Not Reported Missing: Willow's Dip Book Five

by Sherrie Lowe

Young photography student Josh Hetherington-O’Keefe is out walking his border collie Izzy over the common at dawn and photographing the wildlife when Izzy becomes interested in a pile of rags dumped beside the rushes. On closer inspection Josh sees that it is the body of what looks like a middle aged man and shaken by the discovery he calls the police. There is no identification on the body. All that there is is a wallet containing a few pounds, a photograph, and a key. Who is the man? Who is in the photograph and where is the door that the key fits? The ghost of the man’s body has its own voice and frustrations at the lack of memory. Villagers old and new all speculate on the mystery and during the course romances flourish as life continues to unfold in this quintessentially English village. Mystery and first love, young love, older love and love in between. Willow’s Dip is a good place to be – for some. This is a family/village saga but will stand alone as a story although the main characters from previous books in the series, also Whisper to Me, are featured as well as new ones.

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 13, 2020

About the author

website www.sherrielowe.co.uk
I am a divorced mother of two adult sons and I have five lovely grandchildren. I was working as a learning support assistant in a mainstream high school when I became ill with ME (also called chronic fatigue syndrome) in 1995. I have since written eleven novels and two memoirs and Song of the Phoenix although the fourth to be written is the first to be published, mainly because the first three are more or less a trilogy.
As of June 2012 - all novels and the memoirs are now published and available in paperback from http://www.feedaread.com/
and Kindle editions from http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_n...
Writing has kept me sane through what is an extremely debilitating and isolating illness and my aim is to earn my living from it.

Reviews

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Not Reported Missing”, is book five in the ‘Willow Dip’ series written by established author Sherrie Lowe. I hadn’t read any of the series before so I was exceedingly interested to see if I could pick up mid series and still enjoy.
“Young photography student Josh Hetherington-O’Keefe is out walking his border collie Izzy when she becomes interested in a pile of rags dumped beside the rushes. On closer inspection Josh sees that it is the body of what looks like a middle aged man and calls the police. There is no identification on the body. All that there is, is a wallet containing a few pounds, a photograph, and a key.
Who is the man? Who is in the photograph and where is the door that the key fits? The ghost of the man’s body has its own voice and frustrations at the lack of memory. This is a family/village saga but will stand alone as a story although the main characters from previous books in the series, are featured as well as new ones.”
Set in the sleepy, picturesque chocolate box village of Willow’s Dip, Staffordshire, aptly named for the hanging willow trees dotted around the village, this is quintessentially an English story with unexpected visits from the spirit world. The crux of the story is the death of a man no one can identity. No one comes forward as being the child or woman in the photo and police are baffled as to why. Meanwhile the spirit of the man is trapped and his story, watching as his body is laid to rest is quite an emotional one.
There are a lot of very diverse characters in the book and what I enjoyed most were the differing ages, emotions and lives of each person. Old, young, widowed, divorced, newly wed, they’re all there, even finding love again in later life against the odds. The attention to detail in the actions of the characters were superb and you really thought you were there with each one, as they went about their day.
The author incorporated a character who suffers from M.E. (chronic fatigue syndrome) and her invaluable experience of enduring this herself, was transferred to the character sympathetically and authentically. Although knowing of the condition myself, I didn’t realise just how debilitating it is to sufferers and I was amazed at how it effects the body even after the smallest amounts of energy has been used.
For me, this was easily enjoyed as a standalone but of course if you’ve been following the series at any point, it will be a welcome return to ‘Willow’s Dip’ for readers. A pleasant, clean and entertaining family saga story that I’d happily follow in the future, with new characters introduced in the denouement of the story, allowing for a possible further outing, for the residents of the scenic and charming Staffordshire village.

[Maureen Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picking up one of Sherrie Lowe's Willows Dip novels is like snuggling down in a comfy armchair with a glass of wine. You know it's going to be good. 'Not Reported Missing' is book five in this series and I've been following the residents and their lives in this quitessentially English village through the whole series. Characters come and go but each brings his or her own personna to the storyline. It's nice to pick up on the lives of the long standing residents and in this book Ms Lowe has reintroduced characters from a couple of her other stand alone novels which was a nice idea. The story starts with a wedding but then moves onto the discovery of a body found on the Common. I imagined from the title that the story would be about tracing the identity of the dead man and it does indeed crop up throughout the novel but book five is more about the ongoing lives of the residents. The actual deceased man's only living relative finally turns up right at the end of the novel bringing the whole story, if not happily, then satisfactorily to a conclusion. A good ending leaving (maybe) an opening to a new resident to the village. I will only say that she is not a very pleasant person but then the most interesting fictional characters rarely are very nice. I will await book six to see if she does indeed become the latest resident of Willows Dip. All in all this was a lovely read and well worth FIVE STARS.

