Hester Thursby has given up using her research skills to trace people who don’t want to be found. A traumatic case a few months ago unearthed a string of violent crimes, and left Hester riddled with self-doubt and guilt. Caring for a four-year-old is responsibility enough in a world filled with terrors Hester never could have imagined before. Finisterre Island, off the coast of Maine, is ruggedly … is ruggedly beautiful and remote—the kind of place tourists love to visit, though rarely for long. But not everyone who comes to the island is welcome. A dilapidated Victorian house has become home to a group of squatters and junkies, and strangers have a habit of bringing trouble with them. A young boy disappeared during the summer, and though he was found safely, the incident stirred suspicion among locals. Now another child is missing. Summoned to the island by a cryptic text, Hester discovers a community cleaning up from a devastating storm—and uncovers a murder.
Soon Hester begins to connect the crime and the missing children. And as she untangles the secrets at the center of the small community, she finds grudges and loyalties that run deep, poised to converge with a force that will once again shake her convictions about the very nature of right and wrong . . .
Praise for Edwin Hill and Little Comfort
“A dark but compassionate psychological-thriller debut with great appeal for fans of Ruth Ware.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“An increasingly tense plot and striking characters—in particular, compassionate, conflicted, loving Hester—make this a standout.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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Fabulous novel. Fast paced with unsettling mysteries that kept me flipping pages to find how everything would untangle in the end. The characters felt real and so did the settings. I didn’t read Little Comfort before reading this novel, but that didn’t cause any issues. Great read for people who like books with loads of atmosphere, suspense, and damaged characters.
I enjoyed this book. I was lucky enough to attend a video conference that was sponsored by the public library that the author spoke about this series. After attending the video conference, I was inspired to read this series. I am glad I did, I am enjoying the characters. I was lucky that my library has copies of this series, I already borrowed the last book in this series.
Fabulous novel. Fast paced with unsettling mysteries that kept me flipping pages to find how everything would untangle in the end. The characters felt real and so did the settings. I didn’t read Little Comfort before reading this novel, but that didn’t cause any issues. Great read for people who like books with loads of atmosphere, suspense, and damaged characters.
This is the second book in the Hester Thursby Mystery series and it was just as good if not better than the first book.
The characters are again written with amazing details, so that you feel like you are in their shoes, living their daily struggles. Its dark, twisted, a realistic look into everyday struggles, its like taking a roller coaster ride that ended way to fast.
Its a great continuation of Little Comfort and if you haven’t read anything by Edwin, do yourself a favor and start with Little Comfort
#Hester #Kate #PTSD #Dark #Twisted #LovedIt
Great book! This thriller had many twists and turns and kept me hanging on until the very end. I can’t wait to read more of this series.
I received a copy of The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill from NetGalley and Kensington Publishers in exchange for my fair and honest review.
This was the second book in the Hester Thursby series, I really enjoyed the first book, and now in the second it helps to find out some of the answers surrounding why Daphne left her daughter with Hester and Morgan. After the last book Hester is dealing with a major case of PTSD, yet when text by Daphne she takes off determined to help. I did find this book a little harder to follow along with due to moving back and forward between places and characters in the book. Children missing, drugs, homeless people this book has alot going on. I beleive those that have read the first book, will enjoy the second book of the series also.
Edwin Hill’s Hester Thursby, the diminutive bad*ss with the ability to find missing persons, is still hurting from her last exposure to violence. When a late-night text takes her to a tiny island off the coast of Maine, it’s hard to tell whether she’s running to find a woman in trouble or fleeing her past. Without giving too much away, it’s safe to say that Hill paints a lifelike and haunting portrait of the effects of trauma with master-like strokes, while giving equal service to a small, seaside town, as much baked-goods-and-quaint-inn paradise as collection of fetid tide pools and crumbling mansions where opioid sufferers go to disappear. To say Hester makes the right choices would be to imply that she has control of her own life, let alone the niece she drags along with her, but in the end, her strength, heart, and intelligence shine through, bringing the Missing Ones to light. Can’t wait to read the next one.
