Ships from: Miamisburg, OH
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: San Jose, CA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Philadelphia, PA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Southampton, PA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Philadelphia, PA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Churchville, PA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Philadelphia, PA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Bensalem, PA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Holbrook, MA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Des Moines, IA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Ruth and Simon reluctantly agree to let their young teenage daughter, Heather, go off on a camping holiday in Cornwall with her best friend, Kelly, and her family. While on a vacation of their own, they get the news that both girls have gone missing. Kelly is found alive, but, after several days of searching, Heather's body is discovered inside some old mine workings. Although the police detective leading the investigation harbours suspicions of foul play, the verdict is that the death was accidental.
The emotional strain of Heather's death ruins Ruth and Simon's marriage. After the divorce, Ruth moves from London to Cambridgeshire, where she remarries and has another child—a daughter, Beatrice. But when Beatrice is close to the age Heather was when she died, she too mysteriously disappears ...
Helen Walker (of Harvey's 2008 novel Gone to Ground), one of the officers involved in the investigation, travels to Cornwall to seek connections between Beatrice's disappearance and Heather's death. Will Grayson (also of Gone to Ground), the officer leading the enquiry, is torn between his fears that a recently paroled child-abuser might be responsible and his growing suspicions that someone closer to home might have taken Beatrice. With the stakes impossibly high and time running out, Helen and Will draw closer to their quarry while the truth seems to slip further into the distance.
Ruth sets down her cup, crosses the room and opens the drawer. The kitchen floor strikes cold, even through her slippered feet. February. At seven this morning, when she first stepped outside, it had still been dark.
The envelope is where she left it, buried beneath receipts for old electricity bills, scribbled notes from the woman who comes Tuesdays and Thursdays to clean and which she has never yet discarded, recipes torn from this or that magazine: an off-white envelope, self-sealing, buckling a little at the corners. Inside is an ordinary postcard showing a map of south-west Cornwall coloured largely green; on the reverse side her name, hers and her ex-husband's, Simon's, are written above the address in a careful, painstaking hand. Mr and Mrs Pierce. The old address in London, NW5. The message alongside slanting slightly, left to right.
Dear Mum & Dad,
Went to the beach again today. Big waves!
Kelly and I are going to surf school tomorrow.
Hope you're both okay. See you soon.
Lots of Love, Heather XXXXXXXXX
Even though she knows it by heart, Ruth reads every word slowly, carefully, taking her time. See you soon. For a moment she closes her eyes. Here and there the map is decorated with illustrations: Truro cathedral, a cow standing over a pail of milk destined to be Cornish cream, St Michael's Mount, the rocks at Land's End.
Midway between Cape Cornwall and Sennen Cove, close to a zigzag of coast, a small dot has been made with a ballpoint pen, and when Ruth holds it up, as she does now, towards the kitchen window, the afternoon already beginning to fade, she can see a faint pinprick of light through the hole the pen has deliberately made. This is where I am, written in small letters that curve out across the ocean. This is where I am: an arrow pointing to the spot.
It's not certain how long she stands there, staring out, staring down, the card in her hand. Then, with a small catch of her breath, she slips the card back into the envelope, the envelope back into the drawer, and, glancing at the clock, turns quickly away. Time to change into her shoes, pull on her coat, collect her daughter from school; her other daughter, Beatrice, the one who is still alive.
I truly love John Harvey mysteries. They are among the best of the British police procedurals and in each of the series, from Charlie Resnick and Frank Elder to D.I. Will Grayson, the characters are sympathetic and fully drawn. The stories develop in their own time, but with no wasted words and misjudged feints. The fog of the Cornwall coast feels as real as yesterday's weather report and the miserable lives behind the crimes can get a good man down, if he doesn't take good care. In this particularly strong offering, Harvey introduces us to two crusty male detectives who insist on fuller investigations than their colleagues, and bear their emnity for it. A female assistant D.I. is so clearly ready for more that we fear her professionalism may become compromised while she struggles to fill the gaps in her life. Harvey patiently wraps us in strands from several cold and current cases. No need to read this in conjunction with any of Harvey's others, but you'll probably want to, simply because Harvey makes you feel you spent a week away.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 17, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted January 1, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted August 31, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 23, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 5, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted July 25, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted July 23, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Ruth and Simon reluctantly agree to let their young teenage daughter, Heather, go off on a camping holiday in Cornwall with her best friend, Kelly, and her family. While on a vacation of their own, they get the news that both girls have gone missing. Kelly is found alive, but, after several days of searching, Heather's body is discovered inside some old mine workings. Although the police detective leading the investigation harbours suspicions of foul play, the verdict is that ...