Angelique Badeau,  16 years old, has been missing for months and the police have run out of leads. Frankie Elkin is a middle aged alcoholic, but she is determined to find Angelique, even though she knows nothing about her other than she is still missing. Frankie has no job as such, but has spent the last 10 years investigating various missing persons cases. 

Frankie is an intriguing character, determined, flawed, and with a good back story of her own that gradually comes out throughout the book. This is nicely paced, with some interesting ideas along the way. I liked the developing relationship between Frankie and the lead detective, although I can’t image that many police officers would be this accommodating to someone muscling into a live investigation like this. However, the story works really well, throws up some nice twists and is a very enjoyable read.

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

Lisa gardner does it again. What a fantastic book. Highly recommended for fans of police procedural stories. Amazing characters and setting too.

Frankie Elkin is an ex-alcoholic with plenty of baggage and an unenviable past. She uses her skills as a cold case crime investigator to bring home the missing or bring justice for their families. She does it for free and to atone. She takes on cases of forgotten missing persons with a huge amount of success: in the 14 investigations that she has conducted, she has located the person and has solved the crime on every occasion, but sadly all of the missing persons were dead.
She becomes interested in the case of Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who walked out of her school gates in the suburbs of Boston and never came home again. First Frankie secures a job as a waitress for herself, with an apartment above the pub as a welcome perk. She settles in and soon contacts the grieving Badeau family, Angelique’s mother and younger brother. She explains who she is and collects as much information from the family as she can.
Interviews with her friends yield few clues. The suburb of Mattapan is not the best of areas and soon Frankie feels unwelcome by the local minority communities and also by the ongoing investigators in the Boston Police Department who do not like amateur investigators on their patch. With no word from Angelique and just a few dubious sightings in the last few months, the investigators team are baffled by the girl’s disappearance. The area has an active crime problem but Angelique is a keen scholar and has never left home before. 
Then another girl is found to be missing. Frankie is even more determined, especially when the family are ambivalent, almost unhelpful really and they certainly don’t want her back. Frankie feels their fear and she is intrigued when she discovers that the two girls had made an unlikely friendship at a local Summer camp. Crime is rife and it is rumoured that there is a huge market for fake ID’s. This leads to further investigations, at last with the PD on board, sharing information and helping each other with their findings. But Frankie has stirred up enough muck to make her a threat and soon she realises she is in mortal danger. Undeterred but wary Frankie sniffs success. But will she solve the mystery of two missing friends?
I enjoyed reading this standalone crime thriller and could well envisage a ‘Frankie Elkin Investigates’ series in the future. Frankie is an engaging but flawed main character with her unsavoury past stirring her on to be a passionate and driven seeker of the truth. The theme intrigued me, a middle aged lady who follows up on forgotten and stagnating missing persons cases, travelling far and wide, then walking away when the puzzle is solved waiting for another case to come along. Lisa Gardner is a prolific and talented author in this genre and once again she has produced a mystery full of twists and turns, danger and thrill and spills.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Century through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you so much for accepting my request to read and review this novel. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences. I would describe this novel as an exciting and involving 3.5* read.

Teenager Angelique Badeau has been missing for months and there has been no clues in the investigation.
A middle age woman Frankie Elkins turns up at the teenagers home to offer her services to look for Angelique. She is a volunteer who travels about the country looking for missing people.
A slow paced thriller with a few twists.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars!
I honestly went into this book feeling like I was seeing one of my interests coming to life. I have always wanted to be able to go and help out in missing persons cases and this book is from the narrative of a woman who has given up her life to help these people.

THE PLOT & WRITING: I loved the writing and structure. I thought Lisa did a very good job of setting up the scene. The idea behind the book is something I hadn’t read before and I really could see thought went into this book. I will admit, it didn’t quite leave me reeling, but I was hooked all the same.
THE CHARACTERS: I liked Frankie but she didn’t develop much over the book. I found her intentions admirable and she was really there for the right reasons. Her relationship with the detective worked and was believable.
THE PACING: It starts of a little slow and towards the middle of the book it was a bit sluggish but from about 60% onwards, the book was accelerated and I really enjoyed it. 
OVERALL: This book was a decent mystery/thriller with a well thought out plot and an interesting ending.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about missing people. The chase, the unravelling of the facts and the search is interesting and sometimes scary. The main character is a lone worker determined to solve these cases and insinuates herself into the investigation in order to show that she can do better than the current investigators. 
She has a back story, of course which runs along the current investigation filling out her compulsive need to find the missing and to work through the the underworld.

I enjoyed the story but I have to say that, for me, the possibility of being welcomed in to someone else's investigation after. only a little difficulty seems unlikely.

However, it is a good read, and I recommend it

This author is the mistress of sleight of hand and take telling that absolutely woes in every book. Needless to say I loved it and would recommend that you read ALL her books. Just brilliant.

Having read Lisa Gardner novels before I know that her writing is excellent and always cleverly plotted. This is no exception.

