MASON'S MISSING

A Tuper Mystery Book 1

Fiction - Mystery - Sleuth
316 Pages
Reviewed on 03/19/2018
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Teresa Burrell has dedicated her life to helping children and their families in both the courtroom and the classroom.

As an attorney in San Diego, Burrell maintained a private law practice for twelve years, which specialized in domestic, criminal, and civil cases. Her work in juvenile court focused on representing abused minors and juvenile delinquents. Burrell has received several awards and special recognition from the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers for her countless hours of pro bono work with children and their families.

Burrell has also enjoyed a satisfying career as a teacher. She has taught children of all ages with diverse backgrounds and special needs. After creating an after-school program that kept kids off the street, she received a community service award.

Now in semi-retirement in California, Burrell continues to educate groups about social issues impacting children and write novels, many of which are inspired by actual legal cases. She is the author of The Advocate Series which now contains thirteen novels: The Advocate is the first in The Advocate Series. I have twelve more, The Advocate's Betrayal, The Advocate's Conviction, The Advocate’s Dilemma, The Advocate’s Ex Parte, The Advocate’s Felony, The Advocate’s Geocache, The Advocate’s Homicides, The Advocate's Illusion, The Advocate's Justice, The Advocate’s Killer, The Advocate's Labyrinth, and The Advocate's Memory. I have also started a second series with a character named Tuper who first appeared in Book #6, The Advocate's Felony. Those books are Mason's Missing, Finding Frankie and Recovering Rita.

    Book Review

Reviewed by K.J. Simmill for Readers' Favorite

In Mason's Missing by Teresa Burrell, five-year-old Mason was last seen running towards a man the teacher assumed to be his father, and getting into a dark blue Toyota RAV4. Days pass and there is no sign of Mason or a ransom demand. Word of mouth reaches Mason’s desperate mother, giving her cause to approach Tuper. He is thought to be the best, and she would do anything to enlist his services. But the stubborn and honourable Tuper is not in this line of work for the money; he has his own code, and he lives by it. Agreeing to take the case, despite his suspicions that everything is not as it seems, he stumbles across someone who can help him advance his investigation quicker. This new duo starts the hunt for Mason, uncovering strange circumstances and buried secrets as they progress. Mason is missing, but all is not as it first seems. Can they uncover the truth and find the boy before the unthinkable happens?

I found Teresa Burrell’s writing style to be really easy going, so much so that I read the entire book in a single sitting. I was right there alongside Tuper and Lana as they tracked down leads and began to build the foundations of their new friendship. Red herrings, murder, mystery, mistakes, secrets, and peril; it doesn’t get any better than this to make a good recipe for a mystery story, and Mason's Missing (A Tuper Mystery Book 1) has them all. You’ll share the frustrations and victories of the characters as they delve deeper into the mystery and unravel the surprising truth about what actually happened. A really strong first book in a series, with just enough information about the lead characters so that they remain an intriguing mystery you want to learn more about.

Susan Sewell

An old cowboy and a young hacker race against time in a Montana blizzard to find a kidnapped five-year-old in the sensational mystery novel, Mason's Missing (A Tuper Mystery Book 1) by Teresa Burrell. While relaxing at one of his favorite haunts, Tuper is approached by Denise, a distraught mother who wants to hire him to find her missing son, Mason. Assisted by Lana, a loquacious computer systems engineer, Tuper begins the hunt. While he searches the local area, Lana prowls cyberspace. A massive storm is moving in and they are desperate to find Mason before any harm comes to him, but with each passing hour, Mason's chance of survival is diminishing. The data and information Lana and Tuper uncover about the family are contradictory, confusing, and inconsistent with Denise's claims. Things get even more troubling when her estranged husband is murdered, and there is no evidence to corroborate that Mason was ever with him. If Mason wasn't with his father, then where is he? Can Tuper and Lana locate him before it is too late?

Mason's Missing (A Tuper Mystery Book 1) by Teresa Burrell is a spectacular mystery novel with an intriguingly convoluted plot. Filled with twists and turns, it is a spellbinding adventure which starts with Tuper's and Lana's introductions and continues to the exciting conclusion of the book. The unconventional characters, combined with the tangled variations of the intriguing plot, are well thought out and create a complex and riveting story. With so many nuances to the story line, the reader is kept guessing and speculating to the very end. It is a thrilling mystery novel with a rustic hero, and I recommend it to those who love original characters and thought-provoking plots.


Ruffina Oserio

Mason's Missing by Teresa Burrell is a strong opening into A Tuper Mystery series, a blend of sleuth and mystery that follows an investigation into the disappearance of five-year-old Mason Jenkins. The story opens with a dramatic event that narrates the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the child. When Tuper starts the investigation, everything indicates young Mason has been taken by his father. But complications arise when the father is found unconscious and the child is missing. Follow Tuper as he works feverishly through inclement weather to locate the missing child. With the help of his friend Lana, a hacker, can he uncover the mystery? What they discover will blow their minds and who Mason’s father is remains a mystery they’ll have to solve. And with enemies bent on keeping his identity secret, can they succeed?

There is a lot to appreciate in this novel and I enjoyed the suspense and the way the author piques the reader’s curiosity. From the beginning, the author creates a sense of mystery and immediately introduces the key players in the story. Tuper was one of my favorite characters, a detective with grit and intelligence. I love Teresa Burrell’s writing. It is good. It is clean. And it is focused. I enjoyed the accurate use of words, the precision in the narrative, and the interesting dialogues. The paragraphs are written in the style of James Patterson's writing, short and enticing, each ending with a prompt for the reader to move to the next one. Fans of investigative novels will discover precious gems in Mason’s Missing. I loved reading this and can’t wait for the next book in the series.