First Published: 2010
In the last novel we left Bev and Byford in a dark alley after Bev had been attacked and Byford had rushed to defend her.
As a consequence, the attacker, who Bev had had a one-night stand with, died. At the beginning of the book Byford is still being investigated, and Bev is upset and angry because Byford has kept her at arm’s length for six months.
When Bill is informed that he has been cleared, Bev becomes even more upset because Bill hasn’t taken the trouble to tell her directly and she has heard her on the grapevine. The first day after returning to the nick, Bill is waiting for her, and he tells her that he has give in his notice and is leaving the police. The conversation doesn’t go well because Bev is still angry and deep down she is afraid, I think. What angers her even more is that Bill tells her that she has tried to give her space. The conversation doesn’t end well, and Bev berates herself for lashing at him like that. What she fears is that now Bill will move to the Lake District where his son lives.
As for the case Bev and the team are investigating, it involves the disappearance of a little boy, Josh. The child left school like every day, and his bully, Brett, and his friend were waiting for him. They grabbed his glasses and went. After that, a red car stopped before Josh and the man asked if he wanted to give those boys a lesson. Josh was wary about strangers, but when the man called his name, he thought there was no danger as the man knew him.
Josh’s mother, Stacey, is a drunkard and because of the conditions Josh lives he has been bullied mercilessly. Bev and Mac talk to her, and the woman is not the easiest person to deal with. She has a mean streak and seems to hate the police, who she believes to be incompetent and lazy. At the beginning of the case Bill hasn’t been cleared yet, so there is a DCI who is in charge. It is DCI Lance Knight, who has been dubbed Lancelot.
The body of a boy is found wrapped in a sleeping bag in an alley. Bev is really upset about it. Shortly afterwards the police have a tip-off, a woman accusing someone called Roland Haines. Apparently, the woman saw him drop something in the alley. Haines stood trial, charged with murdering a boy. The child was found in his bathroom as he used to play at his place. Haines was acquitted because the evidence had been contaminated.
Bev is with Knight questioning the man, but the man denies having anything to do with the murder. After searching his place, the police find a white sock with a Mickey Mouse pattern. From the expression of utter surprise, Bev knows that the man has nothing to do with it, but King thinks that the case is clear.
The next day it is chaos. King had told the media liaison to inform the press that a suspect has been arrested but he should hold his name. However, Haines’s name and his photograph appear in all the newspapers and television stations, which means that someone has leaked his name. Then Haines’s alibi is confirmed. He was with a prostitute, who is also his stepsister, and the woman had even filmed him when he was sleeping. So Haines has to be let go.
What King realises now is that there is someone who planted the white sock in the man’s place, which means that there is a corrupt officer among them, who leaked information to the press and for some reason planted the sock there. So he goes to Byford with his concerns.
Throughout this part of the novel there are sections in which an unknown person is going through a scrap book which contains press cut-outs of a case which took place in 1980. A boy, Scott Myers, disappeared, and he was the same age as Josh, but his family life was more stable than Josh’s. The person who goes through these articles seems to be obsessed. Who is he? Josh’s killer? And why this obsession with Scott Myers’s case? Is the person the Scott’s father? Josh’s kidnapper knew him by name, which means that he had been watching him or he really knows Josh. And why kidnap Josh now?
In the last chapter I have read, a couple are kissing over a bridge and when they look down, they see something floating and it is a body. Who is this person who has been killed?
I love this series. It is one of my favourite detective series. Bev is a great character and she makes me laugh, but she is also frustrating with her attitude towards the men she loves. In the first novels she started a relationship with Ozzie but her fear to commitment and hesitation pushed him away. Now Ozzie is getting married, and Bev is pissed because he has invited her. After Ozzie, she fell for Bill Byford, but once again her cocky attitude and her fear to commitment are spoiling what she and Bill could have.
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