If someone came to you and told you that they had murdered someone your first thought, after the initial panic, would most likely be ‘who?’. What if this person then said they didn’t know.
Not that they didn’t know their victim, that they didn’t know who they had murdered as they can’t remember. They don’t know whether the person they killed was male, female, an adult, or a child. They didn’t know when, where, how, or why. They just know that have committed a crime and need your help.

You would probably tell them to go to the police, but what if this person had already been to the police station and the police in not so many words told them to go away. Would you agree to help them discover their past knowing that if you prove they did kill someone that they would go to prison for a long time?

Told from the point of view of the private detective (who I don’t think is ever named) who has been given this exact circumstance by wealthy client Stephanie Kuler. He has reservations about taking the case but the money would come in handy. However, the case already strange gets far weirder as the plot progresses.

Alongside the main plot runs several subplots and there are also several other characters who are vital to the story, including the PIs sidekick Billy and his ‘Billie-isms’.

The book took a little getting used to at the beginning as our main character talks directly to you, explaining what is happening, happened, and quite often in a jovial manner, not quite what I was expecting from a thriller, in fact, I’m not too sure I would call it a thriller, more of a mystery novel.

The storyline heavily features Covid-19/pandemic references and the main character’s thoughts on the situation plus how he views certain things in society, such as the news channels, etc. Part of me did wonder if this was a way for the author to get across his feelings on these subjects across without coming out with them directly.

Absent Victim was an enjoyable, fast-paced read that contained a unique plot, one that has you guessing right to the very end and then left you with another idea to digest. I was kept entertained until the very last page especially with the humour and sarcasm which featured heavily throughout.