A pacey Aussie crime thriller, with a no-nonsense female PI, a crisscrossing series of events, and an edge-of-your-seat ending.
Feature image credit: HarperCollins Australia
Louisa ‘Lou’ Alcott (like the author of Little Women) is a former Victorian police officer turned private investigator, having left the force due to an incident during a domestic violence intervention. Now working with a small firm, thanks to the assistance of her underworld crime boss grandfather, Lou is focusing on two cases that are close to her heart. The first is a missing mother of two, and the second is a security check for a formally abused young woman.
As Lou begins her investigations, she sees the familiar patterns of coercive behaviours and is determined to find the missing mother, and to ensure the safety of the targeted woman. The security case takes a dramatic turn when the young woman suddenly disappears, leaving behind her phone, purse and keys. Adding to Lou’s already busy work/life, her grandfather Hamish has become the target of a rival and Lou is thrust into the crosshairs, by familial association.
As Lou continues to investigate both disappearances, diving headfirst into the world of online dating, she finds herself surrounded by distrusting police — including her own dismissive senior official father — pursued by underworld crime figures, and targeted by the suspect she is pursuing. These separate threads all tangle together in a confrontation that results in a violent ending for all concerned.
Sherryl Clark is no newcomer to the crime fiction genre, having authored several books, including the Judi Westercombe series. Woman, Missing is her first book in a new vein, focusing on the seedy underside of online dating and the manipulative tricks that are used to coax and ensnare vulnerable women. Clark has created a character who is complex, in both her personal and professional history, and whose dogged determination keeps the narrative moving at a quick-fire pace.
The introduction and approach of Lou’s separate PI cases is used effectively to bring her in contact with the Victorian police and set up the antagonistic play that is forced upon her when both her cases take a dark turn. Clark perfectly sets up the dilemma of a former cop turned PI working on that fine line, while critiquing the efforts of her former colleagues and Lou’s understanding of the dismissive approach the police have to offers of assistance from outsiders — particularly ones that should know better.
The book being written from a first-person perspective means that the reader is privy to all the intrusive, unfiltered thoughts that fly through Lou’s analytical and, at times, personally judgmental mind. The surrounding characters — her PI colleagues, her best friend, her crime boss grandfather and the investigating officers — are all given a uniquely personal touch, thanks to Lou’s assessments of their personalities and capabilities. It is also this approach that gives the title a multi-pronged meaning of woman missing, both physically, and in Lou’s case, professionally.
Excitingly, Sherryl Clark has returned with a new PI Lou Alcott novel, For All the Dead Girls, which is available now. Read our review here.
Reviewed by Glen Christie
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: HarperCollins Australia
Released: June 2026
RRP: $22.99
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