A detective’s former fiancé reappears in Harlan Coben’s Missing You
Welcome in the new year with something familiar and reliable, like a good British mystery miniseries, before diving into the deep end of resolutions. Get cozy and settle in for a binge-watch of the latest Harlan Coben adaptation, Missing You.
Slow Horses star Rosalind Eleazar is DI Kat Donovan, a dedicated missing persons investigator who is thrust into a conspiracy that hits very close to home. Kat has spent the past 11 years rebuilding her life after the sudden disappearance of her fiancé, Josh (Ashley Walters, Top Boy), and the murder of her father, DS Clint Donovan (Sir Lenny Henry, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power).
Having left without a trace, Kat assumed for more than a decade that Josh’s disappearance from her life had something to do with her father’s death, but could never pick up the thread between them. When her friend Stacey (Jessica Plummer, The Decameron) pushes Kat to try out the dating app she signed her up for, Kat receives the shock of a lifetime when she swipes to see Josh’s profile.
Now able to start following the thread, it’s up to Kat to find out just who Josh really is and what he is a part of. Any evidence of Josh’s existence online has been wiped clean, so why has he popped up on a dating app? Is he connected to other missing persons cases? Is it really him or is it a phantom profile? Over the five-episode limited series, Kat charges forward with her investigation, shedding light on long-buried secrets in dangerous corners of her precinct.
Starring alongside Eleazar’s Kat is Richard Armitage (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) as DCI Ellis Stagger. Fans of Coben’s previous Netflix adaptations will not be surprised to hear Armitage’s name among the main cast of the new limited series — the British actor has starred in three series: The Stranger in 2020, Stay Close in 2021 and 2024’s earlier hit Fool Me Once.
Armitage spoke to Yahoo! about starring in the Coben Netflix adaptations. “I feel like I’m their lucky underpants now, so they won’t do one without me,” he joked. He went on to share a peek into his character in Missing You, saying, “It’s a slightly more inverted character than the former ones because we’re very, very unsure of his motives at the beginning. The essence of him is nefarious but, actually, he’s holding on to a secret which has a noble cause.”
Rounding out the Missing You cast are Steve Pemberton (Happy Valley as Titus, Marc Warren (Sexy Beast) as Monte Leburne, Samantha Spiro (Sex Education) as nurse Sally Steiner, Lisa Faulkner (Unforgotten) as Dana Fells, Mary Malone (Doctor Who) as Aqua, James Nesbitt (Bloodlands) as Calligan and Matt Jay-Willis (Wolves of War) as Darryl.
In a trailer for the upcoming series, Kat is clearly consumed with the case. Folders, photos and documents decorate the floor of her home, always visible in case inspiration strikes. Two more missing people ramp up Kat’s need to urgently get to the bottom of it all, sending her on a wild ride complete with abductions, car chases and arson. “I don’t know what kind of truth you’re gonna find out there, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it,” a voice tells Kat over a tense scene of the detective investigating, armed with a knife.
Missing You marks Coben’s ninth collaboration with the streamer, with the 10th, an adaptation of his 2019 novel Run Away already in the works. British mystery thrillers are a perennially popular television genre, but in January 2024, Fool Me Once blew viewer expectations out of the water when 61 million Netflix users tuned in during the series’ first two weeks of streaming, starting the new year off with a binge-watch of its eight edge-of-your-seat engrossing episodes.
Eleazar spoke with the Daily Mail’s You Magazine in September about being ready to handle the pressure of following up a series with such massive viewership. “From the outside, certain levels of fame can look daunting,” she explained, “but I know how lucky I am to have the chance to fulfil certain dreams.”
A star on the rise, Eleazar may be most recognizable for her portrayal of agent Louisa Guy in the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, or for her two seasons spent on the saucy period drama Harlots. She made her film debut in 2019’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, more than keeping up with writer and director Armando Iannucci’s (Veep) fast-paced, witty dialogue. Eleazar has a knack for portraying characters who are sharp as a tack, something necessary for bringing Kat to life.
Episode writer Victoria Asare-Archer (Stay Close) adapted Coben’s 2014 novel Missing You into its limited series form, hinting in a statement that the job was a labour of love. “Kat Donovan was a thrill to write — she’s such a brilliantly messy, complicated woman,” she said. “I’m really excited that we have a hugely talented ensemble cast on board.”
Missing You premieres on Wednesday, January 1, on Netflix