This is a highly original storyline and the central character, Frankie Elkin, has so many facets to her nature. She is a feisty but flawed woman who trails around the country trying to find missing persons where nobody is taking any further action. She has no possessions and when she arrives in Boston, she takes a bar job with a room above the bar. She is a rundown part, Mattapan with a roommate who is a psychotic cat.

Frankie meets the Boston PD Officer, Dan Lothan, and develops an interesting relationship with him as she continues her pursuit to find Angelique whose disappearance seems to be inexplicable. Angelique’s family and friends seem unable to offer any solution and, on the surface, she was a clever, well-liked teenager.

All the characters are well-rounded and as we progress throughout the investigation, we find twists, turns and shocks as to what has happened and how difficult it is going to be to trace Angelique, even if she is still alive.

This is action-packed, fast paced with an underlying humour. I absolutely loved it. This is a character that I want to see more of.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House, Cornerstone and Lisa Gardner for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Excellent read. Highly recommended.

A good read, slow to start but picks up about one third of the way in and never loses its pace again. 

Frankie is a recovering alcoholic, a nomad who goes from place to place trying to solve missing persons cases which the police have been unable to solve. This is her addiction and once a case has been solved she hot foots it out of there and follows the trail onto the next one. 

Her latest case takes her to a tough neighbourhood in Boston where being a white female sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. She is looking for a teenager. 15 year old Angelique Badeau disappeared eleven months ago. She left school one Friday afternoon and has never been seen since. Her brother and aunt swear it is out of character and that she is a quiet, sweet girl but how can she just disappear. Frankie takes a job in a bar which comes with an apartment and a feral cat. She won’t stop until she has answers but maybe someone doesn’t like that she is asking questions and searching for Angelique. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I must be one of a handful of people who have never read a Lisa Gardner book I’ve heard lots of good reports about her writing and she’s been on my TBR pile for ages, so, I’m glad this one came up and I was pleased I read it. It was good right the way through and the pace was kept up right until the end. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Frankie Elkin is an alcoholic who moves across the country searching for missing people, chiefly from minority groups. She’s a restless soul, driven to help those perhaps to save herself from her inner demons. She makes her way to Mattapan an overcrowded and run down area of Boston, where she helps the Haitian family of Angelique Badeau, an excellent student, who disappeared eleven months ago. What unfolds is an intriguing case that places Frankie in danger.  

The book starts really well and the character of Frankie really intrigues me. She’s resourceful, tough but also vulnerable with  battling her addiction to alcohol. In my opinion, one of the biggest strengths of the novel is the characterisation and especially likeable are Stoney and Viv at the bar where Frankie works and lives to keep body and soul together.  Detective Dan Lothan is another good character and the undercurrent between him and Frankie adds another dimension. There’s some smart dialogue, it’s a well written story and the setting in Mattapan is good as it’s a scary place to be especially at night. The case is interesting and the plot gets  deeper and deeper with some good twists along the way particularly in the clues that smart cookie Angélique provides for her equally smart brother Emmanuel. . I have no trouble believing the storyline or outcome. 

However, for the first half the read is compelling but the pace stays the same pretty much throughout. It’s a jog and I begin to want a sprint, more speed and an injection of more excitement although the end is good. I can honestly say I like the book but I don’t love it, it’s a solidly enjoyable read rather than a completely memorable one. I like Lisa Gardner and I will always want to read what she writes and I’d like Frankie to reappear in another novel because I think she’s fascinating. 

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the arc for an honest review.

I have to say Lisa Gardner is one of my favourite authors and I was thrilled to be granted early access to this new  stand alone.   This was a fantastic read and I hope the main protagonist Frankie Elkins will get another outing in the future.
Frankie is a recovering alcoholic with no family or friends.  She travels across America looking for missing people.   She’s not a trained investigator and she’s not welcomed by law enforcement but it’s how she tries to stay sober.
This time she’s looking for Angelique Badeau a teenager missing from a rough area of Boston.  She gets a job and too in the local bar and starts asking questions.
It’s a great story and I was hooked.  It also amazes me that there are real people like Frankie in the world who try to help with missing people cases.
Thanks to Random house and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#BeforeSheDisappeared #NetGalley

I really enjoyed the new standalone thriller by Lisa Gardner featuring a great character Frankie Elkin. Frankie is a recovering alcoholic who has seen more of her share of problems through her life. Now for reasons she cannot explain spends all her time and money searching for missing people the police have stopped looking for.

Her latest case is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Angelique is from a Boston area with a rough reputation and she expects to have problems getting help from both the police and an untrusting family and friends. Frankie is used to hitting brick walls and will continue to try and find the truth far after everyone else has given up.

I know this is the first stand alone the author has written for many years but with such a strong character as Frankie Elkin it could easily turn into a new series.

Exciting, action packed read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House, Cornerstone for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A decent, pacey thriller.  The author is adept at creating atmosphere. A neat concept too. It took me a while to get into this but before too long I raced through.

As a big fan of Lisa Gardner's work I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed with this book. The story itself was ok but it lacked the excitement and tension that ensures that you will sit up all night to get to the end. In fact it took me four goes to finish it. I liked the main character and would be happy to learn more about her but with a few more plot twists next time please Lisa.

