Secrets of the Missing

by C.J. Carver

" A tremendous story and a great lead character. Loved it ." – Lee Child

Constable Kira Connal's father vanished without a trace twelve years ago. Now, investigating the disappearance of another family man, she discovers chilling links to her own past.

Oliver Stroud disappeared after witnessing a deadly shooting tied to a shipment of illegal tiger skins worth millions. Ever since, he's been living in fear and hunted by dangerous people who want him silenced for good.

Kira is determined to find him before they do.

But as she digs deeper, disturbing connections begin to emerge. Both Oliver and her father were pilots. Both flew from the same airfield. And both were caught up in something far darker than Kira ever imagined.

With a ruthless organised crime group closing-in, and pressure building from both British police and India's Central Bureau of Investigation, Kira finds herself pulled into a deadly conspiracy stretching far beyond a simple missing persons case.

Because someone has spent years protecting the truth about what really happened twelve years ago. And they will kill to keep it buried.

Secrets of the Missing is a gripping crime conspiracy thriller filled with corruption, organised crime and shocking twists, perfect for fans of The Appeal and The Night She Disappeared .

314 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 22, 2026

About the author

CJ Carver is a half-English, half-Kiwi author living just outside Bath. Her books have been published in the UK, USA and translated throughout Europe. Her first novel Blood Junction, won the CWA Debut Dagger Award, the USA Barry Award, and was also voted as one of the best mystery books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Spare Me the Truth, the first book in the Dan Forrester series and The Snow Thief have both been shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. CJ lived in Australia for 10 years before taking up long distance rally driving – she has driven London to Saigon, London to Cape Town and covered 14,000 miles on the Inca Trail.

Reviews

[Amanda Felton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to LBT for having me on this book review tour and for my gifted copy of this epub.

Yall I was hooked on this book. I seriously loved every single min of this book. I picked it up and I couldn’t put it down. Like from the first chapter I was gone lost.

I love the setting of this book. Kira was an amazing main character and I really loved her drive and determination especially when her personal life was not the best. Like I felt for her living with someone who has alcohol problem is hard. I live this life everyday !! It’s hard and sucks.

I really just absolutely loved this authors writing and how the story flowed so nice and it just sucked you in. The twist and the turns I wasn’t expecting at all.

The connections that Kira is finding is crazy Oliver disappeared without a trace then you have Kira’s dad who went missing 12 years ago and the connections between the 2 cases will blow you away. I loved how the author did this and how everything unfolded. So so good.


Also the villain in this awful. Terrible. Yeah so bad. Made the book that much better.

I really just couldn’t get enough of this book !! I really can’t wait to read more by this author. Audio book?! Please this would be amazing as a listen. I love the accents I picture In my head.

Highly recommend this book!!!

[Nimalee Ravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an addictive read!

A gripping police procedural filled with secrets, mystery and plenty of twists. I loved that the investigation felt personal rather than just being about solving a case. The emotions and relationships between the characters added so much more to the story.

The tension builds really well, and just when I thought I had worked things out, another twist had me questioning everything.

I really liked Kira Connal as the main character. She’s intelligent, determined and sometimes a little impulsive, but that made her feel very human. What made her story especially interesting for me was how personal the investigation becomes. Her own father disappeared twelve years earlier, so as she starts uncovering connections between the current case and her past, you can really understand why she refuses to let things go. I found myself rooting for her and wanting her to finally get the answers she’s been searching for.

Fast-paced, intriguing and very difficult to put down. If you enjoy crime thrillers with strong characters and lots of secrets to uncover, this is definitely worth picking up.

[Robin Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully-crafted high-octane thriller by CJ Carver, who is fast becoming one of my favourite authors - despite keeping me awake half the night in my determination to reach the adrenaline-fuelled finale.
This is a thrilling tour de force with an ambitious and innovative plot, outstanding characterisation, truly chilling acts of violence and heart-rending moments of tragedy.
I haven't come across a villain as utterly terrifying as the one at the dark heart of this story either in literature or on film. Hannibal Lecter, Michael Myers and *all* the Bond villains pale in comparison.
The action shifts from the back streets of Bristol, to New Scotland Yard, and a village in the shadow of the Himalayas before returning to coastal Wales and a flawlessly spectacular showdown.
CJ Carver deserves many accolades for her literary skills.

