Girl Gone Missing

Lambert and Hook #11

by J.M. Gregson

A woman walking her dog at Chepstow Castle discovers the body of teenager Alison Watts washed up on the banks of the River Wye. To outward appearances, Alison's life seemed perfectly living with a mother and stepfather, attendance at the local comprehensive; a boyfriend in her year at school. Gradually, as Superintendent John Lambert and his sergeant, Bert Hook delve deeper into the murky depths of the local community, they discover that Alison may not have been the innocent teenager the local press have described... "Creditable police work by creditable policemen" - The Observer

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

James Michael Gregson taught for twenty-seven years in schools, colleges and universities before concentrating on full-time writing. He has written books on subjects as diverse as golf and Shakespeare.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exploitation of teenaged girl is the main focus with predictably unpleasant results. I have read a number of books written by this author and I prefer those focused on golf.

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[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young woman's body is found floating in the Wye and Lambert and Hook must first try and identify the decomposing corpse. Alison Watts is portrayed by the media and her grieving mother as an innocent, fun loving clever school girl but is this the whole story? Why was she suddenly wearing expensive designer clothes in the weeks before she disappeared? Why do her friends appear to know a lot more about her than they're willing to tell the police?

I found this a compelling read. I did think I'd worked out who the murderer was very early on in the story but I could haven't been more wrong so the book kept me reading to find out who actually did do it. As the investigation progresses, more and more is revealed about Alison's secrets and the secrets of those about her.

There is an amusing episode with DI Chris Rushton which shows him in a different light from his usual very prim and proper persona which had me chuckling. The book is well written and while it has its very dark side it does have its lighter moments especially with Bert Hook's attempts to get to grips with golf.

I recommend this series to anyone who likes well written crime stories with interesting plots and characters. The series can be read in any order.

[Roseanne Germann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book. The development of the plot had plenty to keep me going, and for the first time in many years I actually learnt a new word. The difficulty for me will be how I can weave this word into my vocabulary. I reckon it will be a difficult task - it's not every day you come up against "casuistry"!!!!
I pretty much guessed the identity quite early in the book, but this did not stop me wanting to progress through the novel to find out how the criminal was found out!!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several months previously Alison Watts had gone missing, now her body has been discovered. So Lambert and his team are brought in to investigate.
Not too difficult to determine the guilty party but it still made for an enjoyable story.

[Lilly Hi Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steady Progress by Lambert and Hook

If you like to read about good police work, you'll enjoy this book. A corpse is discovered floating in the river and quickly identified as a female student at a local school missing for several weeks. The team slowly fill in her life and her last days. It's interesting to follow them as they flesh out the details and why she was murdered.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superintendent Lambert and Sergeant Hook, are on the hunt for a killer, after a teenage girl has been washed up on the banks of the river Wye, and as this story twists and turns, it keeps you gripped from start to finish wondering who did it.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty solid murder mystery. I liked the main characters. I did end up guessing the murderer though. And I thought the parts about golf were very boring. If the golf chapters were taken out, this book would get 5 stars from me.

[Wilbur Hundley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting story

Girl Gone Missing is another exciting Lambert and Hook mystery with enough interesting suspects to keep the reader guessing. Gregson provides sufficient twists and turns to slowly reduce the list of suspects to the actual killer. A great read.

[Connie Bredernitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossed

Great book. Lots of characters who become suspects. Very well-written, let's you mull over each character and try to decide who did it.

[Race Bannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough mystery although the
prose was a bit stilted (his was written in
the nineties). The ending was not a
surprise and was fairly quick and over.

[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only thing I can really say is I was disappointed! It was slow to get into, and the plot was quite predictable once you were introduced to all the characters. Sadly I wouldn't recommend.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow going

If you're looking for a fast moving riveting "who done it" this is not it. Ok story line but plods along like a tired old English sheep dog

[Raine · Rating 4 out of 5]

l

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good

[Maxime · Rating 4 out of 5]

good enjoyable police procedural with just the right twists and turns recommend