“The new queen of crime thrillers is back!”
-Ellery Lloyd (author of Like Follow Revenge)

★★★ Sunday Times bestseller upon publication ★★★
★★★ TV series production confirmed ★★★

Gillian McAllister, who earned the title of "Queen of Crime Thrillers" with her previous work, "Wrong Place, Wrong Time," which was a #1 New York Times bestseller, secured distribution rights in over 40 countries worldwide, and sold over 1 million copies, has published her new work, "The Other Missing Person," by Banta.
The novel, which received praise such as “breathtaking”, “one of the best twists I’ve ever read”, and “full of characters you really root for”, became an instant Sunday Times bestseller and was praised for its excellent plot and twists by numerous publications including the Mail on Sunday and Red Magazine.
It is also currently in production as a British TV series.

The story begins with the disappearance of another woman in Portishead, a small coastal town near Bristol.
Twenty-two-year-old Olivia was last seen on CCTV entering a dead-end alley.
There are no witnesses or clues.
Meanwhile, Inspector Julia Day, the police officer in charge of the case, receives a mysterious threat.
“First, plant false evidence in the missing woman’s house.
Second, the fake criminal will be arrested as a murder suspect.
“If you refuse, your daughter will be in danger.” Julia has no choice.
In the end, there is no choice but to fabricate false evidence and arrest the fake criminal.

But Julia has a plan.
Finding Olivia before she crosses the line of no return.
Will Julia be able to solve this missing person's case before it's too late? And will she be able to save her daughter?

Julia covered her face with both hands.
Now it's time to look into the missing person case.
But it's already 8 o'clock in the evening.
I considered quitting the police force and just working at a supermarket. But honestly, I wasn't sure if I could love anything as much as I loved being a police officer.
And there is no one who can maintain a balanced relationship with the object of their love.
--- p.21

Police work is usually a dull office job, withstanding vague pressures while trying to keep up with the ongoing work.
Another special thing is that you will experience trauma as you encounter scenes of life and death that are difficult to watch but also surprising.
--- p.26

But beyond simple anxiety, a certain intuition made the back of her neck tremble.
Deep within my brain, instincts sent warning signals across the night air.
There is someone in the car.
Julia counted to three and then looked up at the rearview mirror.
A masked man was sitting in the back seat.
He opened his mouth and uttered a word.
“Drive.”
--- p.50

There was no choice.
It was a question of whether to protect Genevieve or give up.
Nothing was more important to Julia than Genevieve.
This is motherly love.
--- p.78

If Julia doesn't do this, Genevieve will end up behind bars.
I don't know if it will take 10 years or 15 years.
It depends on whether the jury decides the case is manslaughter or murder.
I realized the night of the incident that it was too big a risk to take.
Julia herself will likely be imprisoned for several years, but it will effectively be a life sentence.
Because you'll get beaten up so badly in prison for being a police officer.
Julia couldn't deny that she was doing this for her own survival.
--- p.89

Oh my god.
She hasn't lived so badly that this has happened to her.
At every juncture in her life, she did her best to fulfill her duties as a good mother and a good police officer.
It really was like that.
But today, those two roles collided.
Art is the only person in this world who can understand her, but she can't tell him the truth.
It's too late for that.
If he tells him the secret, Julia and Art will have to trade blame for each other's mistakes.
She knew exactly how things would turn out.
I knew what it meant to confide in someone who had already lost her trust.
--- pp.103-104

Genevieve's interest in crime should not be fueled, but it was unbearable.
The worst outcome for everyone is that Genevieve becomes a police officer.
Julia hoped that no one would become a cop, just as no one would become a drug addict.
He'd already abandoned himself, but why should Genevieve be left behind? A daughter who committed a crime wouldn't become a police officer.
no way.
--- p.169

Our conversation was going smoothly, but I was thinking about last year and the word 'innocent' you mentioned earlier.
That's exactly what you meant.
But actually, strictly speaking, you were not found not guilty.
Isn't that right? It's definitely not over.
Your girlfriend has disappeared and you are being questioned.
And, yes.
You are free.
But the girl was never found.
Can we really say he is innocent in this situation?
--- pp.200-201

Julia blinked, holding back tears.
I am a good person.
Isn't that right? Even though they are committing unforgivable acts.
Suddenly, she felt both hope and fear that the blackmailer, like herself, might actually be a good person.
Can't one be good while being in despair?
--- pp.302-303

Lighting candles has become a kind of superstitious act for us.
Yeah, I know.
This is nonsense.
It didn't work either.
It would seem common sense to stop lighting candles, but we couldn't do that.
Because each and every one of these is a memory of you.
It doesn't feel real, but starting from the first April you disappeared, through summer, fall, winter, and now spring has come again, I've held almost 400 all-night prayer vigils.
It was our little ritual to light a candle every night at the time you disappeared.

I can't explain it, but that event had a special meaning for us.
We never missed a single day of that ritual.
--- pp.324-325

When working as a police officer, there are times when the mystery of a case that had been unsolvable is solved in an instant, as if the shell were cracking open.
It was precisely the thrill of these moments that made Julia a workaholic.
A piece of potential information, an improbable coincidence, a moment when you find yourself flipping through a boring document and saying, "Wait a minute."
Sometimes, when Julia thought about how many eureka moments like this had passed her by, she would stop what she was doing and become lost in thought.
But now that wasn't possible.
There's no time to think about anything else tonight.
Oh, what a blessing.

--- pp.358-359