My Child is Missing

Lisa Regan has done. it. again.

Teenagers in Denton, Pennsylvania are scaring themselves silly with tales of the Woodsman, a bogeyman who takes children when they go into the forest. Two go in, only one comes out alive, so the story goes, and now children are daring themselves and each other go to into the woods. Kayleigh Patchett goes out with her little sister Savannah to prove that the Woodsman is just a myth. Josie, Noah, and the team are called in when their parents report them both missing. But Kayleigh is nowhere to be seen, and Savannah claims that the Woodsman took her sister.

The team struggles without Mett's presence and helpful insights, and they push themselves past the point of exhaustion, working nearly around the clock to keep the case moving. Lead after lead fizzles out. Frustration mounts, and the more time that passes, the more they fear what they'll find will be Kayleigh's dead body – especially once another teenager is found dead.

In case I haven't said it, Lisa Regan is the absolute master of suspense. She uses every word, every comma, every bit of dialogue to maximum effect. The snippets of the villain's point of view interspersed throughout really ramp up the tension.

This story is about a mystery and the hard work the police put into solving it. But it's also a study in family dynamics and a most excellent thriller with a plot twist that had my jaw hitting the floor. If you love a compelling work of detective fiction that doesn't give the ending away, with characters you will come to love as old friends (after eighteen books, they're practically family!), get to know Josie Quinn.