What do you think?
Missing in St Ives
Former lawyer Merrin McKenzie has returned to her hometown of St Ives, the stunning coastal town in Cornwall. She has settled back into life there in a lovely cottage, and new friendships are beginning to blossom. An old friend, Jane Faulkner is going through a messy divorce, and her daughter Emily is keen to stay with Merrin, but just three days into the holiday, she disappears. Emily has pushed a note through Merrin's bedroom door to say she is going back home to Bristol but has left behind all of her possessions. It soon becomes clear she is not heading home and the police are notified, but when a ransom demand is made to her parents requesting 500,000 for the girl's safe return, matters take a distinctly sinister turn .
368 pages, Hardcover
Published December 5, 2025
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 8, 2025
I received a free copy of, Missing in St. Ives, by, Deborah Fowler, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book three in the St Ives Mystery series. Merrin Mackenzie is back home in St Ives, and old friends daughter Emily moves in with Merrin, but then goes missing. I found this book to be depressing, poor Amy and her family.
November 19, 2025
Merrin Mackenzie is a widowed barrister whose police husband was killed in the line of duty. She is usually busy enough, but now she is tasked with two difficult cases involving teens in distress. The first case is the angsty daughter of an acquaintance who had come to stay for the holiday but wound up being abducted. The second is a local boy known to have been stealing food for the family but was caught wielding a knife to demand money to prevent unknowns from carrying out threats to murder his younger brother with Downs (and mother has chronic clinical depression).
The characters are very realistic and were as amazed as I was at all of the twists and oddities.
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected proof copy from Allison & Busby via NetGalley.
#AStIvesChristmasMystery by #DeborahFowler #StIvesMysteriesBk3 #NetGalley @AllisonandBusby Pub Date Dec 05, 2025 #CozyCrime #Cornishcoast #familylawyer #friendship #familydrama #pets #teenageangst #divorcingparents #downssyndrome #mentalhealth #depression #abduction
The characters are very realistic and were as amazed as I was at all of the twists and oddities.
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected proof copy from Allison & Busby via NetGalley.
#AStIvesChristmasMystery by #DeborahFowler #StIvesMysteriesBk3 #NetGalley @AllisonandBusby Pub Date Dec 05, 2025 #CozyCrime #Cornishcoast #familylawyer #friendship #familydrama #pets #teenageangst #divorcingparents #downssyndrome #mentalhealth #depression #abduction
February 28, 2026
📚Missing in St Ives
✍🏻Deborah Fowler
Blurb:
Former lawyer Merrin McKenzie has returned to her hometown of St Ives, the stunning coastal town in Cornwall. She has settled back into life there in a lovely cottage, and new friendships are beginning to blossom. An old friend, Jane Faulkner is going through a messy divorce, and her daughter Emily is keen to stay with Merrin, but just three days into the holiday, she disappears. Emily has pushed a note through Merrin's bedroom door to say she is going back home to Bristol but has left behind all of her possessions. It soon becomes clear she is not heading home and the police are notified, but when a ransom demand is made to her parents requesting 500,000 for the girl's safe return, matters take a distinctly sinister turn .
My Thoughts:
We are presented with double trouble with ex-lawyer Merrin grappling with a pro bono case for local teenager Billy, and the inexplicable disappearance of her friend’s 16-year-old daughter, Emily while under Merrin's care. Jane, a former colleague in Bristol who is going through a messy divorce, Merrin wants to help in any way she can, which leads to her taking in Jane's sixteen-year-old teenage daughter, Emily, who turns out to be difficult and blunt to the point of rudeness. But when Merrin returns home from dinner with friends, Emily is not there. Initially, Merrin assumes that Emily is just being difficult and had gone off somewhere. But when she doesn’t return, Merrin becomes distinctly worried. Then a ransom demand is made for the girl's safe return, and matters take a distinctly sinister turn.We know that Emily has been kidnapped, but not why, or by whom. Alongside that puzzle Merrin is also struggling with the pro bono case for a local teenager, 16-year-old Billy who has been arrested for shoplifting. He was first caught when he was 10. He has a youth caution and a certain cheeky charm, but in his latest escapade he threatened the shopkeeper with a knife. This points to a custodial sentence. It is also very out of character for Billy.
