Find Her First: The breathlessly twisty new thriller from Best Scottish Crime Book nominee

Find Her First opens with paramedic Andy Campbell waiting for his missing wife Stef to be found, while knowing far more than he tells the police. Her sister Alyson shares the secret, but cleaner Betty notices blood in Stef’s bathroom, her abandoned phone and the painting kit she would never leave behind.

Betty kept me reading. Her habit of planting lucky pennies around Edinburgh is touching, unsettling and tied to a past she cannot escape. She is awkward, obsessive and often completely wrong, yet her determination to find Stef gives the story its heart.

Emma Christie keeps shifting what guilt, love and rescue mean as the search moves from Portobello towards a mountain bothy. The twists work because everyone is hiding something for reasons that initially seem understandable. Tense, compassionate and cleverly structured, this is a thriller where finding someone may be the most dangerous thing you can do.