Missing, presumed dead by Emma Berquist

Greenwillow Books, 2019. ISBN: 9780062642813. 369p., hbk.
(Age: 15+) Themes: Mystery, Ghosts, Psychic ability, LGBTQ+, Loneliness. When she touches someone, Lexi can see when they are going to die and she can also see the ghosts of people around her. This means that she has to isolate herself and the only person she is close to is her grandfather, who also has this psychic ability. When she touches Jane, a young person full of life, outside the club one night, and sees her terrible death, a dire chain of events is put into place. Jane reappears as a ghost, her throat cut, full of revenge and insists that Lexi helps her find her murderer.
I picked up Missing, presumed dead, after really enjoying Devils unto dust, and for much of the story I was fully engaged. Lexi is a complex character, lonely and almost friendless, afraid to touch anyone as she will see how they will die. She works in a nightclub, Elysium, for Urie, who gathers together people who have psychic ability, but because of her ability she is unable to go to school or improve her poverty stricken life.
I had expected a mystery story with ghosts thrown in and this was true for most of the book, but the relationship between Lexi and Jane overshadowed the mystery and the ghost story so for readers who are expecting either a ghost or mystery as the focus, they may be slightly disappointed. However those who enjoy a story with relationships as the main theme will be happy with this combination of an unusual friendship, horror and mystery.
Pat Pledger