I loved this book. The start felt really original and made me want to read on. It was a crime thriller but had so much more to it. I was interested in all the back stories and really liked the protagonist DC Manon Bradshaw, she had many flaws and felt real. In fact the author is brilliant at the way in which she gives all the characters depth and clarity.
I did guess elements of the novel but the end was a complete surprise to me.
I feel that there is more of Manon's world to be explored and would love to read about Manon and another case.

There are so many authors writing crime fiction now that I wondered if this would actually have anything new to bring to the table. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a slow burner, which some may not like, but I liked that all loose end were tied up by the end so you weren't left wondering. The characters were realistic and I look forward to seeing how the author develops the main character further in book 2..

I read this novel a while ago, but had overlooked leaving a review.

An excellent story and one that will stay imprinted on my mind for some time to come. A well written novel and is what I call a crime story at it's best. I do hope to read more by this author.

A police procedural about a missing woman that shows promise, but has too many POVS and not enough focus on the crime itself to be convincing.

Missing, Presumed was an okay read. I struggled to get into it to start with but perseverance paid off.
Great story that portrays police work at the same time telly a great story.

This is a crime novel with an irritating lead who grows on you as the book goes on. It is definitely worth sticking with as we come to realise why DS Manon Bradshaw is so dedicated to her job. Because her private life and family life is a mess. At least it gives her plenty of time to investigate a missing young woman. There's no ransom note and no body but there are connections and friends in high places. Manon doesn't want to just focus on the people with connections and this makes her endearing. I enjoyed the story and the book was a bit different from formulaic crime novels. Recommended if you like 'real' people with flaws and bad habits who nevertheless care about their job.

This is a pretty good book, not the best I’ve read, but pretty good. There are some great characters, especially the lead protagonist DS Manon Bradshaw with whom I felt able to connect with. The writing flowed well making it easy to read. The story kept my interest throughout and I felt the police investigation aspect was quite believable.

This is the first in a series of books featuring DS Bradshaw, I am tempted to read more.

Thanks go to the publisher, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

Love this author - the subject matter although gritty was also emotional and held my interest. I have recommended the book to a work colleagues whose niece has some food issues. Her family share the angst experienced by this family group in trying to support yet manage this situation.

I was looking forward to reading this book but I did find it very slow at the start, with a lot of character detail which didn't grip me as much as I hoped it would. Having said that it did pick up in the latter section of the book.

Overall a good book with a good story but a little slow-paced and over-descriptive for me.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I was very much looking forward to reading this book as it sounded right up my street.

The story is of Edith Hind, the daughter of Lord and Lady Hind who goes missing one night. We follow the investigation through the eyes of DS Manon Bradshaw of MIT. Manon is a single woman looking for her Mr right and struggling to get the work/life balance right.

We also read chapters from the point of view of Miriam Hind; Edith's mother as she struggles to come to terms with the fact that her daughter is most likely dead.

Overall I was disappointed with this book. I found it to be unnecessarily 'padded' out with detailed descriptions and almost had to force myself to continue reading. I found Manon's personal life more interesting than the main story line. However, the characters were well rounded and believable.

As I don't want to spoil the ending, I will just say that I found the ending infuriating and unbelievable.

This book is certainly not a thriller. Overall it took a long time for anything to really 'happen' and when it did, I wouldn't say it was worth the wait.

What starts out as a typical police drama book quickly proves to be so much more. A great read about a missing girl with plenty twists just as you think you have it worked out. Well worth the read.

First of all I would like to thank Harper Collins UK, Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Since this book got a fair bit of attention in the media I was very eager to find out what the buzz was all about.
In hindsight I guess that I had the wrong expectations from this book.
Somehow I got the idea that I would dive into a fast paced, edge of your seat mystery.
Soon enough I discovered that it’s not that kind of read.
Although the story does revolve around the mysterious disappearance of a young female student it also describes, in great detail, the life of 39 year old D.I. Manon Bradshaw and her colleagues at the Cambridgeshire police force.
Chapters are alternately narrated by those closely connected to missing Edith Hind and by the members of the police force who are working to solve the case.
Main character Manon Bradshaw lives for the job. Not only because she’s dedicated but also because she doesn’t have a family to go home to.
She hates being lonely and insecure and is hugely disappointed in the way her life turned out.
Craving intimacy she takes up internet dating but ends up feeling more miserable after each date.
Meanwhile colleagues Davey and Harriet are dealing with their own challenges both privately and professionally.
Although it was nice getting to know the members on the police squad I was more interested to find out what happened to Edith. Since a serious lack of leads the police had very little to go by. Consequently there was no real tension or suspense. A blooming romance about halfway through the book was a nice surprise but soon after my attention started slipping
Since I wanted to know the ending I pulled through.
However the way the mystery unfolded in the last few chapters seemed very far-fetched to me.
All in all I can’t say that this is a bad book I just wouldn’t recommend it if you are looking for a gripping read because then you might end up disappointed. If you like reading about the everyday trials and tribulations of those being part of a police force and enjoy reading series you will probably take pleasure in reading this book and the D.I. Manon Bradshaw sequels that are likely to be published.

"Missing, Presumed," follows DS Manon as she investigates the disappearance of PHD student Edith Hind and is told from a variety of perspectives including Manon’s partner Davy, Edith’s mother Miriam, Edith’s best friend Helena, and Manon. The main problem I had with this novel is that it is quite slow paced and not as suspenseful as a thriller. However, as the novel progressed I came to realise that this is not really a psychological thriller but more a work of literary fiction with a side of mystery.

