Customer Reviews
The Missing - By: S. Thomas, 17 Jul 2010 
I am always hankering for a realistic & well written crime novel - something that rises above mere plot & water colour characters. The combination of a writer who has studied literature & whose spouse is a criminal barrister therefore held promise.
The mechanism of two stories interweaving past & present has been tried many a time but is not necessarily tired. Jane can hold the threads of a story together & understands structure. However, the traditional yardstick for any work of fiction is the extent to which it enables the reader to suspend their disbelief. In spite of Jane having someone on tap who must know how criminal investigations develop, the book kept making me feel `things just don't happen that way' & to my eyes the veneer of plausibility slightly unravelled as the story unfolded.
Occasionally I have come across novels where `the crime' is merely a canvas against which the writer communicates something more. In The Church of Dead Girls for example Stephen Dobyns achieved an almost poetic resonance with the use of words to the extent that the storyline itself became almost irrelevant to me. Unfortunately, Jane hasn't yet achieved that deftness with prose. A degreein English & an MPhilin Anglo Irish literature may be a somewhat constraining background and, whilst there is some sparklein places, that elusive lightness of narration (where the words disappear & you are simply `there') isn't quite present.
A less than convincing journey & basic prose is no problem if a novel earns forgivenessin other ways but I feel doubly cheated if the dénouement makes me feel short changed. If there is to be a twistin the tale it shouldin my view be something that could just about have been deduced with effort (the Sixth Sense was a good example of delivering on that front). Again, I fear that Jane fell into the trap of writing the beginning & middle before she knew how the end would work out & then pulledin a substitute from the bench latein the game to fill a role.
As a train journey novel, `The Missing' would probably have occupied me & it is a better read than dozens of `best selling' books I have endured. In fact, it has all the ingredients & some of the skill that could combine to make for a really memorable read. There are redeeming elements & I almost feel as if Jane would be a better writer if she used an alternative device to the crime novel & found something she connected with (as Alice Sebold did with the Lovely Bones). I give the book three stars because as a simple crime/thriller Jane succeeds better than many & I was possibly unreasonable to expect more than just a yarn to pass the time.
Rendell-lite - By: Dr. Robert A. Josey, 28 Jun 2010 'The Missing' is a well written, intruiging crime thriller - & for a while I got totally lostin it. But the ending was a disappointing let down. I kept on thinking that there would be an original twist somewhere along the line, to justify all the careful scene & character building. But this wasn't to be.
Hopefully the author's next book will pay a bit more attention to a more powerful & plausible plot design because the actual writing itself is excellent.
An easy and enjoyable read but too implausible - By: R. Shear, 25 Jun 2010 I found "The Missing" to be highly enjoyable & frustratingin equal measure. There are now 50+ reviews on Amazon, so I won't waste your time by explaining the plot again, but will focus on my thoughts on the book itself.....
The plot is a good one, the major characters are well constructed & easy to associate with, the author has a lovely writing style which makes the pages fly by & the author handles the multiple story-lines with great skill, but (and for me it was a big but) the story becomes too implausible at key moments which marred the novel for me.
Without spoiling the plot for future readers, the problem was that the central character, Sarah, became far too involved with an open murder enquiry & had access to the victim's family as well as the police & their confidential information that she just wouldn't be allowed anywhere nearin real life. The paradox is that without this unlikely access the story could not goin the directions that it does, & therefore wouldn't be half as entertaining as it is.
Overall, this is a great holiday book, as it is undemanding, entertaining with plenty going on to keep you hooked, but your enjoyment of this novel depends on your ability to suspend your disbelief at the obvious breaches of police procedure.
If you like Sophie Hannah, you'll love this - By: Boo, 27 May 2010 
I always judge a thriller on whether I've worked out the ending. I didn't with this so it gets a thumbs up. The story-line does deliver some slightly implausible turns but basically it flows quite nicely. I didn't find the ending disappointing & as a first book, I'm eagerly awaiting the release of her second
Psychological chiller - By: Mr. P. E. Lister, 20 May 2010 Jane Casey "The Missing"
Teacher Sarah Finch has to confront her dark & difficult past when one of her junior pupils disappears & she happens to have the misfortune of finding the body while out on a jogin the woods. As the finder, she comes under suspicion.
This is a compelling book, equally accomplishedin moving the story along & unravelling characters.
