Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Persons Unknown. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Being five months pregnant, as well as an adoptive mother to a twelve year old boy, Detective Manon Bradshaw already has more than she can handle. When a man dies that ends up having ties to Manon's family, a target is placed directly in her world. Being shut out of the investigation by her colleagues, will Manon search on her own for the truth?

Persons Unknown has a good concept, but the parts that usually make a police procedural thriller exciting simply were not there. The characters plodded after the truth, with the ultimate reveal basically just stated matter-of-factly. The layering and building of the main characters, to give them depth, was largely absent and did not help me to forge a connection. This book was a miss for me, as it was unremarkable in a sea of other police procedural thrillers.

This is book 2 in the DS Manon series. Although I liked the first book (Missing, Presumed) better, this was still an enjoyable read. There was more emphasis on the racial profiling of Manan's adopted son, Fly, than on the actual investigation of the crime, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, this book seems to put more emphasis on character development. I hope to see more stories in this series!

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Police procedural that crosses boundaries from professional to personal.

Having moved from London to Cambridgeshire to give her 12 year-old adopted son, Fly, a fresh start, DI Manon Bradshaw finds herself in a quandary. While Fly was at risk of going down the wrong path in London, he is certainly not thriving in Cambridgeshire. Making matters even more complicated, Manon is 5 months pregnant. She and Fly live with her sister Ellie, and Ellie’s two-year old son, Solly. When Solly’s father is murdered, Fly becomes the main suspect. Manon must do all that she can to protect her son, even if it means breaking the law. She comes to learn that the person she trusts the most is the one that she can trust the least.

This is a multi layered, slow-burning, intricately plotted mystery. It’s slow in the beginning, but at a certain point there’s a shift and things take off. Having read book one, I was happy to see Manon’s character evolve. She is a character who is intricately flawed and tends to rub those around her in the wrong way (including readers), but I really like her. In this book, she has transformed from grumpy mess into an emotional mess. Her character is much softer and more vulnerable than in the first book. Persons Unknown can be read as a standalone, but it would be a more enjoyable experience if you read book one. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is Susie Steiner's second book and once again we meet up with Manon but in a new situation. She is now living with her sister, her nephew, and her adopted son not in London, but in Huntington, the setting of the first book but everything is quite different this time: Manon is no longer in charge of her group at police headquarters and she is also pregnant. But there there is a murder in which she, and those she cares about, will become involved. And being on the outside of an investigation will be harder than anything she has experienced before.

As with Steiner's first book, I found this compulsively readable, so much so that I read to the end and finished at 4 in the morning, wanting to know what would happen, how it would all come together. This is one of the great strengths of the book; it brings all of the separate plot pieces, characters and settings together in meaningful ways by the end. And the writing...excellent.

If you enjoy plot driven novels with interesting characters in police procedural settings, I definitely recommend Persons Unknown and Steiner's first book, Missing, Presumed

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

In this second novel by Susie Steiner, we see some familiar characters and a compelling story. Most of the characters are likeable - except the ones who aren't supposed to be!

The narrative is complex and the storyline sometimes weaves into confusing territory. The ending of Birdy and Angel seems rushed and thrown together. I found myself saying - "wait - - WHAT?" But overall, the mystery is interesting and entertaining.

PERSONS UNKNOWN is a good police procedural with an interesting protagonist in Manon Bradshaw. she is a cop, a single mother with another baby on the way and no man in the picture. Manon is only supposed to work cold cases but when a murder victim is found near the station, Manon is compelled to get involved. she soon learns that the murder is far closer to home than she ever imagined. Deftly plotted and well-written, this second installment in the Manon Bradshaw series is a winner.

Manon Bradshaw from last year’s Missing, Presumed is back, and this time she has 1.5 kids, one she adopted and another in her tummy. The single mom (by choice) has moved from London to give her family the elusive better life, but then murder happens nearby. And the main suspect is someone Manon will turn her full fierceness on to protect.

She and her former detective constable Davy, who’s now a detective sergeant, are the kind of decent, smart, and witty people with whom I’d want to share a pizza (English sandwiches?) if they were real. Add the complex plot and Unknown proves Steiner should be as well known as the best writers in crime fiction.

Like the author's first book, this one was okay for me. A good read for the most part. A little lengthy in some parts.

