in a series too, as I would love to return to the village of Ebbing. Honestly, as far as mysteries go, this book was right up there with some of the best I’ve read. What a tangled web! A buddy read with Jayme, and our theories made for a compelling discussion.

I’d like to thank Netgalley, Random House UK Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press, and Fiona Barton for the e-ARC. It is with great pleasure that I add this novel to my favourites list.

Crime lovers, get your thinking caps on in time for the 9th June, 2022.

Oh, and you might just get the 1971 song ‘Knock Three Times’ stuck in your head, if you get the reference that is.

The synopsis describes Ebbing as a small, sleepy seaside town, with the weekenders in their fancy clothes, renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes. A town, divided.

But, it doesn’t read like a “neighborhood” story where you get to really know the residents from both sides.

The synopsis also introduces us to Dee Eastwood, a cleaner who is an invisible presence in the homes, of both-weekenders and locals-privy to what goes on behind closed doors-seeing and hearing all.

But, although she may know-don’t expect this to read as “soapy” or “gossipy”.

DI Elise King never expected to live in a place like Ebbing. But after a battle with Cancer, and a break-up, she settled here in the seaside town-unsure if she would ever return to work.

Fortunately, her neighbor Ronnie, loves to play “amateur detective” so when a local-the popular Charlie Perry, “goes missing” she recruits Elise to help her “interview” his wife, Pauline. Nobody believes that Charlie would leave voluntarily as he is very devoted to his daughter, Birdie, who has cognitive challenges and lives in a care home full time. So, Ronnie is keen to figure out who would want to do Charlie harm.

Turns out, Charlie has upset a few people!

Initially the story almost reads like a “COZY” and, I kind of wish it had remained that way, as THIS part was really enjoyable! Ronnie was just the antidote that Elise needed to feel ready to OFFICIALLY “get back to work” !

As we move forward and backward in time, we are introduced to A LOT of characters, only getting to know the bare minimum about some of them as we try to piece together their relationships to one another, and to Charlie. This was, at times, a bit dry-confusing and frustrating, as I prefer to get to know my characters in more depth.

There were also A LOT of sub-plots.

And, although I DO give the author credit for intricate plotting-tying ALL of those sub-plots together takes time-I found myself growing a bit BORED while waiting for her to do so. The story just WASN’T holding my interest for some reason.

Perhaps, for me-LESS is MORE?
3.5 ⭐️

Available June 9, 2022.

Thank you to Transworld Digital for the gifted copy. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Fast-paced, mysterious and so well written. I Really enjoyed this one. Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton. Five star read.

A local man has gone missing and despite being on medical leave, Detective Elise King finds herself involved in this mystery.

Somehow I feel that this isn’t a one off book. I do hope that Elise King’s character appears in other Fiona Barton novels perhaps as a series. As a writer, she manages to set the scene brilliantly and draws you in to each and every one of her characters. It took a little while for me to become completely engrossed in this book and I did pick it up and put it down quite a lot. Having said that, the many twists and turns were neatly tied up resulting in a satisfying ending.

Elise is a Detective who has been signed off while undergoing treatment for cancer. Whilst living in a quiet seaside town, an acquaintance of hers goes missing, a well-liked wealthy neighbour. What follows gets Elise back into work and investigating what she really knows about those who live around her. This is a really well-written and taut thriller, which is engrossing and clever. Highly recommended.

I love This author’s previous books but I found this one very slow to start and the storyline didn’t grip me as much as I had hoped.

Many thanks to netgalley and Fiona Barton for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Elise, a detective recovering from Cancer, is taking a break from work. But when a disappearance happens in her village, she is drawn in to solve the case. Great characters which are also believable.

An interesting if somewhat jovial murder mystery unusualy only one.murder and drug related crime.leads to a lot of suspects and more than one of them were eventually involved in the murder.A light hearted very pleasant read.

A very dark and compelling mystery novel set in the community of a small town, where lies and deceit lurk everywhere but cannot escape from the eyes of a local cleaning lady…

I love Fiona Barton's writing, she manages to get deep into her characters giving each a distinct voice and personality. Elise really comes alive; her intellect, her curiosity and her drive push her forward despite the fact that she's on sick leave from her job as a police detective.

The book has a slow start and I found myself picking it up and putting it down without getting really involved in the plot until at least the 50% mark but it's a good read, introducing a great character who I'm hoping becomes the lead in a series.

Elise King is a police officer on convalescent leave from work. When a resident of the small seaside town of Ebbing goes missing Elise starts to investigate and uncovers a web of deceit involving a con-man that goes back 20 years.

Initially I found this book to have a slow start. A wide range of characters are involved and the connections between them took time to introduce. Once the introductions are through the tension really begins to increase and I was intrigued to discover what had happened.

The main characters are really well defined. You can really feel Elise's frustration at not being on active duty. Elise and her neighbour Ronnie make a great double act as they hunt for clues.

Charlie Perry is the local who has gone missing. We see glimpses of his life and he elicits the readers sympathy because of his home life and his daughter, who he cares deeply for. As the story progresses we begin to realise that everything may not be as it seems regarding Charlie.

Dee Eastwood is the local cleaner, along with a variety of other jobs. Dee is down trodden, simply doing what she can to make ends meet and ensure that her young son is happy and safe. Because of her lowly position in society people completely forget she's there. This means Dee knows lots of people's secrets.

As the story unfolds we find out that there may be more than one person who wants to harm Charlie, particularly as his shady past becomes clear. Does Dee hold the answer to what has happened?

When a well liked elderly gentleman goes missing in an English seaside town, the race is on to find him before it’s too late. But is Charlie Perry the person his upper class demeanour and cut glass accent would seem to suggest? Needless to say, it’s all much more complicated than that, and it all intrigues detective Elise, on sick leave recovering from cancer treatment. There is a large cast of characters and it is mostly clear who is doing and saying what, but the jumping timeline gets a little confusing at times, and not every one of the characters is totally realistically drawn. Having said that, this is a complex and riveting story, exposing the perils of obsession with money, and the consequences for those who will stop at nothing to make a fortune.

I have enjoyed the previous novels from this author but this one fell short for me. Slow burner. To much back and forward which was confusing.. Some unlikeable and unremarkable characters.. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

For me this book was just ok. I did enjoy the story but I never felt excited to pick up my kindle and read it.

There were a lot of characters and only a couple of them were well-developed so it was a bit difficult to keep straight who was who. Elise and Charlie were the only characters who felt real to me and I did enjoy getting to know them. I don't know if this is going to be the start of a series with Elise as we got to know a lot about her relationship which didn't really go anywhere in the end.

There were some aspects to the plot which I found interesting but I found the pacing a bit slow and whilst I did enjoy the book, there weren't any 'wow' moments.

I'm not sure that I would go out of my way to recommend this book as it didn't particularly stand out in a saturated genre, but it was a reasonably enjoyable read so I wouldn't advise anyone against reading it either.

3.5 rounded up
I enjoyed this one which was a cross between a psychological mystery and a police procedural. The main character is on sick leave and gets entangled in the mystery of a local man in her community who has gone missing. There are many suspects, interesting characters and enough plot to drive the story forward. I found at times the pace a little slow but continued reading as I felt invested in the characters and outcome. I found at times I got a bit lost when I'd pick the book up again after not having read for a few days and trying to remember all the characters and what had happened. The timeline jumps around. This was easier the more I read. Overall this was a solid, interesting and entertaining read. I'd recommend Fiona Barton to anyone who enjoys a good mystery, police procedural or just a book to escape on a relaxing afternoon.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.