Lost

June M. Blurton is a retired speech/language pathologist.

Cindy and her two friends usually spend the first 10 days of September
at the Toronto Film Festival, but this year her daughter has gone
missing. Julia, a beautiful 21-year-old would-be actress, auditioned for
Michael Kinsolving’s new movie and then disappeared. Cindy is frantic.
When the police take a wait-and-see attitude, she takes matters into her
own hands. She talks to her ex-husband and his new wife, to Julia’s
sleazy boyfriend, to the movie director, and to anyone else she hopes
may know something. Her sister, mother, other daughter, neighbours, and
new boyfriend are all dragged into the picture, but Cindy gets nowhere
until the media get hold of some sexy photos of Julia. While this does
not make the job the police are doing any easier, the publicity means
the disappearance is kept on the front burner right until the surprise
ending.

The stress of the investigation exacerbates the long-standing tensions
between the characters, and leads to several high-voltage scenes. The
characters are not particularly sympathetic but the dialogue is brisk
and relevant, and the story keeps the reader engaged to the end.