Hmmmmm I have mixed feelings on this book, I was slightly bored throughout really as I thought the pace wasn't too great. It's compared to gone girl though in my opinion it's not even close (sorry)...my friend has also read it and loved it and so maybe it's just me. I thought personally that it needed more ooompf!

Unfortunately I have had to abandon this book as just over halfway, which is a shame as so many people highly recommended it. Personally for me the pace was too slow and there were too many characters telling their versions which began to drag for me. Lots of readers and authors love the descriptions and the indepth characterisations which I can understand but alas it's not for me. I won't rate it as I didn't finish it.

This novel starts with the apparent disappearance of Cambridge student Edith Hinds.

Her front door has been left open, there is blood on the floor and her wallet, phone, and passport have all been left behind.
The plot of Missing, Presumed then unfolds through the viewpoints of Edith’s friends, family, and the police officers tasked with finding her.

There is Detective Sergeant Manon who is desperately looking for love (when not working all hours for the police force), perpetually cheerful Police Detective Dave Walker, Edith’s boyfriend Will Carter, and her parents Sir Ian Hind and Lady Miriam Hind.

This novel follows the classic patten of who-dunnit-ness with the search for Edith racing along keeping the reader totally in the dark about who was involved.

There's a great build up of suspense along the way and I really liked the way that the characters change as the pressure of the case affects them, it made it seem very realistic.

I really enjoyed this book. Missing, Presumed is #1 of the DS Manon series and I'm looking forward to reading more of them in future.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading this kind of book, waiting until the very end to find out what happened, is she alive? I did enjoy this book but find myself a little disappointed in it. I'm glad Edith was alive in the end but running away and knowing the full scale police hunt for her and didn't contact anyone seems wrong to me. Also sad that Helena killed herself over something that wasn't her fault, not sure that this was necessary. The book didn't really go anywhere but I wanted to know the ending. It wasn't much of a storyline for 3/4 of the book. The story didn't really go anywhere and it needed something major to happen to kick it off again, it kind of plodded along for a long while. It didn't grip me like other books in the same genre. I liked the different chapters were from a different characters point of view but I did get confused a bit in the beginning as to who was who but got there not too far in. I would recommend this book, it was an easy read and I would look out for her next book to see what it's like.

I thought this dragged on a bit with lots of detail that wasn't particularly relevant to the main story. Towards the end, it seemed like the author decided things needed to be wrapped up quickly so conclusion felt a bit rushed and I was glad when it was finally done :-(

Edith Hind has gone missing, leaving just her coat and a smear of blood, and DS Manon Bradshaw has a window of 72 hours in which to find her before experience suggests it will become a murder investigation.
Police procedurals are perennially popular and in a saturated market an author really needs to write with confidence and flair or risk being lost in the crowd. Susie Steiner has done just that with Missing, Presumed, a book as much about the characters as the mystery. DS Manon Bradshaw is the heroine of the book and is neither too much the hard-bitten cynic nor the wide-eyed ingénue. She is often brittle and is lonely, spending sleepless nights listening to her police radio- after a disappointing one night stand she rushes to become involved in Edith's case after hearing the report of her disappearance - but despite her clearly unfulfilled home life she is empathetic and perceptive, and in a story that gradually builds in tension as the hours pass is the warm and humorous centre to the book. The other characters in the book are also entirely believable, the missing Edith we learn is passionate but irritatingly pretentious about causes she believes in, her parents, (her father is an eminent surgeon and friends with the Home Secretary) have to face not only their daughter's disappearance but also revelations about her private life, her mother's anguish searingly relatable regardless of your social class. Manon's colleagues too are exactly the sort of people you can imagine sharing an office with, the almost ever optimistic Davy who loves police jargon, cheerfully puts up with Manon's misanthropic nature and lives with a woman who is clearly undeserving of his devotion, Nigel, exhausted father of newborn twins, and Detective Inspector Harriet Harper, Manon's superior - refreshingly their relationship is one based on mutual respect rather than the author falling back on the petty jealousies that so often plague books featuring strong women,
'This is what Manon likes most about Harriet –no, not likes, understands: she isn’t on an even keel. She feels the work in every fibre and it hurts her.'
Missing, Presumed feels entirely relevant. From the hours of grinding investigation, to the pressure from higher up to solve a high profile case despite the confines of a budget, all under the watchful and hungry Press. Edith Hind might be a fictional character but we know how these stories play out, the media feeding frenzy, suspicion cast on friends and the family and the shift from waiting to hear reports from the police to demanding to know why they haven't yet solved the case.
This isn't the last we'll see of Manon Bradshaw as a sequel, Persons Unknown is due in 2017 and I know I won't be the only one to welcome her return. As I said previously, there are plenty of police procedurals to choose from - Susie Steiner has written one that encapsulates the gritty, messy world we live in and has done it without sacrificing the humour and warmth that binds people together despite the troubles life throws at us.
I received my copy of Missing, Presumed through NetGalley in return for my honest review.

Missing, Presumed is published in the UK by The Borough Press and is out now.

It is a breath of fresh air to finally see a thriller not being marketed as the next Girl on the Train or Gone Girl.

This book reminds me a lot of Tana Frenchs novels, which is a great compliment as I am a huge fan of hers.

In someone elses review they related to this to a character study which I loved as I really think that description fits. It flips perspectives throughout and sometimes that bugs me but I think in this case it was done very well.

Those looking for an edge of your seat suspense novel will probably not love this. But if you go into it with an open mind I think the story is very well done and incredibly enjoyable.