Local Girl Missing (Detective Josie Quinn #15), by Lisa Regan

Local Girl Missing by Lisa Regan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


»“Live with it? That’s it? That’s your answer? What kind of adult are you, anyway?”«
(A teenaged young woman to Josie; representative of what I believed about adults at that age…)

For a police procedural in its 15th instalment, “Local Girl Missing” by Lisa Regan is simply outstanding – inventive and imaginative and really, truly suspenseful and thrilling. I will not resort to that horrible “unword” about being unable to put down a book but this is what happened to me here. I actually completely drained my Kindle’s battery and swore when it ran out of juice – during the final chapter, of course!

Let’s not get too much ahead of us just yet: As mentioned, this is yet another instalment of a series of police procedurals featuring Detective Josie Quinn from the fictitious small town of Denton, Pennsylvania.
Co-starring are Josie’s team consisting of her now-husband Noah, Gretchen, Mettner, their chief and others in “supporting roles”. While long-term Josie fans like myself will recognise and enjoy every old “acquaintance”, every important character is properly introduced (without boring the true connoisseur!) so that this book can actually be enjoyed as a stand-alone thriller or serve as a worthy entry to the entire series.

On their return trip from their Honeymoon, Josie and Noah get “stuck” on the road due to intense fog (YAY!). Without warning, a girl sprints away to disappear without a trace…
When they emerge from the car, carefully investigating, Noah and Josie find a ransacked car and a murderer straddling his victim…

This is the immediate beginning of the book and it’s suitably ominous. What follows is a complex and complicated investigation into a string of murders, afore-mentioned disappearance, the corruption of an architect and… others!

There’s not much “literary meat” on these thrillers but Lisa Regan writes very well, always has an interesting story to tell and as long as you enjoy the genre and are willing to suspend your disbelief just a little (!) I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed if you’re new to this series.

If – like me – you’re a Josie aficionado you’ll feel right at home and won’t have any issues – as so often, we’re dropped right into the “action” and every single character works as well as pretty much always! Your knowledge of the earlier instalments will greatly add to your enjoyment since there are quite a few references which you’ll rejoice in remembering (but if you don’t understand them, you lose nothing).

Short interludes from a specific perspective break up the sometimes extremely exciting chapters, which are of perfect length (approx. 10 minutes of reading), and allow for the deep breath that is due.

Lisa Regan, it seems to me, is at the top of her game with this book. If she can keep churning out book after book in this quality my basic reading fodder is secure for years to come!

Easy five stars out of five!


Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam



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