‘Missing Person: Alice’ by Simon Mason

Published by Riverrun London,
11 September 2024.
ISBN 978 152942 594-9

Talib, a former policeman known as Finder, is given the task of finding Alice Johnson. Alice had disappeared nine years previously whilst doing her paper round in Sevenoaks, Kent. She was twelve years old. No trace has ever been found of her.  Now, the murder of another young girl, Joleen Price, in the same area has led the original investigating officer, Dave Armstrong, to reopen Alice’s case. Armstrong is convinced that Vince Burns, the man he has in custody for Joleen’s murder, must also have killed Alice all those years ago.

Talib takes lodgings with Mrs Wentworth, a sympathetic elderly lady who mourns the loss of her husband and remembers the profound effect that Alice’s disappearance had, particularly on the newsagent she worked for. Talib traces Alice’s footsteps on the day she went missing and speaks with everyone he could find who might be able to throw light on her behaviour: these included two people who had reported seeing her on the morning she disappeared, her divorced parents, school children and teachers.  It seemed that Alice had been a very self-contained child.  He also interviews Vince Burns a few times. But whilst Vince freely admits to murdering Joleen, he teases Talib with bits of information neither admitting nor denying that he had killed Alice. 

Talib’s search is meticulous. Even after Dave Armstrong orders him to stop searching, Talib refuses to give up. He, too, has suffered loss, secretly trying to convince himself that his parents, supposedly killed by a bomb in Iraq, might still be alive. To complete his task, he weighs the knowledge he has accumulated along with all his instincts and insight into human nature and people’s behaviour. During his investigations Talib reads Henry James’ What Masie Knew, a book that was published well over a hundred years ago. There are many parallels between the two stories, perhaps illustrating that the welfare of vulnerable children has not improved as much as we would have liked.

Simon Mason’s short missive - only 220 pages - is sympathetically written, has lots of twists and turns, and provides plenty of food for thought.
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Reviewer Angela Crowther.

Simon Mason is an author of children's and adult books. His first adult novel, a black comedy entitled The Great English Nude, won the Betty Trask first novel award and Moon Pie was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction prize. Running Girl was his first story starring Garvie Smith. Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and their two children.

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.