Missing: A Novel
Mar 2026 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
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About this ebook
“Utterly gripping, intelligent, and haunting....A TRIUMPH.” —Will Dean, award-winning author of Adrift
A detective returns to a thirty-year-old case—an infamous disappearance in London—that has haunted her entire career and now may jeopardize her future in this “brilliant, pacy, gut-punch of a novel” (Matthew Blake, #1 internationally bestselling author) that has “a shocking finale you’ll never see coming” (Margot Douaihy, author of Divine Ruin). Perfect for fans of Tana French.
In August 1990, London is suffering through an unprecedented heatwave when baby Bella Carpenter is snatched through the open window of her hotel room. Detective Inspector Martha Allen is assigned the high-profile case and, knowing that it could make or break her career, is determined to find Bella.
When a young woman named Nell Beatty walks into the police station with a baby who appears to be Bella, and whom Nell claims she found on a park bench, it seems that the mystery is solved, and her family is overjoyed. But DI Allen isn’t convinced, something about Nell’s story doesn’t ring true. As much as she wants to continue, however, now that the baby is safe, she’s ordered to close the investigation.
Thirty years later, Nell Beatty is found murdered. Now a superintendent, Allen has never really gotten over her doubts about the Carpenter case and can’t resist doing a little digging, eager to find out what happened to Nell, and her involvement in the baby’s disappearance all those years ago. But will her efforts uncover something darker than she could have ever imagined? And what is she risking as she tries once and for all to reveal the truth?
A detective returns to a thirty-year-old case—an infamous disappearance in London—that has haunted her entire career and now may jeopardize her future in this “brilliant, pacy, gut-punch of a novel” (Matthew Blake, #1 internationally bestselling author) that has “a shocking finale you’ll never see coming” (Margot Douaihy, author of Divine Ruin). Perfect for fans of Tana French.
In August 1990, London is suffering through an unprecedented heatwave when baby Bella Carpenter is snatched through the open window of her hotel room. Detective Inspector Martha Allen is assigned the high-profile case and, knowing that it could make or break her career, is determined to find Bella.
When a young woman named Nell Beatty walks into the police station with a baby who appears to be Bella, and whom Nell claims she found on a park bench, it seems that the mystery is solved, and her family is overjoyed. But DI Allen isn’t convinced, something about Nell’s story doesn’t ring true. As much as she wants to continue, however, now that the baby is safe, she’s ordered to close the investigation.
Thirty years later, Nell Beatty is found murdered. Now a superintendent, Allen has never really gotten over her doubts about the Carpenter case and can’t resist doing a little digging, eager to find out what happened to Nell, and her involvement in the baby’s disappearance all those years ago. But will her efforts uncover something darker than she could have ever imagined? And what is she risking as she tries once and for all to reveal the truth?
“Utterly gripping, intelligent, and haunting....A TRIUMPH.” —Will Dean, award-winning author of Adrift
A detective returns to a thirty-year-old case—an infamous disappearance in London—that has haunted her entire career and now may jeopardize her future in this “brilliant, pacy, gut-punch of a n...
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About the author
E.A. Jackson is a former academic who now writes novels full time. American by birth, she relocated to the UK in 2011 and has lived there ever since, working first at Cambridge University and then the University of Exeter. All Taken Care Of is the second novel in her Martha Allen series; the first, Missing, was published in March of 2026. Jackson has lived in both London and Bristol, the settings for the Allen series, and currently lives in Exeter with her three cats.
E.A. Jackson is a former academic who now writes novels full time. American by birth, she relocated to the UK in 2011 and has lived there ever since, working first at Cambridge University and then the University of Exeter. All Taken Care Of is the second novel in her Martha Allen series; the firs...
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