Reclusive Irish bookseller Shaun Ryan has always believed that his older brother, Teddy, died in a car accident. It’s only on his mother’s deathbed that he learns the truth: Teddy, who was gay, fled the Catholic, deeply conservative County Wicklow for New York decades earlier. Shaun finds no sign of him in New York or anywhere else–until he comes across the unsolved murder of a John Doe whose description matches Teddy’s.

Desperate for information, Shaun tracks down Chris Guzman, a woman who runs a website dedicated to matching missing persons cases with unidentified bodies. Through Chris’s site, a group of online cold case fanatics connect Teddy with the notorious “Boy in the Dress” murder, believed to be one of many committed by a serial killer targeting gay men.

But who are these cold case fanatics, and how do they know so much about a case that left the police and the FBI stumped? With investigators, amateurs, and one sadistic killer on a collision course, Missing Person is Sarah Lotz at her most thrilling and terrifying.

This book is perfect if you’re into horror and crime podcasts. And if you’re on different subreddits. I found the book to be dull and not as interesting as other finds from the same author (Day 4, Impossible Us).

This is a story of, no surprise, missing people. The sort of story that is scary simply by the fact that these are people who have gone off, moved somewhere else, away from family or friends, for whatever reason and have been murdered – but nobody is aware of their disappearance, They’ve simply gone, lying abandoned somewhere whilst life ticks on without their presence and if their bodies are found it’s unlikely that they will be ever be identified. Just another John or Jane Doe.

The writing style is epistolary again, via the use of emails (like the Impossible Us) and the chapters are named after each person’s tag / username. It’s a slow read. You don’t know who’s who but you do get a lot of details about every user’s personal life. They are super well rounded characters – so an applause to that.

What left me bored and discontented was the pace of the whole book. It’s a cat and mouse game led by the serial killer but at the same time, I don’t really care enough for any of the characters to mind if they do get him or die trying.

I think this book will especially appeal to true crime junkies, but it will be exciting and engaging for anyone who likes a good thriller. I wouldn’t say it is a happy story but there is some humour to lighten the mood.