Wreck and Order by Hannah Tennant Moore : A Review

Honestly, I didn't care for this book. An overly self-involved young woman with a seemingly endless stream of money, courtesy of her father, travels around the world in search of herself. Okay for an overdone premise. Boring to say the least. I had low to middlin' hopes for this book. I couldn't relate to the main character Elsie, at all. She come across as completely pretentious and spoiled, and fails to see the real world around her, even though that is what she is seeking. Filled with gratuitous sexual escapades that border on abuse, it was hard to follow this character and not feel bad for her, but she continued to make bad choices. Elsie is a self-destructive character that is always looking for something more exciting, better, who the heck knows what she is looking for. The overdone sexual talk was repetitive and done to excess, not interesting really and quite distracting. I could not wait to finish this book and put it out of its misery. What a complete waste of reading time. Blogging for Books graciously provided me a copy of this book for an honest review.

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

I love a good murder mystery that is set in Great Britain, and Missing, Presumed is certainly no exception. The lead Detective, Sergeant Manon Bradshaw, works in Cambridgeshire, England. Her character is smart, a bit lonely due to disastrous one night stands and a horrific dating life, but otherwise is an intriguing character. While completely dedicated to her job, her character comes across as a bit of an outcast, always looking in from the outside, which in her case, often helps her solve crimes. She even listens to police radio at night, without which she often doesn't sleep. One night she hears an important call and responds to become involved in the case. With her partner, Detective Constable Davy Walker at her side, they examine the scene. What at first appears to be a missing person case, soon becomes much more convoluted and confusing, as the missing person just happens to be the daughter of the Royal Physician with strong political ties. Because of this high level involvement, there is ample room for the press to report on the case extensively, which they do. There is a great amount of pressure to solve the case, and multiple red herrings are used to throw off the reader. Detective Manon's personal life and involvement with a new love was effectively used to sidetrack the reader just enough. Davy, Manon's work partner has issues of his own that he deals with by volunteering on an extensive basis. A neatly wrapped up ending solves the missing person case, but I felt that the premise was somewhat implausible. I felt for the mother of the missing girl, as she took the brunt of the emotional abuse throughout the book. Thanks to netgalley.com for providing me a free advance copy of this book.