This was an ok book for me. I felt rather confused at times and many times I felt that the story was not about Ruby enough. It was enjoyable enough but that was all. I was looking for more and hoping to find a new series. I’m sure that there will be more but sadly, I don’t think that I will be reading any follow up books.
Having said that, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for anyone who enjoys a more in-depth look into police procedures.

My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review. Despite this being an American police detective story, something I usually avoid, I requested it based on the description. And am I glad that I did ! I’ve now discovered, for me, a new author, Karen Ellis, with whom I shall be catching up.

Her chef character is FBI agent Elsa Meyers who specialises in finding missing people. Unusually almost half the book is taken up with Elsa’s back story, her desperately unhappy childhood, the consequences of which she is still carrying around with her many years later. We are used to tales of cops with an unhappy or complicated past, but this time we have one damaged big time. These early events slot into the story of the search for, eventually, three missing teenage girls. Her childhood experiences help her to understand the motivations of the perpetrator in this case.. She understands that he takes out his childhood humiliation by his three sisters on girls of a similar age. Elsa deals with her early trauma at the hands of her mother by cutting herself for many years over her entire body.. But her understanding gives her the need to help the victims. This author is as concerned with the events of the tale making an exiting story as with why they happen .The psychology of her characters is obviously totally important to her.

As other reviewers have said, this can very well be a stand alone story, but it’s obvious that there will probably be more. Do enjoy this authors work. I shall certainly be looking for the next book.

I struggled to get hooked on this book and was well over half way before I did. I hadn't realised that the first couple of flashback chapters were exactly that, and didn't see how they fit into the story. Once it did pick up though, I read the last half of the book very quickly.

Elsa Myers had a difficult childhood, which seems to be what has shaped her into an excellent FBI agent. She has been requested for a new missing teen case as she has an excellent track record. She's working with Lexi Cole who is new to these types of cases. With what's going on in her personal life, she hopes she doesn't have to hand-hold! Luckily Lexi has good potential and just needs some experienced guidance. Ruby the missing teen doesn't fit the usual criteria in that she seems to be a good, hardworking girl with a caring family. Something about it all makes Elsa uncomfortable, something doesn't feel right.

There are a few good twists to the tale that you don't expect and once the story takes hold, you get to the point that you are trying to think ahead of how it's going to unfold, and therefore you can't put it down!

An interesting thriller with a troubled heroine with her own issues. Nice twist at the end.

Quite an enjoyable read, although I had guessed the 'reveal' at the end by about half way through. Poor use of English throughout was aggravating but the story was well devised and could have been told a lot better.

Interesting if predictable. The main thing that separates this from others of its genre is the character of Elsa - Lex (surely Alexi??) is lightly drawn as is his brother David, both could do with a bit more insight. Insight into Elsa however is not missing, if anything there is far too much detail about her and not enough about how she got from where she began (abusive family environment) to the FBI. Im not at all sure about the relationship between her and her father but I guess in these situations anything is possible.

Overall it is a good read, it moves along nicely, the situation with the niece towards the conclusion is not required to pull Elsa into the case. I would read the next one for sure on the basis that there was a well written story here. Develop the other characters more and you will be onto a winner ! thank you for allowing me to read this.

A missing girl, Elsa an investigating cop with: emotional issues; a father who is dying; a challenging niece and a new police partner all set this novel up as a good read, which it is.

The story has a number of strands woven into it. Elsa’s relationship with her mother, her father, her sister and her niece, as a backdrop to the hunt for the missing girl.

This is a well written book with some nicely descriptive passages. I felt for Elsa and all her trials and tribulations.

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

The first thing I should mention is that A Map Of The Dark isn't a straight forward police procedure crime thriller, much of this novel focuses on damaged FBI Agent Elsa Myers. The author spends more time developing Elsa's past and character than she does on the investigation into finding Ruby, which slightly distracted me and I found I was unable to focus on the main plot as much as I would have liked. Narrated from several points of view and timelines A Map Of The Dark made for a confusing read at times it, but in the authors defence I can see why she wrote the novel the way she did, I'm just not sure it worked for me.

As this novel is very much character driven the pace is much slower, now normally in a crime thriller I expect the pace to be much faster, rather like the investigation taking place, but on the other hand it did make for a very different type of crime read, which is never a bad thing. I must admit I did find myself intrigued by Elsa in many ways she's your stereotypical crime thriller heroine, but the author has created a character whose troubled past make her endearing and in some ways she remains an enigma, that’s left me wanting to learn more about her.