[Millie Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Not Reported Missing’ is the fifth book in the Willow Dip series and although I haven’t read the first four, I found that this book works really well as a stand-alone. Having read and thoroughly enjoyed several of Ms Lowe’s other books, I was delighted to find some of the characters I knew reappear in this book.

The story is set in the quiet Staffordshire village of Willow Dip and revolves around the finding of an unidentified body on the common by a young photography student. Whilst the stories of the Willow Dip residents play out, the ghost of the dead man wanders around in an effort to remember who he was and what had happened to him. I found it infinitely sad that a person could die and not a soul would know who he was or where he came from. Even the person in the photograph found in his wallet did not come forward when discovery of the body was reported by the media.

I particularly enjoyed visiting the different groups of characters, all with very different backgrounds, personalities and lifestyles – from authors, a teacher, a vet and a gardener to those running their own businesses, including a boutique and bird sanctuary, to name but a few. Ms Lowe takes readers into their lives, enabling them to see, hear and feel with these people for a while. She has a nice, cosy and intimate way of writing that I really like. The individual little stories were fascinating, as were the interactions and relationships between them all, especially those involving characters I had previously met.

A sad though not entirely unexpected event, plus the arrival of a new three characters brings the story to a close. It leaves me not only wanting to read some of the earlier books in this series but also the next one.

[Susan Rooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not Reported Missing is the fifth in author Sherrie Lowe’s series set in the picturesque English village of Willow’s Dip. The book opens with the discovery of an unidentified body, and even though I’ve not yet read the first four novels in the series, I knew at once the village was a fascinating place to get lost in. Lowe has populated it and the surrounding countryside with a believable cast of relatable characters, including Theo Stanyer and his family, who make appearances from time to time here. I had enjoyed their stories very much in the author’s Whisper to Me and I was delighted to reconnect with them and to learn what came next in their lives.

Not Reported Missing unfolds at a relaxed pace, with many characters and their relationships brought to life. But Lowe maintains a calm control over it all, delicately interweaving some of their stories while also unraveling others. She keeps them all distinct with deft descriptive touches that make each character, whether human, animal, or ghost, unique and memorable. In fact, the daily routines of the living mingle with appearances from the spirits of the dead in the most natural way possible. The author inhabits her characters wholly. Their dialogue is easy and comfortable. When they travel beyond Willow’s Dip, she takes us with them, her locales just as vividly realistic and colorful as her people. One character suffers from CFS, as Lowe does herself, and she describes what life is like with this condition in agonizing but eye-opening detail. Everywhere in the book there is so much humanity and caring that at times it moved me to tears. Inevitably, there is loss, but there is also joy. And there is fun, with a sprinkling of vile, detestable characters. Lowe is superb at writing awful people who deserve a swift kick.

Love of all kinds—for romantic partners, family, pets, friends, nature—is the backbone of the book. It can bloom or wither unexpectedly, and sometimes even continue past death. But the message is clear that whether or not it is destined to endure—and happy-ever-afters are far from certain—love is more often than not worthwhile. So too is Not Reported Missing. This is a heartwarming, compelling book filled with characters I will remember long after reading it.

[Julia Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Not Reported Missing even though it was Book Five of the series and I haven't read the first four. The narrative is packed with detail; the many characters well drawn. The story is a combination of supernatural mixed with the lives of the residents of a small English town and I found it intriguing. In this story, one character is suffering from M.E. and I read about this debilitating condition in Ms Lowe's two autobiographies. Not Reported Missing describes this illness sympathetically and I believe, can change readers' perception about the illness in a positive way. I certainly learned a great deal. Highly recommended reading.

[Anne Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming story about village life. I enjoyed reading about the various characters and the assortment of joys and sorrows they faced. I particularly warmed to ME sufferer Celia and her new romance with Charles. And I really loved Howard, the ghost of the man who dies at the beginning of the novel. I could have definitely read more from the policeman in the village - but, as this is part of a series of interconnecting novels, perhaps he appears later! A charming and very heartening read.