by L. R. Wright
First published 2000
Inspector Edwina "Eddie" Henderson faces her biggest test yet as she struggles to establish authority over the Sechelt RCMP detachment after the popular Karl Alberg's retirement. A young girl disappears from her aunt's home while her grieving father travels to Hawaii, still reeling from his wife's unexpected death. The kidnapper is a lonely, desperate middle-aged woman who believes this shocking act will somehow settle old scores. Her manipulative partner pushes her toward increasingly dangerous choices. Henderson must decode the psychology behind the crime before time runs out for the missing child. She races to understand what drives someone to steal another person's daughter, knowing that the girl's safety depends on unraveling the kidnapper's twisted motivations. The case becomes a battle on two fronts: Henderson must prove herself capable of handling a crisis while fighting the clock to bring the child home safely.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: race-against-time, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Sechelt, Hawaii
Period: Contemporary
320 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday Canada
Content warnings: kidnapping