Published 2nd July 2026 by Zaffre.
From the cover of the book:
She helped him disappear.
She'll wish she hadn't . . .
In Japan, one hundred thousand people voluntarily disappear every year, aided by those who help them start over. They call them Johatsu - the evaporated.
I brought the idea to England. No judgement, no questions. Just new identities, packed bags, and discreet escape plans from abusive partners, debt, or simply lives that no longer fit.
I thought I was doing something good - honourable, even. Until now.
I know now that not everyone is fleeing hardship. I've helped someone who committed a crime to flee the police. I've disappeared a murderer.
And unless I find him, I don't know what he'll do next . . .
***********
In Japan, one hundred thousand people a year choose to vanish from their lives, helped by a network of yonige-ya, or Night Movers - the Japanese call them the Johatsu, the 'evaporated'. Emulating the Japanese model, Veronica Page set up a business in the UK to help people disappear and start again, and she makes a good living aiding them to escape their lives, without judgement.
Veronica devotes herself to her job, almost to the exclusion of every other part of her life, but she begins to question her chosen vocation when she is shocked to discover she may have helped a murderer evade justice...
Never to be Found explores the intriguing concept of the Johatsu - the Japanese people who leave behind the burdens that weight them down, in a heavily honour-based society.
The story unfurls largely from the perspective of Veronica, who was driven to help the vulnerable and desperate to begin again, after her own life was touched by an experience in Japan she is sure was Johatsu related. She has a well established, secretive network of her own in the UK, and she firmly believes she is doing an honourable job - one that helps her deal with the unresolved trauma that haunts her.
But then police detective Seb Ashcroft inserts himself into her comfortable life, and sets her questioning if the service she provides is noble as she thought. Having always trusted her instincts to steer her right, it appears she made a grave error in helping one of her clients, Mark Drake, to evade justice - a man she now learns is suspected of brutally killing his wife and sister-in-law.
Seb has been searching for Drake for months, and he makes it his business to guilt-trip Veronica into aiding him in his quest to track him down, even though she has no idea of the name Drake is now using, or where he is living... and even attempting to follow his trail breaks every rule her business model relies on.
Veronica gradually gets pulled into Seb's obsession to find a killer, touched by the heartache that motivates him, and the undeniable sexual attraction she feels growing between them. As the action moves between York and the south coast of England, the plot thickens when the less than legal, parts of Veronica's rigidly compartmentalised working arrangements threaten to bring her whole life crashing down.
Twists and turns abound, pivoting on revelations that blow open carefully guarded secrets and sinister motivations, and there is a lovely sense of danger throughout. I really enjoyed how Spain delves into Veronica's personal life in parallel with the gritty crime plot, which fills out the fascinating Johatsu elements of the story. She explores knotty themes of loss, mental health, control, and manipulation in telling this tale too.
This one really kept me guessing, and the pacy plot makes it a very entertaining page-turner. It is my first Jo Spain thriller, and it definitely will not be my last!
Never to be Found is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Zaffre for sending me an ecopy of this book, and to Compulsive Readers for inviting me to join this blog tour.
About the author:
Jo Spain is the author of thirteen bestselling thrillers, including her three No.1s, The Trial (Ireland), The Confession (Ireland) and Dirty Little Secrets (Audible). She is translated into seventeen languages and was nominated as Irish author of the year in 2024.
Jo is also a full-time screenwriter. Along with her writing partner, David Logan.
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