Will I love Missing, Presumed?

I loved this book (the first in a trilogy) mostly because of its main character, Detective Inspector Manon Bradshaw. She’s investigating the disappearance of a beautiful graduate student at Cambridge, but the book is full of wry humor about Manon’s own predicament, which is that she is single and unhappily internet-dating.

She also loves snacks; there are lots of good snacks in the book. All three of the books in the series are really, really gripping and good. Steiner (who died in 2022) is a genius at writing about the feelings between people. 

Unlike most police procedurals, where the action starts with a crime, Missing, Presumed’s first chapter gives us a glimpse of the main character, detective sergeant Manon Bradshaw, on a disastrous blind date. You know from the get-go you are in the hands of a talented writer who will introduce you to complex, flawed, but relatable characters, not just a plot of twists and turns. This novel is the first in a standalone series featuring DS Manon Bradshaw, and all three novels are equally compelling in both the crimes that need solving and the way in which Manon and her… show more.

The mysteries that I most enjoy are those with strong character development. In Missing, Presumed, Susie Steiner gives us the character of Manon, a British detective who longs for romance and companionship, perhaps because her family relationships are weak. She doesn’t care for her stepmother, her mother passed when she was a child, and she and her sister no longer speak. Against the backdrop of a fantastic puzzle of a mystery, readers get to see Manon reach for more personal happiness, creating a new family on her own terms and in a deeply touching way.

Missing, Presumed introduces us to Manon Bradshaw, a single thirty-nine-year-old detective. She’s sad and lonely but also funny and full of observations on life that have you cheering along. She’s devoted to her work but is also trying to find love, and the book opens with her on a date with a profoundly dull man who’s obsessed with newts. I was hooked by this character and ready to follow her anywhere.