1. 1. As Claire searches for Billy, she realises she didn’t really know her youngest son at all. Was that Claire’s fault, or is this typical of the dynamic between mother and teenage son?
2. 2. The novel is interspersed with WhatsApp messages. How effective did you find this very modern literary device?
3. 3. There are several clues that Mark might have something to do with Billy’s disappearance. When did you pick up on the signs?
4. 4. What did you think of the character of Kira? And when did her behaviour make you suspicious?
5. 5. The novel tackles the growing problem of online hard-core pornography and its implications. Did you find this added a very topical element to the story?
6. 6. How does Claire change over the course of the book? What would you do if you began to suffer such terrifying episodes of amnesia?
7. 7. Did the subject matter make you think more closely about your own family, and the secrets and lies that can be harboured?
8. 8. What did you think of the ending? Would you have liked it to end differently?
9. 9. What do you think the future holds for Claire and her family?
10. 10. What other similar books would you recommend to people who enjoyed The Missing?

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to Caroline Kirkpatrick for her support, help and insightful editorial skills. Caz, you helped shape The Missing into a book I’m truly proud of. A big cheer for everyone else at Avon, HarperCollins for all their hard work behind the scenes, particularly the sales and digital marketing teams, and to LightBrigade for their PR brilliance. A massive hug to Maddy, Thérèse and Cara at the Madeleine Milburn agency for your guidance, support and expertise. I’m so proud to work with such a fabulous group of women.

I’m indebted to the people who gave up their time so willingly to help me with my research. It’s important to me that my books are as accurate and realistic as possible and I couldn’t have written The Missing without you. Thanks to Stuart Gib for answering my enormous list of questions about police procedures, Dr Jez Phillips for kindly giving up so much of his time to help me understand dissociative amnesia, DK Green for talking to me about counselling and ethics, Torie Collinge for giving me the low-down on life as a pharmaceutical sales rep, Andrew Parsons for pharmaceutical advice, Lee Stone for his train expertise, Dr Charlotte McCreadie for answering my GP questions, Michael Jones for explaining paramedic procedure and to Joanna Purdue for being a mobile phone guru. Thank you Ray Wingate for answering my questions about CCTV – unfortunately those scenes didn’t make the final cut but I’m still very grateful for your time. I’d also like to thank Susannah Thomson who ferried me around in her car so I could research some of the Bristol settings in the book. The black bag we saw floating in the river made it into the Avonmouth scene!