Elise King is a successful detective, who is on medical leave after treatment for cancer. It is driving her crazy to sit at home with no one to talk to except her cleaner, Dee, who knows everyone's business and her new friend, neighbour Ronnie. Ronnie is in her 60s and her husband is always off doing whatever, so she wants to help Elise solve mysteries. Elise desperately wants to go back to work but at the same time she's scared because she's struggling with fogginess and problems with her memory, thanks to her treatments. When the father of a disabled child disappears, Elise and Ronnie begin to investigate. Will they be able to find Charlie, the missing man? Is he still alive? What does all this have to do with the drug overdoses at the wild party?

Local Gone Missing is a crime thriller that I enjoyed. The main characters, Elise, Dee and Ronnie are well developed and carry this story. There are a lot of characters, but I was okay following the story without always knowing who someone was. Elise is a great detective, she is able to sort things out even with her foggy mind. I loved seeing Elise and Ronnie work together and I missed Ronnie when Elise goes back to work. The missing man, Charlie Perry was sympathetic for most of the story, but once we find out more about him, it was easy to see how he ended up in the situation he was in. Birdie, Charlie's daughter, was the most sympathetic of all and as you learn her backstory, your heart will break. This story had a lot of suspects and red herrings that kept me from figuring out what happened until right near the end. The final twist was wonderful and the story ended with me wanting more DI Elise King and her neighbour Ronnie. If you enjoy a good crime thriller/police procedural set in a small town, then I recommend, Local Gone Missing.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This seemed a bit hard for me to follow from time to time. There was a lot of bouncing between days and back again. In the end, it came together nicely. A bit predictable in some ways.

Liked the premise of Elsie King who is technically on a medical leave but of course becomes embroiled in a local mystery while she is sequestered to recover but also thinking about the next steps in her life. Great characters and the Elsie/Ronnie combo is a winner.

I read the first half of the book, and then switched to audio! I didn’t like most of the characters, and the switching timelines and multiple POVs were a bit confusing. The audio did help tremendously though! I liked Elise and her amateur partner Ronnie! I also liked Elise’s history with Hugh and her vulnerability because of her cancer. I would read another book with these characters! This was my first book by Fiona Barton and I would like to read more. But I think my overall rating for this is a 3.5.

My thanks to Berkley for my digital copy. My thoughts are my own.

This is Fiona Barton’s fourth book. Her previous three books were a trilogy, The Widow, The Child, and The Suspect which I have read and really enjoyed. If you’re looking for an excellent psychological thriller, I recommend Fiona’s books. You won’t be disappointed. These are perfect beach/poolside reads.

Local Gone Missing is a standalone read. Although I could see this as another series.

What can I say for this book except for the fact that I think there were more twists and turns then any book I have recently read. I really enjoy books like this because you are led to think one thing and then question everything else.

When I go into these kinds of books I always tend to have a pen and paper beside me so that I can jot done characters, their relationship, and what I think are clues. This becomes very handy especially if a lot of characters are introduced. I also never reread the synopsis of the book because I find that gives away a lot so thankfully this was an eBook so I didn’t have to worry.

Local Gone Missing is told from multiple points of view, Charlie, Dee, and Elise. The timeline goes back and forth between now and before. This works well for this storyline and it’s not confusing at all since the chapters indicate when it’s happening.

Apart from those three main characters, there are numerous side characters as well. Way too many to count. It seemed like all the characters were coming out of the woodwork. Also, there are a lot of subplots but as you read you will see that it all makes sense in the end.

Elise is a successful detective but was put on sick leave because she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have an operation and treatment. Even though she isn’t currently working she can’t help but get involved. Once a cop always a cop. She desperately wants to get back to work but struggles with that idea because of everything she has gone through she is still having a bit of fogginess and has memory problems which are due to the treatment she has received.

Her next-door neighbor Ronnie is Elise’s partner in crime so to speak. She is there for Elise and is willing to help her on the side to figure out what is going on in their small little seaside community. Think Thelma and Louise. She would make a perfect detective with her whiteboard and string.