The second part of A Map Of The Dark picks up pace but then the investigation felt rushed and lacked the suspense I've come to expect from a crime thriller. I think this book would have been a more enjoyable read if the reader had not been subjected to a wealth of information on Elsa’s backstory and concentrated more on the crimes. I think there will be some readers who will really enjoy this book especially if they aren't a lover of grim crime scenes or aren't too bothered by the police procedure element of crime fiction and prefer an in depth character study of the main character

A must read for crime readers. A rollercoaster of a read with lots of twists and turns. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Think this will be quite a good series and I look forward to the next one.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, Mulholland Books and Karen Ellis for the opportunity to read this novel in return for my honest review.

This is the first book I have read from Karen Ellis and will be seeking out her others immediately, as I would like to read the other 'FBI Agent Elsa Myers' books as soon as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed her character who has her own secrets and the flashbacks to her childhood show why.

The hunt for a missing girl with false leads during the critical first few hours leads into a plot with many twists and turns which kept me on my toes and was cleverly worked.

Thoroughly enjoyable read. Recommended.

I was hooked already by the title and I wasn't disappointed. It's clever, well-written, great characters and story with quite a few surprises.

FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people. She knows how it feels to be lost... Although her father lies dying in a hospital, Elsa cannot refuse a call for help. A teenage girl has gone missing and during the critical first hours of the case, a series of false leads hides the fact that she did not go willingly.

Elsa is passionate and ambitious about her job, no matter how hard it can be. The story itself is captivating and I enjoyed the flashbacks to Elsa’s awful childhood and mother that you give you the background on why Elsa is who she is today.

A Map of The Dark is the kind of book that just grips you and you can't stop because you absolutely have to find out what happens next.

FBI agent, Elsa Myers investigates the case of a missing teenager, which brings up memories from the past surrounding the death of Elsa's mother. I found this to be a solid crime read, with a fairly interesting plot. There was a little too much focus on the past for me, and it seemed to slow the urgency of the contemporary case down somewhat. There wasn't really anything which stood out or was memorable about the characters and the ending really wasn't a surprise to me. Overall, a good read but doesn't break any new ground in the genre.

I really enjoyed this book following the life of Detective Elsa Myers as she embarks on a challenging case involving child kidnap.
There's a few twists and unexpected turns that I did not see coming and as the well written, tense storyline unfolds, Elsa gets entangled in the case deeper than she would like.
I thought the insights into Elsa's past really explained her character and the plot moved along nicely at a good pace, keeping me interested.
Fans of thrillers and crime should definitely check this book out.
I will be reading more by this Author.

This had potential to be two decent books but because it insisted on being one book, I felt rather detached from both aspects of the novel. As a serial killer hunt, it was too slow to get to the serial killer and his victim(s), and as a story about an FBI agent dealing with the fallout from her abusive childhood, I was too distracted by the thought of a serial killer lurking somewhere in the book's future, to engage with the protagonist's struggle.
Once the two stpries merged, things got more compelling, but if it hadn't been a Netgalley book that I felt a duty to review, I likely wouldn't have got that far.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

a complex case where girls have gone missing but nobody put it together for a while...the FBI agent has secrets of her own and a skinful of her own made/cut carved tattoos on her body,but she is good at her job of finding missing children

this book is written in a very similar style to karin slaughter , a slow build up but gains momentum as it goes along, you wont be disappointed

Totally hooked from the cover and the first page. As a reader I feel part of the search team for the missing girl. The lead character has a suitably mysterious and traumatic past as she unravels the disappearance. Highly recommend.

A really enjoyable book. Lots of action, great characters and a story line that keeps you gripped until the end.

I found a Map in the Dark a little slow in the beginning but then the pace quickened and then the pages flew.Elsa is a FBI Agent looking for a missing girl and her Father is dying in hospital.She also has a damaged past which is slowly revealed to us.The story has many twists and turns but the ending left me gasping .

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. It was quite good at the start of the story but then it started to go in a different direction, it was confusing at times. Id give it 5 stars but it just went on a bit, it also took quite a bit of reading to actually get into the story. It seemed more about Elsa than Ruby. This wasn’t for me unfortunately. But I would definitely recommend it.