Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner

Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner picks up where her debut novel Missing, Presumed leaves off. Manon Bradshaw has adopted twelve year old Fly (from the previous book) and moved back to Huntingdon, living with her sister and nephew Solly. When a finance executive is stabbed to death in a local park, Fly is charged with the murder, even though there is no evidence to support the charge. He was seen walking in the park at the time of the murder and his footprint was found in some blood on the ground.

Manon, five months pregnant, is obviously beside herself, bemoaning the move which was theoretically to benefit Fly by getting him out of his old neighborhood. Barred from participating in the murder investigation, she of course, does so anyway, along with hired attorney Mark Talbot.

There are a lot (a lot) of twists and turns in Persons Unknown, that’s for sure. And it is a good read. However, it is short on solving the mystery and long on Manon’s bemoaning her fate: single, pregnant, tired, not keeping Fly safe in his new environment…and the list goes on. So, here you have the plusses and minuses. Do what you will.

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Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

Edith Hind is missing. There is blood in her apartment and according to Will Carter, her boyfriend, the apartment door was open when he came home. Based on the evidence, the Cambridgeshire police deem it a ‘high risk misper’. Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw is on the case along with Detective Inspector Harriet Harper, and Detective Constables Davy Walker, Kim Delaney, Nigel Williams, Colin Brierly and newbie Stuart.

Everyone knows that the first 72 hours after a crime or abduction are the most critical. Unfortunately, there is little in the way of new evidence as the hours, days and weeks progress. The police are stumped.

When a young man, Taylor Dent, is found murdered and his time of death coincides with Edie’s disappearance, Manon has the feeling that the two incidents are related. However, it’s a stretch…virtually impossible to link the two.

Susie Steiner has scripted an immensely enjoyable, mystifying mystery that is fast paced, thoughtful and well written. Missing, Presumed is a good police procedural with an equal amount of pavement pounding, forensics, hunches and team updates.

The cast of characters is totally believable, each having his/her own crosses to bear. Steiner skillfully addresses Manon’s ‘unattached at age 39’ trauma and her exploits in online dating. In some ways she reminds me of a younger version of divorced Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef in Inger Ash Wolfe’s Canadian mysteries. The fact that these detectives are ‘human’ gives the story a sense of reality.

I wouldn’t be upset if a follow up to Missing, Presumed is published one of these days. I’d like to follow this group of policemen and women for a while and watch them change and adapt.

If you’re in the mood for something a little different, Missing, Presumed is worthwhile.

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