Welcome to Freakish Friday my Fellow Book Dragons. I hope you are enjoying this fabulous, freezing evening. Our Gem tonight is the color of the sea after a storm. It is heavy in One’s palm and smells of salt air, sea and fear. This is Gem Maker Edwin Hill’s “The Missing One’s”.
The “The Missing One’s” is Mr. Hill’s second tale in his Hester Thursby series. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of reviewing the first in the series, the excellent, “Little Comfort”. In this latest tale, a year has passed and Hester is back. She is not doing well. The adventure with Sam and Gabe took some things from her that she hasn’t gotten back: a sense of safety, peace, being able to take a breath without the constant feeling that something will happen to Kate. Hester is now knee deep in lies, to herself, Morgan and her friends. She can’t go to work, because she can’t drop Kate at day care, because something might happen to the to the pre-schooler if she lets her out of her sight. So what could drag Hester away from her apartment, from her safety zone? What indeed?
Daphne. Morgan’s missing twin sister and Kate’s mother who ran out on her just over a year ago, turning Hester’s tidy world upside down. Hester has come to know one thing for sure. She loves Kate, she loves raising her, being with her, she has fallen in love. No, she is not the perfect mother. She swears in front of Kate when she shouldn’t and Kate picks it up. She takes her places and into situations she shouldn’t because in her mind as long as Kate is with her, she’s safe. But Daphne is Morgan’s sister and Kate’s mother and Hester’s best friend and she has finally sent a text. Daphne is on a small island off the coast of Maine and she needs Hester and as a true friend does, Hester heads to Maine with Kate in tow.
Once on the island, Hester does what Hester does best. She finds people. In this case, she doesn’t find Daphne right away, she finds a dead body and this is where the story really takes off. I really liked this book! I didn’t like it as well as “Little Comfort”, mainly because the bad guys weren’t the weird villains that they were in that first tale, but I still really liked this one. In this book there are : Drug dealers, kidnappers, murders, arsonists, dirty cops and more. Much of it set in a dilapidated Victorian Manse. There is enough crime, creepiness and crud in this book that I recommend you don’t start reading it at bedtime.. if you do keep the eye drops handy, you won’t put it down once you start.
I liked getting to know Daphne. I will never comprehend how a person can abandon a nestling, their family and friends and just appear to drop off the face of the earth (though there are those beings whom I feel all involved would be better off if they did). I liked the other characters. The lead investigator Barb, the children: Oliver, Ethan and Kate, the dogs – Mindy, Waffles and eventually, George. I even liked Vaughn and Rory. This book took me from absolute fright to absolute anger. I can’t tell more because I don’t do spoilers. The only issue I did have with the book was Kate cursing, but I get that Kate and Morgan didn’t ask to be parents and not correcting Kate and curbing their own behavior was rebellion over not wanting to be parents in the first place. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “Some of us seek out parenting and some of us have parenting thrust upon us”. Hopefully that changes by the next book and goodness, I do hope there is one!
If you have not started reading the Hester Thursby series yet, start NOW! Fall is a great time of year to read these books. When it’s cold and a bit snowy out. You will love them if you love crime fiction, great books and tales that make you hold your breath.
Until tomorrow I remain, your humble Book Dragon, Drakon T. Longwitten
I received a copy of this from the publisher, Kensington, in exchange for an honest review.
The Second book in the Hester Thursby series finds Hester dealing with the traumatic events from the case she was working on previously. Hester and boyfriend, Morgan are raising Kate, Morgan’s young niece, after his twin sister Daphne, took off. Trying to deal with the past, Hester is overprotective of Katie and finds herself lying to Morgan about her and Kate’s whereabouts. Swearing off working on any more cases, Hester changes her mind quickly when she receives a mysterious message from Daphne. Calling herself Annie now, Daphne is living on Finisterre Island, Maine. Will Hester finally discover the secret behind Daphne’s leaving Kate behind? Has Hester walked into something more than just a case of finding Daphne? Author Edwin Hill has filled this book with a lot of twists and turns, making it, an edge of your seat page turner! I am looking forward to reading more from this brilliant author! I received a copy of The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill from NetGalley and Kensington Publishers in exchange for my fair and honest review.
