The Missing Activist by Louise Burfitt-Dons.

Robin Miller is a volunteer activist for the Conservative Party but suddenly he goes missing. Karen Andersen is a private investigator and it becomes her job to find him.

I really enjoyed reading this British conspiracy thriller. It was not just about Karen’s job to find missing Robin but stacks of other things too. This novel fully explored the problems of bullying, not just face to face but cyber-bullying online too. Also we have the issue of Jihadi brides being recruited and sent to Syria. Plus we have fun and games within the Conservative Party as teams of unpaid volunteers compete with each other to grapple with the greasy pole of British politics.

I loved how Louise wove real events into her story to add perspective and realism. Early on in this novel, Alesha Parkhurst, a campaigning feminist is found hanged in a Cardiff hotel. On 28th March 2019, British Red Cross worker Dr Deborah Lamont, 44 was found hanged at Cardiff’s Village Hotel. The problems of bullying within the Conservative Party is not just in this novel but currently raging back and forth in the media concerning the Conservative MP Priti Patel.

I found this novel lovely and up to date. It really has the zeitgeist and mentions things like Brexit. There is the threat of terrorism and previous terrorist incidents like the vehicle-ramming into pedestrians at Westminster are mentioned. This all leads to an entertaining and realistic great read surrounding a great plot. 

I found the characterisation very good and each character had an authentic ring to them. It was easy to identify with each of the characters, good guys and bad guys, who seemed like the normal people we meet everyday. I enjoyed the realistic dialogue between the characters and when I read the way Fatima and Mia were talking, I immediately thought of Amira and Amani from the successful Channel 4 television series Gogglebox. Louise pitched the members within the Conservative Party and their attitudes really, really well. This is because Louise is one of them, remember the old adage, write about what you know. Louise stood for election in 2015 in the Nottingham North constituency and got 7,423 votes against the standing MP Graham Allen who held his seat for Labour with 19,283 votes. Louise has brought her experience and understanding of the Conservative Party with it’s funny little ways into her novel so that the reader can understand the darkness within the Tory Party.

I think The Missing Activist is a thrilling read and whilst the general public gets bored with politics, remember Brexit, this story is a great conspiracy that gets the top score of 5 stars from me. My lasting impression, what if Teresa May’s little dance onto the stage ended very differently. Shudder, shudder, remember Brighton.

The Missing Activist was written in 2018 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.