Then there is Dee. She is the local housekeeper of the community. Her husband, Liam is an out-of-work plumber and a former drug addict. They have a son, Cal. There is more to her than meets the eye. In the beginning, Dee was a part of the community and in a blink of an eye things become awkward and she is struggling to make ends meet. One thing about being a housekeeper is that you become invisible to the people you are working for, they forget your there and have conversations, fights etc. Dee knows so much about the people she works for. I have to say I wasn’t a fan of Liam because he would always get upset if Dee had to work. I was always like Dude she has to work seven days a week to bring money into the house since you’re not working!

Now there is Charlie, who the book is about. He goes missing (his wife, Pauline reports him missing) and everyone is shocked because he comes off as a sweet, charming enduring old man. But, there is more to Charlie than everyone knows. Everyone believes Charlie would not leave on his own and that foul play was involved. His last sighting was at a local music festival. What happened and where did Charlie go? As the police begin to do their work, Elise soon realizes that Charlie is not who he says he is. There is more to him than meets the eye. Did his past come back to haunt him? Or was it greed?

I have to tell you that I was on the edge of my seat reading this and even though I was marking things down and keeping track I still couldn’t figure out who did it. I was back and forth between many characters and only at the end did it all make sense. These are the kinds of books I truly enjoy reading. This wasn’t fast-paced but it was a page-turner. Fiona did a perfect job setting the scene and making the characters real with their pasts, and existing relationships.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at 10%. I did not mesh well with the writing and was unable to enjoy my time reading because of this. There were also so many characters introduced right away. I had so much trouble keeping track of who was who. I already felt so lost 10% in and was not interested in continuing.

This book was really hard for me to get into, and sadly I just didn’t enjoy reading it. I usually love the author and her thrillers never cease to capture me, but this book was not for me.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy - all opinions are my own.

This was yet another fantastic read from Fiona Barton, who never fails me in weaving a completely interesting local mystery with colorful and quirky characters that I enjoy reading if only for the fact that they are never boring tropes.

I particularly enjoyed the layers in this story which start you in one direction, before slowing revealing that not everything and everyone is what you thought they were. No spoilers, but I just wouldn't have guessed where this one was headed when I started, and I loved that.

This is the kind of book to spend a lazy afternoon with - you aren't frantically flipping pages to see what happens, but you definitely are invested in what really happened the night of the fateful festival.

Elise King is a successful detective who had to take a step back after a jarring medical diagnosis which left her unsure if she would ever return to work. Living in the small beach town of Ebbing, there is so much to keep up on between locals and vacationers. A newcomer decides to throw a music festival and two local teens overdose and a well-known man in town goes missing. Even though Elise is supposed to be on medical leave, she can’t help immersing herself into the investigation. Once a body shows up, she realizes this is a homicide and there are quite a few people with secrets. Although this book was interesting and a decent story, it didn’t hit the mark for me. It was a really slow burn with not too much excitement. I’ve enjoyed other Fiona Barton books much more, with The Suspect being one of my favorites. That said, I am open to reading other books she comes up with. Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a solid three stars for me because I really enjoyed the overall premise, but the pace was slow and it was a lot of characters, perspectives, and timelines for me to keep track of. I enjoyed the idea of a small town crime, cleaner who knew the gossip, and the female detective. I just wish we got to the good stuff quicker.

Local Gone Missing is a slow burn for a suspense novel. This was my first book by Fiona Barton, and I was expecting the suspense and hook to happen a lot earlier. In all honesty, I’m not sure I ever was fully hooked.

The book did contain some interesting twists, and I never figured out the “whodunit” part before the end of the book.

I have heard great things about this author and would be willing to try another book.

I am a big fan of Barton's. I race to read all of her books when they are released. I started with her first novel and was hooked!