The Missing Ones is a complex mystery set in an atmospheric island off the coast of Maine. This is the second book in the series and can be enjoyed, in my opinion, without reading the first but I would recommend reading in order because Hester’s behavior will make more sense in context. The book is well-written and I think fans of mysteries with darker themes will enjoy it.
Trigger Warnings: homophobic slurs, drug use, ableist slur
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #TheMissingOnes #mystery #suspense
It’s been a year since Hester’s last case and she is still experiencing some setbacks from that trauma when she receives an urgent text from Daphne. Daphne is not only her best friend, she’s her boyfriend Morgan’s twin sister, and Kate’s mother – and she’s in trouble! With Kate, now four years old, in tow, she rushes to a small island off the coast of Maine to find Daphne. For me, this story was not as clever as Little Comforts. I really enjoyed how Little Comforts got into the heads of the focal characters, giving it delicious psychological suspense. Missing Ones totally missed the boat on that, making it just another action crime novel. However, the atmosphere was good. I enjoyed the beginning, getting to know some of the characters on the island, and wondering what was behind the missing children. Hester and Kate are quite smart and entertaining, and I had to know how the part with Daphne would play out.
The second installment of the Hester Thursby Mysteries is just as unsettling and twisty as the the first.
The Missing Ones finds our protagonist suffering from PTSD and trying to overcome her self-doubt and guilt of the events from the previous book. The story sends us to a island where a child goes missing and at every turn there is suspicious activity. Hester struggles to solve the mystery and keep her loved ones safe at the same time.
With plenty of twists and turns the author continues to build a world that pulls us in and keeps us routing for the good side.
THE MISSING ONES by Edwin Hill is the second in his Hester Thursby series. While it has an independent mystery of its own, much like the first book in the series, there are many questions that arise in the first book which are answered in the second. In order to fully understand what is happening, the reader will be best served to read these books in order.
Although I had read the first book in the series, I still found this book difficult to follow in the beginning. Some of the difficulty was created by the multiple points of view that were presented, and my confusion regarding who these particular people were in relationship to Hester. About a third of the way into the novel, it began to be easier for me to follow and my interest increased from that point to the end. I read the first book a bit over a year ago, and it might have been easier for me to follow from one to the other if I had read them closer together.
This book is filled with broken and challenged people, and that makes it a bit of a sad read. The effects of what happened in the first book have left Hester struggling with everyday activities, and those who love her struggling with how to help her move forward. As she is carrying all this emotional baggage she is compelled to travel to an island off the shore of Massachusetts. The island’s inhabitants are also experiencing their own struggles including missing children, infidelity, and an influx of drugs.
The book is well written with good descriptions of both the characters and the surroundings. Each character has their own distinct “voice” and it is easy to see both the people and the surroundings as they are presented. It is difficult to find a character or characters to “pull” for as they all seem so deeply damaged.
While the end of the book is not exactly a cliff-hanger, there is little doubt there is more to be told about the life of Hester and her friends. Even more than the first novel, this one seems to call out for a continuation of the story. My thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital read copy in exchange for an honest review.
Set on a small island off the coast of Maine where all of the locals know each other, it’s easy to be drawn into the small town vibe, from kidnapping, murder, drugs, and mayhem along the Atlantic ocean. There were also a lot of who done its, that made for a very interesting read. I found the story fast paced so it really held my interest.
However, I feel that I should have read the first book in the series, Little Comfort, to get to know more about a couple of the main characters before reading this.
Many thanks to the author, Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this arc. This review and opinions are strictly my own. I gave this book 4 stars.
Hester Thursby is back but doesn’t want to go back into finding people after what she and her niece, Kate, went through the last time. They had both been kidnapped and Hester was hurt pretty bad. She is so afraid of losing Kate that she has started lying to her boyfriend Morgan about her going to work and Kate going to preschool. She’s to afraid of letting Kate out of her sight again. But she gets a text and off she goes again.