Thanks NetGalley, Allison&Busby and Author Deborah Fowler for the complimentary copy of "Missing in St Ives" I am leaving my voluntary review in appreciation.
#NetGalley
#Allison&Busby
#DeborahFowler
#MissinginStIves
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✍🏻Deborah Fowler
Blurb:
Former lawyer Merrin McKenzie has returned to her hometown of St Ives, the stunning coastal town in Cornwall. She has settled back into life there in a lovely cottage, and new friendships are beginning to blossom. An old friend, Jane Faulkner is going through a messy divorce, and her daughter Emily is keen to stay with Merrin, but just three days into the holiday, she disappears. Emily has pushed a note through Merrin's bedroom door to say she is going back home to Bristol but has left behind all of her possessions. It soon becomes clear she is not heading home and the police are notified, but when a ransom demand is made to her parents requesting 500,000 for the girl's safe return, matters take a distinctly sinister turn .
My Thoughts:
We are presented with double trouble with ex-lawyer Merrin grappling with a pro bono case for local teenager Billy, and the inexplicable disappearance of her friend’s 16-year-old daughter, Emily while under Merrin's care. Jane, a former colleague in Bristol who is going through a messy divorce, Merrin wants to help in any way she can, which leads to her taking in Jane's sixteen-year-old teenage daughter, Emily, who turns out to be difficult and blunt to the point of rudeness. But when Merrin returns home from dinner with friends, Emily is not there. Initially, Merrin assumes that Emily is just being difficult and had gone off somewhere. But when she doesn’t return, Merrin becomes distinctly worried. Then a ransom demand is made for the girl's safe return, and matters take a distinctly sinister turn.We know that Emily has been kidnapped, but not why, or by whom. Alongside that puzzle Merrin is also struggling with the pro bono case for a local teenager, 16-year-old Billy who has been arrested for shoplifting. He was first caught when he was 10. He has a youth caution and a certain cheeky charm, but in his latest escapade he threatened the shopkeeper with a knife. This points to a custodial sentence. It is also very out of character for Billy.
Thanks NetGalley, Allison&Busby and Author Deborah Fowler for the complimentary copy of "Missing in St Ives" I am leaving my voluntary review in appreciation.
#NetGalley
#Allison&Busby
#DeborahFowler
#MissinginStIves
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March 2, 2026
Merril had recently moved back to St Ives, idyllic quiet life in Cornwall. Helping out pro bono for various cases she likes the slower pace of life. Her friend Jane, in the midst of a messy divorce asks her to have her 16 year old daughter for the holidays. Not her ideal way of spending her time, she does not want to add to her friends worries and Emily comes to Cornwall. Emily turns out to be grumpy and rude and on her second day disappears from the cottage.
Now Merlin has to face Emily’s parents and the local Police to uncover how an absolute newcomer to the area can be abducted and why. When a ransom order comes in Police realise that their suspects know Emily’s background, her home (in Bristol) and now they have to join the links. The detectives work is excellent, until the kidnapper is shot dead whilst picking up the ransom with the police unaware of where Emily is being held. The only clue from the recording, is the sound of a curlew, found only in specific parts of the vast isolated area of Cornwall.
Alongside this kidnapping, the story of Billy with minor misdemeanours to his name now caught threatening a shop keeper with a knife, totally out of character and now tight lipped with fear, as to who put him up to this. Peddling drugs to very young children, the tragic death of a toddler who consumed the drugs thinking it was candy, the subsequent suicide of a 17 year old who couldn’t live with the guilt of bringing home the drugs, and the round up of the gang responsible for bringing the drugs to Cornwall is the other part of the story. Merlin is the support for Billy throughout the case. I personally didn’t not think Billy’s story though a good one had a bearing on Emily’s story which was a kidnapping and a ransom gone wrong.
Now Merlin has to face Emily’s parents and the local Police to uncover how an absolute newcomer to the area can be abducted and why. When a ransom order comes in Police realise that their suspects know Emily’s background, her home (in Bristol) and now they have to join the links. The detectives work is excellent, until the kidnapper is shot dead whilst picking up the ransom with the police unaware of where Emily is being held. The only clue from the recording, is the sound of a curlew, found only in specific parts of the vast isolated area of Cornwall.
