The Missing American

THE MISSING AMERICAN absolutely hilarious mystery fiction JULIE HIGHMORE Published by THE BOOK FOLKS London, 2023 © Julie Highmore Polite note to the reader This book is written in British English except where fidelity to other languages or accents is appropriate. You are invited to visit www.thebookfolks.com and sign up to our mailing list to hear about new releases, free book promotions and other special offers. We hope you enjoy the book. THE MISSING AMERICAN is the first standalone mystery in the EDIE FOX DETECTIVE AGENCY series by Julie Highmore. Look out for the second, THE RUNAWAY HUSBAND, coming soon. More details can be found at the back of this book. For Adam Contents PROLOGUE ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY TWENTY-ONE TWENTY-TWO TWENTY-THREE TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-SIX TWENTY-SEVEN TWENTY-EIGHT TWENTY-NINE THIRTY THIRTY-ONE THIRTY-TWO THIRTY-THREE THIRTY-FOUR THIRTY-FIVE THIRTY-SIX THIRTY-SEVEN THIRTY-EIGHT More fiction by Julie Highmore Other titles of interest Subscribe to our newsletter PROLOGUE ‘This is my mother. Esta es mi madre.’ ‘Esta es mi madre,’ he repeated. ‘This is my father. Este es mi padre.’ ‘Este es mi padre.’ ‘I have two brothers. Tengo dos hermanos.’ ‘Tengo dos hermanos.’ Tedious, he thought. He’d begun with disc one, but it was too easy. He paused Miguel in order to overtake. There was a stretch of straight road ahead, thank Christ. He’d been sitting on the Toyota’s tail for miles. Why drive at 48 when the speed limit’s 60? You shouldn’t be behind ONE Mr Smith was downstairs. ‘Could you send him up?’ I asked Naz. He was a few minutes early but I couldn’t leave him there. ‘Yes, miss.’ I brushed crumbs off my lap and drained my tea. I dropped the cup and wrapper in the bin, smoothed my hair, slipped Val McDermid in a drawer and waited for the knock. Even on a Monday in January, I should look busy, I thought. I hit the laptop to wake it up, and there was the personality test I’d done earlier.