Oh this was so very, very good well no it was more than that it was amazing and completely compulsive I just loved it. What made this book stand out for me was that the story was something completely original and the main character of of Frankie Elkin was a total joy she is so flawed and yet so loveable, although I’m sure she would hate to be called loveable!!
The writing by Lisa Gardner was exceptional and she made a read where you really cared about the wonderful cast of characters and although I raced through the book I was so sad to finish it and I shall miss Frankie and others but maybe one day we may hear from her again I would love that.
A complex plot of a missing girl who Frankie makes it her business to try and find whilst stepping on a lot of toes in the process but what I loved was the rapport between these characters not forgetting the maniacal cat Piper it was such a perfect kind of read for me in every way and so much more than just a mystery thriller I just can’t praise it enough. Many many thanks to Lisa Gardner you excelled yourself with this one.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I got into this book so hard. I have been picking it up every spare minute for a couple of days and have devoured it.

I loved Frankie. She was both hard to like and yet so utterly likeable that she fascinated me. I thought her story was so well entrenched in her actions and thinking and yet the who, what and where wasn't revealed until very late on in the book. It kept me hooked on her character and motivations. I am hoping this is just one of many books concerning Frankie almost as much as I am hoping this is it so she remains an enigma to me.

The plot itself seemed fairly simple and straightforward but twisted into something darker more complex as it progressed. I have to admit I wasn't at all expecting the eventual path that the plot took and found it refreshing.

There were some definite twists and turns throughout, some really did surprise me, and I largely enjoyed it, but at some points I felt a bit...flat. I'm not sure if that's the right word. 

There were alot of points where the characters sit about and chin wag about events or postulate and at those points I always felt a little sigh of, oh talking again. It wasn't the majority and it certainly never put me off or made me so bored I gave up. Possibly because it was combined with a lot of interviews as well, it felt like there was a lot of dialogue generally.
 

I really enjoyed the book, and I'm hoping we will see more Frankie in the future.

Oh, my! This author can write! After a few 'OK' / 'Good Reads' some of which were rather like attending a recital by a loved one who has just grasped an instrument. This was such a treat and more akin to being given front row seats to a virtuoso performance by a favourite artist. I loved it!

It's so original. The lead character, Frankie, is a recovering alcoholic, who is also focused on finding missing persons and the storyline  takes us on her latest quest.

It's a fabulous read with amazing, interesting, complex characters and I was absolutely hooked, from start to finish. I have adored this author over many years and this standalone, true, psychological thrillers is up there with her best. Please.....more of Frankie.....

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview this fabulous page turner.

Lisa Gardner was inspired by the wide range of people who commit themselves to helping find the missing in our world for no reward for this crime thriller. Here, our hunter of the missing is haunted, alcoholic bartender Frankie Elkin, raised in Northern California, a white, middle aged woman, driven and determined, owning only what she can carry, staying only for as long as it takes to succeed in her mission and moving on to the next missing person. She is not a private investigator, she takes no payment, she is an ordinary woman taking on an extraordinary task, coming in when the police have failed and the public have forgotten the missing. She has never failed, so far she has located 14 people, the only problem is that they were dead when she discovers them, just like her latest, Lani Whitehorse, just for once she would like to find someone alive.

She travels to Boston for her next case, 15 year old schoolgirl Angelique 'Angel' Badeau, missing for 11 months, living with her Aunt Guerline and younger brother, Emmanuel. A clever girl, she has dreams of becoming a doctor, coming from Haiti after the earthquake disaster. Angel is no dreamer, but a planner, intent on staying in the US with her beloved aunt and brother, loyal and protective towards those she loves. She left her school one day and disappeared, her bag and phone found in bushes later, since then she has not been seen, leaving her family devastated and desperate. Frankie becomes bartender at Stoney's, living in a tiny flat above it, sharing her accommodation with a deranged and aggressive cat, Piper. Initially made to feel unwelcome by Angel's family and Detective Dan Lotham, Frankie begins to make headway in a case that had looked dead, but will she find Angel alive?

Once again Lisa Gardner delivers as one of my favourite crime thriller authors, she creates a complex and magnetic character in Frankie, a woman wanting to atone, having to live with grief, tragedy and the ever present threat of succumbing to the demon drink, needing to attend AA meetings in whatever town she finds herself in Whilst Frankie wants to connect with Lotham, at no point does she have romantic delusions, she knows herself better than that, as soon as she is finished, she will be off to look for the next missing person. The conclusion of the novel suggests there might be a possibility of Gardner returning to Frankie in the future, which I really hope she does. This is a entertaining and engaging thriller with a great central protagonist that I think many of Gardner's fans and other crime and thriller readers will love. Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Frankie is a recovering alcoholic that travels around solving missing persons cases while tending bar in order to stay afloat. She learns of an 15 year old Haitian girl who went missing in Boston nearly a year ago and decides to investigate.

Lisa Gardner is in my top 5 authors. All of her books are really good. I thought this one was great. I was really engaged in it from the start and my interest never wavered. I like an investigation without a lot of lulls, where new clues are turning up all the time and that is how this book was. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope we see more of Frankie in the future.