Full Review and Rating - Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

Just Another Missing Person

Gillian McAllister

Copyright 2023

377 pages

Sorry Gillian, babe, but who signed off on this title? Because this is NOT just another missing‑person story. This book grabbed me by the throat, dragged me through 24 hours of pure narrative mayhem, and spat me out a re‑forged creature. I am not the same woman I was when I cracked page one. I’ve shed a whole personality like a snake in a thriller‑induced spiritual awakening.

Spoilers ahead, darling. Buckle up. Okay. Whew. Now, about this title — it tricks you into thinking you’re signing up for one neat little missing‑person mystery. A crime. A clue. A tidy resolution. Adorable. Except I stopped counting crimes somewhere around chapter four because this book doesn’t follow crimes, it dispenses them like Oprah handing out cars. One minute a crime appears, the next it vanishes, then suddenly it’s wearing a fake mustache and joining a gang. Thank God I map characters and themes like I’m running a conspiracy board in my living room. I had arrows, circles, question marks — my notes looked like a toddler got hold of a detective’s whiteboard.

Julia: perfect mom, perfect citizen, perfect detective… except for that one tiny moment where she covers up her daughter’s crime. But listen. Mama Bear Mode is undefeated. Today she’s investigating a fresh missing‑person case, which naturally drags up an old missing‑person case, which naturally ties into her daughter’s crime, which naturally made me question whether anyone in this book has ever had a normal Tuesday.

We’ve got missing people, coercion, fake identities, gangs—Gillian tossed all of that into her narrative blender and hit purée with the lid off. Crimes splattered everywhere. Deceit dripping down the cabinets. I needed a poncho.

But here’s the thing: beneath the chaos, the web is beautifully woven. I came out rooting for basically everyone. (Except one guy, but he’s dead, so he can stay in the coffin and think about what he’s done.) Julia and Lewis realizing they’d burn the world down for their kids? Delicious. Genevieve being the daughter every detective dreams of? I’m kidnapping her for the next book.

Five stars. Five stars to everyone. Five stars to the blender. Five stars to the crimes. Five stars to my emotional damage. What a ride.  If you like this one you HAVE to check out Wrong Place, Wrong Time also by Gillian McAllister.  Another 5-star read.