Tangled, strange murder mystery a disappointment

Irish church and state history of corruption erupts in vengeance and violence- to what end?

I am left scratching my head after finishing "The Missing Ones," perhaps more so than after any mystery/suspense novel in recent memory- and not in a positive way.

The mystery or mysteries(?) exist, that is true. In retrospect I can untangle a few different strands of mystery-type plot that either run throughout the whole book or start somewhere and maybe end somewhere, some resolved to some satisfaction or sense, some not at all. I felt that some of the many tangential plots going on were not helpfully contributing to what I think was the author's intended main idea. Some of them were not interesting. Some were just strange.

For example, DI Lottie Parker herself is the root of many odd side-plots and anachronisms that I could barely stand. I found this character extremely unlikeable. Often, a main character who is prickly of personality has other redeeming qualities, such as, loyalty to her team, or brilliant detective skills, or extreme dedication in search of the truth. Here, I saw an attempt at a cliched "flawed personality" taken to an unpleasant extreme, if that makes sense. She is unlikeable. No sense of humor (only her loyal sidekick Boyd thinks she is endearing when she swears at him and puts him down constantly, and I mean constantly, and uses him as a drunk-dial when she's black-out drunk, which he falls for every time). To me, no underlying heart of gold. She acts unkindly to pretty much everyone. She is disrespectful to her investigative team. There is no sense of morale. The author deftly describes the cold weather at every turn. We can imagine the cold, gray expanse. We can also imagine a cold, gray incident room. For example, when one of her DCs tries to actually do his job and draws a diagram to try and connect different victims, she publicly insults him, meanwhile sitting at her desk bemoaning it's messiness and making fun of Boyd for being so neat and orderly.

DI Parker "solves" the main mystery, kind of, through the use of archival records which she accesses only through the kindness of a rogue priest who risks excommunication for her. Then she gets lucky when other people sort of show up out of the woodwork and tell her stuff. She doesn't do much, truly. She sends out her people, then yells at them for doing a bad job, but I'm serious- she doesn't really do a lot of detective work unless it falls in her lap, and even then she has trouble connecting the dots when the reader has figured it out 250 pages ago.

Overall, I finished the book because I wanted to see a resolution. The last 1/4 finally got good. The first 3/4 dragged with little progress. DI Parker was not pleasant or interesting enough to make up for the lack of action happening. The other characters were mediocre. The boss cop was a bad caricature of a cranky boss again taken to painful extremes. The crimes were strangely evil without ever really being explained or their reasons examined. The snapshots back to 40 years ago could have been so much more interesting, but they were just blips. I didn't get it.

I won't even discuss her family life. It was just as annoying if not more so than her sad performance as a detective and leader.

I am disappointed with The Missing Ones and disheartened that this first in a potentially great new series is a let-down. I will, however, give the next one a try, because I don't give up easily. I hope that the author gives Lottie Parker some redeeming qualities in the next book, and also tightens up the plot for a more suspenseful and interesting mystery.

70 people found this helpful

Lots of layers

This is a detective story with church-sponsored child abuse, murder, bribery, abuse of municipal office, extortion and blackmail with some working mother's guilt and distress sprinkled in. It kept my attention and I found myself thinking about the story too often to rate it any lower. And I highly recommend Ms. Moran's narration. Her voice is lovely and her accent and cadence do justice to the history and suffering of the Irish.

35 people found this helpful

Too Long and Too Dark

I gave three stars for two reasons. First, this book started off at a good pace, I was interested in the main character and there were enough events to keep my interest but that quickly declined. The investigation dragged and dragged....I kept checking the percentage I was at and feeling frustrated because I just wanted to be finished and felt the book could have been wrapped up much more quickly. By the end I was just annoyed. The second reason is because I was really disappointed by the ending. There is a character whom I feel has an unnecessary death that really didn't contribute to the story-line. Also, many of the characters were very flat because the author provided minimal information about them.

Michele Moran was good with the delivery of the story

30 people found this helpful

I'm trying to like it, but it's hard.....

I'm not even sure what the plot is here, even though I'm already a quarter of the way in. The writing is melodramatic and overwrought, and I really don't like the primary character Lottie Parker. It was recommended to me by someone in a discussion about strong female protagonists, but I'm just not liking it.

21 people found this helpful

Gibney's research lacking

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I stopped listening when I got to the place where Lottie (the main character) the detective doesn't call the police when she's attacked. It makes no sense. The attacker could've dropped something to provide a clue. She was attacked. Her children were threatened and she doesn't call for help? The story stopped making sense for me.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Oh, the narrator was quite good.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. The story started out and I was invested. But when I hit that moment that had me leave the story to say, "What the heck? Why didn't she call for help?" I had no desire to forgive and go back to the story.

Any additional comments?

16 people found this helpful

Thriller with a twist!

A good story with unlikly villians and sad victums. Enjoyed the reader and the tale.

14 people found this helpful

Hard to put down

Great cast of complex characters and character development. Even though I'm not into church scandals, fact or fiction, this story gripped me from the first few lines and had me nail biting at the end. The one thing that I don't normally like but was present in this story is that everything - everything - revolves around or is connected to the main character. This however will still rate as one of the most enjoyable reads this year. Can't wait for more.

12 people found this helpful

Missing but never Forgotten

I am eager for the next in the series. Story was well enough written to build relationships and empathy for the characters. Their problems and struggles were real world enough to draw me in and not so overwhelming that i finished without hope. No easy solutions but confidence that they can overcome - encouragement I need from my readings. There was some sadness which at one point I almost decided I would just rewrite in my own version of the book - but ultimately made my peace with.

10 people found this helpful

I like Lottie

Good characters keep this dark tale of murder and abuse chugging along to a satisfying conclusion. Would certainly read another in the expected series to follow. Thumbs up.

10 people found this helpful

Painful

This was painful to listen to. The only thing Detective Parker does worse than "detecting" is parenting! There are many amazing strong detective characters - Lottie Parker isn't one of them! She stumbles cluelessly through a VERY obvious storyline. Painful to endure. Sadly. I had high hopes for this series.

8 people found this helpful