Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner
Setting: Cambridgeshire
Genre: British Crime Novel
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: July 4, 2017
Manon Bradshaw balances her work as a detective with her pregnancy and new role as the adoptive mom of a 12-year-old boy. She's moved to Cambridgeshire with her new son, sister, and nephew. What seems like a new start is anything but.
A man dies in a stranger's arms in a local park. That man happens to be her sister's ex. Her sister was missing for a number of hours that afternoon and evening, and Manon's son is seen on camera at the scene. This case involves too many of Manon's loved ones, so she's pulled from the investigation. The last thing this pregnant mom wants, however, is to be told she's off the case.
This is my introduction to Manon. I did not read the previous novel. Maybe I needed to? I never really connected with her character. She did things that bugged me as she investigated. I don't want to go into spoilers, but I simply struggled to really like her. She's pregnant and I get the pregnancy emotions, but they often overshadowed the rest of the story, so that got tiring.
The ending left me cold. Again, no spoilers, but read it and comment. I'm curious to see if others were as bothered by one aspect of the ending as I was.
The plot in Persons Unknown had merit. I wanted an edge-of-my-seat crime procedural focusing on the murder and solving it, and at times I got just that. There were just too many other characters thrown in and too much daily-routine drama that wore me down.
Genre: British Crime Novel
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: July 4, 2017
Manon Bradshaw balances her work as a detective with her pregnancy and new role as the adoptive mom of a 12-year-old boy. She's moved to Cambridgeshire with her new son, sister, and nephew. What seems like a new start is anything but.
A man dies in a stranger's arms in a local park. That man happens to be her sister's ex. Her sister was missing for a number of hours that afternoon and evening, and Manon's son is seen on camera at the scene. This case involves too many of Manon's loved ones, so she's pulled from the investigation. The last thing this pregnant mom wants, however, is to be told she's off the case.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This is my introduction to Manon. I did not read the previous novel. Maybe I needed to? I never really connected with her character. She did things that bugged me as she investigated. I don't want to go into spoilers, but I simply struggled to really like her. She's pregnant and I get the pregnancy emotions, but they often overshadowed the rest of the story, so that got tiring.
The ending left me cold. Again, no spoilers, but read it and comment. I'm curious to see if others were as bothered by one aspect of the ending as I was.
RTR's Bottom Line
The plot in Persons Unknown had merit. I wanted an edge-of-my-seat crime procedural focusing on the murder and solving it, and at times I got just that. There were just too many other characters thrown in and too much daily-routine drama that wore me down.
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