I am not sure where things went wrong for me along the way. This book didn't hit the mark. I found myself bored and losing interest with the turn of every page.

I had expected some really great twists and turns, like in her previous books. The twists and turns in this one didn't have the wow factor for me. I found myself either already seeing them coming or very underwhelmed when they came.

This book is very slow moving, much more so than the author's previous books. This one wasn't a bad one. However I definitely wouldn't classify it as great. It was just okay.

While I'm so thankful for this ARC, I need to be honest that I couldn't get into this book. It was a very slow burn and everything felt disjointed and I find my mind wandering as I was trying to read. Bummer, but I'll be open to more from this author!

I have read all of this author's previous books and enjoyed them. This one was just okay. It was a bit too convoluted for me. Too many characters to keep track of and too much back story on the detective. At the end the mystery was too messy. It could have been streamlined to present a better story. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite the slow burn. I didn't think I'd be able to finish it, but it got better and the pace picked up. I'm usually not a fan of detective/mystery stories, but I did enjoy this one! I feel like it was just missing something for me to love it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I didn’t really connect with the book or it’s main characters. I like mysteries and trying to figure out the answers before it’s revealed in the plot. I had difficulty focusing on the book. The writing was good, but I just was unable to engage with the storyline. It simply was’t for me.

This was a solid detective mystery. A man goes missing and the story is told over dual timelines and perspectives.

"…my childhood was one long nightmare, really. But this is different. Unfinished business—a time bomb ticking quietly like a second heart in my chest"
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"He’s been up to his old tricks again."

All is not what it seems. Ebbing is a small coastal community, rich with day-trippers, and increasingly, week-enders. We meet a cast of locals, Dave, the owner of a pub, The Neptune, Toby and Saul, who own The Lobster Shack, the postwoman, Pete Diamond, a new arrival eager to run a music festival, the unspeakable Pauline, and plenty more.

"Elise knew that Ebbing wasn’t like its neighbors, Bosham or West Wittering. It didn’t feature in the Bayeux Tapestry or have thousands of visitors surging in like a spring tide on a nice day. An old fish factory with a corrugated roof squatted in the armpit of the curved sea wall guarding the harbor, and the ten thousand inhabitants lived mostly in prefabs, housing estate boxes, and salt-stained bungalows rather than thatched cottages but Elise didn’t mind. It felt a bit more real—and it was all she could afford on her own if she wanted to be by the sea. She’d never really considered it until recently—she was a city girl, through and through—but she’d worked up this fantasy that the sea would be company."

DI Elise King, 43, is on extended leave, still recovering from, and being treated for, a nasty bout of breast cancer. Well, that and a broken heart after the sudden end to a long-term relationship. Being stuck, unable to properly get back to major-crimes work is a hardship of another sort.

Luckily for her, there just happens to be a notable local person missing in Ebbing. Charlie Perry is 73, silver-haired, (I see Bill Nighy) a particularly friendly sort, a local sweetheart, with an adult disabled daughter on whom he dotes. He is involved in many local charities, and has a kind word for everyone. We meet Charlie in the prologue, affixed to a chair, gagged, waiting for his captors to return, desperate to escape.

The second piece that gets Elise moving is Ronnie, her charming, if intrusive, next-door neighbor. A particularly effervescent sort, she bubbles over on learning that Elise is a murder detective, and nudges her to get involved in solving the mystery, unofficially of course, and just by following small leads.

But there are other local curiosities that bear looking into as well. Two young people collapse at a local music festival after consuming some tainted drugs, (how did those drugs get there?) and a local barn catches fire mysteriously. There is a fair bit of unfaithfulness, more than a bit of financial distress, and lots and lots of secrets.

Of course, small leads lead to more questions, which lead to more leads which lead to… and on it grows. This offers Elise a way to test out her weakened physical and mental muscles, building her confidence, as long as she stays in the good graces of her colleagues in the local constabulary.

The structure is to alternate current action (in which Elise, with Ronnie, conducts a private investigation) with a recounting of events that led up to the present unwelcome state of affairs. We go back to seventeen days before Saturday, August 24, 2019, and step up to the present, day by day for the most part. Chapters are labeled with when events take place using the metric of the number of days before August 24. Both current and look-back chapters shift POV. Our primary character, Elise King, takes the most (37) but Dee, her house-cleaner takes up a fair number (19). Charlie gets 8 and 9 chapters are distributed among other characters. Barton is a master at presenting diverse POVs. It is always clear who is speaking, whose eyes are providing our witness.

One lovely element of this Fiona Barton novel was the rise in prominence of place. It has not been a major focus in the past, except in The Suspect, which included a lot about Thailand.

"We moved here three years ago and it was lovely because we’d never lived by the sea before. So I had all this new material when we moved here. Lots of new people to watch and y’know, take notes about and so I decided that I would set my next book in Ebbing. Fictitious town. Did not want to get weighed down by a real location. And “I’ve had a lot of fun. Um, you know, sort of describing this small rundown seaside town…It is not one of the chi-chi ones that everybody wants to buy a property in, but it’s full of characters." - from The Poisoned Pen Bookstore interview

She writes about the tension experienced in any gentrifying place, as locals become economically squeezed by more affluent outsiders. A change for Barton this time is that her main character is a detective. In her prior series, she had featured a journalist, reflecting her many years as a pro in that field.

In any mystery there are two general things to look at, the story itself (Is it interesting? Does it make sense?) and the appeal of the lead. Do you want to spend 384 pages with this person? Not to worry. We are introduced to Elise King as she is struggling to work her way back to the love of her life, the thing she is best at, the thing that gives her the most satisfaction, her work. The limitations she experiences are the result of her illness, an act of God essentially, and not the product of substance abuse or moral failing. Another element that is crucial to a satisfying mystery is that it offers surprises. You may need a neck brace to prepare for the whiplash from the many twists that Barton has woven into her plot. There are a couple of particularly good ones near the end.

The supporting cast is a true strength in this one. Dee gets a lot of screen time, so we get to know her second-best. It is a fun challenge trying to figure out what is going on with her. Pauline, Charlie’s wife, is comedically awful. Ronnie is a wonderful support and much-needed nudge for Elise. I was very happy to learn that Barton plans another Ebbing-based tale, and Elise and Ronnie will both be back.

Bottom line is that I found Local Gone Missing an entertaining mystery, with engaging characters, a compelling core story, and a string of related events that is tightly woven into a very readable book. If you can locate a copy you will not be sorry.

"'You have to remember that monsters don’t look the part, Ronnie,' she said. 'They’re not marked out in any way. If only . . . They live among us in plain sight. In their cardigans and sensible shoes. They have library cards, buy a poppy for Remembrance Day. They’re the man or woman next door who picks up a pint of milk for you, asks after your parents, or takes in parcels from deliverymen.' All the while planning their next act of depravity."

Review posted – July 1, 2022

Publication date – June 14, 2022


For the full review, with links, please head one over to https://cootsreviews.com/2022/07/01/local-gone-missing-by-fiona-barton/

This is the third book of Fiona Barton's that I have read and reviewed. I guess that makes her one of my must-read authors. And honestly, in my opinion, each book is better than the last one.

This story grabbed me from the very first chapter. How can a person being held captive not be an intriguing way to start? And then all the secrets kept by everyone in town. Who are the good guys and who isn't? It was hard to keep track of who was doing what and why—but in a totally good way. That's what makes this story so great, all the questions, and so many sneaky characters.

Local Gone Missing is a book that you will not want to put down once you start. I just had to keep going so I could get to the bottom of everyone's motives. What a great read!

The book did have a slow start, but around 40% things got interesting and I was fully invested in the story. I really liked the way it all played out and the ending left me satisfied. There were three narrators for the points of views and that worked well for me. I did switch to the book towards the end because I tend to read faster when the story is reaching it’s peak.