Alongside this kidnapping, the story of Billy with minor misdemeanours to his name now caught threatening a shop keeper with a knife, totally out of character and now tight lipped with fear, as to who put him up to this. Peddling drugs to very young children, the tragic death of a toddler who consumed the drugs thinking it was candy, the subsequent suicide of a 17 year old who couldn’t live with the guilt of bringing home the drugs, and the round up of the gang responsible for bringing the drugs to Cornwall is the other part of the story. Merlin is the support for Billy throughout the case. I personally didn’t not think Billy’s story though a good one had a bearing on Emily’s story which was a kidnapping and a ransom gone wrong.
December 21, 2025
Following the death of her husband Merrin McKenzie has returned to her hometown of St Ives.
She has now settled into Cornwall doing some pro boo legal work. She has also made some new friends, one being Chief Inspector Louis Peppiatt, who she learns greatly admired her late husband, Adam.
When Merrin takes a call from Jane, a former colleague in Bristol who is going through a messy divorce, Merrin wants to help in any way she can, which leads to her taking in Jane's sixteen-year-old teenage daughter, Emily, who turns out to be difficult and monosyllabic to the point of rudeness. But when Merrin returns home from dinner with friends, Emily is not there. Initially, Merrin assumes that Emily is just being difficult and had gone off somewhere. But when she doesn’t return, Merrin becomes distinctly worried. Then a ransom demand is made for the girl's safe return, and matters take a distinctly sinister turn.
We know that Emily has been kidnapped, but not why, or by whom. Alongside that puzzle Merrin is also struggling with the pro bono case for a local teenager, 16-year-old Billy who has been arrested for shoplifting. He was first caught when he was 10. He has a youth caution and a certain cheeky charm, but in his latest escapade he threatened the shopkeeper with a knife. This points to a custodial sentence. It is also very out of character for Billy.
This is an interesting story which has two distinctly different strands. Although both these teenagers are in situations that are not of their making. Can Merrin unravel the problems?
A compelling story that kept me turning the pages. Highly recommended.
.--------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett
She has now settled into Cornwall doing some pro boo legal work. She has also made some new friends, one being Chief Inspector Louis Peppiatt, who she learns greatly admired her late husband, Adam.
When Merrin takes a call from Jane, a former colleague in Bristol who is going through a messy divorce, Merrin wants to help in any way she can, which leads to her taking in Jane's sixteen-year-old teenage daughter, Emily, who turns out to be difficult and monosyllabic to the point of rudeness. But when Merrin returns home from dinner with friends, Emily is not there. Initially, Merrin assumes that Emily is just being difficult and had gone off somewhere. But when she doesn’t return, Merrin becomes distinctly worried. Then a ransom demand is made for the girl's safe return, and matters take a distinctly sinister turn.
We know that Emily has been kidnapped, but not why, or by whom. Alongside that puzzle Merrin is also struggling with the pro bono case for a local teenager, 16-year-old Billy who has been arrested for shoplifting. He was first caught when he was 10. He has a youth caution and a certain cheeky charm, but in his latest escapade he threatened the shopkeeper with a knife. This points to a custodial sentence. It is also very out of character for Billy.
This is an interesting story which has two distinctly different strands. Although both these teenagers are in situations that are not of their making. Can Merrin unravel the problems?
A compelling story that kept me turning the pages. Highly recommended.
.--------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett
November 29, 2025
Utterly captivating! I absolutely loved this book! We are presented with double trouble with ex-lawyer Merrin grappling with a pro bono case for local teenager Billy, and the inexplicable disappearance of her friend’s 16-year-old daughter, Emily while under Merrin's care.
The parallel storylines are woven together perfectly, set against a beautifully illustrated backdrop that brings Cornwall, and particularly St Ives vividly to life. I felt like I was there with the team!
Every character possesses remarkable depth, making the dynamics between them a highlight.
I felt completely immersed, rooting for them all as Merrin and her intrepid daughter Isla refuse to give up on the relentless search for Emily with the local police. We won't mention the other lot apart from Weary ...
This is a wonderful, deeply moving novel where friendships are tested and mended and has an ending that's tied up as neatly as that P Kernow watercolour wrapped in a bow for CiP. I simply can't wait for the next one.
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my own opinion.
