(Image from Barnes & Noble)

At a park in Endleby—a small hamlet near Hereford—a devoted mother walks away from her two small children, leaving them alone.  Twenty hours later, she returns.  Where has she been?  No one knows.  Even Selena Cole herself claims to have no recollection of what she'd been doing while her daughters were left alone.  Is the wealthy psychologist telling the truth?  If she is, then where was she for those missing hours?  If not, then why did she leave her kids?  

Not far away, the body of Dominic Newell, a respected defense attorney, is found on a lonely country road.  Dead from a stab wound, his vicious demise shocks all who knew him.  Who would commit such a savage crime?  

Finn Hale, who's been a sergeant detective for 82 whole days, is tasked with solving the case.  His sister, DC Leah Mackay, is investigating the disappearance of Selena Cole.  Are the two events connected?  Or is it just coincidence that they happened at the same time in a quiet place that, as Finn is wont to say, isn't exactly Mogadishu?  As Finn and Leah look deeper into the disappearance and the murder, they discover some shocking clues about what really happened to both Selena and Dominic.

I don't want to say too much about The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh because I think it's one of those books where the less you know going into it, the better.  Suffice it to say, it's a tense, suspenseful psychological thriller with plenty of twists to keep the reader not just engaged, but riveted.  Someone recommended this to me (I can't remember who—so sorry!) and I'm so glad they did.  I enjoyed it.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (a handful of F-bombs, plus milder expletives), violence, blood/gore, and depictions of illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love:  A bought a copy of The Missing Hours from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.