Book source ~ ARC. My review is voluntary and honest.

 

Toronto native David Lloyd’s assault by fellow officers because he is gay was brutal, but he couldn’t prove in a court of law that it was them since he never saw their faces. The far reaching effects of his injuries resulted in his being unable to keep his job. The department gave him a settlement and a pension and turned a blind eye to criminals in their midst. So David opened a private investigation agency and moved on with his life. Mostly. When a woman hires him to find her daughter, the more he digs into the case, he realizes he’s not really put that incident behind him. Everything about this case bugs David and now his personal life is coming to a head, too. The question isn’t just will he find the woman, but will he and his longtime partner also survive the fallout.

 

This book made a solid grab for me at the beginning and kept hold until the end. The case involving missing Stella Barrowman is far from straightforward. Oh, no, it’s so much more than a troubled drug addicted woman taking off yet again. David’s investigation of her life is the center of the book, as it should be, but there is a sub-story about David and his partner Jamie that will pull your heartstrings. A great story, a twisty investigation, and wonderful characters. What more could a reader ask for?

I have read two of Tammy Cohen's books already and was really looking forward to this one.  First One Missing is about every parent's worst nightmare, the murder of their child, and the aftermath for the families and the police.  As a topic this is dark and terrifying: child murder, references to paedophilia and the torture that the families go through.

 

As in her previous books, Tammy's ability to focus on the thoughts and actions of each character in detail makes this book both emotional and enthralling.  The characters and their reactions to their situation feel genuine and as always Tammy's writing is spot on.

 

This may well be my favourite Tammy Cohen book.

Someone in North London is murdering young girls in this dark tale.  I for one couldn't stop turning the pages - as quickly as possible!  It was a fantastic book and now I must read something else by this very talented author.

Well, crap. This was supposed to be some nice, fluffy fun. Instead, I now want to cry, and not in a good way.

Cassidy Rae is a Scottish nurse. She was badly hurt a few years ago when her Spanish fiance went back to Spain and cut things off with her when she refused to go with him. All she wants to do is take care of her grandmother, who has Alzheimer's, and find herself a nice Scottish guy. She's not happy when a fortuneteller tells her that she's going to be a Christmas bride, and that her groom won't be from Scotland.

Soon after getting back to work, Cassidy meets Brad, a new doctor at her hospital. He's from Australia and probably won't stick around any longer than her fiance did, but she can't help but be charmed by him. The attraction is mutual, but Brad has something he hasn't told Cassidy: he has a young daughter named Melody. Melody's mother, Alison, took off with her in the middle of the night two years ago, and he's been looking for her ever since. Odds are good that Alison fell in love with an American doctor and moved to the United States with him – Brad just doesn't know exactly where. When he finds out, will that be the end of his and Cassidy's romance, or will she unbend enough to reconsider her decision never to leave Scotland?

Typing that last sentence was painful. Cassidy and Brad were both POV characters, but it felt like the entire book was focused on what Brad needed and wanted. Cassidy was always the “closed-minded” one. Everyone, from the fortuneteller to Brad to Cassidy herself kept saying so, and it made me angry. Was not wanting to leave Scotland really such a bad thing?

Cassidy was way more open with Brad than he was with her. No, she didn't tell him exactly how badly her fiance leaving her had wrecked her, but she'd at least told him the basics of what happened. Later, she told him about her grandmother and what Alzheimer's was doing to her. Brad, meanwhile, kept finding reasons not to mention Alison and his now 4-year-old daughter.

Cassidy was understandably upset when she finally did learn the truth, but softened when she learned that Brad had been afraid she'd judge him. When Alison first disappeared, people assumed he'd done something to her until the police figured out that she'd boarded an international flight. Then people assumed that Alison had left so quickly and quietly because he'd been abusive towards either her or Melody. Cassidy immediately believed his version of the events. “She was angry. She was hurt. And she had no idea what this could mean for them. But right now, she had to show compassion.” (154)

Sorry, I disagree. Had it not been very clear that this was supposed to be a romance novel, I'd have spent the entire book wondering if Brad was actually an unreliable narrator who had convinced himself he was in the right. As it was, I knew that, at some point, Wilson would probably reveal Alison to be horrible.

I barely know anything about custody laws in the U.S., much less in Australia, so I have no idea if the book handled any of that correctly. As far as I know, Brad and Alison were never married. Brad told Cassidy that they'd had an informal custody agreement. Yes, it had hurt him when Alison left and took Melody with her, but had he really had any kind of legal leg to stand on? This book seemed to think so. At the end,

a big deal was made about Alison removing Melody from Australia without parental consent. Alison was “shamed” (240) into meeting with Brad's lawyer. Readers never did learn why she left Australia so suddenly, without telling anyone, unless “she met an American doctor and wanted to start a new life without an ugly custody battle” was really supposed to be the sole reason. She didn't have a speaking role and was less a character and more an obstacle between Brad and the daughter he “deserved” to be with.

(spoiler show)

The one thing I liked about this book was the hospital stuff. It was nice to see Cassidy and Brad actually doing their jobs, and it all felt real. It's just too bad the romance was so disappointing.

 

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

David Lloyd was a Toronto police detective until a brutal homophobic assault ended his career and changed his life. It's been five years and he now owns a private detective agency. Marjory Barrowman enlists his help to find her troubled daughter, Stella, who has been missing and not heard from for over two months.On the surface, discovering what has happened to Stella shouldn't be that difficult given her circumstances. She has a serious drug habit and had a pretty small circle of acquaintances, including her drug buddies. However, David soon finds out that not everyone wants her found and has to struggle through lies, deception and cover ups from just about everyone connected. Meanwhile, he's also in a relationship with Jamie Brennen, a successful prosecuting attorney who hasn't yet come out about his sexuality and that's creating tension.This is very much an investigation procedural but unencumbered by process and police protocol. David is pretty skilled and takes a lot of risks. The case was interesting and had me shifting emotionally throughout as what began as a belief of the truth kept being dismantled as David continued to explore the case. The search uncovered some real nasty characters and circumstances and unexpected turns of events. Some I saw coming and others took me by surprise. I also liked how his relationship with Jamie was woven throughout the story and not as a disconnected, separate storyline. Both are really well designed characters and I loved their relationship. Their romance was sensitively portrayed and you couldn't help but root for them as they faced obstacles from family and other relationships. There were occasions where there seemed to be extraneous dialogue that could be implied to have occured by the reader. It didn't bog down the story or my reading enjoyment but was something I noticed.I enjoyed the mystery and the journey to solve this case but even more, I loved David and Jamie's developing relationship. This is the first book in the series and I plan to continue it as soon as the author writes the next one.(I was provided an ARC from the author)