"This had been a mad idea. I wasn't Kinsey Millhone, or Precious Ramotswe. Reading a zillion crime novels wasn't going to make me a hot-shot detective, just as Jane Austen hadn't helped my love life..."
The Missing American by Julie Highmore (published 10 April 2023) is an entertaining cosy crime mystery, set in Oxford.
This is the first book in the Edie Fox Detective Agency series.
Blurb:
New to the private investigator game, Edie Fox is delighted when a handsome American client with disconcertingly dazzling teeth asks her to find his missing cousin, Isabella. Especially when he leaves her a bundle of cash to get started.
However, the case quickly gets complicated, and so does her life when a one-night stand from her Oxford university days gets in touch and asks if her 26-year-old daughter, Maeve, is also his child.
Juggling a chaotic home, a brimming wine glass, a daughter besotted with her new-found daddy, and a rekindled old flame, Edie must try to focus on the job.
But with unreliable witnessses, a less that trustworthy client, and an assistant with her mind on other things, Edie will be up against it and risks losing all.
Edie Fox is a private investigator. Her business is brand new, and she is a total babe in the woods, when it comes to doing her job. When an American client called Mike Smith visits her office, asking her to find his missing cousin Isabella, Edie is thrilled. According to him, Isabella decided to come to the UK to carry out a photography project, with the theme of comparison between the US and the UK - society, nature, industry. And then she disappeared.
Mike leaves a big wad of cash as a "small retainer", and promises more money to follow.
Edie is not a natural, when it comes to investigating. She thinks she has the necessary qualifications but in reality she just bumbles through awkwardly.
Her personal life is pure chaos. Edie lives with her daughter Maeve and her preschooler grandson Alfie. Maeve is super lazy, and expects her mother to do a big share of looking after cheeky Alfie. Both ladies are not particularly demanding when it comes to men. Maeve's current boyfriend Hector is obnoxious. It's not quite clear what his redeeming qualities are supposed to be.
When not investigating or looking after her grandson, Edie enjoys getting stoned with her friend Astrid.
On top of the search for the missing American, Edie has to deal with the blast from the past. Terence, her one-night-stand from the uni days, decides to get in touch. Terence has always suspected that Edie's daughter could be his, but wasn't "ready" to meet her until now.
And just like that, Edie and Maeve welcome the long-lost daddy into the bosom of the family. No regrets, no judgement, all is forgiven.
As the investigation progresses, Edie realises that her client is rather fishy. The witnesses are untrustworthy as well. She has to rely on help from the most unexpected quarters.
Before long Edie finds herself in a pickle. In the midst of suspicions and mistrust, she will find out that everything she holds dear is under threat.
Edie is an exasperating heroine. Without having any credentials and qualifications, she decides to become a private investigator and set up a detective agency.
And then she is constantly on the bottle. Not sure what is it with the middle-aged characters in fiction, but it seems to be a trend among the main protagonists these days to be overindulging on a regular basis, as if compensating for the lack of something significant in their lives. Rather than sound amusing, the self-deprecating admonitions on the alcohol abuse are actually quite sad.
I enjoyed all the descriptions of Oxford and references to the local places (Blenheim Palace, Witney etc), as I know Oxford quite well.
The humour is not of the side-splitting variety, it's more nuanced. You might not LOL, but you will smile and shake your head at the antics of Edie and co. There is a whole lot of supporting diverse characters who add a touch of Oxford eccentricity to the main narrative.
The Missing American is a delightful, quirky and enjoyable mystery. If you are looking for an engaging amusing mystery, with lots of twists and turns, look no further.
Edie Fox will be back, and I can't wait for the next book in the series.
Many thanks to Julie Highmore and The Book Folks for my copy of the book!
Author’s bio:
The daughter of an RAF officer, Julie moved around a lot as a child, which meant many moves and many goodbyes, and fourteen schools to turn up to as a shy new girl. But eventually settled in Oxford in her twenties and, after having three children, studied first at Westminster College, then Oxford Brookes University, where she gained a first class degree in English. As part of the course, she studied creative writing with Philip Pullman, who encouraged her to continue with her writing after graduation. This she did, and her published work includes nine rom-com novels, and more recently, a crime fiction series for The Book Folks.
The first in the series – features the somewhat flawed, Oxford-based private investigator, Edie Fox; a single mother and very young grandmother who inadvertently gets her precious family caught up in her first big case.
Although her recent novels have ventured into some dark places, Julie manages to inject humour into the stories without diminishing the seriousness of the situations Edie finds herself in.
Oxford is a city Julie knows well, but she has chosen to leave the beautiful and atmospheric colleges and cloisters to other authors, and her protagonist is based in the more edgy and diverse east of the city, full of small Victorian houses, students, cafes, delis and retired lecturers. When not writing, Julie enjoys music, binge-watching a good TV series, country strolls, doing the New York Times crossword and hanging out with her husband and ever-expanding family.
Author’s bio on website: https://thebookfolks.com/author/julie-highmore/
Purchasing links:
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C23XYCKG/
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C23XYCKG/
CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C23XYCKG/
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C23XYCKG
Social Media links
Website: https://thebookfolks.com
Insta:@the_book_folks
Twitter: @thebookfolks
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thebookfolks
Blog: https://thebookfolks.com/blog/
Julie’s Twitter: @JulieHighmore
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