S. F. Prescott

Slow-burn domestic suspense.

Imran Mahmood is a practising criminal barrister in England and Wales. His debut novel You Don’t Know Me was chosen by Simon Mayo as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice for 2017 and longlisted for multiple awards. Finding Sophie is his fourth novel and will be released in the UK and in the USA in March 2024. Imran was born and raised in Liverpool but now lives in London with his wife and 2 daughters.

Published March 5th, 2024.

The premise hooked me immediately: Two parents conduct an increasingly desperate search for their missing daughter. Told in the alternating perspectives of Harry and Zara, and in a dual timeline between the weeks after Sophie’s disappearance and a year later in the middle of a murder trial, Imran Mahmood’s taut yet profoundly moving novel explores how differently grief can be experienced even when shared by parents—and how hope triumphs when it springs from the kind of love that knows no bounds.

I always enjoy a dual narrative and timeline so this book started off strong for me. Like a lot of other domestic suspense, I was intrigued by the conflict which occurred right at the beginning of the book, learning that Sophie had disappeared. All the little clues she left behind were being pieced together by her parents in their state of grief. Their feelings of frustration with the police and the lack of leads were palpable, mirrored in the pace. I would have preferred a bit more action. Both characters were relatable, and I understood their motives behind breaking the law to find their daughter. I found them likable enough to keep reading, but also genuinely curious about what had happened to Sophie. I found the future timeline from the courtroom the most interesting because it provided more suspense overall.

The story gripped me in the beginning, but the pace tapered off for the majority of the book until picking back up at the 95% mark. The scene in the basement and the image of the knife still haunts me. Themes of grief and loss are clear from beginning to end, mentioned in both perspectives which felt repetitive at times. Their ongoing grief made the ending more satisfying, but ultimately I need my thrillers much darker with multiple twists and reveals.

For readers who enjoy domestic suspense, missing persons stories, slower paced.

Synopsis:

Someone is guilty.

For the last seventeen years, Harry and Zara King’s lives have revolved around their only daughter, Sophie. One day, Sophie leaves the house and doesn’t come home. Six weeks later, the police are no closer to finding her than when they started. Harry and Zara have questioned everyone who has ever had any connection to Sophie, to no avail. Except there’s one house on their block—number 210, across the street—whose occupant refuses to break his silence.

Someone knows what happened.

As the question mark over number 210 devolves into obsession, Harry and Zara are forced to examine their own lives. They realize they have grown apart, suffering in separate spheres of grief. And as they try to find their way back to each other, they must face the truth about their daughter: who she was, how she changed, and why she disappeared.

Someone will pay.