I liked how the author handled the chapters with the different characters and yes, I even liked poor Birdie.

Manon did get on my nerves a few times, but it wasn't so annoying that I cringed everytime the story came back to her. It is a series that I would read more of.

The ending was something that I didn't see coming - well not entirely all of it.

Thanks to Random House and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

While this was a pretty good read, I was beyond happy to be finished with it. There are a few spots that just bored me to tears. Throughout, there are some funny bits that had me laughing out loud. Overall a decent book.

I'm a bit torn on this one. Up until pretty close to the end, I was into the story and feeling Manon's frustration and heartbreak and anger and all the rest. I was empathizing with Davy and cheering for Mark. But the way the reasoning behind the arrest was completely glossed over left me calling bullshit. As upset as Manon was about it, I have a hard time believing she wouldn't have pushed for more of an explanation. Particularly since it was so close to her personal and professional lives.

I would go 3.5 stars if I could. When I started writing this review, I had already marked the book as 4 stars but just dropped it to 3 because I can't get past the handling of the arrest and the resolution with the conspirators. I don't want to give any spoilers away so I can't get more specific than that.

Was the writing good and the mystery interesting, yes. But between the stuff I already mentioned and having one-to-three POVs too many, I feel comfortable with the 3 stars. The extra POVs weren't really that bad but I would have liked to have stayed with either Manon or Davy and had the story unfold from their POVs instead.

All this being said, I will certainly still read the next in the series. I like Manon. Flawed, bitchy, rude, assholish Manon.

Thanks to the publisher, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As a fan of British mysteries this one looked intriguing to me. A wealthy banker murdered, a young black man accused and so much weaving and twists that you will be hooked.

This is a remarkable book, weaving together a spiderweb of intrigue of murder, mystery, and family drama.

At the center of this web is Jon-Oliver Ross, found stabbed to death in the dark by a woman who, we learn quite quickly, is the innocent bystander she says she is when questioned by the police. The darkness of this tale swirls around in a metaphorical mist as character after character enter the story, each of whom is integrated into this web, a web that grows outward and inward on itself simultaneously. I cannot say more without revealing spoilers. Suffice to say that the murderer is found, and we see a very dark and twisted underbelly of society as the investigation continues.

Ms. Steiner is a master of character development. All of the characters, down to the barely verbal toddler, Solomon, draw the reader into their surface and backstories, becoming truly three-dimensional with each revealed trait and word of dialogue. We see first hand the plodding nature of policework, murder investigation in particular. This plodding is exemplified in the character of Manon, a pregnant, overweight, police officer, who plods ever heavier as her pregnancy advances. But it is her plodding in particular that ultimately results in the very satisfying resolution to this story.

Highly recommended.

Cracking good procedural with a huge heart! Manon has a lot on her plate between her adopted son Fly, her sister and nephew, her pregnancy, and well, her job. The murder of a city banker (loved the small details about his Welsh parents) reveals an underside involving human trafficking and greed- and the willingness of a corrupt police officer to let a small boy be blamed for something he did not do. The Birdie and Angel story, which might seem a bit out of place at first is key to this very well done novel. I'd read the earlier books but you don't need to in order to enjoy this one. I'm grateful to Netgalley for the ARC and very much looking forward to more from Steiner, who is a clever plotter and a great storyteller.

I read Steiner's first book Missing, Presumed as a galley, too (it was one of my first galley reads!) and really enjoyed it. I don't read a TON of mysteries despite liking the genre, so I was thrilled to stumble upon this author. This is a series, so if you haven't read Missing, Presumed yet, I recommend starting there. There aren't really any spoilers about the mystery aspect of it in Persons Unknown, but it does introduce you to recurring characters so you have a firmer footing in the story.

Manon Bradshaw is the main character in both books, and I just love her - she is such a delightful mess. Manon is so far from perfect, and she knows it but can't help herself because she is above all HUMAN, and it's just really refreshing to read. Steiner has a fantastic sense of humor that is threaded throughout the whole book (I highlighted SO many passages!), and it's most clearly realized in the characters of Manon and Birdie.

