I really loved this book! Excellent story with brilliant main characters. I would recommend this book.

This is a slow burning psychological mystery, gradually revealed to be what one imagines at the beginning, but the craft is in the reveal, and this author does that quite well, if somewhat slowly. The main character, who appears to be the protagonist but becomes the antagonist, is in all respects weak and unlikeable, which is a brave narrative strategy. The police characters are invariably good guys, which is not very realistic, but the female cop character is well developed and I hope she lives on to another novel.

"Loosing Leah" starts very slowly and not very unusual. A couple stops at a rest stop on their way to their holiday home in Wales. The woman, Leah, goes to the bathroom. But she does not return. Her husband is completely dissolved and calls the police. Leah just disappeared. The whole story becomes more mysterious with every page and inconsistencies arise.

The book is a slow burner. The writing style is calm and unspectacular. At first I really had to concentrate to focus on the story. But gradually the whole thing became more interesting. The many little things that did not fit together and the mystery of Leah's disappearance made me curious. I soon had an idea how it could have been. I was right with my assumption. However, the book ends a bit abruptly.

"Loosing Leah" is a slowly increasing subtle drama. Leah remains an enigmatic figure all the time, and one can understand why the investigating officer Mel Delany gets so into it. I especially liked the gloomy atmosphere and how slowly more and more abysses are opening up. I can understand when some readers classify the book as too lengthy. It took me a while to get into it. But then I would have liked to read it in one sitting. I found the private problems of Mel Delany a bit unneseccessary. The character drawing is a bit superficial on all characters and maybe this storyline should give Mel some depth. I could have done without it. But the story about the disappearance of Leah and the police work around it convinced me. I really enjoyed this book.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up Losing Leah, but I guess those books are the best, aren't they? I was definitely in for a wild ride:

On a cold February morning, Chris and Leah Hills are on their way to Wales. Before crossing the Welsh boarder, though, they stop at an isolated service station for coffee. While Leah heads inside, Chris locks the car and goes in to order them a drink. He then waits for Leah to come back from the Ladies' but when she still hasn't appeared after quite a while, Chris gets frantic.
Sergeant Mel Daley and her boss, Detective Inspector Harry Baker, take over the search for Leah Hills. While investigating in every possible direction, they unravel a tangle of dark secrets from the past.

I really grew to love thrillers in the past 1.5 years but not all of them blew me away: there was not enough suspense, the pace was too slow, the plot twist didn't convey the desired Holy-Guacamole affect... I could go on and on about thrillers that just didn't do it for me. Losing Leah, however, was quite the opposite. Sue Welfare turned a simple missing person scenario into a gripping and fast-paced storyline. I really enjoyed it.

From the very first page until the very last, the story had me hooked. Where was Leah Hills? Everyone wanted to know: Chris Hills, her colleagues, the investigating police force, but especially me.
Last year I read a novel about a kidnapped girl, 99 Red Balloons, and although the stories are not at all smiliar, both books had the police investigating on the case. Whereas the focus in 99 Red Balloons was about the family and other people involved and how they reacted and coped with the events, the focus in Losing Leah was on the police side of things only. It was interesting but also educational to see how DS Daley, DI Baker and the rest of the police force handled and operated the case, but especially why they did the things they did. Sue Welfare even included UK statistics, e. g. how many women go missing every year, how the police classify missing people's cases or when the police look for a body instead of a person. Sue Welfare did her homework, which really impressed me.
What also impressed me was the fact that Losing Leah is Sue Welfare's debut in the thriller genre since she usually writes contemporary romance books. For this is only her "first try" so to speak, she did extraordinary well!

The book was told from the first person narrative of DS Daley and the third person narrative of DI Baker. Since both worked on the same case but investigated on different ends, I got a fantastic view on how they both put together the puzzle piece by piece.
Each page and each chapter revealed new shocking details and information on Leah and on what might have happened to her. I still can't fathom the depth and the complexity of the story: It started out with a missing person only but it turned to be so much more.
Also, I'm pretty sure that I will never look at snowdrops the same again.

"Sometimes it was the tiniest detail that made all the difference."