The parallel storylines are woven together perfectly, set against a beautifully illustrated backdrop that brings Cornwall, and particularly St Ives vividly to life. I felt like I was there with the team!
Every character possesses remarkable depth, making the dynamics between them a highlight.
I felt completely immersed, rooting for them all as Merrin and her intrepid daughter Isla refuse to give up on the relentless search for Emily with the local police. We won't mention the other lot apart from Weary ...
This is a wonderful, deeply moving novel where friendships are tested and mended and has an ending that's tied up as neatly as that P Kernow watercolour wrapped in a bow for CiP. I simply can't wait for the next one.
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my own opinion.
January 31, 2026
As soon as I saw this book on NetGalley I knew I had to read it, growing up in St Ives myself as a child I was eager to see how authentic to St Ives it actually was. It certainly didn’t disappoint and gave me all the feels and was so lovely to be able to pick up on all locations and visualise them so well🥰
This is the 3rd book in the series although it was the first book I have read, and I didn’t feel it mattered. I was able to pick up on the characters pretty easily.
The story was well written and perfectly paced, so easy to read but a captivating story that had me hooked from the start.
A solid 4 ⭐️ from me.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC
This is the 3rd book in the series although it was the first book I have read, and I didn’t feel it mattered. I was able to pick up on the characters pretty easily.
The story was well written and perfectly paced, so easy to read but a captivating story that had me hooked from the start.
A solid 4 ⭐️ from me.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC
November 25, 2025
This is the third book in the series but the first I have read. I didn't feel this affected me in reading the story. This is not a cozy mystery which is my usual read but is a more serious police based thriller and involves an amateur sleuth who is also a solicitor. Its not murder based but involves a kidnapping and knife crime. Its well written but did feel like it dragged on with the kidnapping taking a long time to resolve. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 16, 2025
Retired and widowed, Merrin returned to her hometown of St. Ives. Her daughter is in university. Soon Merrin finds herself involved in the case of a young man accused of robbing a store while in possession of a knife. Merrin wants to save him from a doomed life. Merrin also agress to take in a 16 year old daughter of an old friend. Unfortunately, the girl disappears and a ransom does appear. Merrin is at wit's end as she strives to help both of these young people. The beginning of this story moved a bit slowly, but once the scenario was drawn, it moved a bit more quickly.
January 3, 2026
I have read all of this author’s books and haven’t been disappointed by any! I live just outside of St Ives so it’s nice to be able to know where the streets etc. that she writes about and describes are. This latest book is as good as the others - the characters are easy to get to know and the story keeps you wanting to continue reading. It’s a nice easy read without being too complicated, but definitely holds your imagination and leaves you wanting more - hopefully the next book won’t be too long before it comes out.
September 2, 2026
I read this while I was in St Ives for this years holiday and loved that it felt so local. The writing style and storyline were brilliant and it kept me hooked and guessing all the way through really got to love the characters too including the pets! can’t wait to read more from this series. Thank you to #Netgalley, #DeborahFowler #Missinginstives and #Allison&Busby for sending me the e-copy
December 10, 2025
This third entry in the St. Ives Mysteries is the best of the series so far. What I like about this series by Deborah Fowler is that not every book follows a predictable pattern. The main characters are interesting and well defined, the plot is complex with some intense and dramatic scenes.
January 2, 2026
Brilliant read love the characters and story line Merrin is such a good character this book is so well written I feel i am in St ives sitting outside The Sloop inn then walking up Fore street to Merrin’s cottage Looking forward to next book in series .
September 6, 2026
Third book in this lovely series. Merrin and Louis on a new adventure. This one includes a kidnapping which is solved thanks to the call of a curlew and a painter. We get to know Isla better. William and Horatio join in the fun. Enjoyable read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2026
Loving this series of books set around St Ives. Easy reading and well thought out plots and well rounded characters.
May 26, 2026
My first book by Deborah Fowler with great locations & characters.
December 20, 2025
I really enjoyed this. A nice cozy summer crime read. It’s very easy and gentle with the right amount of tension to guess whether the young kidnap victim would be rescued in time.
I have a love for Cornwall which made it even better!
I have a love for Cornwall which made it even better!
August 10, 2026
My favourite one yet! These books are so bingeable I love it
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews