Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

Girl, Missing had everything from suspense, shocking twists, and heartbreaking betrayal. Although some scenes felt drawn out, it was an enjoyable read overall.

Thank you, Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, and the authors, for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

It's been 15 years since Gem's daughter Sara Jane disappeared with her best friend in front of school. The best friend was found, but Sara Jane remained missing. A body has been discovered near the school, and Gem feels she is so close to getting answers.

I was intrigued by the story line and I thought the authors got several things right - how people judge single mothers, how much prejudice exists among parents in school systems among social class. I thought a lot of the suspense was quite good and kept me into the story. However, it was hard to grasp the twists at the end because they did not feel realistic. I still liked the book and think it could be a favorite for other people!

This book was given to me pre-publication in exchange for an unbiased review.

I had high hopes for this book, as the blurb promised an interesting read. The basic story is okay, but there are so many innaccuracies regarding school policies and procedures which, as an ex-teacher- I couldn't ignore; especially as two of these blow the plot wide open. The book then becomes a tedious web of ridiculousness!
A school's results are not moderated by a single person, let alone one connected to the school. Moderators do not do that for a living, it is part of another job. No headteacher would resort to the level of stupidity portrayed here, just because the SATs results took a dip.
It isn't even particularly well written. The characters are stereotypical, unpleasant and unbelieveable. The number of times Gem said, 'My Sarah-Jane' was grating.
I struggled to get to the end, but persevered because I had agreed to give a review.

Gem's daughter Sarah-Jane went missing fifteen years ago. Sarah-Jane and her best friend Abby were kidnapped. Abby returned home, Sarah-Jane never returned. Now, fifteen years later there were new developments in the case. Gem will stop at nothing to find the truth about her daughter's disappearance. Even if it means exposing the deep dark secrets of the supposedly pristine Princess Isabel school that Sarah-Jane and Abby attended. No one can be trusted, not Abby, or her family, or the Princess Isabel staff. Dark, twisted, edge of your seat thriller. The end blew me away!

This book keep me on the edge of my seat. It had many twist and turns that I did not see coming. The end had me speechless. A great book for people who enjoy a good murder mystery.

It was twisty and hard to read in places and some of the characters being not the nicest but I found Gem the weakest one in the story but that didn’t affect how much I enjoyed the book, the two authors are so compatible as the story flowed very well.

Firstly thank you Netgalley for this Arc

Another great book by this brilliant author, very quick read and some suspense

This is my first read by these authors and on the whole I found Girl, Missing an enjoyable read full of suspense and mystery. The story follows Gem whose daughter disappeared some years before and she returns to her home town when a body is found which she believes is her daughter. The story moves seamlessly from past to present times with Gem facing her past and hoping to finally move forward with answers as to what happened to her daughter. Not all the characters here are likeable, in fact I loathed quite a few of them and couldn't wait for them to be found out. The writing is good and engaging but I did feel it was a little overly long at times and I found myself skimming pages. The tension and suspense builds up very well, the plot line is good and I guessed the ending correctly. I'd definitely read more books by both these authors and if you like psychological thrillers then I think you'd enjoy this and I'd recommend it.

4 stars

This book follows a mother, Gem, whose daughter and her daughters friend went missing 15 years ago. Only one girl comes back, and Gem is left struggling to live her live her life and find a way to understand why her daughter never came back.

I found this book very quick to read but unfortunately didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped to.

This author does a fantastic job of showing the differences between social classes of the families that attended her daughters school. It also showed some of the prejudices people have towards single mothers, which I felt was portrayed very delicately and effectively. However, i found the unwarranted hatred towards Gem from the community hard to believe, and it stopped me from becoming properly engaged with the book.

I genuinely enjoyed some of the twists this book threw at me, but some of the twists towards the end did feel like they were only written for the shock value and were a bit unbelievable. They didn't add much to the story for me and instead pulled me out of what could have been a great ending.

Unfortunately, i found some of the characters very unrelatable, personally, and therefore found it hard to care about what happened to them. The way some of the characters responded to situations to be unrealistic and whilst the author makes some attempt to explain the reasonings behind these responses, this (I found) was often poorly articulated. I found the reveal of information that was being alluded to, to be very slow and I was left feeling lost at times.

While this book was not personally for me, I feel it would suit someone who enjoys a slower burn of mystery.

This book was given to me by netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book had amazing twists some of them were a little crazy but made the story interesting. A great mystery that kept me wanting more

When everyone else gives up on Sarah Jane being found Gem still believes she will be. When finally she is, this page turning thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat as you unlayer the secrets of what happened. Everything Gem thought she knew, isn’t what she believed. But the lengths she will go thru to find the truth will make you root for her.

An overall good read. I thought some of the twists and turns were a little out of reach, but it was not debilitating to the story.

Previous books by Dreda Say Mitchell have held me gripped and somewhat horrified, even scared. In contrast to those earlier forays into her work, I found Girl, Missing a little different.

It *was* scary, in the sense that Gem, a low-income single mother was plunged into a nightmare when her 8 year old daughter was taken. The situation was made even worse when many people in her community turned against her, some even suggesting the she had killed her child herself. Her neighbour Traci was one of the few who stood by her.

But other parents at the snobbish school Gem's daughter Sarah-Jane and other children from their housing estate had the opportunity to attend (after an asbestos scare shut down their own school) had never been welcoming. And when one of their children was taken alongside Sarah-Jane, they were looking for a scapegoat. So even after the other child, Abby, was able to escape - unlike her own daughter - Gem was somehow seen as having brought this upon herself.

This is a twisty story that does a great job of conveying the difference that social class makes in the treatment that people sometimes receive from the authorities, including the police and school administrations.

The plot is intricate and multifaceted, and pulls off some real surprises. But certain words and themes became a little repetitive, especially with regard to Gem's reactions and dialogue.

I also found the book overly long, and was able to guess some of the key elements - though the extent of the depravity did take me by surprise. All in all, a good story with multiple twists, but some judicious editing would have greatly improved the effectiveness of the storytelling. It gets 3.5 stars.

Great book! Geez talk about keeping me glued to my Kindle?! I could not wait to find out what happened!! This book had it all! It had suspense, intrigue, action, kidnapping, murder, mystery, a great who done it and some really crazy twist and turns! The storyline was so very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! I read this book in one sitting! It definitely keeps your interest! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!