The Missing Hours [review]

The Missing Hours - Emma Kavanagh

[Synopsis]

A woman disappears

One moment, Selena Cole is in the playground with her children and the next, she has vanished without a trace.

A woman returns

Twenty hours later, Selena is found safe and well, but with no memory of where she has been.

What took place in those missing hours, and are they linked to the discovery of a nearby murder?

‘Is it a forgetting or a deception?’

The Missing Hours

[My Review]

The Missing Hours tells the story of missing person Selena Cole from various points of view, as detectives and her family try to work out what happened to her in the ‘missing hours’ when she disappeared.

It soon becomes unclear whether Selena disappeared off her own accord or whether there were darker forces at place, and the Police’s investigations dig deeper into the murky world of hostage negotiations, which I found really interesting to read about! Though the reports on past cases may seem a little repetitive to some after a while, I found the subject fascinating and would have happily read more about, as it’s not something I ever really thought much about or considered being a skilled and necessary job – and yet is so evidently is!

I found the characters interesting to read about (though D.S Finn did nget on my nerves a bit, I’m not sure why exactly!) and they seemed quite well developed and convincing. There are elements of relationships, family drama and plenty of mystery which kept me wanting to read on.

The narrative does switch around a bit and we learn information from both before the event and during as the novel continues, which I always like – though it can be confusing at times until you get to grips with who everyone is and how they’re connected to each other (or even if they are connected – and working out the connections is sometimes half the fun!)

I think this is a really well-crafted novel with a really interesting subject matter. I would recommend it as a gripping thriller for this summer!

[Rating: 4/5]

Many thanks to Cornerstone for providing a copy of this book in return for an honest review

Have you read The Missing Hours? What did you think?

12 comments

  1. I saw a drama a year or so ago about hostage negotiations that was great and not something I had seen before so this sounds like one I’d like to read.

  2. I saw a drama a year or so ago about hostage negotiations that was great and not something I had seen before so this sounds like one I’d like to read.

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