A former Customs and Police Officer, Andrew Hill’s first book in a crime series set in the New Forest, where he lived for 30 years, will be published in Spring 2022. An avid reader across the crime genre and regular at crime writing festivals, he now lives in West Sussex and works in property.
This is the third outing for the DS Nathan Cody series and confronts an issue that lurks like a dreaded monster in the best forgotten recesses of any parent’s mind. The abduction of their child.
The author doesn’t just dip into that dark pool, but fully immerses the reader in the anxiety, panic and unfathomable fears of the missing child’s parents. Their realisation that the Police consider them suspects, that their child might be harmed, dead, or just never come home is adroitly handled and threaded frighteningly throughout the narrative.
For DS Cody and DC Megan Webley, so begins a race against time in a case with almost no clues. Then another child is taken, with the perpetrator engaging in a violent confrontation with the little girl’s parents. This escalation leads Cody and Webley back to a historic abduction and the horrific realisation that there maybe three missing children.
This is a gripping read and kudos to the author for not portraying the abductors as just cyphers, or clichés. They emerge from the page well-defined, damaged, dangerous and yet in some way sad. I’m not saying that I felt sympathy for them, just that they were very skilfully brought to life.
The children themselves are at the heart of this book, facing their situation with a blend of bravery and stoicism that sees them form their own mini family.
An absolutely unmissable read.