[Rebecca Dures · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This was one fast-paced thriller! I read it in one day because it was that exciting. I just couldn’t put it down.
The main character, Kira, is a police officer whose dad disappeared years ago. She is then asked to investigate another missing person case, and it turns out there are a number of similarities between the two. Look
Halfway through, I did guess correctly who the bad guy was and who had killed the three people in the prologue. But the number of twists, turns and shocks throughout the book kept me completely hooked.
The main baddie, the Viper, is one of the worst I’ve read about in a while. The description of the scene in India may haunt me for a long time. It was absolutely heartbreaking.
This is one of the best crime books I’ve read this year, and I would highly recommend it to fans of Harlan Coben and Claire Mackintosh.

[Sallie Greenhalgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first CJ Carver book I have read but it definitely will not be the last. I was hooked from the minute I started - I had planned to read this on holiday but was so engrossed I finished it before we went away!

The plot centres around a young police officer, Kira, based in Bristol who is manipulated by the powers above her into investigating a crime based on knowledge from her childhood. Tragic memories from her youth are brought into sharp focus but dealt with sensitively and the whole situation is entirely believable.

I can’t say more without giving the plot away but it is definitely worth a read.

[Mary Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. Kira is tasked with a missing person investigation which has ties with the mysterious disappearance of her own father many years before. It turns out to even be linked to something her father was involved in at the time, with links back to India.

You need to suspend your disbelief here with all the coincidences and just enjoy the story. It's gritty, horrific in parts but gripping throughout. I liked the character of Kira. She was easy to like, intelligent, a bit gung-ho but overall, came across as a real human person. There is a real sense of closure at the end which was fitting.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What an ending! From the beginning, the mystery behind the different crimes and the question of if they were connected or not, made you want to keep reading to see if your guesses were correct. Then, there is Kira’s personal interest in the case as well as her issues at home. It made it all very interesting! I love police procedurals because you get to see the case being worked by the detectives and can try to come up with your own theories, and you also get to see the action of going after the bad guys. I love a good mystery, and this was definitely one of the good ones.

Secrets of the Missing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Jacqueline Moxon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gripping and intriguing novel about a lucrative criminal trade in rare animal parts. The story follows the young constable who is called out to the scene of a burglary. As she investigates she discovers links to her own father’s disappearance when she was a child. The story follows her searches in the local area and further afield to India, where she holidayed with her father in her childhood. An intriguing part of the story is her relationship with both her alcoholic husband and her new police boss. There are some tense moments and unusual twists. I was keen to read to the end.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book sets off at a cracking pace and doesn't let up until the very end. Kira is a very strong main character, dealing with her own personal issues, while simultaneously investigating a disappearance which sounds all too familiar to her.

The details of her subsequent journey to India, and the links to flying and smuggling, were interesting points of difference in this book, compared with other crime stories I've read.

The main villain was truly nasty, and responsible for one of the worst crimes I've ever read about. 😞

I was glued to this from start to finish - a terrific read!

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Secrets of The Missing. I thought the beginning was a little off as it sounded very American in its language but once it got going it used very English wording. From a shaky (for me), start this book just got better and better. I loved the characters and was left wondering what was happening a few times. A word of warning though there is at least one section that has stayed with me and not in a good way, I don't want to spoil anything but I thought it worth saying.

[Yvette Salmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good thriller that finds Kiara heading up a missing person case that has similarities to her own fathers disappearance years before.
It is a gritty thriller that gets you from page one and doesn’t let you out till the end . I thought the ending was good and gave you the answers you needed.
Well worth a read

[Alex Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it kept me gripped to the very last page

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, I couldn’t put this down. Kira Connal is desperate to join CID, her chance to prove herself comes when investigating a missing person. However, the case has a marked similarity to that of her father, who disappeared 12 years previously. The case leads Kira back to India and the tiger sanctuary her Grandfather helped to run, after 12 years things are very different.
Well worth reading.