Product Description

When Deborah St James hears of the unexpected death of Reverend Sage, her sadness has a very personal tinge. For their paths had crossed some months earlier at a particularly vulnerable time for Deborah, and she had found herself confessing her intimate anguish to this sympathetic stranger.

When she realizes that his death is far from accidental, Deborah, with her husband, Simon, enlists the help of Inspector Lynley, and the trio embark upon an investigation that hinges upon the overriding – and ultimately destructive – power of parental love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36394 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

The Times
'She writes extremely well, plots brilliantly and reaches an emotional level deeper than most . . . Captivating'

Review
'She writes extremely well, plots brilliantly and reaches an emotional level deeper than most . . . Captivating' (The Times )

'Splendid writing . . . the mystery is a very good one' (Sunday Telegraph )

'Superbly constructed . . . George wastes not a single strand of her virtuoso plot' (Scotsman )

The Scotsman
'Superbly constructed . . . George wastes not a single strand of her virtuoso plot'

Customer Reviews

Love, Attraction, Lust and Motherhood, with No Apple Pie!
Missing Joseph is a powerful story about what it means to be a human being, a parent, a lover, a friend, a daughter and someone who misuses others. While there is a mystery in the book, the story itself transcends the mystery. The detection involved is skillfully designed to help illuminate Ms. George's main subjects.

The characters involved build on past novels by looking more deeply into the relationships between Simon and Deborah St. James, Thomas Lynley and Lady Helen Clyde, and Barbara Havers and her mother. To extend those themes in new directions, Ms. George adds several new characters who are tied together by tragedy. These characters include a widowed local constable, an Anglican vicar, the vicar's witchcraft-practicing housekeeper, a reclusive provider of potions from herbs and her daughter. Seldom will you discover a book that develops so many characters in so many dimensions in one book. I found myself staying up past 1 a.m. to finish the story, and would have gone later had it been necessary.

As the book opens, the vicar raises a fundamental question that resonates throughout the book: Where's Joseph? Originally asked in connection to the many images of Jesus and Mary, that question takes on haunting new meanings before the book ends.

Even if you have never read another book in this distinguished series, I'm sure you would find this book to be a rewarding choice.

Nice plot, too bad about the cliches
This crime novel had a very gripping plot, but was spoiled by all the cliches and common places about 'Englishness' than an American living in England can muster. Aristocracy, high tea, tweed, villages, royalty, pubs, posh names (how many people with a surname beginning with 'St' do you know? There were two characters called St John and St James in this novel), etc... I'm sure that Americans would love it, I personally found it difficult to finish it as the story was held back by all the unnecessary details and descriptions of what the author perceives to be 'English life'.

interesting
I enjoyed it - interesting twist - though there are a few things that betray Ms George as an American