There was actually only one thing that I didn't like about the story, or rather one thing which I found unnecessary: DS Daley's private life. Although it was quite nice to see what kind of person she was off-duty, those few scenes only stirred up irrelevant drama which didn't contribute to the story and the outcome at all.

Losing Leah is a total page turner: it is captivating, suspenseful, and utterly shocking.
Please pre-order this thriller with the links below, if you want to know what happened to Leah Hills. Losing Leah will release on March 22nd!

Wow! That was utterly incredible. It’s always so refreshing to read a crime thriller that puts a whole new twist on and takes you on a wildly different journey.

Chris Hills reports his wife (Leah Hills) missing at a service station in the middle of nowhere whilst they were on holiday. She seems to just completely vanish without a trace.

The novel is gripping, well written and the characters are fascinating with excellent prose.
I won’t say too much because I don’t want to spoil it for future readers but go get a copy!

I haven’t heard or seen of this author before but I liked the front cover so thought I’d give it a go. So glad I did because I throughly enjoyed it! Well written and looking forward to more from this author.

Many thanks to net galley, Mirror Books and Sue Welfare for the digital copy of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut crime thriller by Welfare. Leah has suddenly disappeared while she and husband Chris are on their way to enjoy a vacation. Chris reports her missing and assures detectives she would never leave him, they were destined to be together. However, as the story unfolds, detectives become more and more suspicious of Chris because things just don’t seem to add up.

I was not expecting some of the twists this book provided, and it kept me on my toes wanting to read more. I’m looking forward to more writings from Welfare.

I would like to thank Mirror Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Losing Leah’ by Sue Welfare in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Chris and Leah Hills stop off at Hoden Gap Services on their way to the Welsh holiday home Chris owns. Chris goes inside to order coffee for them both while Leah makes her way to the toilets, but although Chris waits for her to return Leah disappears and is nowhere to be found. DS Mel Daley and her boss DI Harry Baker arrive to question Chris and organise a search of the surrounding area but they can’t understand why there’s no CCTV coverage of Leah anywhere. Although Chris Hill insists their marriage is blissful and loving, he comes over as jealous, manipulative and a liar, but there doesn’t appear to be anything that links him to Leah’s disappearance.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Losing Leah’, the plot is well thought-out and becomes very tense and exciting. From looking at previous novels written by Sue Welfare it’s easy to imagine that she writes only chicklit, but this novel certainly proves she’s capable of deeper and more thought-provoking work. It’s easy to read, has lots of twists and turns that managed to keep me guessing, and an ending that I wasn’t expecting. Well done Sue!

Unfortunately 'Losing Leah' was very dull and utterly predictable. Snooze.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the concept of this book - man's wife goes missing at a rest stop, she isn't on any CCTV footage and there is no sign of her anywhere. I thought the author did a good job of throwing in a few surprises - there were things that happened that I totally didn't see coming. For me, the characters were impersonal and I had a hard time connecting to any of them. I also felt like the story was a bit slow at times. The ending of the book was definitely unexpected, but a bit abrupt. I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Loved this novel, with a shocking ending that will leave you breathless. Don't miss!

Thank to Netgalley for the advanced copy...

I really enjoyed reading and it was great as well!

The book begins with Chris Hills being found in the ladies toilets of a service station searching for his lost wife, Leah. She had disappeared after going into the service station, DI Harry Baker and DS Mel Daley arrive to investigate her disappearance and find that there are no sightings of her on CCTV and begin to have their suspicions about Chris and his story.
The book then turns into a great read. It is quite a short book but very absorbing, with a good plot. It starts off as just a missing person investigation but you know that there is a lot more going on and will leave you guessing right until the end. I hope this book will turn out to be the first in a series featuring Harry Baker and Mel Daley.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mirror books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mirror Books for an arc of "Losing Leah" by Sue Welfare.
It took me a few pages to acclimatize to the writing style of this book, Once in though, I was hooked! Wow - what an intricately clever plot to keep the reader guessing what has happend to Leah!
Definitely a book for those who enjoy a good mystery.

Really enjoyed this even though the ending was predictable. Read it in a day.