It’s not just any text, it’s a text for help from Kate’s mother, Morgan’s twin sister, who you meet fairly early in this story.
Anne/Daphne is in trouble and wants someone to know just in case she does not make it, or if she just goes missing and needs help. She’s been staying on an island for a few months in an old Victorian house where drug addicts usually stay. While there, two children have gone missing. One belongs to the town’s bakery owner, Lydia, while the other belongs to a drug addicted woman. The local cop, Rory, is in love with Lydia and everyone in this small town knows it.
Trey, Lyndia’s husband is a cop also but I didn’t like him. He seemed like a real jerk to me. I liked Rory for a while but figured him out too. I liked Vaughn, Lydia and of course loved Hester. I also did not like Daphne. I think she is a terrible person and I hope she never comes back into Kate’s life. She deserted her and in my opinion gave up her rights to the child when she left her alone with a post it note. Even though it was explained why she left I personally think she could have done it in a better way. Anything could have happened to the child. So no I do not like Daphne either.
I think Morgan is a very understanding man and Hester should love him. I hope they get married eventually and get to raise Kate. I also hope they get to keep Ethan. Ethan needs a loving, caring, understanding home and he would certainly get that with them.
This book was very well written. I loved or hated the characters. It made me cry in all the right places and laugh out loud in a few. Kate, the four year old, is so funny. I love how she is portrayed. She’s a very loving and happy child with Hester and Morgan. Though she loves her mom she is happy with her uncle and aunt. They take such good care of her.
This book is set in the present and in a few places it goes back to when certain things happened so you know exactly what is going on. It’s well written and will keep you turning pages until the very end. I had to read the ending a couple of times to realize exactly what was going on I admit. But it’s setting the scene for the next Thursby book I hope….
I loved it!!
Thank you to #NetGalley, #Kensingtonbooks, and #EdwinHill for the copy of this book in exchange for my complete and honest review.
I give it 4 stars and highly recommend it!!
Librarian Hester Thursby, a diminutive young woman, has issues. We meet her as she’s escorting her niece Kate to daycare before going to work and praying that this morning would be different. But it wasn’t – at least not for them. They don’t end up where they were going.
Hester’s story alternates with that of Rory Dunbar, the only cop on a little island off the coast of Maine. Overwhelmed with his job and out-of-control brother, he wishes he could be the kind of hero that the unattainable Lydia would fall in love with.
Eventually their stories collide in a perfect storm of sympathetic characters striving against the odds to be better people even as doing the right thing comes instinctively to them. I like these guys.
This story defies categorization. Not really a murder mystery. Not really a psych thriller. Certainly not cozy. But it falls squarely into crime fiction with its fresh, intriguing and compelling plot born wholly from the author’s imagination. Looking forward to more.
Hester Thursby is bavk! I absolutely loved this book. It answered some questions from the first book. It also brings a ghost from the past in. Will Hester risk everything once again to solve the latest crime that she has come into unknowingly? I can’t wait to read the next book! The author knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat! Loved it!
The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill
Hester Thursby Mystery #2
Some words that I wrote down:
* obsession
* drugs
* sex
* endangerment
* murder
* tangled
* kidnapping
* crime
* thought provoking
* disturbing
* intense
Hester Thursby had a tough time in the previous book and has become obsessed with an almost irrational fear that Kate, a child she has cared for a year, will disappear or come to harm. She is really in a stew of her own making and doesn’t know how to get out of the hamster wheel she finds herself in. Her partner and friends are concerned but she is huffy and difficult to put it mildly.
When Kate’s’ mother, Daphne, sends a cry for help to Hester it is a central point in the book. Still unable to leave Kate she leaves in the night and heads to Finisterre Island, Maine. She does not find Daphne but does begin to find clues that may eventually lead to locating her.
