Review by Booklist Review
Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend's latest case the abduction of a 13-year-old girl brings an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Twenty years ago, Woodend investigated another kidnapping, but despite his best efforts, the young victim's mutilated, violated body was eventually dragged from the Thames. Charlie has never forgiven himself, so solving the current case takes on added significance. With the help of his sidekicks, Sergeant Monika Paniatowski and Inspector Bob Rutter, Charlie pulls out all the stops to find the child, but the result is the same as before: the child is found dead. This time Charlie is taken off the case and demoted to a desk job. Seven months later, there is another kidnapping of a teenage girl, and even though Woodend has no authority, he launches his own investigation. Spencer offers up a cracking good British police procedural with a plot that's darker than her usual fare and a maverick cop in the John Rebus mold who, despite his flaws and a career that endlessly teeters on the brink of disaster, is as likable as anyone in the genre.--Melton, Emily Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
A 13-year-old girl goes missing, and Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend's team is in charge of the search. Like Jo Bannister, Spencer spins a great yarn about a professional police team solving crimes and dealing with their own personal problems. This is one of the best British series around. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The abduction of a young girl from a local park brings DCI Charlie Woodend personal anguish and professional peril. Angela Jackson's disappearance puts urgent pressure on the Central Lancashire police force, and they respond with their first team: irascible, efficient DCI Charlie Woodend, DS Monika Paniatowski and young PC Colin Beresford. They even re-attach Woodend's old sergeant, Bob Rutter, to the group, hoping they'll find the missing girl before the worst happens. The team works well. Rutter and Paniatowski have eased the tension from their disastrous affair. Monika even helps care for widowed Bob's daughter Louisa. But their key suspects--pedophile Peter Mainwaring and Edgar Brunton, whose wallet is found near the scene--both have alibis. And Martin Stevenson, the psychiatrist assigned to help profile the abductor, is fresh out of ideas. So the worst does happen: Angela's abused body turns up, Woodend's team is kicked to the curb and Charlie has a second corpse on his conscience. It's a virtual replay of the Taylor case, when his promises to the kidnap victim's family were mocked by the discovery of her body in the Thames. But as Stevenson predicts, Angela's abductor won't stop, and another child disappears. Finding her might offer redemption, but Charlie's boss, Henry Marlowe, makes it clear: Off the case means off the case. A routine procedural from Spencer (Dangerous Games, 2007, etc.) made disturbing by dark glimpses into the mind of a child molester. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
