Part of Inspector Banks, book 6
First published 1994
A smartly dressed man and woman arrive at Brenda Scupham's rundown home. They flash credentials and claim they must remove her seven year old daughter Gemma due to abuse allegations. Brenda reluctantly hands over her child. When the pair never return Gemma as promised, Brenda discovers the horrible truth. The social workers were frauds who have kidnapped her daughter. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks takes the case alongside Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe. The abduction makes little sense since Brenda and Gemma live in poverty with nothing worth ransoming. Days pass without any trace of the missing girl. Banks also pursues a separate brutal homicide that takes his investigation across international borders. The murder case gradually connects to Gemma's disappearance in unexpected ways. Banks races against time as hope fades for finding the child alive. The detective must uncover why two people would pose as authorities to steal an innocent girl from her mother.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: race-against-time, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Brenda Scupham's Home
Period: Contemporary
421 pages · Paperback · Thorndike Pr (Largeprint)
Content warnings: kidnapping