#BlogTour: THE MISSING AMERICAN by Julie Highmore @JulieHighmore @thebookfolks

Publication: 10th April 2023 – The Book Folks

New to the private investigator game, Edie Fox is delighted when a handsome American client with disconcertingly dazzling teeth asks her to find his missing cousin, Isabella. Especially when he leaves her a bundle of cash to get started.

However, the case quickly gets complicated, and so does her life when a one-night stand from her Oxford university days gets in touch and asks if her 26-year-old daughter, Maeve, is also his child.

Juggling a chaotic home, a brimming wine glass, a daughter besotted with her new-found daddy, and a rekindled old flame, Edie must try to focus on the job.

But with unreliable witnesses, a less than trustworthy client, and an assistant with her mind on other things, Edie will be up against it and risks losing all.

THE MISSING AMERICAN is the first book in a series of hilarious cozy mysteries by bestselling author Julie Highmore. Look out for the next book in the series, THE RUNAWAY HUSBAND, coming soon!

AMAZON

Today, I am thrilled to take part in the blog tour for The Missing American, the first book in the Edie Fox Detective Agency series by Julie Highmore.

Edie Fox is a former teacher turned private investigator, but, so far, her cases have involved only a couple of cheating spouses, until an handsome man enters her small office. Mike Smith has arrived from the US in search of his cousin Isabella, a photographer who has moved to the UK a few months back, and he hasn’t heard from her in months. He is very worried and he is willing to pay Edie a lot of money to find her. Edie starts investigating, but when first a new PI enters the game and then Mike suddenly disappears, she starts to suspect that something more sinister is in place. To further complicate matters, someone from Edie’s past resurfaces, turning her quiet family life upside down.

The Missing American is an entertaining and suspenseful read. The mystery of the missing photographer and her deceitful cousin make for an intriguing read with quite a few unexpected twists and turns. Edie’s personal life is also under the spotlight. After a one-night stand at university, she found herself pregnant and she raised her daughter Maeve all on her own. Now, her daughter has also a child and they are raising him together. Smart, witty, and resourceful, Edie uses her love for crime novels as her PI training. She is helped by a cast of young side characters that are interesting, unusual, and well-developed.

The story is well-paced and I enjoyed the storylines both on the professional and personal side as they are quite full of drama. And when the lines blend, things become even more interesting!

A huge thank you to The Book Folks for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a proof of this entertaining novel.

The daughter of an RAF officer, Julie moved around a lot as a child, which meant many moves and many goodbyes, and fourteen schools to turn up to as a shy new girl. But eventually settled in Oxford in her twenties and, after having three children, studied first at Westminster College, then Oxford Brookes University, where she gained a first class degree in English. As part of the course, she studied creative writing with Philip Pullman, who encouraged her to continue with her writing after graduation. This she did, and her published work includes nine rom-com novels, and more recently, a crime fiction series for The Book Folks.

The first in the series – features the somewhat flawed, Oxford-based private investigator, Edie Fox; a single mother and very young grandmother who inadvertently gets her precious family caught up in her first big case. Although her recent novels have ventured into some dark places, Julie manages to inject humour into the stories without diminishing the seriousness of the situations Edie finds herself in.

Oxford is a city Julie knows well, but she has chosen to leave the beautiful and atmospheric colleges and cloisters to other authors, and her protagonist is based in the more edgy and diverse east of the city, full of small Victorian houses, students, cafes, delis and retired lecturers.When not writing, Julie enjoys music, binge-watching a good TV series, country strolls, doing the New York Times crossword and hanging out with her husband and ever-expanding family.

Author’s bio on website: https://thebookfolks.com/author/julie-highmore/

Social Media links
Website: https://thebookfolks.com
Instagram: @the_book_folks
Twitter: @thebookfolks
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thebookfolks
Blog: https://thebookfolks.com/blog/
Julie’s Twitter: @JulieHighmore