The mystery in Steiner's first book was definitely compelling, but it had a teeny bit of something unsatisfying about it; it was a little remote in feeling. The mystery in Persons Unknown could NOT be more immediate - it affects several of the main characters - including Manon - personally, and this was a satisfying change. I do want to be clear that this is not a thriller - the pacing is steady, not urgent. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a thriller from time to time, but there does seem to be a glut of them lately, so it was really nice to read something that is a mystery first.

One cool aspect is that since this is a book with multiple perspectives, the reader has the benefit of the collected experience of all, and this creates some delicious dramatic tension, since we know more than the characters do individually. Another interesting facet for reading nerds is that this is written mostly in 3rd person, but there is one character, Birdie, who is written in 1st person. I didn't know what to make of the combination at first, but I really came to love reading Birdie's 1st person voice (her obsession with a certain British politician is so great!). I now wonder if Steiner did it to differentiate Birdie from Manon more clearly - they are VERY different characters, but they share a similar snarky, self-deprecating sense of humor (which I love so much).

This was a mystery where I guessed a few things correctly (or rather, knew that certain aspects were WRONG) but I was definitely surprised by some things in the end. Not, like, fell-off-my-chair floored, but definitely a bit "Ohhhhhhhh."

One more random thing: the way that Steiner writes about motherhood is so authentic that you absolutely KNOW she has been there. A+ on that.

This is a great series, and you should definitely read it. If I had to choose, I'd say I definitely liked Persons Unknown more than Missing, Presumed, but both are solid reads!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner is a British police procedural featuring DS Manon Bradshaw. Manon is pregnant and trying to manage her work with raising her adopted teenage son. A crime is committed right outside the police station and it quickly becomes connected to people she knows. Manon fights to protect those she loves and to keep her family together. I had a really hard time getting into this book but did enjoy it later on. The book was written from many perspectives and I found that it became harder to follow as a result. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

As we meet up with DI Manon Bradshaw again, she is heavily pregnant, adoptive mother to Fly, and has moved from London to Cambridgeshire in the hope of giving Fly a better chance at life. Unfortunately, being the only black boy in the area causes difficulties for Fly, and he is homesick for London.

Manon’s sister, Ellie, reluctantly allows Jon-Oliver, her son Solly’s father, to begin a relationship with Solly, now 2. Before they could settle in to a routine, Jon-Oliver’s body is discovered in a local park, and Fly is arrested on suspicion of murder. Though still with the police department, Manon is currently working cold cases, and resents being kept completely out of the loop regarding the investigation of Fly’s case. As Manon searches unofficially for information to keep Fly from being convicted, many interesting things come to light regarding those she thought she knew well.

I enjoyed the unfolding of the case, and all of the seemingly unrelated information that somehow came together, but I got really, really tired of the pregnant references. While I understand that being pregnant tends to be all-encompassing (before anyone goes all hating on me, yes, I have a daughter, and yes, I worked 60 hours a week in retail management while pregnant), I didn’t like being told all the time that Manon was pregnant. There’s so much more to her than that. She’s smart, clever, curious, loyal, determined...and I felt that the constant references to her pregnancy made her just that – pregnant. With that said, I’m still looking forward to Manon’s next chapter of life.

Manon has moved back to Cambridgeshire with more than she had when she left. She has her adopted son Fly and a bun in the oven. Not only does she have Fly and this new baby she is also living with her sister, Ellie and her nephew, Soloman aka Solly. And she wouldn't have it any other way. Just as she is settling into her new role as a cold case investigator Fly is questioned about a murder. What Fly doesn't tell her could hurt his case. So Manon calls the only person she would trust with his case, a defense attorney.

Manon soon realizes that the murder that she was so interested in a few days ago was not only the murder that Fly was being accused of but it is also her ex-brother in-law Jon-Oliver. Now Manon is trying to get as much help as she can to get Fly out of the youth home he was sent to, but help doesn't come easy when forces that be pin the murder on Fly. She soon realizes that she cannot depend on the help of previous coworkers because of their and her proximity to the case.

What Manon doesn't realize is that Fly is missing London more than he lets on. He misses his Mom and brother and is willing to do what it takes to see where he once lived and to get in touch with his biological father who had lived only streets from him his whole life. But those people who are willing to help aren't the most upstanding citizens. When Fly is seen on the CCTV footage where the murder happens everyone questions why he would commit murder much less to Ellie's ex husband. Many people are discriminatory towards Fly because he is black and a teenager.

