What can I say? A slow-burner in the sense that I spent most of the book feeling I was missing that one elusive detail that would allow everything to make sense. Yet this was not as off-putting as you might think.
I don’t want to give away any plot details here, but the story focuses on a number of key characters. We have the Buicks, James and Anna, whose son went missing some months ago; Edie Evans, a young girl who has been missing for over a year; DCI Marvel, who was investigating her case and Richard Latham, the psychic who seems to have been involved in both cases.
The focus on Anna, and the day-to-day impact of losing a child, is heart-rending. DCI Marvel is more than little infuriating, but well-meaning, and I found myself desperately hoping he’d get his happy ending and finally manage to put this case behind him. As we veer from story to story it reads like a jigsaw puzzle, with that final piece tantalisingly out of reach.
It’s only after I’d finished reading that I could really appreciate the skill shown in the writing of this novel. A surprise hit – and a writer I might have to try more by.