Husband Missing is another suspenseful crime thriller in Lisa Regan’s Detective Josie Quinn series. In this installment, Regan delivers a tale that blends personal anguish with critical police investigation.
Title: Husband Missing
Author(s): Lisa Regan
Series: Detective Josie Quinn #22
Also in this series: The Innocent Wife , Close Her Eyes , My Child is Missing , Face Her Fear, Her Dying Secret , Remember Her Name
Published by Bookouture on March 19, 2025
Pages: 469
Genre(s): Crime Fiction
Source: Netgalley
Format: eArc 
Purchase: Amazon|Audible
Rating: 
Series Rating:
Fear prickles her skin. “Noah?” Photos and trinkets from their simple but perfect life together litter the carpet. The coffee table is cracked, blood along its edges. She should be taking in details, but her heart is racing too fast. A strangled cry works its way from Josie’s chest. Where is her husband?
Detective Josie Quinn’s world shatters when she returns home to find her house ransacked, and her husband, Noah, missing. When she kissed him goodbye hours earlier, called to the discovery of a woman’s body at a protest, they were putting the finishing touches to a nursery for their first adopted child. But now the house is empty, Noah’s bloodied handprints trailing the walls.
Every fiber of Josie’s being screams to investigate. But her team warn her to keep her distance as they follow a connection to a recent robbery in Denton. But Josie can’t quiet the voice telling her the handprints Noah left are leading her somewhere, and the trail ends at an upturned box of her long-dead abusive mother’s faded photos, jewelry, a lock of hair, and a few old newspaper clippings.
Beside herself with worry for Noah, and unexpectedly confronted by the trauma of her past, Josie throws herself into work. The woman’s body found during a demonstration outside a children’s hospital belongs to Gina Phelan, daughter of the powerful and influential Phelan family. Trawling the CCTV is a welcome distraction, but everything changes the moment fingerprints from the knife that wounded Gina match to prints found in Josie’s own home.
Her head spinning as the two cases collide, Josie’s only option is to delve into the life of the monster who terrorized her as a child. The key to everything is hidden in the box of her mother’s mementoes. But is Josie strong enough and fast enough to find it in time? And at what devastating cost to those she loves most?
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Josie and her husband Noah are making preparations for what they hope will be a joyful moment in their lives. Then Josie gets called to a crime scene. On her return home, she finds her house ransacked with blood on the floor and her husband missing. As a police officer, finding him was crucial but Josie couldn’t be involved in the investigation. However, not one to sit by idly waiting for answers, she discretely searched for clues Her search opened a big can of worms. It would seem that not only was Noah’s disappearance linked to her traumatic past, there was also a connection to the murder scene she went to earlier.
Husband Missing, book 22 in the series packed an emotional punch. Another page-turning installment that evokes a variety of emotions. Previous books portrayed Josie as a tough cop; however, in Husband Missing, readers are exposed to her vulnerability. Always objective when conducting investigations, she finds her objectivity getting tested.
Throughout the story, one could feel her turmoil. The uncertainties weighed on her; however, the help of family and friends made navigating the uncertainties bearable.
Regan skillfully weaved all the threads together, providing a comprehensive view of the shocking and diabolical situation. Then at the moment when one believes questions have been answered, Regan drops a bombshell ending that leaves one hankering for the next book.
| Story Evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Plot | |
| Characters | |
| World Building | |
| Writing Style | |
| Pacing | |
| Cover | |
| Enjoyment | |
| Ending | |
| Overall: | |
About Lisa Regan
Lisa Regan is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series. Lisa is a member of Sisters In Crime, International Thriller Writers, and Mystery Writers of America. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the U.S. with her husband, daughter, and Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
