Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge,from Random House, via Netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
Edith Hind is a gorgeous, intrepid graduate student at Cambridge University who seems to have it all: a doting boyfriend, a devoted friend named Helena, a loving mother and a father who is a surgeon to the Royal Family.
When Edith turns up missing from her apartment one evening, leaving only a single streak of blood along the front foyer wall, the case becomes a national media sensation.
In the first frenzied 72 hours of being assigned to the case, Bradshaw will make a number of alarming discoveries: Edith’s behavior had been erratic in the run-up to her disappearance, and her close friend Helena, the last person to see her, is clearly hiding something. A known sex offender appears in CCTV footage of Edith taken a short while before she goes missing. Then a body is discovered floating in a nearby river.
Synopsis:
Detective Manon Bradshaw is 39, single, and miserable as sin. She has endured some of the worst dates in internet history. But she loves her job and performs it brilliantly; all she needs to rise up in the ranks is a big break.
Edith Hind is a gorgeous, intrepid graduate student at Cambridge University who seems to have it all: a doting boyfriend, a devoted friend named Helena, a loving mother and a father who is a surgeon to the Royal Family.
When Edith turns up missing from her apartment one evening, leaving only a single streak of blood along the front foyer wall, the case becomes a national media sensation.
In the first frenzied 72 hours of being assigned to the case, Bradshaw will make a number of alarming discoveries: Edith’s behavior had been erratic in the run-up to her disappearance, and her close friend Helena, the last person to see her, is clearly hiding something. A known sex offender appears in CCTV footage of Edith taken a short while before she goes missing. Then a body is discovered floating in a nearby river.
Is Edith Hind alive or dead? Was her “complex love life” at the heart of her disappearance, as the tabloids are suggesting? Why is there reluctance, in the senior ranks, to press too hard on some elements of the story?
Detective Bradshaw must use all her skill and resources to bring closure to the case for Edith’s family, as she finds herself becoming ever more personally, and dangerously, invested.
Review:
This is the first in a planned series featuring Detective Manon Bradshaw, and it's hard to believe this is only Steiner's second book!
This is on of those books where you're not sure if you like Manon in the beginning- she comes across as too needy and whiny, and then you turn the page and realize she's just being honest and in fact, she is a pretty decent cop. She is struggling with a work crew that is trying to coalesce, but having issues and suddenly struck with a case with plenty of clues, but no direction. Did Edith REALLY disappear, was she abducted, was she killed. 72 hours later and the case is cold and her team is under severe pressure to solve the case from all sides. But when the unthinkable happens, the team suddenly bear the brunt of not having all the facts they needed. How it affects Manon and her team is actually a great character study.
And in the end the 3 characters who start out whiny and not quite so likable are the ones you want as your friends, including Manon. And you'd definitely want pugnacious Manon on or case, if you were missing! There is so much character work and discussion of modern issues in the book, yet it doesn't read that way- everything flows NATURALLY, leaving the reader with a page turner, you just can't put down. And you just might find yourself not quite so fond of the victim, once you learn more about her!
This mystery is the start of a new great series for Steiner and she does a great job in allowing the reader to come to know Manon, for all her flaws,and capabilities, and delight with her new life at the end of the book. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series, and if you love getting in on book 1 of a great series, so not miss this book!
About the Author:
SUSIE STEINER is a former Guardian journalist, where she worked as a commissioning editor for 11 years. Prior to that, she worked for The Times, the Telegraphand and the Evening Standard. She lives in London with her husband and two sons. Check out her website for more
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