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by John Harvey (Author)
Retirement has not come easy for Detective Inspector Frank Elder. He's fled to a solitary existence on the Cornish coast, but he can't escape the past. Susan Blacklock would be thirty now. But fourteen years ago she disappeared, and the case has gone unsolved. Not that Elder hadn't had his suspects. And now, with one of them out on parole, Elder is compelled to return to the seaside scene of the crime. Shortly thereafter, pretty Emma Harrison goes missing.
Just as Elder's knowledge becomes crucial to the official investigation of this disquieting case, he unwittingly becomes vital to its perpetration. For with cryptic messages on seaside postcards and a few purposefully planted clues, the killer is drawing Elder inexorably into the very heart of the criminal matter. Elder's teenage daughter is already there. In the first in the Frank Elder series, before Ash & Bone and Darkness & Light, John Harvey sets in motion the events from which Elder's family will never recover.Front Jacket
Fifteen years ago Susan Blacklock disappeared. Although Detective Inspector Frank Elder has taken early retirement, the case still plagues his mind. Prime suspects Shane Donald and Alan McKiernan were convicted a year later of the brutal rape and murder of a young girl, and now that Shane has been granted parole, Elder feels compelled to revisit his past.
Then Shane disappears and another young girl is murdered. Elder's involvement is now crucial. Taunted by postcards from the killer, an increasingly desperate Elder battles to keep his estranged family from being drawn into the very heart of the crime.
Back Jacket
Winner of the British Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger
Winner of the Best British Crime Novel Barry Award
IMPAC Award Finalist
"A superb mystery excruciatingly suspenseful, rich in character and all too real in its depiction of the horrific possibilities lurking in the margins of the mundane." The Washington Post Book World
Retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder has fled to the Cornish coast, but he can t escape the past. Susan Blacklock would be thirty now. But fourteen years ago she disappeared, and the case has gone unsolved. Not that Elder hadn t had his suspects. Now, with one of them out on parole, pretty Emma Harrison has gone missing. Just as Elder s knowledge becomes crucial to the official investigation, he unwittingly becomes vital to the crime s on-going perpetration. For with cryptic messages on seaside postcards and a few planted clues, the killer is drawing Elder into the very heart of the matter. Elder s teenage daughter is already there. In the first of the Frank Elder mysteries, before Ash & Bone and Darkness & Light, John Harvey sets in motion the events from which Elder s family will never recover.
"Even grittier that the Resnick novels but just as thoughtful and emotionally gratifying. It seems past time for Mr. Harvey to be recognized alongside Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson as a modern master of the smart, hard-edged British police-procedural." Wall Street Journal
"A major novel: thrilling, urgent, important." Literary Review (London)
John Harvey is the author of ten critically acclaimed Charlie Resnick novels and three Frank Elder mysteries. He lives in Great Britain.
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