Losing Leah is a debut crime thriller by an established author. The novel centres around the disappearance of Leah Hills and her husband’s insistence that she has come to harm.
The novel opens as security staff attempt to comfort a man stating, “I can’t find my wife” & “you have to find her”.

When the police arrive at Hoden Gap services. We the reader discover the formalities of missing persons cases. That there are 80+ missing people per day. That each case is assessed for its level of risk and the greater the risk the more complex the case and the more resources that are available.

What happens when a simply weekend away, turns into a living nightmare….

The police officers decide there are four possible solutions with the case. That either Leah left of her own volition, she was abducted, she is still present at the services or that she was never there at all.
They hope she is located soon and this was all just one big misunderstanding. But things are rarely as simple as they appear at first…..

If in doubt, think murder

None of the staff at the services, report a single sighting of Leah that day. Although the CCTV images are poor, none lead to visual image of Leah either. Which just leaves the police to gather information and evidence from the husband Chris Hills.

Chris is rude, abrupt and obnoxious. I instantly disliked his character, I found him to be controlling and domineering with his attitudes towards his wife. But this alone, doesn’t make him a killer.
He tells the officers that They were travelling from their home in Norfolk, to their holiday cottage in Wales. That although Leah was needy, weak and needed ‘looking after’ she was not unhappy about their trip. He reports that she had only recently stopped taking her antidepressant medication, after the death of her best friend 18 months ago. Every time Chris spoke, I found myself loathing his character more and more.
The police organise a full-scale search of the area and begin to look into, EVERY aspect of the couple’s lives. Chris hands them the keys to the properties and car. Is he confidant or cocky?
One thing is for certain, the police will leave no stone unturned to find a vulnerable woman.

The novel is an interesting exploration into ‘what goes on behind closed doors’ and surrounding people the couple interacted with. The ending was cleverly done, but I felt there could have been more depth and details. The greatest element that kept me hooked, was the theme that being an oddball or unlikeable doesn’t necessarily make someone a killer. I kept reading on and on trying to guess the plot and conjuring up various theories. 4*

A good thriller that kept you speculating all the way through. Would recommend.

Losing Leah
by Sue Welfare

Mirror Books

General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 22 Mar 2018


I am reviewing a copy of Loosing Leah through Mirror Books and Netgalley:


Chris and Leah stop for Coffee at a isolated service station, not far from the Welsh border on a cold February Morning. While Leah goes inside to order their drinks. Chris locks up the car. Minutes pass and Leah doesn't come back. When Sergeant Mel Daley along with her boss , Detective Inspector Harry Baker arrive to begin the search on the missing women, everything is called into question, and they cannot help but wonder if she is even alive.

Could she have left with another person?

Did Leah even leave Norfolk?

As the mystery unfolds the Detective and Sergeant begin to unravel dark secrets from the past?


Five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

On their way to their cottage in Wales on February morning, Chris and Leah Hills stop for coffee at a small service station. When Chris can't find Leah he raises the alarm.. where did his wife go and why did nobody see her enter or leave the shop. DS Baker and DS Daley are on duty and turn up at the location to begin the search.

This was a very quick read that I finished in just a few hours. Some very unlikeable characters and a great story that keeps you guessing. Thanks to Mirror Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest opinions

Although I tend to read mostly historical fiction, I was intrigued by the premise of this contemporary novel - a woman disappearing without a trace from a service station and the quest to find her. I have also read some of Sue Welfare's romantic fiction before, so was interested to see how she would tackle the mystery and thriller genre.

I found the book really engaging and couldn't put it down. I liked the female police sergeant and the way that the plot unfolded with plenty of clues and red herrings. The settings were also interesting - the service station, something so everyday that people don't really register, becoming something slightly mysterious and sinister.

However, there were a few niggles that meant the book wasn't perfect for me. For example, the solution is clever, but has a few holes in it. I also would have liked to see more development of the other characters as they did seem a little flat in comparison to the main detective.

Overall, this is an engaging read with plenty of twists and turns. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy contemporary crime novels, even if it never quite reaches the levels of menace and tension that it perhaps could.