YOUR HUSBAND HAS BEEN ARRESTED.
Maggie’s husband is suddenly arrested in the middle of the night, on suspicion of murder.
When Grant dies in custody, her world implodes.
EVERYONE BELIEVES HE IS GUILTY.
All the evidence points to Grant being a killer – including DNA at the scene.
But how can this be true when he was with Maggie all night?
ONLY YOU CAN PROVE THEM WRONG.
Following a trail of deception, it’s up to her to uncover the truth.
But Maggie has a secret too. Something she hasn’t told anyone.
She was with her husband all night – apart from one missing hour…
I loved Robert Rutherford's previous novel Seven Days but if pushed, I just might have to say that his latest book, The Missing Hour is even better. From the sheer terror of the opening chapter, through to the poignant conclusion, this is a superior thriller I begrudged having to spend time away from.
When Maggie's husband, Grant is arrested in a brutal late-night raid, her world is turned upside down and the chaotic confusion of that night quickly turns into a nightmare which leaves her a widow desperately trying to clear her husband's name – despite the apparently cast-iron evidence which seems to prove that Grant was a killer. Maggie can't believe he's guilty as he was with her most of the night; however, there is one missing hour she can't account for – then she makes another discovery which suggests that perhaps she didn't know her husband as well as she thought she did...
The fast-moving, compulsive storyline quickly sees Maggie discovering a scheme involving scientific chicanery and corruption and she isn't sure who she can turn to, particularly as it becomes terrifyingly obvious that she is in danger too. At a time when the commodification of our private lives is big business and surveillance capitalism is rampant, The Missing Hour explores the fascinating premise as to whether technological advancements which would result in many more criminals being caught and prosecuted would really bring peace of mind. What if such a facility was controlled by people whose principles have been corrupted by greed and power? How safe would we really be then?
The Missing Hour is a high concept thriller featuring some scarily plausible scenarios and the complex, intriguing plot is complemented by the superb characterisation throughout. Maggie herself is a brilliant protagonist; despite the extraordinary circumstances she finds herself in, her responses are always relatable and her resilience in the face of her grief means it's impossible not to become invested in both her quest for the truth and her increasingly nerve-wracking fight for survival. There are a few people she can trust but the cost is high and there are some electrifyingly tense scenes when it seems as though her enemies are always at least one step ahead of her.
As with the excellent Seven Days, Robert Rutherford ups the ante by recognising the importance of family, even or perhaps especially one like Maggie's which is complicated by past troubles, guilt and the weight of unfulfilled expectations. Her relationship with her father is particularly interesting and helps explain why she is so driven in spite of everything she endures here. However, readers are also left in no doubt as to the love which binds their family together and so the emotional impact of some scenes is devastating.
I tore through the pages of this book and cannot recommend it highly enough; the adrenaline-fuelled excitement of the gripping, thought-provoking plot is matched throughout by the genuinely moving dynamics between the characters. Robert Rutherford has come up trumps again and The Missing Hour is an exceptional, unmissable thriller – undoubtedly one of my top reads of the year.
The Missing Hour is published by Hodder & Stoughton, purchasing links can be found here or order from your favourite independent bookshop.
About the Author
Robert’s work has also seen him win the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction in 2021, as well as being shortlisted for a CWA Dagger in 2021 and 2022, and long listed in 2024.
Seven Days, a high-concept thriller that came out in April 2024, is the first in a two book deal with Hodder.
What Falls Between The Cracks, the first in his Porter & Styles series, written under the name Robert Scragg, was a New Writing North pick as one of the 2019 Read Regional books of the year.
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