First One Missing by Tammy Cohen
Genre; Psychological Thriller
There are three things no-one can prepare you for when your daughter is murdered:
– You are haunted by her memory day and night
– Your friends and family fear you are going mad
– Only in a group with mothers of other victims can you find real comfort.
Welcome to the club no one wants to join.
My thoughts:
I’m still in a period of reading where I’m finding it difficult to choose my next book to read and I’m wondering whether the next book will be thrown on the can’t-make-it-all-the-way-through, pile, so I was thrilled to find, with First One Missing, that I had picked up another great book. It was such a great book that when I finished reading it I tweeted Tammy and thanked her for writing it because there is nothing like being able to slide into the pages of a novel and escape fully and I have been finding that really difficult over recent months, for whatever reason.
First One Missing is about missing and murdered children, but it’s more than that, it’s about the effect those terrible crimes have. The effect on the parents, the siblings and even the effect on one of the FLOs of one of the families involved, because Leanne, the FLO we get the PoV from, has been with the Reid’s, on and off, for a long period of time and being with a family as they grieve a child is, as we can see, emotionally draining because you can’t help but soak up the emotion as you’re around the family.
We get to see the police investigation from Leanne’s PoV. The investigation runs in the background to the people-centric novel though. You’re swept up in the lives of those left behind and this is something that Tammy Cohen does really well.
There are multiple characters and their lives are interwoven through the terrible events of the book. The crime though horrific isn’t glorified, it’s the basis for the human element that is explored, pain and human spirit and how people cope and come together to support each other.
It is brilliantly written and will have you turning the pages and not wanting to put it down. I adore Tammy Cohen’s books and this one did not disappoint.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my copy of the book.
I really liked the portrayal of one of the villains (no spoilers) is “like” the right word – maybe not – I think this portrayal was authentic and showed just how easy “grooming” can happen.
I agree Carol, it was all so authentic. The characterisation was just brilliant. So well done. A difficult subject matter, but it didn’t feel like it was being exploitative at all, it was so well done.
I keep hearing good things about this one, Rebecca. The subject matter is so difficult that I haven’t steeled myself to read it yet. Still, others recommend it to me. Perhaps I should give it a go.
The subject matter is dealt with in such a way, Margot that you don’t really need to steel yourself for it. The prose is so matter of fact and it’s not gratuitous, it is Tammy Cohen writing brilliantly as she does.
This sounds heart-breaking. It’s a world that still frightens me.
I think as parents it’s something we can easily put ourselves in that place with, whereas with other random crimes, it’s not something that as readers we can always do. Maybe that’s why you connect with this book so well. But it’s not on a gratuitous level. It’s well written and only does what it needs to.