Manon wanted him out of London just for that reason, and yet here he is again be discriminated against for something he was so close to. But did he really have the heart to kill someone?

As Manon goes through every scenario she cannot see Fly committing murder, but it turns out she doesn't know Fly as well as she thinks she does. Jon-Oliver is also not known as well as he puts on, especially when Davy and Felicia start digging into to his life and see so many things that don't add up with the case much less the things that they don't see on the surface. Below the surface Jon-Oliver is nothing more than a horny teenage boy with enough money to cause many problems for many people. But they cant seem to figure out who the girl in the picture is in his pocket when his stuff on his persons in gone through. Who is Sass?

This book was beyond phenomenal. It kept me thinking as to how and what could happen next. This definitely wasn't a fast paced read, but a great paced that it definitely kept you wanting more. It was a great slow burn that you wanted to keep going even when it was over.

This is my first Susie Steiner, and I couldn't be more satisfied. The characters were so well developed and that is a huge feat within itself. The plot was absolutely fantastic and well planned. With the many twists and turns it made the slow burn pf the novel that much better!

Manon was such a great character and I loved how she was conflicted with many things on different levels, but was able to work through everything with efficiency. She was unwilling to give up on her son, even when she knew things weren't as they seemed. She wanted nothing but the best for her son and her bun in the oven. She got way more than she bargained for with friends and family even when she least expected it.

I absolutely cannot wait for the next novel in this series! Writing only gets better with experience and Susie Steiner is definitely one to watch!!!
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I gave Susie Steiner's first DS Manon mystery Missing Presumed an enthusiastic 4 stars and I feel exactly the same about Persons Unknown. Steiner hits all the right chords for me. Manon has moved from London to Cambridgeshire with her adopted son Fly to live with her sister and her son. She is also pregnant and supposed to be working on cold cases to keep her work life a bit more quiet. No such luck. The murder of her sister's ex quickly has Manon heavily engaged in an investigation from which she is supposed to keep away. That's the set up, but as with many mysteries I love it's not so much the plot that has me interested as the characters, context and social commentary. Manon is a strong flawed but well intentioned detective. I particularly like her determination mixed in with a good dose of self doubt. The story unfolds from the perspective of a handful of other really interesting characters. And Steiner touches on a few tough topics -- like the challenges Manon faces having adopted a black boy from an tough neighbourhood -- and she doesn't deal with them in a pat way. I choose to disregard what others may see as a flaw in this one, which is that it relies a bit too heavily on a couple of pretty implausible coincidences, giving the sense that Manon's world is populated by a small group of closely intertwined people. And the resolution is odd, but I actually quite liked the sense of imbalance it creates. Now I'm really looking forward to reading the next one in the series. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

When I reviewed the first book in the Manon Bradshaw series I said I couldn’t wait to see where Susie Steiner takes Manon next. Little did I expect it to be back to Cambrisdgeshire with not only young Fly in tow but also a bun in the oven. Turns out she wanted a fresh start for Fly, and hoped that by taking him out of the city he would not go down a bad path. Things weren’t going so well for them though, and then 12 year old Fly gets arrested for the murder of her sister’s son’s father. Of course, he didn’t do it, and this novel follows Manon as she waddles through the secret investigation she undertakes to clear her adopted son’s name.

Look, this is not a page-turning, action packed thriller. Much like Missing, Presumed, it’s a slow-burn with lots of well-developed characters and often funny twists and turns. A new character, Birdie, is down-right hilarious, and we get a close peek into the machinations of her mind. Schlumpy Davy is back too, and while it takes a while to get there, the final outcome is downright shocking. And once again I love how this book feels steeped in the UK, both in its tone and language. I don’t know if Manon will come out for round three, or what possible/impossible circumstances Steiner can put her in next time, but I’ll be eagerly awaiting it if she does.

Persons Unknown

This is the second book in the DS Manon series, and Manon is settled back into life with her adoptive son, Fly. Told from various viewpoints, this police procedural works well as a standalone too.

This is an intense and complex police procedural/psychological thriller. It really gripped me. I like how Steiner runs two storylines-Manon's personal and professional lives-parallel to each other and then as the novel progresses, the storylines begin to intertwine. This is an entertaining and well written novel that will grip you and leave you ready and waiting for the next instalment!
Four stars.