One Month On: Someone Must Know Is Already Reaching Thousands of Readers
It has now been just over a month since Someone Must Know: The Search for Missing People and Lost Identities by Locate International co-founder Dave Grimstead was published, and we're delighted by the response it has received.
The book was written to shine a light on the world of long-term missing people and unidentified individuals - stories that are often overlooked, but which matter deeply to the families still searching for answers. Judging by the feedback so far, that message is reaching people.
Climbing the Amazon charts
Shortly after its release, Someone Must Know climbed to No. 27 in Amazon UK's True Crime Biographies chart and reached an overall ranking of No. 1,590 across every book sold on Amazon UK.
If you're not familiar with Amazon rankings, here's what that means in plain English.
Amazon stocks millions of books, so reaching the top 2,000 overall means a title is selling exceptionally well compared with the vast majority of books available. Climbing into the Top 30 of a specialist category such as True Crime Biographies means it was, at that moment, one of the bestselling books in that genre across the whole of Amazon UK.
Even a month after publication, the book continues to perform strongly, currently sitting at around No. 10,635 overall and No. 182 in True Crime Biographies. For a debut hardback covering such a specialist subject, that's something we're incredibly proud of.
A snapshot of the rank of the book on Amazon less than 24 hours after it was published! This is a fantastic accomplishment.
Readers have been overwhelmingly positive
One of the most rewarding parts of the past month has been reading the reviews left by readers. Every review has awarded the book five stars, with many commenting not only on the fascinating investigations but also on the compassion shown to the people at the heart of every case.
Some of our favourite comments include:
"The dedication applied by all the volunteers to try and find closure... is truly uplifting, and the detective work is fascinating."
"An inspiring, fascinating and powerful read... engaging and hard to put down."
"A compelling and thought-provoking read... highlighting the impact that dedicated volunteers have in bringing answers to families around the world."
"This book makes you stop and think about other people's lives."
"An excellent account of how one man's vision led to the establishment of a volunteer-led charity... always motivated by compassion for the unknown person."
Those comments perfectly capture what Dave hoped the book would achieve. While there are mysteries and investigations throughout, at its heart Someone Must Know is about people - the missing, the unidentified, and the families who continue living with unanswered questions.
Raising awareness of Locate International
Perhaps the biggest success isn't where the book has appeared in the charts, but that it is introducing thousands of readers to Locate International for the very first time.
Every copy read helps spread awareness of the work carried out by our volunteer team, the importance of public information in resolving cases, and the fact that many families continue to wait years, or even decades, for answers.
If even one reader finishes the book and remembers a face, shares a photograph, comes forward with information, volunteers their skills, or simply tells someone else about the work we do, then the book has achieved exactly what it set out to do.
Thank you to everyone who has read the book, left a review, recommended it to friends or family, or helped spread the word. Your support is helping ensure that more people understand why, somewhere, someone must know.
If you'd like to find out more about the book, including all available formats and retailers, please visit the publisher's website here.