As Hester looks she meets a number of people in the small island community, hears the stories of two boys that suddenly appeared a day or so after they strangely went missing, sees the dynamics of various relationships, searches for Daphne, stumbles across a dead body, encounters scary people and begins to come to terms with the obsessive fear that has hounded her for so long.
When Morgan, her partner, arrives they discuss loudly, come to an agreement on how to split up to find Daphne and head off to search some more.
When I started this book I thought it was slow and couldn’t understand why we met who we did and what parts the people on the island would play in Hester’s life. As I got further into the book I found myself tangled in the web the story was creating and kept reading till after 3am to find out what would happen.
I usually do a “what I liked” and “what I did not like” when doing a review but this book doesn’t lend itself as easily to that format. Why? All of the characters in the book were flawed and at times difficult to like. The plot was gritty, dark and troubling. The ending left me unsettled but hopeful for Hester, Morgan and another child but worried about Daphne and the direction she seemed to be heading. Many of the characters did what most would consider evil things or at least things I would not do and it worried me. At the same time I know that the people that were worrisome are believable and in character and thus even more disturbing as a result. This is a book that will linger with me. I am not sure where the next book will head but the way Hester seems to tangle with some very bad situations I do know that it will be a thought provoking story that I will gladly read when it is published.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Missing Ones” by Edwin Hill, Kensington, August 2019
Edwin Hill, Author has written an intriguing, captivating, and suspenseful novel. This is the second book in the Hester Thursby Mysteries. In my opinion, one would benefit from reading both books, but it can be a stand-alone. The Genres for this novel are Mystery and Suspense and Psychological Thriller. There is a dash of romance. The timeline for this story is set in the present and goes back only when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The author describes his dramatic characters as complex, complicated, and quirky.
Librarian Hester Thursby has stopped looking for people that didn’t want to be found. She also has stopped going to the Library, and keeps her 4-year-old niece home, instead of sending her to school. She is keeping this a secret from her partner Morgan. Hester and Morgan have been taking care of Katy, for about a year, since Morgan’s sister just left the child in their care. Morgan’s sister was Hester’s best friend, and Hester has ambivalent feelings of when her friend returns. Taking care of a four-year-old does have a tremendous amount of responsibility attached.
Hester gets an emergency text to come and help at an isolated island off the coast of Maine. Hester takes the child, goes on the ferry and hopes to help the “Person” who sent the text. On this island two children have disappeared, there are contaminated drugs being distributed and sold, people being hurt and threatened and murder. There also was a terrible storm with much damage. Hester finds herself in a dangerous position again. There are twists and turns, questionable characters, and deep secrets.
I appreciate that the author discusses the importance of family, friendship, communication, love, and hope. I would recommend this intriguing story.
The Missing Ones is my second Edwin Hill novel in the last 2 weeks and I loved them both. The setting of Finisterre Island was a wonderful choice – rugged, beautiful, both beachy and forested and best of all, the ferry only goes runs twice a day. You’re either on it or you’re not. What a great thing to use when your bad guy or good guy needs to hang around a bit longer!
The descriptions were wonderful, making it so I could easily picture the landscape, buildings and homes in my mind’s eye. I really enjoy that. Of course Hester, Kate and Morgan are back, as is Angela, the police officer from Little Comfort. All my favorite characters ready to roll again.
The Missing Ones provides quite the story of Daphne, her homelessness (essentially) and a small town struggling with big city problems and an inadequate police presence. I very much enjoyed the details that came out, especially concerning one character I completely disliked. I was glad he turned out to be the type of person I thought he was.
The plot of this book has a lot going on so pay close attention and I think, like me, you’ll find yourself reading faster wanting to find out what will happen. There is more to this seemingly peaceful little island than meets the eye and I think mystery/thriller fans will enjoy uncovering the rot that has infested the town. Edwin Hill has another winner on his hands in my opinion. Pick up The Missing Ones and if you haven’t read Little Comfort, it would probably be good to do so first. They can stand alone, but the back stories are richer if you read both books.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC at my request. All thoughts in this review are my own.